England to retain the Ashes - JUST

[BobHelm]

3rd. ODI in the series underway in Tasmania (Hobart). 1-1 so far in the series.
England won the toss & put Australia in. I gather it had poured down overnight, so probably trying to take any advantage that had left in the ground.
Looked an inspired decision when Australia slumped to 33 for 4 - including the inform Watson & the dangerous Hussey. Marsh & White then steadied the ship & did much to retrieve the situation with a stand of exactly 100 before Marsh went for 45. That started another Australian collapse when the next 3 going with only 9 being added. However Bollinger gave inspired support to White before he was out for 30 in a partnership of 88 which allowed White to compile a cracking 100. However he was finally out an over & 4 balls before the 50 overs had been completed, going for another boundary.
He compiled 110 runs to get Australia to 230 all out.
At just over 4.5 an over that would be a tidy rate for a Test match, but should mean second place for Australia in a 1 day game.
For England, Shahzad took 3 for 43 off his 10, Tremlett was miserly with 3 for 22 off 9 & a bit & Bresnan took 2 for 37 off 9. Yardy weighed in with the other 2 wickets but was a bit expensive conceding 61 off his 9 overs. All in all a fine performance from bowlers who probably would all be battling for 1 place if other things had not happened to 'higher ranked' English bowlers. They were also backed up by another great display in the field. Even without Collingwood playing a number of fine catches were taken.
To be over critical England could have maybe finished the Australian innings sooner

[Hages]

Getting a bit ahead of yourself there Bob.

Try - 2nd ODI with Aust leading the series 1 nil.

[BobHelm]

Getting a bit ahead of yourself there Bob.

Try - 2nd ODI with Aust leading the series 1 nil.

Getting my 20/20s & ODI mixed up Hages....well it should be 1-1 going into the 3rd. Unless England really implode..

[Hages]

2 - Nil to the good guys Bob, and both were comprehensive I might add.
Bring on game 3

[BobHelm]

Good to see that my predictive skills are as sharp as ever - yes you guessed it England all out for 184.
Comprehensively beaten for a second time & so are 2-0 down.
Poor, poor display by the batsmen.
Prior was strangely selected as an opener & so about what I expected - a duck. Pietersen got a golden one. Trott & Bell got the show on the road until they were both out in the 30s. Morgan, Yardy, Tredwell & Bresnan all got a start & then went. The last 3 England batsmen went for 6, but they were really way behind the run rate by then.

Strange to think that Cook was not considered good enough to retain for the limited overs games. I imagine he is having a little chuckle at home now.
Hard to know where England can go. The have had both games won & then proceeded to throw them away. It is a worrying return to their pre-Ashes form. To make things worse there is not a good batsman waiting in the wings. The bowlers have acquitted themselves well enough. The batting has been beyond words however...

[Hages]

Bob, as a matter of interest, are you watching these games live on TV?
If so, do you have the channel at home or do you watch in some local establishment?

The place I'm staying at doesn't have any channels showing the cricket so I have been following it via the internet.

Cheers

[BobHelm]

No, in general Hages I am watching via net feeds - & I might even give that up after the first 2 games .
The only place that I know who managed to get a live TV feed was The Book House & Coffee Shop.
However even that was via a 'Sling Box' so internet related, Sky TV from the UK, so reasonable commentators (in the main ). Nothing available in Udon (terrestrial, cable or satellite) is showing the games live.

[BobHelm]

Well half of the third one day game is over & certainly 2.5 Australia 0 England.
England batted first. For reasons best understood by someone other than me Prior opened again & went for a duck. I am not surprised, I guess the selectors will claim amazement.
Trott & Strauss then built up a trouble free 37 partnership before he carelessly runs himself out. Bell scores 10 & then is gone. Morgan hangs on for 30 & then Collingwood & Yardy both quickly depart. Wright second top scores on 32 & then those following come & go as quick as possible. Last man Tremlett gets himself schoolboy error run out to finish it 2 overs early.
Trott saw the complete team (with the exception of Prior, who even the crowd hardly saw) come & go with regular monotony & was left at the crease 84 not out.
England scuttled out for a miserly 214 runs.

I saw that Strauss was saying it was bowling failings as much as batting that were the cause of the 1 day problems. That surprised me as, in the two games so far I thought the England bowling had been more than adequate & had restricted Australia to scores that any batting side should have been happy chasing.
I expect this time he will complain when they can't bowl out the Australians for less than 214.

[BobHelm]

England 3-0 down in the series.
Australia got there with 4 overs to spare, although they looked like making heavy weather of it at times.
Haddin showed Prior how a wicket keeper should open the batting & got 54 before he was out.
Mr. Cricket was back on form & finished with 68 not out. He was ably supported by Smith (26) & Hastings (18no). The other Australian batsmen thought they were auditioning for a place in the English batting lineup.
Watson, Clarke, Marsh & White managing just 31 between them...

[jackspratt]

It's quite clear the Ashes was just a warm up for the Australian team, with the current one-day series being the most important and relevant.

A small correct Bob - that would be Mr Cricket's younger brother David who got the score. The real Mr Cricket is out for a while yet, and may not recover in time for the World Cup.

[BobHelm]

Sorry Jack.

I said England & Australia were much of a muchness.
It seems the decision the England selectors took over Cook was a poor one.
Losing the best bowler of the Ashes series (Anderson) has not helped the England cause but i still see their failure in the 1 day series so far as being a batting one. I am not sure what they can do for the World Cup to improve that.
Prior is looking a poor selection as an opening bat.
Piedersen, Morgan, Collingwood & Yardy have all looked far off the mark as 1 day batsmen, Finding 3 top batsmen & 2 all rounders looks a tough task..

[Hages]

The Aussie womens team have just won the ashes by 7 wickets =D> =D> =D>

Way to go ladies

[BobHelm]

Yes congratulations to the Aussie ladies on what turned out to be a rather easy victory.
I don't think it was much of a surprise that they won & they were pretty heavy favourites for the white wash.

4th. ODI in progress today. I did not realise that the Australian team were the top 1 day side at the moment. However, England have rather made it all too easy for them this series so far.
England batted first & have just completed their 50 overs, scoring 299 while losing 8 wickets. A reasonable score, but it was looking like 50 runs more than that at one stage & I fancy this is a bit of a batting strip.
Wicket keeper Prior opened again & was determined to prove my case against him wrong. He did get a very well crafted 67 off only 58 balls so it was a considerable improvement. However as it was only his 4th. score of more than 50 in a total of 59 appearances I do stand by my argument that there should be someone better qualified - somewhere on the Cape or in Natal I guess.
Trott top scored with 102 & Yardy was not out at the end for 39.
Bell obviously cannot bat at any higher than number 6 & failed again with a duck.
Pietersen was out for 12 & Collingwood managed just enough (27) to become the first Englishman to pass 5,000 International 1 day runs before he was out.
Mr. Hussy Jnr. managed the remarkable figures of 4 wickets for 21 runs off 4 overs, including the wickets of Trott, Morgan & Collingwood.
Exactly 6 an over to win it is a fair target, but I have a feeling that it will not prove to be enough on this pitch. England will need to bowl at their best & get all the breaks I feel....

[BobHelm]

Well despite my belief England actually won a game.

Aus 278-7 off 50 overs

It was going so well for the Australian batsmen as well.
32 without loss & then Haddin went & Marsh 1 run later. Watson was looking good though & him & the captain put on a 50 partnership before Clarke went for 15. That only bought White to the crease & him & Watson looked like they would move it closer. Watson fell for 64 runs though. Hussey then came out & him & White put on 60 before Hussey went for 28. Smith then started to look like him & White could see it through until White fell for 44. It was a big ask from then on as it had fallen below the run rate. Smith remained unbeaten on 46 & Lee on 39. They had put on a partnership of over a run a ball (the original asking rate) but some tight overs by the bowlers had left them with too great a task.
Collingwoods' spell of 7 overs for only 22 runs while taking a wicket were just too miserly.
Trott managed 7 overs & took 2 wickets while conceding 31 runs.

The games are almost who wants to make the biggest hash of trying to lose it from a winning position. 300 is not a small score, but it looked achievable & I imagine that the Australian dressing room will feel that they rather let England get away with this victory..

[BobHelm]

Well the 1 day match is at previously flood hit Brisbane.
England are going according to plan in the ODI series & must be wishing the ground was under a couple of feet of water.
Australia batted first & were all out with a couple of balls still to bowl for 249.
Not a huge total on the ground, but competitive - especially the way England have batted in the series.
The captain Clarke top scored with 54, but no one really got on top of the bowling, although with the exception of Lee & Bollinger everyone got something of a score.
Woakes was the star of the bowling show with 6 wickets for 45 runs off his 10 overs.
England are currently in their 29th. over but it is all over really apart from the shouting.
They are the first 6 wickets down for only 118 on the card.
The England batting has been nothing short of atrocious in this series & they should be ashamed & embarrassed to be picking up their match fees.
There is little doubt in my mind that if Cook had not been on this tour then England would have been stuffed in the longer version of the game as well.

[Zidane]

Dont be too despondent,Bob.The main aim of this tour was to retain the Ashes which was done in some style,albeit against a pretty poor Australian side.
For some reason England are pretty good at the 20 overs thrash but have usually been mediocre at the 50 over game.
I'm a bit baffled by the team selection for this,though.....
Prior is never an opening batsmen......his position should be no.6 or no.7.But Davies was the original wicket keeper for the 50 overs and was doing OK as an opener,so I was surprised he was dropped.
If they persist with Prior then surely they should consider opening with Strauss and Trott with Prior dropping down the order.
Also Collingwood is batting as a no.7 and being used as a utility bowler.His poor batting from the tests has continued in the 50 overs although his bowling has proved useful.But he's primarily selected as a top order batsmen who can bowl a bit and,currently,he's not worth his place as a batsman.
But the problem is compounded by the fact that Morgan,too,has been poor with the bat.
Be prepared for an early exit from the World Cup methinks......

[BobHelm]

Be prepared for an early exit from the World Cup methinks......

Yes rather my thinking as well.
I know that Australia are the world number 1s at the 1 day game so I was not expecting too much. I have just been so disappointed though that the bowlers have managed to get England into a more than fair position in every game & then the batsmen have offered nothing.
I wonder how the man who (according to him) won the Ashes for England can figure out how they all are managing so badly in the 50 over game....just perhaps it was all down to that man Cook who was the real difference between the sides in the Tests & not to some other over inflated ego....

[BobHelm]

Well Australia have won the series now & maybe want to get a bit of quality batting experience in as training for the World Cup. Either way they successfully lost the toss & England decided to have a bat on what looks like a good wicket.
Having made a score in the last game Prior is now in for a run of 5 or 6 tiddlers. He obliged after reaching 17. Strauss & Trott then put on 80 before the captain went for 63. As is pretty typical Pietersen got to nearly 30 before disappointing yet again. Bell came in & him & Trott looked very comfortable before Bell finally went for 45 runs of a quick paced 32 balls. Was race time by now so Morgan came in to club 21 off 13 balls before Trott eventually went in the last over. He had accumulated 137 runs from 126 balls that was very much the highlight of the innings. It was also his highest ever IOD score.
It had helped England get to their highest ever IOD score against Australia as well.
Triple Nelson (333) for 6 is a large score by any account. However it does appear to be a bit of a batting surface so even at slightly over a run a ball from the start it is achievable. England will be looking to give nothing away with the ball & start to build pressure by getting the run rate to rise. No need to take wickets, just dry up the runs.

[BobHelm]

Well Australia made it with a couple of balls to spare & 8 wickets down.
They set off like an express train, although there were assisted by bowling that to call 'shoddy' would be a compliment.
Watson set the tone with 51 off 34 deliveries & Clarke top scored with 82 off 70 before he was run out. It got a bit hairy at the end - when England's batsmen would undoubtedly have managed to have lost the plot & the game if in the same position - but they got through it for a good victory on a placid pitch.
The English bowlers were behind from the start & never bowled economically enough to create the necessary pressure.
Pretty disappointing game from an England standpoint in what should have been a series to give them a bit of encouragement for the upcoming World Cup. As it is the have been reduced to looking a very average team by an Australian side that are probably firm favourites to win that trophy.

[Hages]

A few other concerns for England,

That moron Prior claiming a "bowled" after he knocked the bails off
Botham will probably have him banned for life, if his rant about the Phil Hughes "uncertain" catch is anything to go by.

Trott needing a runner when batting - then having a bowl when fielding
Pietersen falling over his shadow and having to leave the field with an "ankle injury" - only to return to the bowling crease

Maybe the two above mentioned players should take up Soccer