Apart from congratulating Collingwood, who almost deserves his MBE after all, (almost, because this is ODI, not Ashes, therefore less at stake)all I can say is the Oz selectors need their heads read for putting Watson into the final after not playing all summer. You’d think they’d have learnt not to make that mistake from the English!

but yes, all hail , Collie! til sunday anyway. After all, a week in ODI’s may be long, but fans’ memories (and obviously selectors’) are short.

Collingwood… sigh… I could listen to that Geordie accent all day. Sorry, I mean watch him bat all day. Fabulous seesawing tight match — gives the fans their money’s worth.

I went along to the match, and was reasonably glad I did so despite the loss.

The Australian collapse was hard to watch, but Collingwood’s batting more than made up for it. I’ve gone well past the point of caring about this tournament, and purely went along as an excuse to drink. Still, Collingwood’s innings was masterful and most importantly for the World Cup in a month, proved he can steer England home through a difficult part.

I have quite a large headache so I really can’t be bothered going into any other details…oh, Mexican wave is probably worth a quick mention though.

There was a plea to wear anything Mexican to the game tonight (I took a sombrero) in support of the Mexican Wave. Bay 13, notorious for their antics over the years, stood up every hour or so and did a ‘mass Mexican Wave’, i.e Everyone, rather than an individual began the wave. The police threw out a couple, but a large majority stayed as police couldn’t realistically remove 1000+ people.

Rather amusing really.

An amazing, professional performance from Collie. He never looked in trouble at the crease, and his fielding gave England the momentum it needed when it looked like the chase would be 350 and not 250.

A quick word for Ian Bell though. He is beginning to look like a game changer at number 3. Soon he will be the batsman winning games; will be a pleasure to watch when that happens!

No Wonder Collingwood has show why he is key member of england cricket team… a memorable century for him and for all the england fans!!! great going for england!!

I think it might be a tad early to say that, Marcus. Still some egg-wiping and smirk-wiping to go over the next few days. Simply wondered: what Buchanan said was absolutely correct at the time. And Ponting’s was a fair assessment too. What would you prefer, mealy-mouthed patronising? And as for your allusion to swings and roundabouts and cycles- there hasn’t been much of it in Aust/England cricket for the last 20 years. Covered yourself well though, by saying Australia might win the next two handsomely. Can’t lose now, can you?

Dear Caroline,…..Would I be correct in my assumption that you are a member of the Diplomatic Core?
I have never read such beautifully crafted letter in relation to a sport…..well done lass,long may you continue….my sentiments exactly.
Well done England…..now please remember how you did it on Sunday….and for the opening batsmen who failed yet again!There’s still time to have a lesson in pure guts from Collingwood……after all you should know the technicalities of Batting after all the hours you’ve put in at the nets?

Caro - we are perhaps in danger of over-stressing australia’s importance.
you really think the england management sat around and thought ‘well chaps - it’s an away fixture against the best side in the world who are desperate to whip our miserable arses after last summer. i say, here’s a cunning plan: let’s show just how little we respect them by not preparing. we may get thrashed, but they’ll be so angry!’
murmurs of agreement round the room.
up pipes PR guru: ‘yes it would also piss off our fanatical supporters (’the mad army’, i think they’re called) who will have spent buckets of dosh going half way across the world.’
…well it’s certainly an ‘interesting’ theory (just for the record that’s ‘mealy-mouthed patronising’).

no, they ballsed it up; they got the wrong schedule, they had to make some gambles on fitness - all of which were proved wrong, they stupidly lost the services of a really good bowling coach. but amazing as it may seem, the world does not revolve around australia. it might be more attractive for me to think they did this out of bloody-mindedness and not because they fucked up big time, but the simplest explanation is usually the right one.
we prepared badly, we probably believed our own ridiculous pr (open-top buses full of hung-over cricketers? tea at the palace? oh please!!! another excellent example of hubris)and lacked the hunger of an angry bunch of aussies many of whom knew this was the last hurrah and were fucked if they were going to let the colonial power lord it over them. particularly given the fact that of the two squads in australia, the australians had at least a small edge at virtually every position.
however, for me, the buchanan comment had all the charm and maturity of pointing a dismissed batsman at the pavilion - just a bit cheap. if a player on my own team did it, i’d tell him he was a twat, too.

