BoxRec

Worst batting display i have seen in my life, How the hell did England bat for 40-50 overs and only score 70 runs.

Sickening, back to being a team of chokers after last years euphoria. When the Aussies raised the ante England couldn't stay with them which how it has been for the last 20 odd years.

I think today the Aussies showed why the have been the best team in the world for as long as I can remember. They simply do not give up. We batted like the draw was a formality, and whenever sides go into that safety-first mindset against Australia they come unstuck.

The series is finished, and after a capitulation like this one, it's going to be hard for England to pick themselves back up. A whitewash might just be on the cards after today.

The turning point was when Giles dropped Ponting when the Aussies were about 70-3 in the 1st innings. You just can't give players like Ponting a second chance. And after the verbals the England players gave Warne yesterday, you just knew he'd come out and take England apart today.

Giles was garbage from start to finish. Heard a load of texters on 5 live blaming Flintoff but he was let down by key personnel.

The second innings batting display was dreadful. Not that it's sour grapes but how many times is Warne going to get away with excessive appealing? I think Brett Lee was warned and he is nowhere near as bad.

A bloody disgrace, all told.

Can England win two and draw one out of three matches against Australia in their back yard?

Not bloody likely but I'd love it if they proved me wrong.

Giles being picked ahead of Monty because he can get you 20 runs if your lucky
England rugby team picking the same old faces despite being on an almost record losing run
Skelton turning down a world title shot because the money wasn't right

all examples of the safety first attitude that is a holding us back when competing on the world stage. not saying Monty would have won us the test but what does it say when the widely regarded best spinner we have had for 20 years is left out for Ashley Giles (average 40.66 in 54 Tests)

Man I didn't realise that there was 6 guys in the country that liked cricket! I thought cricket was just a toffs game that no one was really interested in. Come on guys, the Ashes! next you'll be maypoling

Shocking last day, terrible performance. The run rate was an absolute joke.

Who cares its only cricket

Can anyone explain why Panesar has been dropped for Giles in the last 2 tests? And why exactly is Jimmy Anderson even in the squad...

Taki... wrote:Can anyone explain why Panesar has been dropped for Giles in the last 2 tests? And why exactly is Jimmy Anderson even in the squad...

Giles; because Fletcher has always had a safety-first mentality, and tends to go for known quantities. To be fair Giles did do well when we won the ashes back, but he's obviously hardly played since. I don't agree with calling up someone who's bowling average is well, average, and who's batting average is not all that much higher than the man he's replaced.

Anderson; God only knows. It proves that our much vaunted strength in depth bowling attack is a myth.

The selection issue is one that I've long had problems with. Some players are bombed out without seeming to do much wrong, whilst others are given chance after chance despite proving that they are not up to it. I'm a great believer in not changing a team unless there are injuries or a lack of form. Replacing players who were doing well, with players who have hardly played during the last year is just suicide.

You could have also mentioned Chris Read. He did absolutely nothing wrong, but Fletcher couldn't get rid of him fast enough for this tour. His batting had clearly improved, and his glovework has always been better than Jones'. Read has been dropped twice now for no real reason.

that performance was an absolute disgrace. :(

the whole series is over now. they can forget any chance they had.

Sorry I didnt realise I was browsing the cricket forum

England have been a load of crap in the last 2 matches apart from Collingwood, Pieterson, Hoggard and Flintoff.
The players have tried but its Fletchers fault, to many favourites especially Giles and Jones. Here are my picks: -
Ali Cook is a promising batsman, but everyone knew his technique would struggle in Australia, especially opening the batting. Without Vaughan and Tresco Robert Key would have been a much more solid pick to open.
Also, Owais Shah would be a better bet than Ed Joyce as reserve batsman.
Chris Read should never have been dropped.....he did nothing wrong last summer. Jones gets picked through favouritism, he isnt scoring more runs than Read and he isnt as good a keeper
James Anderson shouldnt be in the squad, hes very short of match practice. My pick for the 3rd seamer post would be James Kirtley, very underated and did well in the tests he played. Why hasnt he featured since, obviously not one of Fletch's faves
And finally, and worst of all, picking wheelie bin Giles over Monty. This is a criminal case of favouritism

wildwaylon wrote:Sorry I didnt realise I was browsing the cricket forum

You aren't. It's a thread called 'Ashes disaster' on a boxing forum, where off topic discussions occasionally takes place.

Hope that clears things up for you.

Ian 'Mr' McNeilly wrote:

wildwaylon wrote:Sorry I didnt realise I was browsing the cricket forum

You aren't. It's a thread called 'Ashes disaster' on a boxing forum, where off topic discussions occasionally takes place.

Hope that clears things up for you.

Always surprises me just how many people actually like cricket... it really is pretty crap!

I thought it was excellent, I put a daft £5 on the Aussies before I went to bet at a huge price of 20/1 & also put £2 on them winning the series 5-0 at a whopping 100/1

I for one am in a workshy arsehole frame of mood today. Anyone else signing up to this stick cricket game? We played it here ages ago - could have been during the last ashes actually.

http://www.stickcricket.com/index.php

We can do a boxrec league. It's asking me for e-mail addresses but once you've registered just click on "join league." League ID is 85553; password is zapgereev

I'm in jomo. I wasted hours playing that game last time around.

Good man states. Anyone else?

Come on lads, role up. 28 hours until the "league" closes, whatever that means. Don't tell me you're scared off by states' score, which was cultivated by either supreme natural talent or obsession to the point of great sadness. One of the two.

How did he score that many? I had one bad over but still wouldn't have been anywhere near that.

jomothepure wrote:Come on lads, role up. 28 hours until the "league" closes, whatever that means. Don't tell me you're scared off by states' score, which was cultivated by either supreme natural talent or obsession to the point of great sadness. One of the two.

I think the latter is probably nearer the truth. The truly sad thing is, if you look at the highest scores achieved on that game, I'm actually rubbish. Some bloke has managed 358/0. WTF?

When you get 358/0, it's time to seriously consider admitting yourself into a secure institution. Good grief.

15 minutes to go gents. Any final takers? btw gmonkey, was you beating my score by 1 run coicidence or taking the piss?