the ashes

[Ken Gargett]

while most eyes might be on origin tomorrow evening, the first day of the ashes as well. i cannot wait. with us losing harris for the series, it will be much tougher than previously expected. that and the fact that watto must still have the photos of the selectors naked with goats - how else does he continue to get a spot.

for the young (in age) amongst us who did not see lillee and thommo, i urge you to watch this clip. from the first test in 74/75. as a kid, i sat behind the wicket for all five days. loved it. england actually had a good side for the series with some of their all time greats but australia had a top side - the chappells, walters, marsh, walker, redpath and lillee and thommo.

this will show those who missed it why many think that not only was thommo the fastest of all time but considerably faster than anyone else. strangely it cuts out early - thommo got 6-40 in the 2nd innings if i recall, and it does not show the sandshoe crusher - that is in the second clip.

but as lillee has always said, the aussies did not start the bouncer war from that series - the english fast bowlers did, especially tony greig. but no question who finished it.

https://youtu.be/nTaVRuxje80

https://youtu.be/g7dQ3UABXJk

[Ken Gargett]

i should add that if thommo was the fastest, for me, dennis lillee was the greatest fast bowler i have ever seen. i could watch his run-up for hours every day. one of the greatest sights in sport.

[Guest rob]

Good stuff, indeed, KG.

I have been in a boyish state of excitable in anticipation of this series. There's a lot going on to make this a real feast of sporting entertainment.

Craddock gave his take on the Watto issue, and the insight, as always, was brilliant - and probably right. Basically saying that Watto has been selected is a beautifully contemplated strategic move - and is a win / win situation - as he'll either outperform expectation (unlikely), or that it will be the catalyst (albeit counter-intuitively) that allows them to dump him once and for all - however, he articulated the point far better than me.

Can't wait.

Oh, and the blues will win by 1, or lose by 13+.

[Homebrew]

One of these days I am going to have learn the game, so I can figure out what Ya'll are talking about.

Dave (A.K.A. Homebrew)

[JohnS]

Australia have the better bowling attack and so I think they should be favourites, but I'm not willing to say that England at home won't be competitive. It's sad to see Ryan Harris retire due to injury, what a great bowler!

[madbunny]

watto or marsh big question who brakes down first,warner to have a big series and it looks like we are going in with the 4 fast men and lyon to carry the drinks

[JohnS]

watto or marsh big question who brakes down first,warner to have a big series and it looks like we are going in with the 4 fast men and lyon to carry the drinks

Four fast men...that would be big news! Cricinfo's preview of the 1st test doesn't mention it though, nor do any other media outlets that checked today (such as SMH, News, BBC, Yahoo, Sky News and Sky Sports)

http://www.espncricinfo.com/the-ashes-2015/content/story/894941.html

[Bill Hayes]

I'm a tad upset at the fact, even though I have moved into a new townhouse with the missus, we don't have a regular TV aerial but a dish, meaning we get all the Foxtel channels and regular free to air channels but not a few of the HD channels. And wouldn't you know it, GEM, the HD part of Channel 9 is one of them. Hopefully they replay the day on one of the Foxtel sports channels or else it will be the first time I've missed seeing at least some of an Ashes series in years. Oh well, there's always the cooking channel. Doh! Anyway, Wales will be interesting for a start to the series.

[Coolio]

Once again Watson has got a start and failed.

His time must be up.

No it can't be, this has been happening for the last however many years!

This Test is shaping up as an interesting one now, with us 7 wickets down and over a hundred runs in arrears.

Haven't seen any of it yet as I've been on night shift the last 3 nights and like Bill Hayes, we don't have GEM here at work. We've got every other stupid channel but that one it seems!

[Ken Gargett]

Once again Watson has got a start and failed.

His time must be up.

No it can't be, this has been happening for the last however many years!

This Test is shaping up as an interesting one now, with us 7 wickets down and over a hundred runs in arrears.

