Nov 10: Prime Minister's XI v England XI, Canberra
Nov 12-14: New South Wales v England XI, Sydney
Nov 17-19: South Australia v England XI, Adelaide
Nov 23-27: 1ST TEST v AUSTRALIA, BRISBANE
Dec 1-5: 2ND TEST v AUSTRALIA, ADEDLAIDE
Dec 9-10: Western Australia v England XI, Perth
Dec 14-18: 3RD TEST v AUSTRALIA, Perth
Dec 26-30: 4TH TEST v AUSTRALIA, MELBOURNE
Jan 2-6: 5TH TEST v AUSTRALIA, SYDNEY
Jan 9: TWENTY20 INTERNATIONAL, AUSTRALIA v ENGLAND, SYDNEY
Jan 12: 1st ODI, AUSTRALIA v ENGLAND, MELBOURNE
Jan 16: 2ND ODI, ENGLAND v NEW ZEALAND, HOBART
Jan 19: 3RD ODI, AUSTRALIA v ENGLAND, BRISBANE
Jan 23: 4TH ODI, ENGLAND v NEW ZEALAND, ADELAIDE
Jan 26: 5TH ODI, AUSTRALIA v ENGLAND, ADELAIDE
Jan 30: 6TH ODI, ENGLAND v NEW ZEALAND, PERTH
Feb 2: 7TH ODI, AUSTRALIA v ENGLAND, SYDNEY
Feb 6: 8TH ODI, ENGLAND v NEW ZEALAND, BRISBANE
Feb 9: 1ST ODI FINAL, MELBOURNE
Feb 11: 2ND ODI FINAL, SYDNEY
Feb 13: 3RD ODI FINAL, ADELAIDE
Lets hope given the injuries we have and the number of players out that:
Panesar and not Dalrymple plays except in Sydney when BOTH play That Harmison finda his pace and bounce That C Read gets dropped Flintoff is fit for all 5 tests and takes 25 wickets That Trescothick is ready to play upside down Thta Bell has over come his mauling last time round That Mahmood can really make the ball zip particularly in Perth That Pietersen plays for a 100 rather than 20 at a strike rate of 150
That McGrath never gets fitter than his around 90% at the moment
Nov 10th - Feb 13th on the other side of the world.
We may joke about easy life etc. But if you had kids, would you really want to be away from your families for that long ?
Homesickness must play a part in cricket more than any other sport, which is one of the main reasons why the home nation is normally more successful.
Everyone is looking forward to the Ashes tour but that one day series will just be a complete washout because every England player will just want to get home by then.
There are two squads - a One Day team and the Test Squad, although there are quite a few players who play in both squads.
Also it's standard for the "WAGS" to be flown out for two weeks over Christmas and the New Year so it isn't as though they are seperated for all that time.
It's Giles not Dalrymple who is in the squad, but Panesar has done enough to be first choice spinner, hopefully his batting and fielding can come on a bit because they are a joke. There is the temptation to play Giles who is the best fielder in the squad and a much better batsman than Panesar, but he hasn't played competitive cricket for quite a while, an Ashes series is hardly the place to discover if you still have it.
Hopefully Flintoff will rise to the occasion as captain, certainly losing Vaughan as captain weakens the team, even though Cook is a good replacement with the bat. There are questions over his fitness, England need him to contribute with bat and ball so as to free up a place down the order for another bowler or batsman.
Harmison as a pace bowler tends to be either good, or out of rhythym, when him motivated and fired up he's a world beater, and we need him to attack the Aussie top order where they are strongest.
The Aussie bowling attack...without Shane Warne in the last Ashes series they looked ordinary, the good news is that they are all two years older, but they do have the advantage of playing in conditions they are used to.
Yeah its always the same afka, i personally hate 1 day Cricket, 90% of the time it depends on who wins the toss! Gimme test Cricket all day, its proper cricket (Although i do like 20/20 version). Once they finished the business of the 5 test matches, who really cares about the ODI's, i dont. Its a long time to be miles from home, lonely and bored (when they aint playin of course) and i feel dead sorry for poor old Harmy espesh, he is terrible on the away series, homesick as you like. Hopefully, as its not India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka he/they should be ok, well i hope so anyway. Its all set up for a decent series, lets hope we can retain that little earn thats so important to many of us. COME ON ENGLAND.
Good point, but they are both excellent fielders, Giles shades it for me because he's good in any position, but I'm equally happy having either at gully/point. Trescothick is a good slip fielder too, in fact I'd say this is the best fielding side I've ever seen England put out...with the exception of Monty.
Yeah Giles is a great fielder for sure, and i echoe Tresco as a top slip fielder. Monty, well, bless his heart really. Great spinner, but rubbish fielder!
Homesickness must play a part in cricket more than any other sport, which is one of the main reasons why the home nation is normally more successful.
Certainly a factor, though I think some destinations are better than others. Being stuck in India/Pakistan for any length of time if you don't like curry, the climate and you are homesick and missing family etc does contribute to burn-out. The number of players who try to get out of those tours always seems to be more than say Australia/South Africa.
