Sight Screen: Ashes T5, Day2 : Open Thread

Friday, September 09, 2005

Ashes T5, Day2 : Open Thread

Big day of the game, first one hour would probably decide the fate of the series. Aus have done the hard work (for it was nothing else, their performance yesterday, but hard work and Shane Warne). Now if they get Eng under 400, and then go on to show even as much application in their batting approach as Trent Bridge second innings, they have a chance.

But that's still quite a lot to expect, of this Aussie bunch, at this moment. Lets see how the day goes....open thread...

156 Comments:

avinash, can it be that pathan was taken into the side just for 'warm up'..kind of 'extended net session'...and its actually ZK and LB who are coming off fresh..so they were given longer run? More-over, as we all think, Pathan is almost a surety for the first game. What does he, or the team management, achieve by giving him a long run ? So, he was included just to do some overs...like a practise. I think IP is fit, and has been since the start of this season. Whether he performed well in patches or not, thats another story.

By worma, at 03:58
yep dennis, what I meant was that if they do well in that first hour, they have a 'chance'. Otherwise it looks bleak for them again, esp if they let Eng get away with a 400+ score.

Anyway, agreed...long way to go

By worma, at 04:40
avinash, Vengsarkar wasn't there in SL or Zim. He watched what we did. IP had good tours...most of the time. And did you read match report on yesterday's game. We played 12 players (and Zim 13!!). Maybe he was taken in as the last one...just to give a spell in the middle...rather than sit on the bench completely. Anyway, my point is, atleast I fail to read the signals of his 'fitness' with this. I'm also hoping like you :-) I think he would do well...and if he sustains his fitness, would go on to get better in the season...fast bowlers tend to get better in the season that way, whereas injury breaks make them start from scratch again. I also expect ZK to get better, as he has already shown signs in the afro-asian tamasha.

By worma, at 04:44
k-slice: LOL..looks like my original post gave the impression that if Aus do that first hour right, they have bagged it. Its actually the other way round, if they mess it up, its diff for them to recover. If they do it right, and THEN get their batting in line...then only can they think of winning

By worma, at 04:47
I think the English team has gone on the defensive (thinking they will bat and score more runs than worrying about the wickets they will have to take) based on their decision to pick Collingwood rather than Anderson.

I tho't Anderson could swing the ball and that would have posed enough problems to the Aussies. But, Collingwood? WHY? English are content with a draw...thats why...

By Madhu Rao, at 04:48
yeah I know...that performance has to be taken with a pinch of salt :-)...but still atleast he wasn't ineffective...or carted around. Lets see...its only my personal feeling...that he is getting better from his disastrous SL series, and if he doesnt break down, he would again be our strike bowler before the end of the season!! (and I base my gut feeling on the fact that a fit ZK is more effective on subcontinent pitches than IP...mainly because of their diffrent styles)

By worma, at 04:50
On the case of IP, I am sure he is going to be the Man of Series in the test match - he is going to bamboozle the Zimbabwe team in both the matches with his swing...

By Madhu Rao, at 04:55
yep madhugr, we're all expecting that ;-)

By worma, at 04:55
k-slice..duely ignored ;-)...but why Yuv? I thought Kaif was in with a better chance, has been in more consistent form also (and last time around, wasn't he the one to be kept out of the team despite in good nick against Aus). And yep, Jadhav not likely to get a chance.

By worma, at 05:28
Lee comes up with a beauty.

By ClannZú, at 05:38
Time for Hoggy & Giles to put up a 100 run stand and frustrate the hell out of the Aussies. :)

By ClannZú, at 05:40
I didn't think so.

By ClannZú, at 05:43
First target should be 350 but they need to hang. The longet they play, the more chance they have of saving the game.

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:01
I'm here guys.

By ClannZú, at 06:01
k-slice...am not worried about Jadhav...since he is in the GC 'radar'....he will surely get chances...lots of cricket to come at home...

By worma, at 06:02
saurabh...collingwood selection..what say? wrong in 'hindsight' ?

