The Ashes

anjabro · Post by **anjabro** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 12:54 pm

woohoo

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 1:02 pm

Sounds exciting. My buddy Peter, who moved over to London 3-4 years ago, has become a big cricket fan, and I think I could come to enjoy it if someone sat down with me and explained what was going on. I still don't really understand the sport. There's so little exposure to it over here.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 1:51 pm

I feel the same! (As both of you.) I like the idea of it (especially the nerdy maths aspect), but in reality, life's too short. Was looking like a damp squib of an ending, but at least someone got a century to make it seem more emphatic. You've got to admire a sport where the English team features a name like Marcus Trescothic (how many other sportspeople can you name with names that rhyme with 'gothic'?).

And for the Oz contingent here: take that, saddoes!

Like the 'I missed my wedding for this' sign here. Guess that means thre ashes of his relationship too! http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/4237610.stm

so lacklustre · Post by **so lacklustre** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 2:36 pm

Fanbloodytastic mate.

For the uninitiated across the 'pond', the England cricket team have beaten Australia in a series for the first time in 16 years. The trophy they play for is called the Ashes.

PlaythingOrPet · Post by **PlaythingOrPet** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 2:53 pm

Otis Westinghouse wrote:You've got to admire a sport where the English team features a name like Marcus Trescothic (how many other sportspeople can you name with names that rhyme with 'gothic'?).

I mentioned how could anyone not love a sport where games last five days and players stop for lunch and AFTERNOON TEA! Love it!

bambooneedle · Post by **bambooneedle** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 3:00 pm

I thought Poms were used to seeing in overcast conditions... what weak sportmanship to bail out drawing out time and not even try to win the match. I suspected it would happen-- too much at stake to take a chance, you constipated colonizers! Have a go!

Tim(e) · Post by **Tim(e)** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 5:39 pm

Otis Westinghouse wrote:And for the Oz contingent here: take that, saddoes!

What I find sad is that a tiny urn containing the ashes of a set of cricket stumps has managed to take over an entire nation's imagination for a couple of months

(it was rivetting stuff though, I must admit)

Besides, it's not as if we have to hand back the ashes... the English never let us have them in the first place

Fishfinger king · Post by **Fishfinger king** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 6:47 pm

And if Warne had taken that simple catch, got Pieterson out early and Australia had won, you'd be talking differently. For once the English team showed the sheer guts the Aussies have shown for ages.....the Aussie team even seems to respect our lot and admit they were outplayed.
Let's hope they can build on it.

Tim(e) · Post by **Tim(e)** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 7:20 pm

Fishfinger king wrote:And if Warne had taken that simple catch, got Pieterson out early and Australia had won, you'd be talking differently.

Of course!!

For once the English team showed the sheer guts the Aussies have shown for ages.....the Aussie team even seems to respect our lot and admit they were outplayed.
Let's hope they can build on it.

Couldn't agree more actually. I only hope that the Australian selectors don't go looking for a scapegoat and strip Ponting of the Captaincy. Unlike most of his top order batsmen, he at least put in.

When you think about it, there were only two runs between England winning the series and Australia retaining the ashes in what was an amazing, if not the most amazing, series.

anjabro · Post by **anjabro** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 3:33 am

I only hope that the Australian selectors don't go looking for a scapegoat and strip Ponting of the Captaincy.

I hope not, I think any captaincy decisions that he made and got slammed for were done in order to cover the parts of his team that were weaker than their English opposite numbers....i.e. he got a lot of flak for having fielders on the boundaries so often ; That's because he knew his bowlers were not bowling well enough to prevent boundaries...

I am particularly pleased that the England team has finally got the right attitude for sport....relishing the prospect of success now overrides the fear (at times terror) of losing / failing. The previous mindset, which would generally precede a batting collapse, seemed to be .. ' If I get out, I'm going to be laughed at, I'm going to be ridiculed in the press, I'm going to be dropped....' whereas it should be...' If I do well I'm going to be a hero, we're going to win...'...

The English mentality is to always look for someone to blame...I remember last year when England were beaten by Portugal in Euro 2004..the next day I was on a long drive with a Kiwi friend of mine, and we tuned in to Radio 5 ; The phone-in topic was, literally...'Who do you blame for Englands' defeat ?'(Some of the choices being the manager, the captain, the referee, and the shoe manufacturers whose flimsy footwear contributed to the injury to Rooney, our star player....I'm serious..)...

My Kiwi friend was stunned by this attitude, and told me that this is not how the southern hemisphere reacts to sporting defeat, They spend time thinking about how to win the next time....looking back at the faults that caused defeat is obviously a part of that, but not if you're just looking for a scapegoat....

anjabro · Post by **anjabro** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 3:49 am

P.S.

