Will History repeat itself........

Will History repaeat itself again from Englands last Test match at Headingley, where they batted 1st and got knocked over for 203 in the 1st innings, and ended up losing the match by 10 wickets. As avid Ashes viewers would know by know, Australia have been carefully studying Englands matches against South Africa last year, and last year at this very same ground Englands batsmen struggled, they followed the ball a lot, and got caught out at Gully and in the Slips for most of their wickets. With this evidence im sure Ponting will play at least 4 frontline Fast Bowlers.

I wonder if England win the toss, will Strauss bat 1st..........

Selection Crisis

There have been a lot of rumours circling that even if Andrew FLintoff is fit, he will be rested for the Test at Headingley. From what i can gather it looks like Flintoff will not be playing tomorrow. The big question remains then who will replace him, now the BBCs Jonathan Agnew has said he thinks Jonathan Trott will be selected instead, for some reason i dont think that will happen, with all do respect to aggers, who most likely has more "inside knowledge", then me. I remember Geoff miller ( Chairman of Selectors ) saying if Flintoff wasnt fit then Harmison will come in for him , as they are like for like. Even though i dont tink they are like for like, i still think Harmison will come into play, which means Broad will be pushed up the order, even though this will leave Englands middle order vunerable, If theres no Flintoff then Harmison should play, end of.

I really do feel Alastair Cook is not ready for the top level of Test Cricket yet, you always here commentators talking about his technique, its always he cant keep his head still, he keeps dragging himself across the line, he chases the ball too much, i think its about time he got dropped and improved his game, i mean hes been waorking with one of Englands greatest batsmen, and a well renowned batting coach in Graham Gooch for a very long time now, so why hasnt he improved?

Maybe Trott should come in, he has scored a lot of runs this season, but he should come in for a batsmen, ideally Cook or Bopara.

Australia should bring in Stuart Clark, he has the best conditions which should suit his bowling at Leeds. I dont think they will risk Brett Lee just yet, they will probably save him for the last test match at the Oval, and he will most likely come in for the bowler with the least wickets, Mitchell Johnson perhaps...........

Brad Haddin should slot back into the XI, after recovering from a dislocated finger, so in Clark does come into play who will be dropped? I think it will most likely be Nathan Hauritz, as Headingley is a fast wicket, and im tipping Peter Siddle to shine in this match, as you get what you put into at Headingley, and nobody puts as much effort as he does.

Headingley Preview

I feel England have lost a big opportunity in not getting the result at Edgbaston, they had a chance and now the momentum is with Australia, England do blow hot and cold, and with the continiung concern with Flintoffs injury getting worse, i really do feel England will now find it difficult, it looks like they will be without Flintoff in this Test, now England without both Pietersen and Flintoff look very average.

Englands middle order tooks very very weak, even though i hate to admit it bopara is not a number 3 batsman, hes just too attacking, i feel hewould be better suited to bat at number 5 or 6, England need 2 push Collingwood up the order to shore up the middle order.

Australia look to be findin their feet, 6 of their batsmen have made centuries, Hilfenhaus is the leading wicket taker in this Ashes, and Johnson and Siddle are looking very sharp and seem to have found out what line and lengths to bowl in English conditions, aslo thier so called weak link, their spin option Nathan Hauritz has taken 10 wickets so far.

My prediction for this game is firstly a RESULT, Headlingley is known to get results, and even better fast results, and if Australia do the right thing in and bring in Stuart Clark they will have a great chance, so my prediction is a AUSTRALIA victory.

The Flintoff factor

The key player in this match will be Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff. Freddie has got a great record against the aussies, and is extremely dangerous against left hand batsman, and Australia have got 3 left handers in katich, hussey and johnson. Lets not forget the last time Flintoff bowled at Edgbaston, it was against South Africa, and they couldnt pick Freddie at all, and his bowling to Jacques Kallis has World class. Look out for Flintoff to trouble the aussies once again.

Edgbaston Preview

England have got a great record at Edgbaston winning 22 of the 43 Tests staged and losing only eight, with 13 draws, including the historic match of 2005 when England won by just 2 runs. Its going to be very hard to force a result on this pitch, it has been a very slow wicket this year, a batsmens wicket where everybody apart from Ian bell have made runs!

It wasnt the biggest secret in cricket, everybody knew Ian bell was goin to be selected evn though his last three innings include a duck, 7 and 29, not really the best form going into a crucial Ashes test match, but what can you expect when Ashley giles is an England selector, he was bound to be biased towards bell afterall he is a director at Warwickshire aswell as a former player.

Im not sure how much cricket we are going to get this week, it looks like its going to be a very rainy week, and it doesnt look like were going to get much cricket today, maybe one session weather permitting. Theres has to be a twist in this series, afterall it is the Ashes

The Edgbaston factor

At Edgbaston 2005 the Ashes pendulum took a momentus swing towards England this happened when Glenn Mcgrath tripped over a cricket ball, he ended up twisting his ankle and missing a couple of matches and never looking like the bowler he was. He dominated the English batsmen at Lords............. no change there!