By worma, at 06:03
saurabh...the game is not out of England's reach. 336 may not be a great score but its a pretty decent total and Australia haven't batted well throughtout the series. Its for them to put up over 450..lets see if they can do it. So talks of saving the game are bit premature, don't you think.

By ClannZú, at 06:03
k-slice...I agree, its a nice comfy way to start the career..but with so many issues around each of the main cast..they also want the cushion...and abt fab 5 dropping him, thats what I meant to say, not likely to happen if he's really impressive behind the scenes for the team management. But who knows...he may get a look-in after all? What if we win the first one comfortably...they may rest Sehwag..

By worma, at 06:07
avinash, yeah man lets watch today. Hope your doubts are wrong :)

By worma, at 06:08
Worma, Hindsight is always 20/20 :-)

I had actually said in my earlier posts that my preference would have been Collingwood instead of Bell. But having decided to keep Bell, he is a better choice then Andersen. Dont see Andersen doing much on a wicket where McGrath and Lee have had little impact.

Collingwood might still come good in the second innings (He actually got a bad decision). Bell however seems to there to be 'picked' by Lee...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:09
saurabh..am not watching...but someone said there were signs of swing etc? if so then anderson could have worked. He's a diff type of bowler than Mcg, Lee.

Yes, Collingwood can still come good...with bat, and even ball. He can get wickets because of being the 'easy' bowler in the attack

By worma, at 06:11
Calnnzu, I agree. Any score over 350+ is not a bad score.

However, if England eat up time, then Australia will be under more pressure to 'set-up' the game.

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:11
Bad misfield by Tait...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:12
Ooh...well done Giles to dig out that yorker.
Haha...Shaun Tait lets one go through his legs.

By ClannZú, at 06:12
Yes, Worma some swing there for the Bowlers...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:13
k-slice...I meant 'resting' gambhir looks tough since he is still nt established in the side..thats y i said sehwag..anyways...if he's as good as u say...sure i wud also want him there. I personally dont find GG as long term prospect so far..

By worma, at 06:13
This little passage of play will frustrate the Aussies. Ponting not looking too happy...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:14
These two actually have a decent record of putting partnerships together!

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:14
Warne warming up...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:16
Woohoo...Ponting drops Hoggard !11

By ClannZú, at 06:17
dropped followed by a wild wide by McGrath. As I said, the body language is not good...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:18
that was out

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:18
waiting for the replay

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:19
Ooh Giles gets away with a nick...Koertzen says he didn't hear anything.

By ClannZú, at 06:19
looked out to me on the first instance. Some noise but the ball did not seem to deviate!

Umpire said "I did not here it".

Funny, I heard it 10 miles away...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:20
snicometer confirms.

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:21
Things not going the Austrlian's way.

Could this be England's day?

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:22
Ponting takes 2 balls to realise he should have a silly point & short leg for Warne.

By ClannZú, at 06:23
Agreed Avinash, but 50-60 looks unlikely.

If they can hang for another 30 minutes, that would give the Aussies a tricky 30 minutes before lunch!

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:25
out

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:25
Slower ball by McGrath. well bowleded

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:26
Damn saurabh, you're quick ! ;)
Slower ball gets Hoggard.

By ClannZú, at 06:26
another 20 runs would be great but...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:28
just out of reach of katich

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:29
will be interesting how Harmison plays Warne

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:29
Ah this looks fun.

By ClannZú, at 06:30
4 by Harmison

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:30
I always think Harmison is one of the better Nr 11's in the world...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:31
Warne to Harmison now...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:31
Harmison some how survies the last two balls. Surprised he did not swing

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:34
Giles should try to hang on and not throw away his wicket.

10 runs in 20 minutes might be more important than 20 in 10!

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:37
good running..

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:38
Isn't there a captaincy for Dummies book Ponting can refer to ?

By ClannZú, at 06:39
Calnnzu, that would be too difficult for Ponting..

