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Loading ...Duuuh, cross posting bad. Shall have to transpose rant. Well, in the interest of synopsis…
Panesar? 3 overs? Eh?
England vs Prime Minister’s XI
By Scott 4 years ago, mid-November Add your comment below
Normally, the opening to an Australian summer is the ACB Chairman’s XI, but thanks to the poor scheduling of this tour by the villains at Cricket Australia, the 2006/07 Ashes campaign starts with England playing the Prime Minister’s XI, at Canberra.
These games have a long history, where the Prime Minister of the day has an input into the selection of the side. Normally it is just a bit of a lark for the civil servants and the Prime Minister, and a good game for fringe tourists to make their case.
Meanwhile, Australia’s younger talent get a chance to strut their stuff.
It’s never been taken very seriously, but this year, it was not only broadcast on Fox Sports, but the ABC radio team came out and covered the game.
This year’s PM’s XI certainly took dismantling England pretty seriously; after 50 overs, they ran up 5 for 347. English readers will be pleased to know that Flintoff bowled his ten overs and apart from one bad over was right on the money. The bad news was that Anderson was expensive and Mahmood was slaughtered. Both men have got lots of improving to do.
England’s batsmen will no doubt revive English spirits if they can chase that down. However, they will have the handicap of not getting quite so many long-hops, full tosses and half volleys as the Prime Minister’s batsmen received.
(Will: Muppets)
Tags: ashes, australia, england, england-in-australia, phil-jacques, prime-ministers-xi, sajid-mahmood, the-ashes, tour |
10 Responses to “England vs Prime Minister’s XI”
November 10th, 2006 at 3.39 am
November 10th, 2006 at 4.25 am
At least the poms can be thankful they’re not starting in Perth this time.
I recall the Australians not being offered any really decent cricket prior to their campaign start last year. I don’t really see that there would have been much difference between the Chairman’s and PM’s squads, so I’m not sure about villany. Of more concern if I were a pom is their own management’s decision to turn their first 3-dayer into a glorified net session – surely they’d have been better served playing a serious game?
November 10th, 2006 at 8.44 am
Groan. I stayed up til 2am last night/this morning, rejoiced when Fred got a wicket in his third over, cheered when Gilo took another and went to bed a happy girl. This morning, oh woe 
Saj sent down 10 extras. What the …?
November 10th, 2006 at 8.47 am
Everyone who got a bowl for Eng got tonked! So its all the more surprising that Monty got only 3 overs, okay he too was tonked for 17 runs, but then so were others! Shouldnt England’s best spinner get more match practice than that? One might say “Its just a silly ODi”, but Eng dont seem to have many practice matches lined up, so they all count!
November 10th, 2006 at 10.08 am
No doubt England will be hammered in the press and Mr Boycott will have his knife out again – but lets not panic. If I think back to the last few tours, England have always started slowly and have almost without fail been hopeless up until the test series started in earnest. Let’s not forget the first test of the last Ashes when the Press were forced into the biggest U turn since they requested Bobby Robson to remain as England manager having been trying to get him sacked for 4 years. England almost always start badly, the press always throw out panic ridden headlines and England always (well sometimes at least), turn it around. Let’s hope the same remains true this tour. For me at least the signs are good! In fact it would have been more worrying if they had one by 166 runs.
November 10th, 2006 at 10.08 pm
Does anyone know of anywhere in New York likely to be showing the Ashes tests? I’ve been going cross-eyed with trying to work out the time-difference, I’m hoping I’m looking at cricket-full evenings! Anyway, any advice would be much appreciated.
Cheers,
Lewis
November 10th, 2006 at 11.56 pm
Well, let’s see if we can get through the warm-up games without any injuries…
I really don’t see dear Freddie lasting the series. So that you can all have a good laugh at me, I predict that we’ll get slaughtered in the first two Tests, scrape home in the Third with at least two players (including Fred) out for the rest of the tour (and the World Cup); Strauss takes over as skipper for the Fourth and we’re whupped again to lose the Ashes; Vaughan takes over for the last and gets the regulation consolation victory – 3-2 to Australia, but nowhere near that close, really.
November 11th, 2006 at 12.35 am
One day cricket does not count for anything, remember that.
November 11th, 2006 at 7.31 am
Well said Fraser.
To see Freddie send down nine pretty good overs is enough for me.
Bit worried about Saj – but at least this will bring him down to earth a bit and remind him that there’s a lot of work to be done before he gets his ‘5-fer’ at Perth…
November 13th, 2006 at 12.16 pm
Thanks reverse swing
Lets just hope my theory is correct! Would be great to see the Ozzies spanked in their own back yard, by a below strength England team!
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