Despite my partisan feelings, and good as Freddie was, I would still give Player of the Series to Shane Warne...That guy is on a different level to everyone else...

so lacklustre · Post by **so lacklustre** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 7:01 am

P.S.

Despite my partisan feelings, and good as Freddie was, I would still give Player of the Series to Shane Warne...That guy is on a different level to everyone else...

Yeah, and a champion pie-eater to boot.

ReadyToHearTheWorst · Tue Sep 13, 2005 10:48 am

bambooneedle wrote:I thought Poms were used to seeing in overcast conditions... what weak sportmanship to bail out drawing out time and not even try to win the match.

I had suggested to colleagues, glued to BBC.CO.UK News all Mon pm, that England should declare and give the Tourists a fighting chance. I was soundly chided for treasonous sentiments.

Such an unsporting reaction - I tell you, it's just not cricket!

bambooneedle · Post by **bambooneedle** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 5:46 pm

Agree-- what's the point of playing if only aiming for a draw... where's the glory in that? The English cricket populace at large is embarrassing itself, I can't believe the street scenes.... is this a case of the proud ol' "proud in victory, sullen in defeat" tribal mentality, or what? I find it amusing.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 5:59 pm

Sour grapes! This is our cricket equivalent of footie in 1966, rugby in 2002, or whenever it was, and, er, badminton in 1977 (spot the invented one!). We are the best, OK?

Of course none of this is of any significance next to the achievements of MU in May 1999, but there you go.

bambooneedle · Post by **bambooneedle** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 6:12 pm

We trample you in the rugby codes... must be all that pent-up convict anger manifesting over ten or twenty generations...

Plus, there's something in the air here in the south pacific...

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 9:49 am

The country is gripped by this. Just as it is when England do well at anything sports orientated.

It was a fantastic series and I was truly surprised at the level of sportsmanship shown most of the time.

I agree with anjabro in that Shane Warne was player of the series.

My natural cynicism tells me that all those new cricket fans will desert us and by the time the next Ashes series comes around, won't care because they'll have moved on to the latest craze. Bandwagonesque I'm afraid.

so lacklustre · Post by **so lacklustre** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 12:11 pm

I'm not a fan of all the triumphalism.

"When are they going to stop all of these victory processions"

anjabro · Post by **anjabro** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 2:21 am

While we're on the subject, just thought I'd share this...not actually from The Ashes, but one of the pre-Ashes games (20-20 I think..)....could be catch of the summer though...

http://rapidshare.de/files/2479918/Coll ... h.wmv.html

bambooneedle · Post by **bambooneedle** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 3:13 am

The only sport Australia doesn't beat England in on a regular basis is soccer...

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 5:57 am

Well let's not forget that friendly at Upton Park. Mind you our football team couldn't beat anybody at the moment.

But let's not spoil the thread.

bambooneedle · Post by **bambooneedle** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 6:22 am

England fluked it.

Jackson Monk · Post by **Jackson Monk** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 3:05 pm

bambooneedle wrote:The only sport Australia doesn't beat England in on a regular basis is soccer...

hmmm...slight bollox that Mr Needle.

Last Rugby World Cup....The Ashes.....World Tddley Winks Championship.

In Short, when was the last time the Aussies beat the English at anything worthwhile.......except contracting skin cancer.

Tim(e) · Post by **Tim(e)** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 4:48 pm

Jackson Monk wrote:
bambooneedle wrote:The only sport Australia doesn't beat England in on a regular basis is soccer...
hmmm...slight bollox that Mr Needle.

Last Rugby World Cup....The Ashes.....World Tddley Winks Championship.

In Short, when was the last time the Aussies beat the English at anything worthwhile.......except contracting skin cancer.

I think we should all wait to see how well England manage when they have to defend the ashes on enemy soil... that will be a true sign of their worth.

As for the Union, one has to ask what England has done since the world cup (Australia has done very little... but I am not a fan of the game, so to me at least, the results are of no consequence).

For most other sports (save soccer), let's wait to see how things pan out at the Commonwealth Games next year.

Jackson Monk · Post by **Jackson Monk** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 5:05 pm

Oh I get it...when the Aussies win something it's cos they're better than the whinging poms.....when we win something, it's just a temporary blip until the Aussies win it back again....phew....the sourest of grapes.

It really is an understatement to say the Australian Union side have done nothing since the last world cup....they have gone into free fall........hammered repeatedly in the tri-nations. Ok, so the convicts are pretty good at Rugby League........but they only have a few Pie and chip eaters from Wigan to compete against. It's a minority sport in England, let alone the world. England lost the heart of their team after the world cup in 2002...the Aussies never had a heart to lose!

We kicked your asses in the ashes with the best side and the best players. Even Ponting quit winging and accepted it.

Still love the Aussies anyway (*blows kisses*) but you really are terrible losers!