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:40
and a 'decent' wicketkeeper-batsman...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:41
A big reason also is most teams don't plan as well as England have. India being the only other team to have the talent and planning to fight the bully.

By ClannZú, at 06:42
64 of the 103 overs have been bolwed by Warne/McGrath...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:43
and a bunch of 'decent' middle order batsmen, including himself ;-)

By worma, at 06:43
yeah..i thought they were talking of how he 'got away' with it so far...

By worma, at 06:45
I think Katich should ball...its easier to hit fast bowlers than the spinning ball.

By ClannZú, at 06:45
Uh I mean bowl not ball...that was embarassing. :0

By ClannZú, at 06:46
fuck, what a shot!!!

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:48
even flintoff would be proud of that tonk over mid off.

Another four over the wicket keeper...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:49
Harmison giving it back to Lee.

By ClannZú, at 06:49
and another4 . Lee is looking sad...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:50
good analysis by simon hughes on how Giles has imporved his batting against Warne as the series has progressed.

I have learnt more about cricket watching his analysis then from any other source.

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:52
not out!

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:52
bad decison again. even with a naked eye, it was spinning too much. Hawk-eye confirms...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:53
anyway, some justice for the Aussies...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 06:54
It would have been 375 had Giles taken those 2 runs. Oh well England have almost taken a session out of Australia.
I'd love for Hayden to get out before lunch.

By ClannZú, at 06:54
saurabh, u seem to be in fine nick today :-)

By worma, at 06:54
Guys, do any of you happen to know of some good mp3 blogs ?
http://opendir.blogspot.com is the only one I visit.

By ClannZú, at 07:03
worma, I should be in the middle instead of Billy & Rudi.

...and Ponting :-)

By Saurabh Wahi, at 07:09
Uh-oh, Harmison holding his elbow with pain after the 1st over. Hope its nothing serious.

By ClannZú, at 07:09
saurabh...yeah :-)....and we all can replaced Ponting atleast ;-)

But seriously, amidst all this criticism of Ponting and praise of Vaughan (by commentators etc) the only aspect I see being discussed is field placement.

By worma, at 07:12
test

By Saurabh Wahi, at 07:16
sorry, for some reason could not post...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 07:16
Hayden continues to 'plant' his foot before the ball pitches. Recon he will have trouble with the reverse swing again...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 07:17
like that ball. If only it was closer to the stupms...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 07:18
and again. Had to move his lag back in the last minute...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 07:19
Hoggard is ON...bowled a couple of beauties already.
Harmison however...

By ClannZú, at 07:20
Twice now Hayden has tried to pull and both times he has been unable to connect.

By ClannZú, at 07:23
classic langer shot.

Recon flintoff will bowl one over to hayden if there is time...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 07:26
Thats top quality coverage...the Analyst - Simon Hughes showing how the ball is already scruffed up. One of the reasons is because Harmison doesn't bowl with an upright seam position..sometimes using a scrambled seam which makes the ball land on the shiny side.

By ClannZú, at 07:30
clannzu, Simon Hughes is great.

Last year, he got Murli to Lords and did a complete analysis of his bowling. That analysis convined me Murli does not chuck.

I rate his contribution to cricket broacast higher then any ordinary comentator, including Richie Benaud.

By Saurabh Wahi, at 07:49
dadagiri:

If you can read this, I did read you late long comment. :-)

By Unknown, at 07:51
Back to the game. Langer looks in good touch but Hayden does not. Next session is key (more for the Aussies then England). The need to go to tea with 1 (or max 2) down. Any more, and they will be facing an uphill task.

Hwoever, England can still come back even if the Aussies are 120 for 1 at Tea...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 07:52
Guys, watch the lunch break program...all the Channel 4 commentators are discussing England's rise over the years.

By ClannZú, at 07:55
Damn, they just showed the ball that Vaughan bowled to get Sachin out.