Fast forward to Edgbaston 2009 and England have received a serious blow to regaining the Ashes. Kevin Pietersen has been ruled out of the remainder of the series with an achilles injury. Pietersen had been struggling at Cardiff and was forced of the field several times at Lords, his injury has hampered his game to the limit that he couldnt run.

Will Pietersens absence prove as vital as Glenn Mcgraths, i think so, remember Australia were 1-0 up in the series before Mcgrath got injured as well...................

The Power of Twitter

Philip hughes has announced on his Twitter that he has been dropped for the Edgbaston Test, Ricky ponting is not going to be happy, this can only mean that the ausssies are bringing in shane watson, he will most likely be opening the batting, unless the aussies push hussey up the order, but i doubt t, because of the Flintoff factor,to be continued..............

Ashes Lords Update

Im going to swallow a gallon of pride an admit i did not think in my wildest dreams that England would beat Australia at Lords, but they will WIN today, and will end a record which has stood for 75 years. Ricky Ponting will have a lot of questions to which he wont have answers to, and he is on the verge of being the 1st Australian Captain to lose the Ashes Twice.

Expect Big Freddie to have a huge say today, its going to be his last match at Lords, and he will most likely end up on the honours board.

England will need some quick wickets and they have a great chance with the new ball, England will go 1-0 in the Ashes series.

Lords Update

The best thing England can do is do get out, this may sound utterly stupid but they need to come out and hit boundaries, play your shots, if you get out, you get out. Most Lords attendees know the pitch is the quickest on the second day, and from watching play during the end of the day, you could see the ball swinging a lot. This would be James Andersons moment to shine, with the new Dukes ball swinging, this is going to be his best chance to prove himself on the big stage. England should also let Freddie open the bowling. They need to make drastic changes to their bowling attack from cardiff, and you need to open the bowling attack with your best bowlers especially with the new ball.

My prediction for the 2nd day at Lords is WICKETS.

FLintoffs Retirement

Andrew flintoff has announced hid retirement from test cricket following the current Ashes series.

Lords Prediction

First things first, england havent beaten the aussies at lords for a very long time, 1934 infact. I dont think too many things have changed, expect a bit of the last test, if England win the toss they will post a big total as this Lords pitch looks very slow, hence the question why isnt steve harmison playing, rumours last night indicate big steve will not be playing tomorrow. Graham onions will be taking Monty Panesars place in the XI. Looks like England again want to make sure their tale is invisible, they have bowlers who contribute more to the game with the bat! 

Remember the goold old days when you had bowlers like Kurtly Ambrose and Glenn Mcgrath both who didnt know how to even hold the bat, never mind playing a reverse sweep! But both would take a lot of wickets and do what bowlers are supposed to do, get wickets!

England should play either Anderson or Broad not both of them, if the ball isnt swinging they are utterly useless! Big steve should be playing, hes got the aussies quaking in their boots, they do not want to face him, no way, i mean who would you play somebody that has got wickets against the west indies or someone that has got wickets against Australia?!

I think if England can force the game a bit more with the ball, pick BIG Steve, keep Monty in the XI then they will win at Lords. The aussies have a great record at lords and look out for peter siddle bowling down the slope at lords, mark my words he will get big wickets, by the way i am also running a poll for lookalikes, and peter siddle is a like for like for arjen robben, or maybe toady from neighbours!

If England win the toss, they should bat first, on what looks like a slow pitch, they WILL get a big total, strauss and cook have a lot to prove, and they have another life less pitch to prove how good they are! Expect to see cook get an LBW as usual, strauss has a great record at lords, put your money on him making a big century. 

All in all, i dont think Englands bowling attacks strong enough to control the aussie century makers, they are not disciplined enough, and there is always a question on the lines and lengths that Anderson and Broad bowl, Otis gibson needs to take a serious look at his role in the team management, lets just be real, he wasnt a world class bowler, and he hasnt played against the aussies before, and so far we havnt seen any plans that he has hatched for the australian batsmen, the great michael holding made a great point on how in instructed the west indian bowlers not to bowl at ricky pontings stumps, and ever since then he hasnt got a century against them, whilst England were bowling to straight to ponting who just plucked them away for fun.

The Australian Bowling attack is too workman like, and not ruthless as previous attacks. Mitchell johnson has been attrocious, he hasnt got the ball to swing, and has being bowling to wayward to dominate the England batsman. As i said earlier Peter Siddle will be the stand out bowler for me in this match and will be a site to watch bowling on the slope, he will get wickets.  But i dont think they will bowl England out twice. 

My prediction is again going to be a DRAW.

Cardiff Summary

Its pretty interesting if you look at the outcome in this way, Australia fought as hard as they could to win and England had a nigthmare of a test mach

Cardiff Prediction

Firstly, lets start with the 1st Test match in Cardiff, reports indicate that the pitch is going to be a turner, and England will be playing 2 spinners, for the 1st time in 11 years! Bring on the Mont! Aussies have struggled against a so called bowler who bowls the same bowl 6 times in a row, mark my words he will get wickets! Shane warne will be licking his lips but unfortunately for the aussies he will be sparring in the commentary box!

