Boxing Day Test Teams?

Hughes would of made it if he didn't hesitate. Watson is an idiot for leaving that ball. Ponting needs to stop dangling that bat at balls outside off.

And Swann, Swann will tear you apart, again.
Swann, Swann will tear you apart, again.

liamszaraz said:

Hughes would of made it if he didn't hesitate. Watson is an idiot for leaving that ball. Ponting needs to stop dangling that bat at balls outside off.

And Swann, Swann will tear you apart, again.
Swann, Swann will tear you apart, again.

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That was Watson's call and fault! There was no need for a quick single esp in the situation they were in! Watson has been running people out since primary school!

howzat said:

That was Watson's call and fault! There was no need for a quick single esp in the situation they were in! Watson has been running people out since primary school!

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Not saying it wasn't Watsons fault am I? I'm saying Hughes would of made it if he didn't hesitate.

liamszaraz said:

Not saying it wasn't Watsons fault am I? I'm saying Hughes would of made it if he didn't hesitate.

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Yeah but all I am saying is the call shouldn't have been made in the first place! Hughes hesitated because he knew that a) it wasn't on and b) it was just so unecessary in the context of the game! It got the poms backs up and changed the face of the game again...

Hughes was like a lamb to the slaughter, there was no run there, simple as that. It wouldn't have mattered if Hughes was in running spikes and Cathy Freeman's Sydney Olympics 400m jumpsuit, he wouldn't have made it home and shouldn't have been expected to get there regardless.

Lousy work from Watson. Katich probably still hasn't forgiven him from the runout in Adelaide, although he was slower than Hughes out of the blocks and got stitched up with a direct hit...

bjs127 said:

Hughes was like a lamb to the slaughter, there was no run there, simple as that. It wouldn't have mattered if Hughes was in running spikes and Cathy Freeman's Sydney Olympics 400m jumpsuit, he wouldn't have made it home and shouldn't have been expected to get there regardless.

Lousy work from Watson. Katich probably still hasn't forgiven him from the runout in Adelaide, although he was slower than Hughes out of the blocks and got stitched up with a direct hit...

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PMSFL @ Brad, I know this is a little petty, but I was run out by Watson when I was in primary school I was in the 40's he was in the 90's. He made a hundred nearly every game we played so no big deal to him. And he run others out in similar situations! Anyways it came to one of the last games of the season, I was on 49, one over left Watto had 103 on the easiest pitch we played, Brassall high school, shortest on boundary known to man! I walked up to him at the start of the over and basically said you better get me a single that I can actually run or else, anyways first ball he gets me the single and I smash the next ball for an absolutely glorious pull shot for 4 for my only 50 for the summer as wicket keeper/batsman! All I am trying to say is I witnessed him run out people poorly from an early age!

---------- Post added 28-12-2010 at 11:48 PM ----------

And I should add that he is probably tougher than people give him credit for. He has lived and breathed cricket from an early age. I remember when I would sleep over there his dad would come and get us up early so we could watch the last session of aus v windies before school, then come home and do sessions in the backyard, or net sessions up at the local synthetic pitches! Unbelievable commitment and somewhat dampened by his love of rugby also, he had fractures/problems from an early age due to football! His coming of age in the last couple years has been remarkable!

The pain is over congrats England have completely outplayed Australia in this series...

lol, you should see the slamming of aus cricket now that this test is over.

yeah what about news.com.au's main article, the title reads: "Australia loses the Ashes- and the nation's respect. It's All Over!"

Warney said:

yeah what about news.com.au's main article, the title reads: "Australia loses the Ashes- and the nation's respect. It's All Over!"

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That is what I am talking about lol.

They haven't lost my respect. To many idiot reporters out there who cannot accept we are not Number 1 in the world anymore and can;rt acknowledge that England actually played better.

Warney said:

yeah what about news.com.au's main article, the title reads: "Australia loses the Ashes- and the nation's respect. It's All Over!"

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They certainly haven't lost my respect.

They would lose my respect if they gave up and just went through the motions.

They could have given up in England's 1st innings, and while they were obviously outplayed, they kept trying and got England out for 513 when they could have waited for them to declare at 4-600 or 6-700.

I was also impressed in the 2nd Innings with Smith's fighting 38 (less impressed with his ordinary hack outside off stump that led to his dismissal), Haddin's unbetean 55 and Siddle's 6 for 75 and 11 & 40 while batting. All those performances showed that they cared and weren't going to give up.