andrew - yes, saying ‘anything could happen and it probably will’ (as i think jack karnham did) is something of a trueism and a long odds-on bet, but if i say that sport is a glorious uncertainty (blah blah blah etc)and then add a prediction that england will win 2-0, that isn’t exactly consistent. for what it’s worth, i think the aussies will either win 2-1 or england 2-0. i just don’t think english morale is strong enough to win a nail-biter. they really have been the poorest side of the tourney and i can’t quite work out how they got to the final (mind you i REALLY can’t work out what loye and nixon are doing there, estimable county pros though they are; still, both have been right up for the fight - nixon not worthy to ask punter for batting tips let alone sledge him - punter probably cracked a rib). this will not stop me laughing long and hard if england pickpocket the win - as the aussies would if in some weird world the positions were reversed. for what it’s worth i think it’s more about aussie weakness than english quality and other sides may have more chance in the world cup than we thought. and here was me kicking myself for not taking some of the generous odds on england going home without winning a game in oz…it’s a funny old game, andrew.

I never thought that I would live to see cricket generating so much heat…Woweee!
Roar on the next match……I love it!

I don’t mind Ponting — he’s certainly a no-frills Aussie with few pretensions, and clearly a brilliant batsman. I don’t really rate him as a captain though — with a team of the calibre of Australia over the last few years, Chris Cairns’ mother could have captained them just as well, as Cairns put it himself a few years back.

And I don’t really mind what Ponting and Buchanan say either — captains and coaches sound smug and arrogant when they’re winning and like shifty dolts when they’re losing — just listen to Ponting and Buchanan in the 2005 Ashes: they don’t sound any sharper than Flintoff and Fletcher have on this tour. What can you say when you’re losing?

I certainly think it’s damned easy to be a fan of a team when they’re winning. It’s when they’re losing, and losing badly, that it takes grit and shows you what you’re made of. Some fans go ballistic and want inquiries and heads to roll and spew out a lot of anger. And yeah, England made mistakes and took gambles with selection and fitness in the recent Ashes. But every team does that. And sometimes they come off spectacularly well. There was great debate about whether to choose Pietersen for the 05 Ashes. Seems hard to countenance now, but there was. But England had a terrible year last year, four captains, multiple injuries which meant they had to rebuild their team again and again with young inexperienced players. And everything went wrong in Australia, and it was bloody hard to watch. But form and confidence and success are mysterious things and not at all things that you can conjure up by firing people and having inquiries and spewing a lot of hot air. I was intrigued to hear Collingwood say the other day that his dramatic reversal of form was due to nothing that he could pinpoint. He said the only thing he did differently was change the grip on his bat. And I’m sure Australia have felt they’ve gone out with exactly the same intent in their last two games with England, yet lost.

And Caro, as far as Aussiephobes go, maybe you should look at the tone of your own comments over the last couple of days before you start casting stones.

What is this - a target on Kathy or what? Fair enough you like Flintoff, Caro, but what red-blooded female doesn’t?. That’s no challenge at all! I think it is the comments about the MBE’s which alerts us to the Anglophobe (capital letter thanks!) part of you. Don’t worry, I’m a confessed Aussiephobe, but only for those who piss me off with their pommie-bashing.

Let’s agree to disagree, and not get so personal, hey? Anyway, what are we all doing on this thread- let’s talk about the game on the other one!

simplywondered…’s obviously an aussiephobe

*preens* you’re too kind, caro and i’m delighted to be of service; i hope that by studying your even-handed comments i may soon be as impartial as you
xxx