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Loading ...is gough still worth an england place? I don’t wanna put him to pasture just yet as i believe he can be a useful squad player but does he still deserve a unquestioned place in the team.
Rain thwarts a spectacle
By Will 3 years ago, at the end of June Leave a comment on this post
It was shaping up to be a real spectacle. Australia threatened, much like the weather, to rain down on England’s bright start to the summer but, thanks to an excellent fightback, an Australian run-blitz was averted (and on a cracking pitch, too). Australia lost their last 5 wickets for 37 runs in 6 overs - yet when Symonds and Hussey were hitting boundaries at will, many were predicting a par score of 270 and suggestions of 300+ were made. Not enough is made of non-English collapses - we are, of course, the past masters of it - so let’s all laugh and point at Australia.
Seriously, though, that was a great effort by England to restrict Australia and a great shame that the weather intervened. Strauss stroked 4 boundaries off McGrath from one over after messyrs Duckworth & Lewis had adjusted the score - but the storm won in the end. From an English perspective, there’s just nothing better than an anglo-antipodean clash - it’s always spicey, and it was red-chilli-hot in parts today! Roll on Saturday, roll on the first Test…
NB: Agnew raises a good point about the opening bowling-partnerships England have, and rightly suggests Harmison and Jones should open. Harmison has looked threatening all this series - few bowlers have Hayden and Gilchrist jumping around, and he must not be hidden to first-change…
Tags: andrew-symonds, australia, edgbaston, england, mike-hussey, simon-jones, steve-harmison, the-ashes |
15 Responses to “Rain thwarts a spectacle”
June 28th, 2005 at 11.30 pm
June 28th, 2005 at 11.33 pm
He’s had a a good series, not a brilliant one - but he’s still, remarkably, one of the best end-of-innings bowlers around. I’d simply keep him in the side for that alone. Bowl him first change for 3 overs, bring him back for 3 more - then 4 on the trot at the end.
June 29th, 2005 at 8.47 am
Yes Gough is certainly good enough for ODIs still. He has pace and yorker, two things really handy in ODIs (especially to Aus like lower order). His economy is not as bad as it happened here.
By the way, Will, with most of the bowlers firing well on both sides, I wonder if the proverbial ‘bowlers will win the matches’ saying is being turned around for this Ashes ? Both Aus and Eng have their test batsmen struggling against each other, so it looks like the batting lineup which turns on better would win, and almost without doubt both sides would be bowling well.
This is, for me, the most interesing aspect of the series. All good contests in recent memories have come on the face of strong strong batting, with better bowling side winning the day.
June 29th, 2005 at 10.01 am
Interesting. I’ve not been one who has thought *either* batting or bowling will win the series (for either team). Both will. For example: Harmison is probably England’s key player but, without Vaughan, Strauss etc all making runs, he has nothing to bowl against. Perhaps it is because of this that everyone - even non poms and non Aussies - is so excited, that it is a more evenly matched series. In the past, you wouldn’t have expected England to consistently make 250 against Australia - but that has certainly changed.
Not sure what I’m talking about. But you’ve posted the 1000th comment, so thanks 
June 29th, 2005 at 11.33 am
Good going…for the 1000 comments. I guess my point was that most evenly competed series recently have been batting heavy. Take Ind-Aus example. Both team batting well..and the one winning the bowling honours in a match walking away with the victory.
So, what I was trying to say was that for this series the trend seems to be reversed. Atleast the signs are there. So, to follow your words, the side more consistent in making 250+ scores would win the series (as oppose to normal saying that the side consistently picking 20 wkts would win)…and now I’m rambling
And yes, ofcourse you need to bat ‘and’ bowl to win the match 
June 29th, 2005 at 11.36 am
Does anyone else spend all day at work alternating between this brilliant website and cricinfo? Does anyone want to offer me a job working for one of these?
Frustrated cricket writer!
June 29th, 2005 at 12.27 pm
Naturally the side that does both well is likely to win, but,…
You can bat badly, and bowl well and win (in a low scoring match), you cannot win if you bowl badly (you won’t get enough wickets).
This could be the worry aspect from the Australians point of view at the moment, although things are improving, and Shane Warne is still to come of course - if they can find him
June 29th, 2005 at 12.36 pm
The rest in Spain will do him well, roll on Ashes…
June 29th, 2005 at 12.37 pm
Good point. And isn’t it great that we’re even having this conversation? I bump into/meet loads of Aussies in London (usually in pubs), most of whom expect a tough battle. 3 years ago, they’d have (and did!) laugh in my face at the prospect of an Ashes “battle”
June 29th, 2005 at 12.38 pm
“Bowled Warney”…I think you might be his agent and brother, Jason…
June 29th, 2005 at 1.20 pm
Stu why do you say “This could be the worry aspect from the Australians point of view at the moment” ? Are you saying Aus are not bowling well enough ? Are they worse off than Eng bowlers ? (dont compare them to their own past performances)
Compare the runs each side test bowlers have conceded to opponents test batsmen (symonds, KP out for now). Or key wkts taken. I think its still in favour of Aus. And they, as you said, have Warne to look up to (when was the last time he had a bad non-Indian series?) This is exactly what I wanted to point out. This time its more about being able to bat through. And watch out for Gilchrist’s form. 4 ODIs to go.
Will, yes dude, its brilliant to see any good cricket battle. I’m really glad at Eng improvement, although a bit jealous as an Indian (we were the ones who kept the empire in check, when they ruled the Earth…please remember )
June 29th, 2005 at 1.37 pm
Interesting, I was in UK last year and a highlight was going to the last day of the manchester test in august where England flattened the West Indies, Flintoff batted superbly, had some great talk/banter with the locals at how good England were, and yet nearly all of them were not so confident of doing the same to the Aussies, 10 months on and the sides look pretty even, although watch this space, love from Jason, I mean Bowled Warney…
June 29th, 2005 at 11.32 pm
Worma, Reason still tells me that Australia, with Warne and McGrath firing will not lose the Ashes, and McGrath is coming along nicely, but Gillespie is yet to fire, Kasprowicz has had no impact and Lee hasn’t played a test for about 18 months. I don’t think they will dismiss England cheaply every time, as we have come to expect lately - this means England could win a test or two, and should that happen, the series is well and truly in the balance.
June 30th, 2005 at 6.18 am
Stu,
Its a good time to paraphrase Geoff Boycott’s comment..check ‘Quote..Unquote’at Cricinfo to find the exact quote.. anyway paraphrasing him, England may win a test but I think Australia will win Two…
June 30th, 2005 at 7.20 pm
Stu, even before Aus faced all these debacles, I thought this Eng team would win a test. And with so much hype around these results, we are still having the same feeling. Good competition, Eng shud win a test, but Aus still looking better (admittedly we are taking Warne’s form for granted, but..)
Harsha Bhogle put it very well on espnstar.com that this time it will come down to scraping, but Aus are too good at that as well.
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