Unfortunately England looks a really good team; they have no holes apart from maybe Collingwood's awful form with the bat and injury concerns with their first choice fast bowlers - that said their second choice quicks look bloody good too!

Now the Ashes have been retained by England, hopefully we can look to the future and rebuild this side.

Keep Smith and Hughes in.

Look at Peter George or even James Pattinson to replace Ryan Harris, rather than Doug Bollinger.

Pick Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Cameron White or Callum Ferguson if we need another batsman instead of picking David Hussey or Marcus North .

Stay positive and give the young guys a chance at Test level.

they haven't lost my respect either, typical media i guess..

They are making it out like we lost the Test Series 5-0 against a crappy team like Bermuda or Canada for god sake, it is England! They played a lot better than us and we have to give them so credit for this.

Some good comments made here.

A win in Sydney draws the series, sure the Ashes are retained by England but I believe a drawn series would significantly dampen England's tour given how much they have outplayed Australia this series. That must be big motivation for the Aussies going into Sydney.

(Having said that though on current form the Poms deserve to win 3-1).

Ponting and Clarke are well overdue for runs, and there could be a bit in that Sydney Test for the team that bowls either first or last......anything could happen!

I still respect the Aussies..... After 4 tests they have only gone down 2-1 to a team in much better form than us and a team that looks better than ours on paper and a team that will stay together for future years and could even be No.1 soon.

I was so impressed by the way that Siddle approached his innings..... Top test score and he went out fighting.... In my opinion Siddle should bat at 9 and is almost looking to take over Johnson at 8....

This is my team for Sydney and btw I reckon if we beat England in Sydney it will be quite a succesful series....
Watson
Hughes
Ponting
Clarke
Hussey
Haddin
Smith
Siddle
Johnson
Hauritz
Hilfenhaus

Khwaja will hopefully come into the side very soon but i just don't see the selectore picking him for Sydney.....

Katich should be fit so i can see him playing in the next test...

On the Sydney wicket you need spinners so i can see Beer coming into the team in place of Harris

God I hate Aussie journalists. "lost respect"? As long as the boys try they will have my respect. A lot of us have been spoilt with the era of cricket we were born into. Australia has dominated international cricket since the mid 90's and only now have we declined. We do need to bring youth into our team, but we need experienced players to mold them. I think that Tim Paine would make a fantastic Aussie captain, in due time. I also think that we should start every summer with an Aussie vs Aussie A 4/5 day match. Giving exposure to the young guns, who could also play another game against our opponents for the summer. This would give selectors a guide to form fir the summer.

Just to finish off, I hate the way that the media kicks the boys when they are down, but will be the first to celebrate our victory. I have decided to label this problem "Mark Webber Syndrome". I'm sure you know what I mean.

Good luck in Sydney boys.

---------- Post added 29-12-2010 at 09:22 PM ----------

God I hate Aussie journalists. "lost respect"? As long as the boys try they will have my respect. A lot of us have been spoilt with the era of cricket we were born into. Australia has dominated international cricket since the mid 90's and only now have we declined. We do need to bring youth into our team, but we need experienced players to mold them. I think that Tim Paine would make a fantastic Aussie captain, in due time. I also think that we should start every summer with an Aussie vs Aussie A 4/5 day match. Giving exposure to the young guns, who could also play another game against our opponents for the summer. This would give selectors a guide to form fir the summer.

Just to finish off, I hate the way that the media kicks the boys when they are down, but will be the first to celebrate our victory. I have decided to label this problem "Mark Webber Syndrome". I'm sure you know what I mean.

Good luck in Sydney boys.

Great comment, I agree completely.

I used to love the "less is more" era of sports journalism, where in cricket (as an example) you would have maybe 10 (at most) respected journalists/reporters from whom you could get your daily fill. The days of Alan Shiell, Mike Coward, Peter McFarline etc are, if not completely gone, nearly gone.

These blokes have been replaced with sensationalist gossip columnists - as an example, how many of these modern day dicks say "I know for a fact that........."?, it is always a "source close to the team", these days. Why? Because the players obviously don't respect them enough to give a verbatim quote.

I would absolutely love (I would even pay his fine for him, if it came to that) it if Ricky Ponting answered a press conference question by saying "Why don't you f**king show us how it's done, champ?". Now THAT would make my summer!