The 2006 3 mobile Ashes Series Australia vs. England

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
Well, we have sent Rod Marsh to England in the past and now Greg Chappell is in India. In some instances it's a cultural thing more than anything - afterall, England's number one obsession in sport is football (soccer), as is Rugby in New Zealand. Cricket appears to be something that you play in those countries if you can't or don't want to play the other sport/s.

Countries such as India, and in the past the West Indies, that prioritise cricket as their number one sport, don't always have the financial capital to invest in their players, or the population of new players coming up in the ranks to forge a decent competition.

I think Australia does do bits and bobs to promote competition - even just playing competitively and, for example, declaring in time for a result, "teaches" the opposing team - but it comes down to us having the "cultural capital" - i.e the players coming up through the ranks, and Australia promoting cricket as a valued and accessible sport to our ten-year-olds, which I don't think happens in all other cricketing nations.

The One Day Series could well invite the competition you crave, Anna, as New Zealand have a mighty fine one-day team, and have often provided healthy, nail-biting finishes to their games with Australia! I fear that England will struggle, however.... :(
 
Last edited:
shika said:
afterall, England's number one obsession in sport is football (soccer),
Click to expand...

:yes: And after all the beauty of football is its simplicity. All you need to play it with your mates when you're young is a ball and something like jumpers to mark out goals. The only rule you really need to understand then is that you have to kick it into the other team's goal. :shrug:

Cricket on the other hand- you need cricket bats, a ball, wickets (wheelie bins are always popular substitutes but it's never the same) and a HECK of a lot of space (unless you want to break next door's greenhouse... :whistle: ). The rules of the game are also more complicated than football.

It just lacks the convenience of football and so fewer people tend to play it when they're younger which in turn means fewer adults play it.
 
Yeah, agreed. Pele kicked cans around on his street. I used to play barefoot with a cheap plastic ball...we'd use our footwear as goalposts. Fun times.

Cricket took me ages to understand, and if not for the excitement of last year's series, a lot of reading and playing Stick Cricket and Anna and Salome's talk about it over the years on this very board I'd never have liked it. :laugh:

I've tried explaining it to a few of my friends. Safe to say they don't get it. That said I've had a few fun games in school with one bat, a tennis ball, and a set of 'stumps' created from some upturned stools. Granted we simplified the game to a 'bowl and hit the ball as far as possible' kind of thing so all that complicated stuff about running between the wickets and getting stumped and all was rendered kinda moot.
 
And now, perhaps not surprisingly, Justin Langer has announced his retirement, effective after the Sydney Test. There won't be a dry eye at the SCG, this week. :sad:
 
And Australia will have no Test Team left after the Sydney test!....its really the end of an era.

You wouldnt Expect Gilly to be around for more than 1-2(at best) seasons either.
 
:lmao:

Rain, rain, rain in Sydney - there may be no 5th Test. :(

Just catching the ferry now to go over to the SCG, though it's going to be a day of waiting around and watching those Super Soppers, me fears. Look for me in the stylish poncho!!
 
234/4. Close of day 1 and we're not out of it. That's got to be progress.

And I've found the secret to avoiding a 5-0 defeat. For the first time I stayed up to watch some cricket and we managed to do 'okay' until tea. I 'nod-off' and we lose two quick wickets and a full collapse would normally the be routine. But I wake up and we turn it round again.

I'm staying up again.

THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE 5-0!!!!
 
Mate at the rate time is being lost I'm edging towards this being a drawn Test and thus a humiliating 5-0 whitewash is staved off for the less humiliating but still humiliating 4-0 defeat.
 
Don't rule out a result for either team (but more likely Australia) yet... three days left and although more rain is forecast for tomorrow, it can still turn the game for a result. I'm out at the 'G tomorrow, Friday and Saturday and it's going to be fantastic watching both teams scrabble for their desired outcome. (whispers)"Go Aussies!"
 
maybe if it rains straight for the next 2 days a whitewash can be prevented


I know it might not be good for cricket to have the aussies dominating the game the way and for the lengthy period they have done,
but in these Ashes they have just been superior in all aspects of the game: technically, physically and mentally

no other outcome but a whitewash would be a fair result for this mismatch
 
If all goes to plan, it'll be over by lunch-ish today, the 4th day. My skin can't take too much more of sitting in the sun all day...

It's a sad, but also celebratory, day for Australian cricket. Farewell, Warne, McGrath and Lil Langer. :wave:
 
What an anti-climatic series in the end, after 2005's fireworks, but England were too crap and Australia were too good.

Comiserations especially to those who stayed up late to follow this in the UK.

Punter man of the series, well deserved.

Do they give out player of the series for both sides, by the way, like how Warne got it last time round? Because no England player deserves it. Hoggard, maybe, for at least trying.
 
