i am stuck in england right now, so i have to follow this a bit (you cannot escape) although not fully understanding the scoring rules.
What i always find funny is that they are playing a best of 5 series and before the last test it's 2-1.
What i find typically english.. i heard several comments from their side where the weather for the weekend is a bigger issue than winning the last test. they seem to hope that it will be a rain-out and therefore a draw, which would give them an overall 2-1 win...
to be honest..it's nice to see NFL starting, but i am nevertheless rooting for the australiens.
What i always find funny is that they are playing a best of 5 series and before the last test it's 2-1.
What i find typically english.. i heard several comments from their side where the weather for the weekend is a bigger issue than winning the last test. they seem to hope that it will be a rain-out and therefore a draw, which would give them an overall 2-1 win...
to be honest..it's nice to see NFL starting, but i am nevertheless rooting for the australiens.
A dramatic last day which saw the Ashes slipping slowly out of England's grasp before a heroic century from Pietersen saves the day for England.
The tension and pressure of the last 8 weeks all on England on the final day of the final match yet somehow they withstood two of the best bowlers the game has ever seen and batted Australia out of the game for a deserved series victory.
The tension and pressure of the last 8 weeks all on England on the final day of the final match yet somehow they withstood two of the best bowlers the game has ever seen and batted Australia out of the game for a deserved series victory.
InSpades said:
Hell yes!!
I was feeling physically sick at lunch with England reeling on 127-5 with star player Flintoff out. Australia only 133 behind and over 5 hours left then Pietersen played an outrageous innings blasting 158 including 15 4's and 7 6's!!
Giles supported him brilliantly. Even at tea the game was not safe Aussies still only 220 back with over 45 overs left. Most people had knocked off work early to tune in to the action and I doubt anyone who witnessed it will ever forget it.
It has been a summer of cricket that I personally will never forget and I doubt I will ever see the like of it again.
chriscol said:What i find typically english.. i heard several comments from their side where the weather for the weekend is a bigger issue than winning the last test. they seem to hope that it will be a rain-out and therefore a draw, which would give them an overall 2-1 win...
to be honest..it's nice to see NFL starting, but i am nevertheless rooting for the australiens.
You obviously haven't seen much cricket over the last 20 years.
England has been improving over the past few years and people were hopeful they could challenge Australia. After the first test (an easy win for Australia) many, including some Australian players, were predicting 5-0 for Australia and saying England were the usual no-hopers.
After nearly 20 years of mainly crushing defeats nobody cared how England won as long as they won. Warne and McGrath have thwarted England so many times and with Warne in the best form of his life for England to win in style by batting Australia out of the match with two of the best bowlers ever in the opposition attack there can be no arguments about whether England deserved this victory.
he's right
I think chriscol is right, even though I follow cricket & am old enough to remember Botham thrashing the Aussies in 81.
Five days of play to end up in a draw is pretty stupid if you ask me no matter what sport we're talking about. Although no match in this series was a tame draw, all too often the game is basically dead by day 5 with teams going through the motions hoping to improve their own personal averages.
I can see a lot of the new cricket "fans" in England - most of whom were diehard rugby fans back in November 2003 but don't bother with rugby now - packing in after a few really boring draws in India / Pakistan and next summer. Let's face it, with current rules the majority of test matches offer very little for the cricket fan who is new to the sport.
I think chriscol is right, even though I follow cricket & am old enough to remember Botham thrashing the Aussies in 81.
Five days of play to end up in a draw is pretty stupid if you ask me no matter what sport we're talking about. Although no match in this series was a tame draw, all too often the game is basically dead by day 5 with teams going through the motions hoping to improve their own personal averages.
I can see a lot of the new cricket "fans" in England - most of whom were diehard rugby fans back in November 2003 but don't bother with rugby now - packing in after a few really boring draws in India / Pakistan and next summer. Let's face it, with current rules the majority of test matches offer very little for the cricket fan who is new to the sport.
