Deserved winners I think. Both teams had limited players but England were better at producing it when the chips were down and consistently took important wickets at important times.
Wouldn’t begrudge Flintoff it anyway. That cunt Strauss though is another matter. Can’t warm to him at all.
I just hope Fitzy will be as gracious, Rocko. Somehow I doubt it though.
I like the way you didn’t stick up for Strauss. Very gracious of you too. :rolleyes:
Great to see Strauss get man of the series for E&W…What a man, what a captain…seems like an alright sort too…
Justin Langer said in his dossier that Strauss is a good bloke.
Exceedingly good banter between Ponting and the Barmy Army there…
I think Strauss is all right. Seems a bit of a toff, and I don’t like the way he wears the old skool floppy hat, but his opponents and lads he plays with generally regard him as an alright sort.
Is there a finer sight in world sport than Jerusalem ringing out over a sun-drenched Oval as the Ashes are back in English and Welsh hands?
Rule Britannia indeed. :rolleyes:
What the fook? Now they’re playing Macho Man Randy Savage’s theme music.
Flintoff is a legend. Simple as that.
Strauss deserved Man of the Series for his captaincy and for consistently being the only English top order batsman who could dig out the runs when needed. Graeme Swann ran him close though in my book. Very underrated cricketer.
Michael Clarke terrific series too and surely will be Australian captain very soon. Getting Clarke out cheaply in both innings probably the biggest factor in England wrapping it up.
Given Australia’s reputation as sporting gentlemen (ahem!) I was impressed with Ponting’s interview after the game on TMS. Very gracious in defeat. He wasn’t impressed with the Oval wicket, but if you consider that both teams put on over 300 (and almost 400) in all but the one inning, then perhaps it wasn’t so hard to score off as it seemed.
That afternoon spell on Friday with Broad’s haul of wickets really was the crucial element of this match.
As Ponting says, Australia had most of the stats for the series (centurions, wickets, etc) but England won. Down to some players digging in at the right moment (Straus, Panesar, Collingwood, Trott, Flintoff, Swann,…) in key points of different tests.
Some questions must be asked of Ponting as captain though. Not including a spinner for the last test was one. I know the wicket changed in character and Ponting said that if people had known then England would have included 2 spinners, but the fact is that people were talking about it before the match so the possibility of the wicket suiting spin was always there, and England did include one good spinner and probably only left Monty out on form. There were other moments when Ponting seemed to miss a trick. Persisting with certain bowlers when they were patently not making any inroads resulted in several rearguard actions messing it up for the Aussies, principal amongst which, though by no means the only case, was the tail at Cardiff.
I’ve just written a fucking essay about this and promptly lost it. Fucks sake. I’ll start again.
Oh fuck, I couldn’t be arsed now, I’ll do something tomorrow,
well done England and Wales, deserved winners.
Leave it altogether Fitzy…we couldn’t give a fuck.
Speak for yourselves lads, i want to hear Fitzys take on it and the general reaction down under. What a strange series really though, not winning in Cardiff proved to be the key moment for me. When you look at the stats its 8-2 to the Aussies in centuries and they have taken more wickets despite all the rubbish been written about their attack. In fact the top 3 wicket takers are all Australian.
England should feel like some millionaire auld lad with a playboy bunny as a wife today. They know without serious extenuating circumstances theres no way this was possible. They must be congratulated on taking advantage of the luck that came their way though and their 1st innings bowling in particular was very good at times. Remarkable though that a middle order devoid of their best South African could win an Ashes series. When you think of the little contribution Bell, Bopara & Collingwood [Cardiff aside] made you have to ask yourself how did they win it?
Maybe its time for Ricky Ponting to step aside? Hes still worth his place as a batsman but some of his bowling choices were strange, not necessarily personnel but his changes in particular. Having Marcus North bowl at the death in what we now know as the crucial juncture of the series defied belief really.
[quote=“Special Olympiakos”]Speak for yourselves lads, i want to hear Fitzys take on it and the general reaction down under. What a strange series really though, not winning in Cardiff proved to be the key moment for me. When you look at the stats its 8-2 to the Aussies in centuries and they have taken more wickets despite all the rubbish been written about their attack. In fact the top 3 wicket takers are all Australian.
England should feel like some millionaire auld lad with a playboy bunny as a wife today. They know without serious extenuating circumstances theres no way this was possible. They must be congratulated on taking advantage of the luck that came their way though and their 1st innings bowling in particular was very good at times. Remarkable though that a middle order devoid of their best South African could win an Ashes series. When you think of the little contribution Bell, Bopara & Collingwood [Cardiff aside] made you have to ask yourself how did they win it?
Maybe its time for Ricky Ponting to step aside? Hes still worth his place as a batsman but some of his bowling choices were strange, not necessarily personnel but his changes in particular. Having Marcus North bowl at the death in what we now know as the crucial juncture of the series defied belief really.[/quote]
Embarrassing.