Well done Aussies, once again you taught the English a lesson in the finer art of scoring runs and bowling.

No doubt there will be serious inquests here about 'what went wrong'
The answer is that nothing went wrong England were never ever going to be good enough to regain the ashes.

My prediction of 5-0 still stands and I hope Simon Jones gets fit soon.

;-)

Muck

Mucky - you clearly don't have the faintest idea of what you are talking about.

England aren't playing to REGAIN the Ashes. Lost now, but the series aim was to keep em, eh? Pretty critical point that.

Assume post made to get all the clique to reply. None of the Americans will have a clue - far too subtle a game for that nation - and for Welshmen too it seems. As for the regular Aussies, well maybe they care and maybe they don't.

Obviously Mucky meant to say "retain" the Ashes, just a little typo - I make them all the time.

Fuzzy
Anyone ever tell you your an idiot.

If you have nothing to say that is positive pi$$ off.

Muck

Not to worry Mucky we all understand very well thank you and I am sure that there are many Americans who have watched and enjoyed the game of cricket over the years. Perhaps the one day game. I heard it on good authority that Fuzzy was the trumpet player for the Balmy Army. An inside source said that the name of the player was "Fuzzy" so I am just putting two and two together. Obviously got the sh..s cause it got thrown out in the first test.
Just goes to show though that one should never, never talk about a side ( Australia) being too old and being a Dad's Army of players.
This was the most exciting test of all time I think and as Pieterson ( an English cricket player in the test) said that they were just not good enough to beat Australia. There are some good players in the English team but they are not consistant nor are they extra special - something that is needed to win an ashes series.
Thanks for making the post Muck. I am sure that if you had not then one of us would have. Although this is an American heavy site there are English tourists who are interested in the Ashes tests and so too are many of us who are regular writers. The only thing I can say to Fuzzy is to have a cup of tea, a Bex and a good lie down if you feel at all slighted by Mucky's post. As for Welshmen not having a clue about the game I thought that the English wicket keeper was a Welshman and if I am not wrong neally every test has had a Welshman in the team somewhere. Are they now not a part of the British Isles ( they wish!!!!!!!!)?

Hi Liz and Pat,
Crikey what side of the bed did Fuzhead get out today.
Sounds like he is sore about the inadequecies of the English side.

For the record.
Welsh cricketers playing test matches for England so far:
That is pretty good considering the selectors rarely come past the severn bridge.
Maurice Turnbull
Cyril Walters
Johnnie Clay
Austin Matthews
Allan Watkins
Gilbert Parkhouse
Jeff Jones
Pat Pocock
Tony Lewis
Greg Thomas
Steve Watkin
Hugh Morris
Robert Croft
Simon Jones
Geraint Jones (b Papua N/G Welsh parents)

Sophia Gardens (Glamorgan) will be used for test matches in a couple of seasons. (That is in Wales Fuzhead, just for your information.)

I believe Aussies care greatly about Cricket, from my visits to their beautiful country I can see that they are a proud country and they ought to be after all the success.

Americans I don't believe care too much for the game despite it being played there since the 1700's.
The first international game took place between England and United States at Hoboken, New Jersey, on 3, 4 and 5 October 1859.

Who said anything about directing this at Americans?? Remember this is the Australian forum, not the USA forum.

And just to finish. One of the dictionary definitions of 'regain' is "to succeed in reaching again" www.dictionary.com

I believe that was England's objective was it not?

So Fuzhead. go and blow your trumpet elsewhere.

Muck

Well, this "regular Aussie" couldn't give a rat's fundament who wins the cricket. The more excited we get about inconsequential sporting contests, the less we have to trouble our minds with more important things, like our wretched ranking in the R&D league table and higher education generally.

Leaving aside a small number of wealthy sports stars, how will the lives of the mass of Australians and English have been changed one skerrick by this event? On the other hand, how will Australians' lives be changed when our frightening level of houselhold and national debt tips us into the inevitable recession, to say nothing of the consequences of global warming?

Yes, I know, we need circuses as well as bread, and I have nothing against entertainment spectacles in themselves, but it seems to me we've lost our sense of balance - especially since the mass media latched onto how much money they could make from the major sports and inflated them to a prominence they never just a few short decades ago.

I suspect that fuzzylogic is a Pom, which might explain his/her entirely gratuitous and pointless sneer at Americans.

And a Merry Christmas to all.

It's interesting to note that that first international match came just a decade after the first organized modern baseball game, played in the same city, Hoboken.<br>
Some of us Americans know a thing or two about cricket, even if it is literally only a thing or two. I understand the rules pretty well, though I don't know if I could sit still for it for the whole five days. You can even see it played in the States, in the park, if you live in a city with a sizeable Brit/ Indian/ Pakistani/ West Indian population.

