The Ashes

Reading the bbc website yesterday Duncan Fletcher said that wanted to have Monty Panesar in the side however it was this so called Selection committee they have. ( I don't know who's in it, obviously Fletcher, Flintoff and Collingwood i found out is in it.) So therefore maybe everyone should stop putting so much heat on Flecthers back and look at Flintoff. I mean it makes sense to me kind of, Flintoff wants to bat far down as possible, I just look at how he used Panesar at Lords against Sri Lanka, he was the best chance of bowling Sri Lanka out in the 2nd innings but Flintoff would not turn to him. I just read a piece about Tony Creig talking about the same thing about Flintoffs selection. Surely things would be different if Strauss was captain for the Ashes series, I mean the inclusion of Monty Panesar.

Originally posted by lordhighgus
Damien Martyn just announced his immediate retirement from cricket today.
Why quit a side after such a magnificent win and playing at his home ground with a good chance to win the Ashes back?
Maybe the guy is depressed? There has been drama about him in the press or maybe he was pushed?
Curious.........

I thought Martyn would have been dropped once Shane Watson was fit, couldn't see Michael Clarke being dropped they way he's been playing.

Originally posted by GrumpyBoyFett
I thought Martyn would have been dropped once Shane Watson was fit, couldn't see Michael Clarke being dropped they way he's been playing.

Originally posted by lordhighgus
I personally dont see the need for Watson. He has never seemed to perform at the top level. He would be a weak link. Andrew Symonds would be a much better replacement, with his medium pace and left arm spin.
The Aussies seem to have a desperation in finding an allrounder.
If it aint broke, dont fix it!

Originally posted by howardgee
God, it is frightening the strength in depth of the Aussie squad.
[...]
Symonds would walk into the England team w/out a moment's hesitation.

Originally posted by howardgee
Symonds would walk into the England team w/out a moment's hesitation.

Originally posted by Varg
And he could as well, since he is English! (born in Birmingham).

Originally posted by mtthw
While the depth is impressive (especially in batting) you're overstating the case here. Symonds would walk into the England one-day team. But in tests? He's not going to get in as a bowler, he's not as good an allrounder as Flintoff, so he's looking at a batting place.

I don't see him as a top 3 batsman - more of a middle order player. So which of KP and Collingwood should we drop for a player with a test average below 20?

Originally posted by howardgee
Personally, I wouldn't drop a batsman, I would drop a bowler.
England would then have a decent bowling line up of.

He'd need to get his stupid hair cut first and stop using all that sun block

Originally posted by GrumpyBoyFett
He'd need to get his stupid hair cut first and stop using all that sun block

From the Guardian's Spin email:
SEVEN WAYS OF SAVING THE ASHES

Only one side has ever come from 2-0 down to win an Ashes series, and
that side contained Don Bradman. So what are England to do? Keep
kicking themselves for the collective freeze that handed the second
Test to Australia? Or work out how on earth they're going to win two
of the last three matches and not lose the third? Ever-upbeat, the
Spin has come up with a seven-point plan which will soon be
distributed under the doors of the players' hotel rooms...

1) The Australian who might have been most grateful for events in
Adelaide is Glenn McGrath. Had the second Test ended in a draw, much
of the focus between then and now would have been on his dodgy left
heel and his life expectancy as an opening bowler. Instead, Australia
have quietly been able to draft in Andrew Symonds, whose off-cutters
should ease McGrath's burden. England must fight this by attacking
him as they did in the first innings at Adelaide, especially as Perth
is expected to offer as little assistance to the seamers.

2) To do this they will need more input from their openers. So far,
Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook have shared stands of 28, 29, 32 and
31. Ian Bell has come in against a relatively new ball every single
time. In 2005 Marcus Trescothick not only scored plenty of runs: he
scored them quickly. England's openers are doing neither, yet a
benign Waca wicket is their best chance of playing themselves back
into the series before the heady finale of Melbourne and Sydney.
Strauss scored two hundreds in the last three Tests of the previous
Ashes series, and must do the same now.

3) England have to shelve their worthy but misguided plan of batting
down to No8 and pick an attack capable of taking 20 wickets instead,
which is how every other team in world cricket operates. This means
dropping Ashley Giles (3 wickets at 87 in the series) and -
regardless of how well he bowled in the two-day game at the weekend -
Jimmy Anderson (2 at 151) and bringing in Monty Panesar and Sajid
Mahmood. It doesn't matter if Mahmood goes for runs, because Panesar
ought to save them. What matters is that England attack with their
most aggressive line-up. And one that is not reliant on Matthew
Hoggard and Andrew Flintoff.

4) Don't be cowed by Shane Warne. His nine wickets so far have cost 40
each, which is a mini-triumph for England. But that stat would be
even healthier if they hadn't played him so feebly that morning in
Adelaide. Alec Stewart said it reminded him of the way he and his
colleagues used to play Warne in the 1990s. Well, it's time to play
him like they did on the first two days of December 2006, when he
would have gone for a lot more than 167 if he hadn't bowled for two
hours into the rough outside Kevin Pietersen's leg-stump. Warne is
one of the game's magicians. He doesn't need England pulling his
rabbits out for him.

5) Abandon plans to trap Ricky Ponting lbw early on with full-length
deliveries on his stumps. He's in such good form that the ball keeps
disappearing through midwicket. Bowling short is no good either,
although not all England's bowlers have taken this on board yet. In
fact, the only man to out-think him so far has been Hoggard, and even
then it has come only after two big hundreds. England must frustrate
him out. Stuart Clark does it wonderfully well for Australia, and
he's only played six Tests. It shouldn't be beyond England.

6) Begin to believe. Australia have chinks: Matthew Hayden is yet to
reach 40, Symonds has everything to prove, Michael Clarke will be up
the order, and Justin Langer keeps being touted as the next retiree
after Damien Martyn. England's lack of self-belief cost them the
second Test. Giles admitted that he woke up on the final morning with
the thought that "this day might not run as smoothly as we would
like". Why?! It's time to show that all those cups of coffee with
Michael Vaughan have paid off.

7) Hope and pray.

Originally posted by ElleEffSeee
From the Guardian's Spin email:
SEVEN WAYS OF SAVING THE ASHES

Only one side has ever come from 2-0 down to win an Ashes series, and
that side contained Don Bradman. So what are England to do? Keep
kicking themselves for the collective freeze that handed the second
Test to Australia? Or work out how on earth they're going to win two
of the last t ...[text shortened]... se cups of coffee with
Michael Vaughan have paid off.

7) Hope and pray.

Originally posted by Esoteric
Australia in big big trouble. 3/69 before lunch.

Hayden fails to make a start (again), Langer out after settling in (again). Hussey looking good (again).