The Ashes

[TykeMerc]

123 all out!
Weak performance to say the least, even in the face of a good bowling attack, that's poor.

All to play for in the last 2 Tests.

[Ruprect]

So good you had to post it twice.

"oh I'm not posting again till England win again"

Away and stick yer Dolly Parton CD on the stereo. Nances the lot of you, cannot hack it when times get tough.

Ok as I have to... You'll note from the subsequent posts above that there were different minestrone quotes. Was pointing out you were the one crowing, not me. I posted nothing after Adelaide, the only previous post to those was pointing out what a c0ck you can make of yourself when sounding off too early about test cricket...

Still, nice to see you think England will win in Sydney too :

[minestrone]

Sorry, cannot here you guys.

[TykeMerc]

Sorry, cannot here you guys.

Where?

[Alf W]

Sorry, cannot here you guys.

I thought your boys played out of their skins and deserved a win. Our lot couldn't handle the novelty pitch.

Shame it won't be a series win to nil but I can't see anything coming between an England series win. I hope Ponting is fit enough to play in the next two.

[Moscow Mule]

... I hope Ponting is fit enough to play in the next two.

To paraphrase Atherton, he'd have to have something worse than a broken leg not to play...

[minestrone]

Where?

Wanted to see if you were still reading Tyke.

[minestrone]

I thought your boys played out of their skins and deserved a win. Our lot couldn't handle the novelty pitch.

Shame it won't be a series win to nil but I can't see anything coming between an England series win. I hope Ponting is fit enough to play in the next two.

When I seen the pitch and heard England win the toss I was fearing the worst. Strauss looked like the cat who got the cream with the smile on his face.

Still not seen the last days (hours) cricket.

Look like they have moved the pitch in Melbourne as well, they may say it was not deliberate but I think we all know they want a fast pitch.

[TykeMerc]

I'm never convinced when I hear people complain about 1 type/preparation of pitch or another. Both teams have to bat and field twice on the same pitch and having played on the pitch more doesn't make that big a difference. The only material difference is who bats 1st and that's a tactical decision and luck of a coin toss.
These are some of the best players in the game, apart from home advantage with extra support I reckon it's a smokescreen excuse.

The Australians played better than the English in the last Test and earned a convincing win, it's as simple as that. The pitch wasn't even cut up.

[minestrone]

England got out done by Johnson's movement in the air, not the movement off the pitch. Ball must have been hitting the pitch about 6 to 9 inches from where it was thrown at.