Great ball, but something I would rather not see considering that I am supporting England :-)

By Saurabh Wahi, at 07:58
Clannzu, loved that Flintoff/Ntini tussle. Right?

By Saurabh Wahi, at 07:58
Hell yes...those are the kind of mental games that go a long way in gaining psychological edge over a player and a team.

By ClannZú, at 08:03
yeah saurabh, I rem that Vaughan ball...(almost as clear as that shoaib ball!)...was prefect. Are they talking about possibility of Vaughan bowling? I wonder why he doesnt do it more often? Any fitness issues with him? Otherwise he should, this game. And ofcourse lots of it in Pak and Ind tours

By worma, at 08:07
People watching from roof-tops outside the ground...just like India.

By ClannZú, at 08:22
not aware of any injury issues with him. Probably prefers to let his main bowlers do the job.

The Shoaib ball! Do you mean the one at calcutta? Wow...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 08:24
that was close...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 08:27
Freddie comes in and straight away things are happening.

By ClannZú, at 08:28
and again nearly.

Freddie....

By Saurabh Wahi, at 08:28
now why has vaughan removed that guy from the deep backward point for Langer? He has had one there for the entire series to cut his fours...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 08:30
Hayden looking more certain in his defence and strokes but still not quite timing the ball.

By ClannZú, at 08:38
avinash - McGrath is well within his right to stand outside the crease and cover his stumps. I don't think Australia drew the match just becuase Hoggard decided not to "stump" McGrath.
I think Flintoff is bowling well here as he has all series and Hoggard is looking more penetrative than Harmison. I think with more cloud cover and bit of rain he will be tough to handle. Boycott thinks Giles will be a bit tricky to handle here...so lets see how he goes.

By ClannZú, at 08:44
hayden waiting for second bowling change it seems. and not having jones will be immediately visible...cos the pressure would be off him. This is exactly the reason why Eng bowling was good this series....no let-offs...no release of the pressure

By worma, at 08:47
..and eng knows...so the second bowling change is harmy for hoggard ;-)

By worma, at 08:50
2 effortless sixes by Langer. So the ploy of hitting Giles out of the attack at the start of the series is finally being executed.

By ClannZú, at 09:08
If I were Vaughan I would be happy that Langer is going after Giles..because the other bowlers don't seem like getting the openers out. If Langer mishits and gets out thats a lucky break for England.

By ClannZú, at 09:10
Sure Hoggard could have done it...I'm not arguing against it. I'm just saying that wasn't the reason by England couldn't pull off a win.

By ClannZú, at 09:20
I'm surprised too, mayur.

By ClannZú, at 09:20
I think England (and Australia) will realize at this point in the game that the key bowler in the series for England had been Simon Jones!

By Gopal Bhagavatula, at 09:21
giles back from the other end. Good start. Important passage of play her. Can Australia destroy the confidence of England's 4 & 5 bowlers?

By Saurabh Wahi, at 09:24
gopalblog, I raised that point earlier; Jones did not do much in the first two Tests (and England won the second), mopped the tail in the Third (in first innings, nothing in second) and really came on his won in the 1st innings of the 4th Test).

He was important, no doubt but not as much as the media will like you to believe. The key man is still Flintoff. If he can break this partnership, then the others can build the pressure...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 09:27
mayur- can't say if its the same end as Warne. Oh dear, Tresco drops Langer off Collingwood. He beat him on the previous ball also.

By ClannZú, at 09:27
Worma, the move to get collingwood nearly paid off as Langer is dropped at slip (very difficult chance)...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 09:28
saurabh - Jones may not have taken many wickets in the first 2 tests but he like Freddie made important breakthroughs. I think he got Martyn out with his 1st ball in the Lords test and got wickets on his first ball after a session break atleast twice. The key to England's success has been all bowlers contributing.
Simon Jones - 19 wickets. (4 tests)
Andrew Flintoff - 19 wickets.
Steve Harmison - 16 wickets.
Matthew Hoggard - 12 wickets.