One of the fascinating things about cricket though is that unlike football/rugby and most other sports the local conditions - weather, climate, pitch conditions etc change from ground to ground even though the game and the rules stay the same. Perth is notoriously a hard fast bouncy wicket, good for pure pace bowlers. In the afternoons an offshore wind - the "Freemantle Doctor" can blow inland and that can have an effect. Other grounds like Sydney are better for spinners. Traditionally English seamers who swing the ball and bowl well in English conditions don't bowl that well in Australia, while the faster pacemen do. Aussie bowlers are brought up in those conditions so have an advantage.
Comments
Unless we do well in The Ashes of course !
Nov 10: Prime Minister's XI v England XI, Canberra
Nov 12-14: New South Wales v England XI, Sydney
Nov 17-19: South Australia v England XI, Adelaide
Nov 23-27: 1ST TEST v AUSTRALIA, BRISBANE
Dec 1-5: 2ND TEST v AUSTRALIA, ADEDLAIDE
Dec 9-10: Western Australia v England XI, Perth
Dec 14-18: 3RD TEST v AUSTRALIA, Perth
Dec 26-30: 4TH TEST v AUSTRALIA, MELBOURNE
Jan 2-6: 5TH TEST v AUSTRALIA, SYDNEY
Jan 9: TWENTY20 INTERNATIONAL, AUSTRALIA v ENGLAND, SYDNEY
Jan 12: 1st ODI, AUSTRALIA v ENGLAND, MELBOURNE
Jan 16: 2ND ODI, ENGLAND v NEW ZEALAND, HOBART
Jan 19: 3RD ODI, AUSTRALIA v ENGLAND, BRISBANE
Jan 23: 4TH ODI, ENGLAND v NEW ZEALAND, ADELAIDE
Jan 26: 5TH ODI, AUSTRALIA v ENGLAND, ADELAIDE
Jan 30: 6TH ODI, ENGLAND v NEW ZEALAND, PERTH
Feb 2: 7TH ODI, AUSTRALIA v ENGLAND, SYDNEY
Feb 6: 8TH ODI, ENGLAND v NEW ZEALAND, BRISBANE
Feb 9: 1ST ODI FINAL, MELBOURNE
Feb 11: 2ND ODI FINAL, SYDNEY
Feb 13: 3RD ODI FINAL, ADELAIDE
Panesar and not Dalrymple plays except in Sydney when BOTH play
That Harmison finda his pace and bounce
That C Read gets dropped
Flintoff is fit for all 5 tests and takes 25 wickets
That Trescothick is ready to play upside down
Thta Bell has over come his mauling last time round
That Mahmood can really make the ball zip particularly in Perth
That Pietersen plays for a 100 rather than 20 at a strike rate of 150
That McGrath never gets fitter than his around 90% at the moment
We may joke about easy life etc. But if you had kids, would you really want to be away from your families for that long ?
Homesickness must play a part in cricket more than any other sport, which is one of the main reasons why the home nation is normally more successful.
Everyone is looking forward to the Ashes tour but that one day series will just be a complete washout because every England player will just want to get home by then.
Or am i being silly ?
Also it's standard for the "WAGS" to be flown out for two weeks over Christmas and the New Year so it isn't as though they are seperated for all that time.
It's Giles not Dalrymple who is in the squad, but Panesar has done enough to be first choice spinner, hopefully his batting and fielding can come on a bit because they are a joke. There is the temptation to play Giles who is the best fielder in the squad and a much better batsman than Panesar, but he hasn't played competitive cricket for quite a while, an Ashes series is hardly the place to discover if you still have it.
Hopefully Flintoff will rise to the occasion as captain, certainly losing Vaughan as captain weakens the team, even though Cook is a good replacement with the bat. There are questions over his fitness, England need him to contribute with bat and ball so as to free up a place down the order for another bowler or batsman.
Harmison as a pace bowler tends to be either good, or out of rhythym, when him motivated and fired up he's a world beater, and we need him to attack the Aussie top order where they are strongest.
The Aussie bowling attack...without Shane Warne in the last Ashes series they looked ordinary, the good news is that they are all two years older, but they do have the advantage of playing in conditions they are used to.
Certainly a factor, though I think some destinations are better than others. Being stuck in India/Pakistan for any length of time if you don't like curry, the climate and you are homesick and missing family etc does contribute to burn-out. The number of players who try to get out of those tours always seems to be more than say Australia/South Africa.
One of the fascinating things about cricket though is that unlike football/rugby and most other sports the local conditions - weather, climate, pitch conditions etc change from ground to ground even though the game and the rules stay the same. Perth is notoriously a hard fast bouncy wicket, good for pure pace bowlers. In the afternoons an offshore wind - the "Freemantle Doctor" can blow inland and that can have an effect. Other grounds like Sydney are better for spinners. Traditionally English seamers who swing the ball and bowl well in English conditions don't bowl that well in Australia, while the faster pacemen do. Aussie bowlers are brought up in those conditions so have an advantage.
Do you only ever post pointless wind ups?
India look well set for a massive lead now that they're 153-4.
Oh, 153-5.
No, wait, 153-6.
No, 153-7.
No, 153-8.
Sorry, 153-9.
No, 153 all out.
Mad game.
Well, not if you were English!