England have to win the toss, and bat first, then unleash their spinners, that would be their best chance. Theres not much pace in the Cardiff pitch, on the opening day, you would expect not much life in the pitch if the batsman play themselves in and hit the boundary balls then easy should come easily. The only way i can see wickets tumbling early on is by disciplined bowling or the batsmen getting themselves out, and Englands openers will not need help in that department!

My Prediction for Cardiff will be a draw, the aussies normally win the 1st test match in ashes series's, hence the reason why the 1st test at Lords has been moved. If England attack early, get a good total and take full advantage of their spinners, then they will just win. After analysing both bowling attacks, i cannot see either of them regularly taking 20 wickets throughout the series.

It will be interesting to see how well equipped the Australian bowlers are at reverse swinging the dukes ball, im sure Troy Cooley will have educated them enough, remember he was the mastermind behind the scenes in 2005, what a judas! The Aussies will struggle without Brett Lee, and news just in that Stuart Clark will not be playing today, Ben Hilfenhaus will play in his position, i must say i am pretty shocked by that decision. Stuart Clark who looks like Pontings control bowler, with his line and length, and ability to swing the ball, has been dropped! Will the Hilfenhaus gamble come off only time will tell. Early signs show Pontings faith in the much riddiculed Hauritz.

Englands Key Players

The Key players for England will be: Ravi Bopara, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff.

Bopara is playing in his 1st Ashes series, but you wouldnt know it from the way he will play, the aussies will target him, expect a lot of sledging towards him, to try and put him off his game, but he is a very confident cricketer, who has a huge future ahead of him, and remember the last time England picked a very promising cricketer for the Ashes? His name was Kevin Pietersen, so im tipping Rav for a big series, he might not start as strong, but once he gets into the series expect big runs.

Im not going to waste my time writing why i think Kevin Pietersen is going to be a key player, he might not have got big runs in the build up to the Ashes, but mark my words when it matters KP will get runs, expect a lot from him and rightly so.

Collingwoods inclusion into my list of key players might suprise many, but trust me, theres none better in this England squad who can get those vital gritty runs and collingwood has got a lot of fight about him and on a cardiff pitch he will get runs, dont be suprised if he gets a couple of wickets as well.

Freddies all round game is crucial for Englands chances, if he can stay fit England will have a great chance, he might not get as many runs as he did in the 2005 Ashes, but his ability to reverse swing the ball, especially to left handers and get big wickets will be invaluable.

I know i havent mentioned him above but i reckon if given the chance Steve Harmison can rock the balance of the Ashes, he was very impressive in the lions match, and totally exposed Philip Hughes, and brought back some painful memories for Ponting. If there are any wickets with andy sort of bounce in it England have to pick Harmison ahead of any of the bowlers, it will be interesting viewing.

Australias Key Players

The Key players for Australia will be: Simon Katich, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson and Brett Lee.

Katich has a very awkward technique, though he is sceptible against the moving ball , and vulnerable outside his off stump, but on flat wickets like cardiff, he will make easy runs, England have to careful not to bowl to straight to him.

Hussey has already stamped his authortity against the lions, and looks very much like the hussey 2 years ago, bad news for the english, very bad news, as he can make runs all day long, my tip to be the top run scorer this series.

Johnson has a very quick and confusing action, he also has the ability to bowl in the late 90 mph's, and look out for his slower bowl, but the key is will he swing it?! can he reverse swing the dukes ball? but i reckon his runs down the order will be more crucial than his wickets,sounds strange but he is a accomplished all rounder.

Lee is their most experienced bowler at the current helm, and as we saw against the lions, he can reverse the ball at a good pace, and his ashes experience is invaluable to his fellow bowlers as he is the only bowler who has played in the Ashes series. His ability with the bat was for all to see during the 2005 Ashes and his runs will bolster the Oz tail, which is looking very small.

Build up 2 The Ashes

As the 2009 Ashes beckons, i am goin to be constanytly blogging througthout the Ashes series. I reckon England will pick the XI that everyone thinks they will, they will play 2 spinners, due to the slow turning pitch at cardiff, expect reverse swing to come into play very early as well. The Aussies havnt had much cricket whilst theyve been in England, they were in Leicester for just over a week, and from seeing them at close quarters those boys love their beer! They are seriously big drinkers, and they were seen at the bar every night, i must be honest though i only saw Ricky Ponting once, and he wasnt drinking with the boys, he looked very serious! It was a smart move going Leciester, as they have some of the best indoor nets in the UK, and with the predictable british weather, there were not going 2 get many outdoor net sessions. Both of the warm up matches they played in were not that impressive, they failed to win either match, but brett lee's bowling with the old ball has impressed me, he finally seems to have mastered reverse swing, stuart clark seems to be pontings control bowler, haurtiz has been very flat, and has been targeted throughout.

Whereas England have been impressive, both the Lions and England, Steve Harmison has been very impressive, exposing Aussie opener hughes, with the short bowl, Ponting hasnt got any big scores but dont get too excited as he will get big hundreds when it matters the most.