Haven't seen any of it yet as I've been on night shift the last 3 nights and like Bill Hayes, we don't have GEM here at work. We've got every other stupid channel but that one it seems!

has been so frustrating. one dropped catch can change history. haddin takes a simple catch on root's second ball - they are 4-40 and in all sorts. they could have gone for 120-150. who knows. instead, we are now all out and every chance of losing this test. even worse, the loss of confidence england would have suffered from being knocked over cheaply would have set us up for the series. now they have confidence and momentum. one catch....

[Ken Gargett]

but at least we won the origin,

[JohnS]

Australia have certainly played better in the past few test matches, but they have relied on Steve Smith and David Warner for runs lately and this has now come back to hurt them in the 1st innings. I agree that Haddin's catch would have changed the game completely.

I feel sorry for Mitchell Marsh. I have no idea what he needs to do to get into the team or what Shane Watson needs to do to get out of the team.

[Coolio]

Australia have certainly played better in the past few test matches, but they have relied on Steve Smith and David Warner for runs lately and this has now come back to hurt them in the 1st innings. I agree that Haddin's catch would have changed the game completely.

I feel sorry for Mitchell Marsh. I have no idea what he needs to do to get into the team or what Shane Watson needs to do to get out of the team.

Well....... Marsh just needs to look through Watson's kit bag and find those photos of the selectors with the naked goats, i mean the naked selectors with the naked goats that Ken mentioned earlier, and then send them to Liz Hayes.

Liz will start researching a story for 60 Minutes exposing the dark underworld that exists within CA, and then the CA lawyers will jump in, do their thing, and hush it all up.

Watson will then announce his retirement in a hastily arranged press conference blaming his back related hamstrings, and Marsh will finally get to dust off his baggy green. Not that it was that dusty. It had only been in his glovebox for 6 months.

Simple really!

[Ken Gargett]

Well....... Marsh just needs to look through Watson's kit bag and find those photos of the selectors with the naked goats, i mean the naked selectors with the naked goats that Ken mentioned earlier, and then send them to Liz Hayes.

Liz will start researching a story for 60 Minutes exposing the dark underworld that exists within CA, and then the CA lawyers will jump in, do their thing, and hush it all up.

Watson will then announce his retirement in a hastily arranged press conference blaming his back related hamstrings, and Marsh will finally get to dust off his baggy green. Not that it was that dusty. It had only been in his glovebox for 6 months.

Simple really!

sadly, watto will be playing and letting us down for the next 30 years.

i saw a news corp poll on whether he had reached the end. it was 1569 against 89. and i reckon 86 of those 89 simply voted that way because they have no genuine hope that he'll go. the other three are the selectors.

[Coolio]

Stand up if your one Nil up! Stand up if your one Nil up stand up!!

Yeap no doubting your guys played better and deserved the win. We have a couple of blokes that might be announcing their retirements before the tour is over i reckon. And I'm not including Ryan Harris in that count!

they'd better pick their game up before the 3rd Test. I'm not travelling all the way to Birmingham to see them capitulate!

[madbunny]

starc out looks like siddle in that hurts ,cummins is in the squad but i would pick patterson ,and watto should be gone with mmarsh in the team ,plus we need a legspinner

[LordAnubis]

Ill just leave this here.

GM recently released a new bat for Shane Watson.

Haven't laughed so hard for a while since seeing this on Facebook.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JohnS]

Hitler reacts to Watson....hilarious!

[madbunny]

haha bloody funny whats the retail price

[Webbo]

Shane Watson has just been told he is out of the side to play England at Lords.

He immediately reviewed the decision.

[ayepatz]

Piece in the Times today.

[JohnS]

From Cricinfo....

Watson dropped, Haddin withdraws

Australia's selectors have chosen to drop the allrounder Shane Watson after also learning that the wicketkeeper Brad Haddin will miss the second Ashes Test at Lord's for personal reasons. Peter Nevill, 29, will make his Test debut in Haddin's absence while Mitchell Marsh is set for inclusion at Watson's expense.

Haddin will remain on the tour and there is no suggestion that he is retiring, but it is now hard to see Watson returning to the Test team now that the selection chairman Rod Marsh and the coach Darren Lehmann have decided to go with Marsh.