As compared to Australia -
warne - 33 wickets.
Lee - 20 wickets.
McGrath - 16 wickets (in 3 tests).

By ClannZú, at 09:33
Forgot Giles with 10 wickets.

By ClannZú, at 09:33
Collingwood bowling pretty well so far.

By ClannZú, at 09:37
Yes SW (saurabh wahi not Shane Warne) I agree Freddie is the most important bowler for England but Jones was the key because having him as a second reverse swing threat meant that this "mystery" was high in the mind of the Aussies.

By Gopal Bhagavatula, at 09:37
Clannzu, I am not saying he was not important, just saying he played the role of an important support bowler till the last test when he took 5 wickets. In fact, in two innings he took 11 wickets, and only 8 in the other 5!

The key (always) was they he came to bowl when the Aussies were 2 down for nothing and was able to continue to apply the pressure.

Today, the Aussies are off to a good start, and it's no down to the fact that Jones is not in the Team. They have really applied themselves, especially Hayden.

By Saurabh Wahi, at 09:37
Yeah Hayden is doing a Tendulkar of Sydney '04. Its a very interesting battle going on here with Giles & Collingwood both bowling nice and tight.

By ClannZú, at 09:42
Suddenly, it's gone grey outside my house which is only 6 miles from the oval. Heavens about to open as predicted...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 09:43
BTW isn't it an odd looking Aussie scoreboard at the moment, with langer 65 out of 86 runs and Hayden having a SR of 22.22.

Also is it wrong of me to take a perverse pleasure at Hayden's slump. He may prove me wrong by hitting a 100 here but after the belting he has given bowling (esp India's) the past three years I am enjoying his slump.

By Gopal Bhagavatula, at 09:43
very grey and the wind's picking up.

By Saurabh Wahi, at 09:44
That looked mighty close.

By ClannZú, at 09:49
Gary Pratt on field. Vaughan is upto his tricks again.

By Madhu Rao, at 09:50
that was out

By Saurabh Wahi, at 09:50
and it has started drizzling outside my house. only a question of time before it reaches the oval...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 09:51
avinash - instead of blaming Hoggard..I'd rather blame Pietersen for dropping Lee and Harmison for bowling 2 useless overs. But thats what pressure does...and i'd rather talk about what England can do now than what they should have done 2 tests ago.

By ClannZú, at 09:51
3 men on the boundary on the leg-side. Thats being very defensive...Vaughan needs to attack more. Make Langer jump out of the crease to Giles.

By ClannZú, at 09:56
Murali karthik has been recruited into the Lancashire side for the last few weeks. He's having a good first day vs Essex:

Bowlers: O M R W Econ
M Kartik 20.5 2 73 4 3.50

By Gopal Bhagavatula, at 10:06
Why doesn't he perform when given the chance then ? Same with Mongia.

By ClannZú, at 10:14
The England Ladies team being presented the Ashes for beating Australia.
Gotta say very poor applause from the crowd...a 4 gets louder cheers than the ladies did.

By ClannZú, at 10:20
Also on the county front Yogesh Golwalkar, a leg spinner, from Madhya Pradesh was recruited into the Middlesex side for the last few weeks, he also had a decent first innings vs Kent:

Bowling O M R W
Golwalkar 31 7 112 3

I hadn't heard of him before. Apparently he made agood impression on Eddie Hemmings when he was in India last winter for one of those spin camps English county sides go for in the sub continent during the winter. Yogesh, cricinfo informs me, is 25 years old and has 84 wickets from 28 first class matches.

By Gopal Bhagavatula, at 10:20
What the fuck ????
Australia accept the offer for light and walk off.

By ClannZú, at 10:32
mayur - you're right about Murali Kartik that he needs to bowl a whole series before passing judgement. But I'm disappointed that he doesn't loop the ball and extract maximum drift and spin. In ODI's he too is guilty of bowling flat and has done only marginally better than Harbhajan.
He should have grabbed his chances in the SA series after doing well against Australia in Bombay albeit on a poor excuse for a pitch.

