Sunday, July 12, 2009

Tip my hat...

I may not like or even respect this English side but I will tip my hat to them - they held on like men possessed today and maybe there is a backbone to this side hidden deep inside.

Despite my negativity on his suitability as a test number 5 Collingwood dug deep today scoring 74 off 245 balls. Broad, Swann, Anderson and Panesar also deserve some credit - they saw it through to the end and cricket fans will breathe a sigh of relief....

... HOWEVER...

There remains a very big difference between looking like you are going to win a game and hanging on for dear life and I think Australia remain comfortable favourites.
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2 comments:

Jawad said...

I have to admit, I have never found Collingwood anything special either. I guess it is his technique that I found really boring but it was the type of technique needed today and he definitely delivered for England. One thing I've always liked about him is his mental strength. He never backs down. It took me back to the 05 ODI, when Simon Jones threw the ball back to Haydos and there was a bit of "in your face" moment/argument between the two. Collingwood came in and backed up Simon Jones, which I thought was really cool. I thought the same attitude might transfer through to his captaincy but it didn't. Anyhow, I loved his innings today. Not one mistake until the very end. He looked determined and England did fight through for a draw. They did not show up to play hard cricket until the last day, which has made me a bit more interested in the series now.

I was expecting Australia to wrap it up by tea but I'm not entirely surprised that they couldn't. They have had trouble taking 20 wickets in the recent past, especially on a wicket like this, it would always be hard.

There has been alot of talk about Ponting sticking with the spinners and not Johnson. I agree with Ponting because Johnson has been rubbish throughout the match. He was giving away way too many runs. Ponting's captaincy has impressed me after a very long time. He lead from the front. I think it was the bowlers who let him down a little bit. They are not the quality bowling attack of the recent past but they are slightly better then the English attack. The only englsih bowler who stood out was Flintoff. England will be rushing in Harmison though. He probably had his bags packed after Worcester.

July 12, 2009 at 3:26 PM
Marc said...

Yeah I think Punter looks refreshed. Break probably did him and a lot of the other guys good.

Do I think the Australians would have steam-rolled the Poms with Brett Lee bowling like he did in the warm-up games? Without a doubt... although ironically if he had replaced either Hauritz or Hilfenhaus the attack might have lost the more successful of the bowlers.

As for Mitch... I actually wouldn't write him off. I noticed in the series against us that when he didn't get something right he worked very hard to get his around the pitch and the conditions.

As for the English side - so much can be said - can they afford two spinners against Oz? Surely not. Where's Onions? Harmison... yes? No? Maybe.

As long as Broad is coming in at number 8 you have a short batting lineup and that's going to cost them somewhere along the line. It is a very different story when a Johnson or a Lee comes in at number 8 or 9....

July 12, 2009 at 9:02 PM

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