Anyways, I know who Shane Warne is, and heartily congratulate him and his teammates {especially if he's within arm's reach). Here's to 700 wickets!

Sorry about the rant ... well, not all that sorry, except that I fell victim to the temptation to take a potshot at fuzzy, thus probably exacerbating the already raised blood pressures in thsi thread.

One point I meant to make, though, is that my son, who's a keen amateur cricketer, was barracking for England. Why? He too thinks that Australians are obsessed with winning sporting contests, and the only possible cure is for our teams and individuals to start losing in a big way. I see his point.

Needless to say, I'm in favour of an immediate cessation of government funding for the Australian Institute of Sport, which was set up by the Fraser Government in an act of grovelling populism after a particularly wretched Australian performance in the Olympics.

The private sector makes so much money from sport that it should be able to spare a few million to keep the AIS going. We could give the Nine Network naming rights.

Then, of course, there are the graduates of the AIS, many of them fabulously wealthy. Graduates of our government-funded universities are expected to part-pay for their degree once they're making a living wage. This is done by the government extracting HECS (Higher Education Contribution Scheme) payments from their pay packets ad infinitum. What's so different about the AIS?

Neil ( aka Scrooge re: Poo Bah etc to cricket and anything else that is not pertinent to Neil's World of Politics and semantics ) Its all about pride old son, pride in our sports prowess, pride in our Nation and pride in our young players who bring sport into the lives of the younger generation who hopefully will want to play it instead of sitting in front of computers or X Boxes. It may not change Global Warming but neither will anything else seeing that climate change has been a part of our World ever since our World began.
Don't start on about National Debt and Politics Neil - lets not go down your "I hate the everyone but the Socialists" path again.

Well said Mucky....

look forward to a pint at Sophia Gardens in the summer of '09 when we tour again.On my way to Crofty!!!

John it will be a new Sophia Gdns when you get there in 09.
But will still have the queues for beer unless the spacemen are re introduced. So I may join you !!

We nicked one of the summer tests from England and they are a little bit sore about it to say the least.

Glamorgan had a dreadful season last and I for one look forward to better times.

If Global warming increases the temperature here in Wales I am all for it and if a day at the cricket can help me to forget the sh*t that goes on in economics,politics,TV,newspapers and life in general then bring it on.

Oh happy christmas to you too Neil.
Looks like the test match ticket I bought you for Xmas will have to go back then. Sorry ;-)

Muck

well Muck...strangley enough I have received several offers of sydney test tix at face value since yesterday afternoon.

At least two from poms!!!!!

The Adelaide test was unbelievable! The Perth result was pretty much to be expected after that!

I couldn't get tickets to Sydney - and now I'm not too sad! But, Muck - you can send me Neil's ticket - I can be reasonably well behaved, if I have to be!

Mucky, your kind thought is much appreciated. Rest assured I have a number of cricket-made acquaintances if that ticket is weighing heavy on your hands.

And Liz, shame on you for trying to introduce politics into this civilised discussion. See, I've had the operation since I last posted, although I still twitch every time someone turns on a light. But now I worship the ground John Howard walks on. Global warming? What global warming? Where's my sweater?

And to think that I was going to vote for Ken Weasley Neil. Just keep taking the pills and you will be OK mate!

Well it has started.
The newspapers here have begun ripping the England side apart
blaming the humiliation on poor preperation, leadership and selection.
(Ok they are probably not wrong but..)
They are having a dig at Flintoff as a crap captain.

The problem we have here in the UK is that when an individual becomes good at something ie. Freddie, the natural progression is to make him captain and any other position available.

He may be a great all rounder, but that doesn't necessarily make him captain material. So LEAVE FREDDIE ALONE !!

Muck

Absolutely Mucky, you are right. Where are the selectors? Where is Ian Botham now seeing that it was he who said that the Aussies were Dad's Army - enough to make sure that the Aussie team went that extra mile to make sure Ian B had egg on his face. What about the English Team Manager, the Coach and anyone else who has more sway about what happens than poor old Freddie would ever do. Who had the idea that after India the English would go home for a rest before coming to Australia? Isn't it always the way that someone has to be a scapegoat?

Well done 5-0 as predicted.




Muck

Ah thank you Mucky. I was reading in the London Times where it said that at one point in the last test there was still a chance that England may win - funny though but I missed that fleeting instant in time as did everyone else. It was a wonderful series and as predicted it was a whitewash and rightfully so as the English team was not in the same league. To win, you must "want" to win and it seemed that the English team couldn't care less, or worse, they were never in the running to win. I just hope that they will go back to England and re-write the scripts on how to play and sort themselves out. Other than that though they were very gracious in defeat, Flintoff seemed to be a wonderful personality and carried his captain's role with dignity. It is not easy to be thrown into that role. Let us hope too that now the test is over and won the English side will settle down to some really good and exciting one-day cricket which we know they can do.