The decision on Watson was brought about by his poor first Test at Cardiff and a recent run of indifferent performances in the long form of the game. He has not made a century since the Perth Test in December 2013, and has also failed to make a significant enough impact with the ball to merit a place. In Cardiff Watson was twice out lbw, a vivid reminder of an enduring blind spot in his technique.

Marsh has meanwhile shown signs of significant progress, doubling his tally of first-class centuries with a pair of bold innings during the tour warm-up fixtures against Kent and Essex while also demonstrating a more mature approach off the field. Marsh has played four Tests for Australia, but this is the first time he has been chosen directly ahead of Watson.

Earlier on Tuesday, Haddin was seen in conversation with Lehmann in the Pavilion and did not emerge from the dressing room to go to the nets. Haddin was also spoken to by the team psychologist Michael Lloyd. Meanwhile the reserve gloveman Nevill was talking to Rod Marsh in the Nursery End nets amid a range of conferences among Australian players and staff.

The captain Michael Clarke had his head bowed as the news was relayed to him after he had batted. Nevill and Haddin, both New South Welshmen, have a close relationship, with Haddin saying earlier on this tour he was delighted to have Nevill as his reserve and potential replacement.

It is not the first time that Haddin has been forced to absent himself from national duty due to personal reasons. In 2012 he withdrew from a tour of the West Indies due to the ill health of his daughter, Mia, and subsequently spent six months out of the game. He returned to the New South Wales team in time for the 2012-13 summer, and fought his way back into the first-choice wicketkeeping spot in time for the 2013 Ashes tour.

Haddin went on to be a major contributor to the Australian 5-0 sweep of England in the home summer of 2013-14, playing a series of outlandish and effective innings with the bat while also being integral to the team as Clarke's vice-captain and a mentor to younger players. It was Haddin's preference last summer for Steve Smith to replace him as vice-captain when Clarke was injured and thus take the role of stand-in leader. Haddin was then a part of the World Cup-winning team before retiring from limited overs matches on the eve of the current Ashes tour.

Nevill has played one match on tour, against Essex at Chelmsford, and will now become the 443rd Australian Test cricketer. He has impressed good judges with his combination of sound glove work and attractive batting, and scored 78 against Essex.

The loss of Haddin is a blow to Australia's hopes of levelling the series at Lord's, even if he endured a difficult match in the first Test at Cardiff, dropping Joe Root on the first morning of the match and twice falling for low scores as the tourists tumbled to a 169-run defeat.

Watson has enjoyed a more or less uninterrupted run in the Test team since Lehmann took over from Mickey Arthur as coach in 2013, missing three matches due to minor injuries. However his returns as a batsman have not warranted a place - only three times past 50 in his past 18 innings - and his bowling returns have also trailed off, tallying only 13 wickets in his past 22 Tests.

He had been dropped from the ODI team during the World Cup earlier this year, but was swiftly reinstated after one game and went on to play a pivotal role for Australia in victories over Sri Lanka and Pakistan. It is difficult to see him returning to the Test team this time, however.

Source: http://www.espncricinfo.com/the-ashes-2015/content/story/898553.html

[JohnS]

For what it's worth...in my opinion, I do think Australia will play better without Watson, but I feel for Haddin having family issues again. I do hope his daughter's health is okay. I think Australia will play better at Lord's...but credit must be gven to England for the way they played at Cardiff. (Then again...if England were 4-43 if Root was caught on 0, who knows how this test might have gone!)

[JohnS]

I was really happy to see Chris Rogers hit a century at the home of cricket, Lord's, last night in the 2nd test. I do hope he can go on from his overnight score of 158 no to hit a double hundred.

[JohnS]

Commiserations for Rogers missing out on a double century, bowled by Broad for 173...but congratulations on Steve Smith getting his 215 tonight, the first Australian to hit a double century in an overseas test since Jason Gillespie's monumental 200 not out as a nightwatchman against Bangladesh in 2006.