Story The Ashes. England Tour Australia (Massive Problem, with computer)

[LUMB_YORKSHIRE]

England will win this comfortably good work

 

[surendar]

Well, the Poll has been removed by request.

 

[Highlander999]

England wrap up comprehensive victory
Abraham started to lead a fightback, pretty soon after the 35 overs stage, with some big hits. he quickly reached his half-century.

However it was that man again. Freddie Flintoff, made the breakthrough. A perfectly disguised slower ball resulted in a simple catch for Monty Panesar. This could signify that any chance Chairman's XI had is completely over.

A little bit of action happened here very quickly. Andrew Strauss patrolling at deep square leg, took a catch which was destined to be a six. It looked like a stinger, and he had to go off for a few minutes afterwards to get some ice put on it.

From here on in, the match was pretty much over. Two batsmen perished trying to reverse sweep pace :what. Here was the first wicket

After 45 overs this highlights just how out of it, Chairman's XI are.

Another stupid shot

Although the match is over pretty much, the next wicket that fell, needs a special mention. What has got to be a catch of The Series possibly by Steve Harmison

The last wicket quickly fell. Chairman's XI easily lost the match many runs of the required total. A good bowling performance by England as well. Special mention has to go to Flintoff who batted and bowled extremely well. Abraham top scored, but his innings was just to slow. This has set up England very well for the First test against Australia.

No surprises about how gets MOTM. An excellent all round performance.

So England have won their first and only warm up match in Australia. There will be concern for Vaughan and Strauss about scoring such few runs, before such an event. Stay tuned for more details coming up

 

[Highlander999]

Andrew Strauss misses the First Test.

It was announced yesterday that Andrew Strauss would miss the First Test in Brisbane yesterday due to a broken thumb he obtained in training. With the way the squads are there is a chance Darren Maddy might open up the batting with Alistair Cook.

Last night Strauss said how disappointed he was to miss the first test, but said that he expects to be fit for the Second test.

Meanwhile the Australian Team were looking very confident last night as they went out for a few drinks. Brett Lee is in Ricky Ponting's bad books however after he is reported to have said he is unhappy with the way he leads the team saying there are cliques within the team. Will this mean he does not get the new ball? Only time can tell.

It would not be good for team Australia, if the Skipper and his main pace bowler have fallen out, as the Australian press has been given them a lot of hassle recently, and they need to present a united front. Hopefully for Australian fans this issue can be quickly resolved.

 

[Pakistani Army]

Darren Maddy opening in tests would not be very wise. I would try Solanki . Great works mate.

 

[Spoobir]

lol, as if Ponting is going jeopardize Australia's chances in the Ashes just because Lee said there were "cliques within the team".
Nice work

 

[Master Khan]

Hay a fine win for England
I thought they were going to lose
any why good work there there tom.

 

[Left_Hander]

I believe my first post in this story thread...

A good start to the tour for England. They were the better team in a low scoring game. I don't think Lee and Ponting would be at each other's throats, though it makes for interesting reading.

Keep up the good work!

 

[freddiw]

yea, i agree Solanki is pure clas,s
although maddy would be a good pair with cook,
i hope England win,
good luck

 

[Highlander999]

First Test at Brisbane. England name strange side​

So here we are. It is the first Test here at Brisbane. Australia have waited a long time to humble the English and now their chance is here. The atmosphere in Brisbane is electric. The ground is absolutely packed, as it is a Saturday. There are plenty of travelling fans here from England, and for some reason they are all wearing beards. :cool:

Although the Australian fans are greater in number, the Barmy Army are louder mainly due to the copious amounts of alcohol available. However, a vast area of the ground is just green from the Aussie fans who not to be outdone by wearing just beards some are wearing melons on their heads.

It is a perfect cricketing day down here. it is nice and warm and very sunny. The groundsmen have done an excellent job with this pitch so that it is suitable for all. Down in the middle Michael Vaughan correctly called tails, and has elected to have a bat first.

The team that was announced by England has certainly raised a few eyes. Darren Maddy is going to open the batting for England with Alistair Cook. Both have very different styles and it will be interesting to see how the Australians treat this. Another surprise was England naming only three specialist bowlers, in Hoggard, Anderson and Panesar. There are three all-rounders included, Flintoff, Collingwood and surprisingly Mascarenhas. It does give England a slightly longer batting line-up although the Australian batsmen might prosper under the weakened bowling attack.

The Australian side looks very formidable although the pace attack does look a bit different. Kasprowicz gets the nod as one of the opening bowlers along with Shaun Tait. Brett Lee not being given the new ball does show that there might be some sort of situation between Lee and the Captain. Hussey will open with Hayden and both batsmen have been scoring plenty of runs in the recent Tests. The middle order looks very strong with both Symonds and Gilchrist playing who really are world-class batsmen. And finally Ricky Ponting. One of the best ever batsmen to play for Australia at the No.3 spot. Will he be able to embaress England?

So the first ball is ready to be bowled. We are going to take a quick break, but we will be back soon, to watch

THE ASHES​

 

[kookaburra69]

Looking foward to the first update mate,looks great so far!

 

[Hooper]

Wow, just discovered this. Haven't been in this part of the forum for a while. Great Ashes series. Nice to see Hampshire boy Dimitri get a call up for a Test!

Kaspa back? Oh no, do we want to lose this series right now?! Can I ask who is our spinner then?

 

[Highlander999]

Can I ask who is our spinner then?

Warne and Clarke

 

[Master Khan]

Hay looking foward to see the match
anyway good luck Tom

 

[Highlander999]

Australia dominate first session​

The English defense of The Ashes did not get of to the best of starts. Kasprowicz and Tait had the opening pair in all sorts of trouble, with a few edges missing the fielders and Cook getting dropped by Hayden. England were riding their luck quite a bit and eventually it went. Darren Maddy hoping to impress the selectors, got clean bowled by Kasprowicz attempting to drive.

The new ball was nipping all over the place, however Vaughan and Cook played very patiently and as they got set they began to build a pretty solid partnership. Spin was introduced early on in the form of Clarke and Vaughan especially played him well. It was however Clarke who got the breakthrough. Vaughan had begun to us his feet quite effectively to get to the pitch of the ball. He tried it one time to often and Clarke saw him coming. He pitched it slightly shorter, spun it through the gate and clean bowled, Vaughan, who had made a very positive start.

This meant that the danger man, Kevin Pietersen was at the crease. The man who had played so brilliantly last year against the Australians, and who could quite easily take the game away from them. However it was not to be. In fact it was a disaster. A golden duck to be precise, and Clarke was on a hat-trick. Completely deceiving KP he got one to straighten and had him plum LBW. A crucial wicket for Australia.

This left England with a tricky few overs to face before Lunch, however Cook and Collingwood successfully negotiated them, without any incidents. So at Lunch on Day 1 England are 56/3, and looking to be in a spot of bother. Cook and Collingwood will hopefully get a big partnership in the afternoon session. The big let down of the morning was KP getting out for a golden duck, and there will be celebrating in Aussie pubs tonight about that.

The Australian bowlers have kept it very tight with there being very few loose deliveries. There has been no sign of Lee yet and England will have to watch out for him this afternoon. The best bowlers have been Kasprowicz and Clarke who have been very accurate and got wickets.

So that is how it looks at Lunch. Cook and Collingwood will have to do a rebuilding job this afternoon against a very good Australian attack. There will be a lot of pressure on the lower middle order if these two quickly get out. The next session could be crucial to see how this innings goes Hopefully there will be lots of exciting action for the next update. Stay tuned to find out what happens.