Questions leading up to the 2009 Ashes series [Archive]

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Jascave

2 May 2009, 23:02

DeadlyAkkuret

3 May 2009, 01:04

1) Time will tell, but I believe they have. The series against India and Sth Africa have made as a tougher and hopefully wiser side.

2) This is a hard one, but I'll say Katich. He's rarely flashy but knows his own game very well.

3) Ponting V Flintoff. If Punter can actually get on top of his bowling and play somewhere near his best, the series is as good as won.

4) Australia: Ponting, Katich, Clarke & Siddle*
England: Flintoff, Collingwood, Pietersen & Panesar*

*If Siddle can support Clark and Johnson adequately I can't see us losing. I nominated Panesar because of our apparent troubles against spin.

P.S. Noticed Flintoff isn't playing the Windies. What's the go there?

davey_magik

3 May 2009, 01:17

1) Have Australia learnt the lessons of the last Ashes tour 4 years before?

Yes. However if England start bowling reverse swing at pace and we go out to it, you can't really say we are making the same mistakes because it would just be a case of excellent bowling like 2005.

2) Which Australian batsman do you think is best equipped to handle reverse swing, the delivery which England's Simon Jones executed to perfection 4 years ago?

Ponting, Pup and Katich.

3) Which one-on-one contest will decide the outcome of the 2009 Ashes series?

James Anderson versus the Australian top 3.

4) Who are the key players for Australia & England?

Australia: Katich, Johnson and Haddin
England: Anderson, Flintoff and Strauss

DoubleO7

3 May 2009, 01:31

2) This is a hard one, but I'll say Katich. He's rarely flashy but knows his own game very well.Katich is known to be susceptible to the swinging ball and as we are all aware of, Katich has been poor in swinging English conditions.

263 runs at an average of 26.30 in 11 innings sums it up.

4) Australia: Ponting, Katich, Clarke & Siddle*
England: Flintoff, Collingwood, Pietersen & Panesar*

*If Siddle can support Clark and Johnson adequately I can't see us losing. I nominated Panesar because of our apparent troubles against spin.Graeme Swann has been far more instrumental in the England bowling set-up than Monty Panesar. Don't be surprised to see Swann selected ahead of Panesar come the first Test. Swan also offers far more with the bat and to an extent, better fielding.

One player we shouldn't discount is the left-armer of exceptional ability, Ryan Sidebottom. If the ball swings, he will cause major headaches for our batsmen. He is one bowler we should not under estimate this up coming Ashes series.

P.S. Noticed Flintoff isn't playing the Windies. What's the go there?With Flintoff ruled out of the West Indies series the key time frame is now whether he recovers for the ICC World Twenty20 and, crucially, the Ashes which start in July. The ECB have said that the recovery timeline is around three to five weeks and Dr Bickerstaff agreed that was a reasonable assessment depending on the exact nature of the injury.

Flintoff Injury (http://content.cricinfo.com/england/content/story/401880.html)

Grimwood

3 May 2009, 01:38

Graeme Swann has been far more instrumental in the England bowling set-up than Monty Panesar. Don't be surprised to see Swann selected ahead of Panesar come the first Test. Swan also offers far more with the bat and to an extent, better fielding.

Swann is definitely England's first choice spinner at the moment.

One player we shouldn't discount is the left-armer of exceptional ability, Ryan Sidebottom. If the ball swings, he will cause major headaches for our batsmen. He is one bowler we should not under estimate this up coming Ashes series.

Sidebottom's not been at his best for nearly a year thanks to his injuries. The ongoing Lancs vs Notts match is his latest attempt at coming back from all the little niggles that he's picked up. It's difficult to know what his future holds.

England don't really have any idea who their 4th seam bowler is at the moment. A lot rests on the shoulders of Broad, Anderson, Flintoff and Swann.

DeadlyAkkuret

3 May 2009, 02:00

Katich is known to be susceptible to the swinging ball and as we are all aware of, Katich has been poor in swinging English conditions.

263 runs at an average of 26.30 in 11 innings sums it up.

That doesn't mean he's not best equipped for this Ashes series, which is what this thread is about. Just my opinion anyway.

courtjester

3 May 2009, 10:07

I have a couple of questions regarding the 2009 Ashes series which I like to pose for you guys on BigFooty to answer, and it's not so much as who will win, but of the following which I set out below:

1) Have Australia learnt the lessons of the last Ashes tour 4 years before?

2) Which Australian batsman do you think is best equipped to handle reverse swing, the delivery which England's Simon Jones executed to perfection 4 years ago?

3) Which one-on-one contest will decide the outcome of the 2009 Ashes series?

4) Who are the key players for Australia & England?

1. It's a completely new series. England's bowling attack will not be as threatening this time. Don't forget the 2005 series was bloody close. People talk about it like Australia were flogged. If McGrath hadn't been injured we probably would have won the series.

The thing about England in 2005 was the bowlers bowled as a pack. Hoggard, Harmison, Jones, Flintoff and Giles were excellent together. They exerted pressure and actually intimidated Australian batsman for the first time since the Windies or Pakistan had a decade before. They basically did to Australia what McGrath, Gillespie, Lee, Kaspowicz, Warne and MacGill had been doing to the rest of the world in the 7 years before 2005.

Simon Jones was excellent in that series. He was quick and skillful. It's a shame he didn't play more tests because he was someone I really enjoyed watching.

2. I'm not sure reverse swing will be a huge issue for us this time. Flintoff can do it but he is injured and I don't think Jones will play. I will be very interested to see how Hilfenhaus performs in swinging conditions.

3. One on one contest? Hard to say. I think England's opening bowlers must take early wickets. If they get into the Australian middle order quickly we're in trouble. I'd say Ponting vs the English quicks. If they can get him early, England are on. If not, England are in trouble.

4. Key players-
England: Pieterson (obviously), Flintoff, Strauss
Australia: Ponting, Hughes, Hilfenhaus, Johnson