**The Official England vs Australia Ashes Series Thread****

[MUFC]

Australia in England 2005
June
11 v Leicestershire, Leicester

13 Twenty20 International, Rose Bowl

15 v Somerset, Taunton


NatWest Series dates
July

7 1st NatWest Challenge ODI, Headingley

10 2nd NatWest Challenge ODI, Lord's

12 3rd NatWest Challenge ODI, The Oval

15-17 v Leicestershire, Leicester

21-25 1st Test, Lord's

30-1 Aug v Worcestershire, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire or Northants, TBC

August

4-8 2nd Test, Edgbaston

11-15 3rd Test, Old Trafford

18 v Scotland, Grange

20-21 v Northants or Middlesex, TBC

25-29 4th Test, Trent Bridge

September

3-4 v Essex, Chelmsford

8-12 5th Test, The Oval

===========

So the first game is a 20/20 starts on the Monday at 5pm. At least theres something to in the summer and hopefully watch some decent cricket.

Austrlia are currently massive favourites to win it.

[mr.watford]

i'm gutted i wont be in the country for the first test

5-0 England imo

[MUFC]

England win the 20/20 Match. They won by 100 runs, they totally hammered the Aussies.

[NJ10]

that john lewis did well didnt he? gough was superb as well, couldnt believe how the aussies threw their wickets away.

[MUFC]

Yeh i still feel, that it was more of australia batmans playing crap then england bowling good. Its going to be a long summer.

I still cant see the aussies losing the test series unless they are poor in all the 5 tests.

[mr.watford]

100 run win in a twenty20 match

can we play you every week?

[hanuma]

CANT ****ING WAIT......YYYYYYYEEEEESSSS.

bowling haarmi

[The Fratton Roar]

Come On England, Michael Vaughan's Barmy Army all the way. All the way to the Oval on September 12, that is, the one day of Test cricket this summer for which I managed to get tickets.......of all the days, I think I picked the right one!!

I can just see Flintoff smashing a double-hundred to win it for England on the last day......

[mr.watford]

How did you get tickets for the last day of a Test match?

I always thought they never sold tickets for the final day of a Test

[NJ10]

Originally Posted by The Fratton Roar

Come On England, Michael Vaughan's Barmy Army all the way. All the way to the Oval on September 12, that is, the one day of Test cricket this summer for which I managed to get tickets.......of all the days, I think I picked the right one!!

yeah u sure picked the right day, 12th september is th best day ever! anyone born on the 12th september must be one lucky guy!

[The Fratton Roar]

Originally Posted by NJ10

yeah u sure picked the right day, 12th september is th best day ever! anyone born on the 12th september must be one lucky guy!

September 12 is the final day of the final Ashes Test - meaning if England win (assuming the final Test goes to a fifth day of course) I'll be there to see Michael Vaughan lift the Ashes.

Originally Posted by mr.watford

How did you get tickets for the last day of a Test match?

I always thought they never sold tickets for the final day of a Test

They don't usually, but because it's an Ashes summer and demand for tickets is so high, the Oval decided to sell tickets for the last day of the last Test in advance, for only a tenner each! No refunds though, but it's worth it just for the outside chance of being there for the day the Ashes come home.

[premfan]

False sense of security! The Aussies had not played decent competitive cricket for a few weeks and it was only the third time they had ever played 20/20. The English tend to get excited and start getting over confident easily. The Aussies will be at their best when the time comes. Of that I am quite shure!

[The Fratton Roar]

Originally Posted by premfan

The Aussies had not played decent competitive cricket for a few weeks

Neither had England! Two Tests against Bangladesh since about early March doesn't constitute competitive cricket.

And as for the Aussies being inexperienced at Twenty20, England weren't much better off - Vaughan had never played it before, Trescothick once, Flintoff twice, Harmison twice, Collingwood three times. We're not exactly Twenty20 veterans ourselves - our experience of the format is certainly not extensive enough to actually count for anything.

And if the Twenty20 meant nothing, then the mauling of Australia's bowlers at the hands of Somerset the other day did. Ponting was furious, which means he is clearly reading something into it.

The Aussies are not the force they once were in England - every time in the past, we've cowered in fear at the thought of the "Four Horsemen" of the Australian attack (McGrath, Warne, Gillespie, Kasprowicz), and been too scared to attack their batsmen. This year, our team are confident, strongly-led, talented, and utterly fearless. There will be no cracking under the pressure this year. We've got our own "Four Horsemen", and we've got the most talented all-round cricketer in the world, we have no reason to fear anybody. Look how the teams we played last year cowered in fear of us - we no longer see ourselves as the junior side. We genuinely believe we can win, and that is the most important thing.

England to win the Ashes 2-1.

[premfan]

Yes you are right. I simply remember England getting excited before the Ashes a couple times only to get hammered! But yes this time around England are probably at the strongest they have been in a long, long time while the Aussies are at their weekest.

If you mean Flintoff to be the most talented all'rounder you are sadly mistaken. He can only bat one way and tends to get out cheaply at times. You surely can't rate him higher than Kallis!!!

[The Fratton Roar]

Kallis doesn't bowl much these days - it gives him back trouble. He's by far the superior batsman, one of the best in the world, but many people are not even classing him as an all-rounder any more, simply because he does little bowling. He's been batting at three or four for SA for years, so he's always been a batting all-rounder, but his bowling, whilst still top-class, is becoming all the more infrequent.

SA used to be able to play a batsman at 7 with Boucher at 8 if they wanted, because they knew they could count on Kallis for 30 overs an innings if necessary - nowadays, he's barely good for 10, meaning Boucher plays at 6 sometimes, with Pollock 7 and Boje 8, with three bowlers - that sort of team means you're covered in case Kallis doesn't bowl at all. They're no longer considering his bolwing ability when they pick a team. A shame, because his bowling was very good - he got 6-54 against England two summers ago.