Why even bother? This Ashes series was a total waste of time. Does England actually still have a cricket team?
 
at least England battled until th ebitter end
*cough

nwo I have to see whether I ever predicted a whitewash in this thread :D
 
awww, at least I got sort of close :D


Salome said:
I guess another England Ashes 24 test losing streak had to start at some point :D

this Aussie summer sounds like a good starting point for me :up:
Click to expand...
 
Whats the main reason we lost the ashes? is it coz the Aussies scored more runs? or cos we took fewer wickets?
 
Bloody Hell!!! I've just seen some guy on skysports news, a William Hill rep, giving odds for the sport over the weekend, he's just said, "If you want to take out a bet as an investment for your grandkids, The Aussies are 500/1 to keep the Ashes for the rest of the CENTURY,"

Excuse my ignorance of the game compared to some people, but if that happens, I'll bloody well swim from here to Australia!!!
 
adrball said:
the optimistic side of me predicts a 5-0 series defeat. Aussies are good enough without giving them extra motivation.
Click to expand...

This wasn't a joke when I predicted it in another thread. The pessimistic side of me thought there would be enough few days to fit in a couple more tests.

But congrats to the Aussies. Clearly the better side (perhaps the only side actually playing) won.

I would have thought though that any team with any sort of quality would be been able to put up a decent fight in a list one of the matches and prevent the whitewash. The final day at Adelaide proved to me that we lack something mentally as well as with the bat and ball.
 
Well I think some of you are being particularly hard on England, and while I agree, they have some soul-searching to do before 2009, I do think they tried... if only a little. I have a couple of theories about the series...

From watching the Tests, and especially being at one live, the main difference I notice is with the fielding, especially in the outfield. Australia has worked hard in the past decade or more to prevent the opposition scoring runs wherever possible. They run like the wind after potential boundaries and often perform gymnastic-like feats to prevent that ball from crossing the rope. England, however, seem content to chase the ball to the boundary, almost conceding that it will be a boundary the moment the ball leaves the bat. I think this is both a fitness thing and a mental thing. Australia stubbornly pursues the ball and rarely lets it defeat them.

I also think that Australia is stronger mentally in believing that they can turn a game around and win from a seemingly un-winnable position, as was seen in Adelaide. I know it's easier to be strong mentally when you are used to winning, but I think a key part in Australia's success is their self-belief - I would even call it arrogance - that they think they deserve to win and that they WILL win, no matter what. This dogged belief took Australia from behind in many games that I saw during Steve Waugh's captaincy and continues now into the "new generation". England needs sports psychology more than anything! It appears that they don't BELIEVE they can win and with even an iota of doubt in a game against Australia, you are lost at the beginning. Australia appears to sniff out any whiff of self-doubt and uses against the opposition. That, and perhaps a laziness about the game, was part of their downfall in Adelaide.

The true English winner in this series was the Barmy Army, who, as Ricky Ponting said, were a credit to their team and to their country/ies (including Wales) They are a joy to listen to at the games and provide welcome entertainment when the game loses momentum. (Yes, even us Aussies get bored at times, watching Australia do so well!)

It was emotional to see the three (four, counting Damian Martyn) players leave the game, but I'm excited for Australian cricket in the future: it'll be great to see some new young players rise up and become their own.

And personally, I wouldn't be putting any bets on Australia dominating for the rest of the Century... cricket is cyclical and there will be a time when Australia loses strength. Just look at the West Indies from the 70's and 80's... I thought I'd never see them lose to Australia. Our time to step down will come, there's no doubting that. England just needs time. And perhaps, Michael Vaughn :sick:

Now I can go read the Survivor thread seeing as the final aired here on TV last night! Ciao.
 
Last edited:
shika said:
Well I think some of you are being particularly hard on England, and while I agree, they have some soul-searching to do before 2009, I do think they tried... if only a little. I have a couple of theories about the series...
Click to expand...
is it possible to be too hard on the first whitewash since 85 years? lol

I agree with all your reasons, but when you look not only at the fact that they lost all 5 tests but also at the scoreline of those tests (except the second test) than England was pulverized in a way that can't even be explained by the difference in quality and every other good reason why England would always have lost this Ashes contest: they really let themselves down, showed no signs of wanting to fight and if I were and English cricket supporter and had bought tickets to see them play in Aus I would be less than impressed to say the least

I think the England team probably is still the second best in the worldand that makes it all the more painfull to see them perform as Bangladesh weaker brother these Ashes
the Ashes deserve more
 
I was hoping some of the players would "flog" me, excuse my french!! :tongue: Who is this new guy, "Stickers"????

PS. Anna, just LEAVE ROOSY ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!
xx
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Sad_Girl
The Promises we make pt 3
Replies
9
Views
822
Sad_Girl
Sad_Girl

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom