Cricket, lovely cricket

[Steven Russell]

Adam - to use a favourite expression of my dad's when someone accused him of farting: your nose is too near your own arse.

Best wishes,
Steve.

[Adam Went]

Monty:

Australia #3, England #18. I rest my case, you've got none to make.

So if Siddle is a "lame assed trundler", how appallingly bad must your batsmen be if six of them got out to him? Bear in mind that Doug Bollinger was dropped to have him return to the team, and Douggy is a fine bowler in his own right....

Meanwhile, it gives me unlimited pleasure to note that Ricky Ponting has thus far scored more runs in the series than Andrew Strauss, Paul Collingwood, Matt Prior and Stuart Broad combined.

Belinda:

Don't think I saw that show.....but get excited, Hey Hey is on tomorrow night.

Steven:

Are you calling your face an arse? You really must not be so harsh on yourself.

Cheers,
Adam.

[Monty]

Ive a case alright. Australia is full of Australians. Now thats a massive repellant. Ive seen how empty Charlies bar is in Neighbours.

Pointings done whatnow? Got strangled down leg side?

We arent playing the way we have, and this is as good as it gets for you. Siddle bowled well be he put a few 'Johnsons' (I think theyre called Harminsons over there) down, with one getting Strauss.

This has draw written all over it. Your crappy weather will see to that....and with that your chance gone.

Your playing better yet still behind, weve a few more gears to crank up to.

Yeah, I smell that Belinda, wasnt around till you appeared. Thats a different smell to Aussie fear, its sniff, its...ahhh, its that Australian odour of misguided confidence.

Monty....who yearns for some originality.

[Adam Went]

Monty:

Ponting's dismissal was just unfortunate, nothing more - he'll be back with a quickfire ton in his next innings.

For a team which has no top order, we haven't done too bad to be 40 runs behind with 5 wickets still in hand....all I can say is: Mike Hussey, on behalf of all Australians, we love you. Not least because you smacked Graeme Swann into the stands - did you enjoy that, Monty? Now Swann - speaking of hack bowlers....

Cheers,
Adam.

[Monty]

We got more runs in less than a day, and whilst we collapsed, than you did in a day and a bit...and youre still behind.

Its not the men Adam, its the time youre wasting. Youre running out of it.

Its a dead wicket which suits the bat. Swann was always going to be against it. Wait till you face the best spinner in the world on a dusty one.

Ponting was too eager, he fell into the trap of chasing. I feel youve just blown the hard work Siddle did.

Dont underestimate the power of the dark side.

Monty

[Natalie Severn]

Monty:

Did you know that Warnie also now has his own show on TV? It debuts this Wednesday night....looking forward to it.

Cheers,
Adam.

I shall be watching.Corr!

[Adam Went]

Hmm, the silence from the Poms on this topic now is deafening.

The "best spinner in the world" and Co. couldn't stop a 307 run partnership between the great Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin.... are you going to admit your team is rubbish yet after that painful and humiliating (but from an Aussie point of view, thoroughly enjoyable) day?

This is what you get for taking the urn off us.....hand it over and the suffering stops. Simple!

Cheers,
Adam.

P.S. Aleem Dar = Best umpire in the world.

[Monty]

Hmm, the silence from the Poms on this topic now is deafening.

The "best spinner in the world" and Co. couldn't stop a 307 run partnership between the great Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin.... are you going to admit your team is rubbish yet after that painful and humiliating (but from an Aussie point of view, thoroughly enjoyable) day?

This is what you get for taking the urn off us.....hand it over and the suffering stops. Simple!

Cheers,
Adam.

P.S. Aleem Dar = Best umpire in the world.

Oh Adam,

Do you just regret the above post? Makes you look sooooooooo stupid. You never learn do you.

One wicket all day. Record opening English stand at the Gabba 300 -1, over a ton each for Strauss and Cook, England 88 runs ahead despite what you did the other day.

Face it? Your boys took a spanking today. Now THAT is what we are capable of.

The games a draw, as I predicted, however we shall take the moral victory as you must be devasted, especially after what you wrote yesterday.

Hand the urn over? Feck off Son, you have to earn it.

I told you not to underestimate us, I warned you we were below par first few days, I said we would get better.

Now I hope you learnt a lesson today, dont get all excited and then shoot yer bolt before youve sighted the target. Youll only make yerself look a right t*t. Youve always done that.

Now sit down, with a tinnie of that God awful fizzy beer you drink, and watch my side gain control over your side.

Enjoy.

Monty

[Adam Went]

Monty:

I should be surprised, and disappointed, and in a way I am but in another way I kind of knew it was always going to happen. I can't count the number of times recently that we have got ourselves into the perfect position to WIN the game, yet somehow we've managed to find a way to lose - snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Well, not defeat as such, but it might as well be.

Part of me actually wants us to lose this Ashes series because the team needs a damned good shake up - the ACB and the selectors have been rubbish the last few years and they never prepared for the retirements of Warne, McGrath, et al. The whole team needs a damned good clean out, get rid of the dead wood and bring in some young kids that will actually play for the baggy green rather than their pay cheques.

This should be our team for the second test:

1.) Shane Watson
2.) Philip Hughes
3.) Ricky Ponting (c)
4.) Callum Ferguson
5.) Mike Hussey
6.) Mitchell Marsh
7.) Brad Haddin (wk)
8.) Steve Smith
9.) James Faulkner
10.) Peter Siddle
11.) Ben Hilfenhaus

But of course it won't be because the selectors are too gutless. Unlike you however, Monty, I will show some humility and congratulate your team on their excellent fightback. Manners are free.....mate.

Cheers,
Adam.

[Monty]

This the same grace and humility you showed in post 413, when you thought you'd won?

Your nation had been fortunate in having a group of great players who all came through at the same time. However, like the Windies 10 years previous, these players have dried up.

Also, this England team is a unit. Go check the records and see how many games the core 8 or 9 have played together and played well.

Finally, the Gabba was always gonna turn into a dead wicket. I knew our batting would dominate your bowling. You have no one to be afraid off. No one who could sustain an attack.

Youre a good test side, but we are better. Doesnt mean we will win the Ashes, just means we have an edge you need to overcome. And you can.

Just got to learn to stop celerbrating before the game is done.

Monty

[Hoxton Creeper]

Uncharted territory for the Poms........

A resilient team. Record breaking batting. Ah, not like the good old days for Australia when we folded up like wet cardboard.

From a great day in the field, Hat trick, England rocking, to all day chasing leather.

I think I know who go to Adelaide more confident!!

[Steven Russell]

Well that was a very interesting opener. My prediction of 2-1 England is still on and seems rather more likely than Adam's misguidedly patriotic 4-0 Australia.

It certainly looks like we have the edge - the Aussies' body language spoke volumes during the fourth and fifth day. The sudden realisation that they are no longer the best in the world must be quite a shock. And you can't lay all the blame at the selectors' door. Players like Warne and Gilchrist can't be replaced simply by picking the right man. The fact is, there is probably no-one to pick to fully replace Australia's retired stars of a few years ago.

England, on the other hand, are on the way up and steadily building on recent good results and performances. I reckon we're a pretty good side already although I wish we could find a proper express-pace, hostile quick.

This is going to be a killer series to watch. And Adam, we only have to win one match to hear you sing God Save The Queen don't we? Looking forward to hearing it. I think.

Steve.

[Adam Went]

Monty:

We've had the same problem before, perhaps most notably in 1984 when Lillee, Marsh and Greg Chappell all retired at basically the same time, and we were pretty rubbish for the next few years.....the 2006/07 Ashes series was a time of great celebration for us, but the writing was already on the wall - Damien Martyn, Justin Langer, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath all gone in one series - that, right there, was much of the backbone of the Australian team for the previous decade, and the rest of it in Hayden and Gilchrist would follow shortly afterwards. It was a poorly organised exodus and one that shows as coming back to bite us on the arse in recent times.

The Gabba was just a dead wicket by the end, as you say - the only hope was landing the ball on a crack. Mind you, I sort of got one prediction right, that one R.T. Ponting would fare better in his next innings.....51 not out, I believe.

I believe there's only one way to sort out our little niggle, Monty - if and when I get the chance to come to England, we're going to have a net session, m'kay?

Steven:

4 tests to go, 4-0 is still on the cards. Doesn't matter how many tests you win or pull out of the mire, your team will always be a bunch of Z-grade, stinking hacks to us.

As for God Save The Queen, should it be necessary, I look forward to it.....but you'll note that I allowed myself a loophole so that I may choose to do the Queen version of it....or better still, the Sex Pistols version.

Cheers,
Adam.

[Steven Russell]

Steven:

4 tests to go, 4-0 is still on the cards. Doesn't matter how many tests you win or pull out of the mire, your team will always be a bunch of Z-grade, stinking hacks to us.

As for God Save The Queen, should it be necessary, I look forward to it.....but you'll note that I allowed myself a loophole so that I may choose to do the Queen version of it....or better still, the Sex Pistols version.

Cheers,
Adam.[/quote]

Dream on, Adam. As for GSTQ, I've always preferred the Sex Pistols version anyway so that will be fine. We used to have to sing the other one at school and I never could figure out what "Long two ray noverus" meant. Can't say I lost much sleep over it though.

Best,
Steve.

PS You were right about Aleem Dar.

[Monty]

Ponting only got 51 huh Adam? Way to go ickle Wicky.

Bell got a ton, Trott got a ton, Strauss got a ton and Cook, wonderful Cook, got 225. Beating your beloved Don Bradman to the highest score ever at the Gabba.....but hey, Ponting got a 50.

Monty