By ClannZú, at 10:41
santa - there is no guarantee the light will improve in 20-30 minutes.

By ClannZú, at 10:43
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

By worma, at 10:53
saurbah, still raining out your house ? :)

By worma, at 10:55
ok jd. cant seem to get any update on whats happening.

By worma, at 10:59
ok...they're back on the field....and...off again...funny :)

By worma, at 11:04
Amazing, looks like the Gods are with the Aussies!

Just picked up my son from school and it is raining, thunder, lightening and heavy hail storms!!!

And only 7 miles fron the Oval.

By Saurabh Wahi, at 11:06
Either the weather system is moving very slowly or just managed to avoid the Oval.

Looks like they decided to start play at 4:10 but then decided that it's still too dark.

Funny to see the English team get on the field, ready to play whereas the Aussies have gone defensive :-)

By Saurabh Wahi, at 11:08
I will be surprised if there is any play today. Even on TV, the Oval sky looks dark...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 11:09
saurabh..dunno abt defensive thing..but its a good thing they are not risking a wkt..if its a matter of getting few minutes of extra game...there's still so much time...

By worma, at 11:10
If they bat carefully...I think their strategy would be to bat only once. Ofcourse its still too early days...

By worma, at 11:14
jd...same thought :)

By worma, at 11:15
i agree worma. just kidding. They want to score 500-550 and try to get England out on last day.

But tomorrow looks dodgy as well. In fact, worse...

By Saurabh Wahi, at 11:16
yeah...so they bat half day or whatever they can tmrow....then atleat half day later...score 400-425 more runs...and go for Eng then on

By worma, at 11:18
Seems like Gautam Gambhir managed to score 126 (source - getty images).. that should squash any hopes Jadhav had of breaking into the team..

By Pavan, at 11:47
vishnupavan where did you get that info ? cricinfo seems to be really strange, so many of us are interested in the scores and they dont have it!

By worma, at 12:01
worma.. just search of gambhir on the getty images site.. you will get a bunch of images of gambhir in action.. one of them says that he got out lbw for 126.. Dravid got to bat too.. not sure how much he scored..

By Pavan, at 12:21
hmm..ok thanks for that vishnupavan :)

Just checked the upmire list for upcoming series (till Dec). Here it is. But how come the Ind-SL ODI series is not mentioned here ? And btw, good news is no Bucknor for atleast the SA visit ;-)

By worma, at 12:25
mayur, got that. Thankfully no alarms there.

By worma, at 12:28
alvin, ok mate..will do that over the weekend.

By worma, at 12:35
bbc announcing that the day has been called off. Too bad, hope there's enough of the game tomorrow.

By worma, at 12:51
vick, thats a good article ! Having not seen the tv program myself, I was totally going by the media reports. Anyone seen the program here? Can you confirm what was spoken, what was implied etc?

If this Ramaraman article is true, then boy..have we jumped the gun or what :)

By worma, at 13:15
The ICC, once again, is all ears to any issues raised by the mighty rulers in our cricket world. Read here. They will look seriously at the substitue fielder issue raised by Ponting.

By worma, at 13:43
anand, even if it was planned 'after' our defeat in Sl or Zim ODI series, did you think it was done for cleansing or rebuilding or any such thing. As Prem pointed out yesterday, such things are done by BCCI to 'justify' some decision that they have already taken internally. Prem's feeling is that this one's to 'conclude' on the departure of Ganguly...lets see. Meanwhile maybe Prem can comment on this Rajaraman story a bit more.

By worma, at 14:07
vick..I totally agree on the team changes thing. IMO this same bunch of players consistently did well under Wright, and I think can do it again. No major changes required.

But the point is, whether this report is authentic or not, BCCI and its methods are not necessarily going by the logics that we discuss here, are they? Not always at fault, but they aren't always governed by reasoning.

By worma, at 14:31

Sight Screen

Friday, September 09, 2005

Ashes T5, Day2 : Open Thread

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