Thetownend.com

Starts tonight at 12.00 :D I do love watching cricket at night in freezing cold Blighty,somehting a bit special about it.Once we start to get stuffed though doubt i'll bother :(

Anyway good luck to the boys :)

i just wish that I could stay up and watch it .. bloody work gets in the way .. but I dare say Ill be tucked up in bed tonite with my hot water bottle watching it and falling asleep to it - tho I do find it hard to sleep when important games are being played .. well at least until we are about 10 for 4!

It starts tonight?!

http://www.f4group.co.uk/images/phil_tufnell.jpg

Happy Days!!! :beers:

Yep indeed it does begin tonight,Queensland is something like 11 hours ahead of us.Looking good on the Bell front as well :D Seems the only question regarding the team is the spinner one.I'm torn between the two of them.Giles offers the safe option in terms of the batting, but Monty is the better more attacking bowler,the only problem with his playing is it'll give us such a long tail.I suspect the KOS will get the nod.

I've got to get up at 4.30am anyway, might just stay up at watch it (only if warney is bowling)  :oops:

My Team for tonight would be

Bell and Strauss to open
Cook
Pietersen
Collingwood
Flintoff
G Jones
Giles
Hoggard
Harmison
Anderson
12th Man Mahmood (for fielding duties !)

Bell's not really a Test opener, Cook is, thus you continue to make bizarre suggestions.

I'm a bit stuck, and I don't really know who'll play. If we want to take wickets it has to be Anderson and Monty, but without Saj and Giles we're going to be a genuine tail from 8 down, and Jones is crap at the moment.

We really realy really need pur top order to fire.

Well, so long sleep. See you in the New Year. I'm going to go to bed about 4 to get some kip then be up for about 11.30.

Come on England.

Yeah im well aware that Bell isnt an opener and probably prefers it at 3 .. but Cook doesnt have the experience .. and Bell had been better on form .. tho that probably means a duck!

Id deffo bat first tho .. we dont want Warne bowling on the wicket in the last innings

No. Cook to open with Strauss and Bell i think who has been passed fit to bat at 3. Apart from that everything is fine. I would Monty in the next test in Adelaide.

I think these days unless it's a mud bowl you always bat first and thats true of most sides now.

Cook doesn't have any experience? When did Bell last open the batting in a Test match?

Im not saying youre wrong Dave ... just that id play Bell as opener .. and i know even less about playing cricket than i do footy - at least with footy I am a qualified uefa coach ..

there is going to be some sledging tonight. The aussies are quite cunning about there sledging.

Only if we get shock snowfall tonight ultra.

COME ON ENGLAND!

Ive got to rely on the old DAB radio at Work.

As crazy as this sounds, i hope we don't bat first. I always get really fucking nervous when i watch us bat (seems like most of the players have the same reaction). I much prefer watching us bowl

i will be doing that for the 2nd and 3rd test matches.

not long now.

i hope to god that monty gets picked ahead of gilo.

whos gonna be up for this one tonight then? I think some late night poker and the ashes on the box is in order tonight!

Cunt, i mean that in a jealous nice way though, there is no nasty intent involved.

According to the Aussie press Stuart Clark will get the nod over Mitchell Johnson. I am off to bed in a minute. I well be up at 5am to listen to the last 3 hours.

i can't fucking wait 8)

gonna watch the first hour or so, kip, watch the last hour and then try to catch a bit more tomorrow night. i've got coursework to do at college so can't be too comatose.

looking forward to the series now. hopefully we can start well. lets all hope that should Freddie win the toss he might actually decide to bat and not what Nasser did the other year

oh god no, us to bat first for me.

Giles in ahead of Panesar...

shit im out of beer! schoolboy error!

...and we've lost the toss. Bollocks

fuck sake skysports get it sorted! Australia bat 1st!

sounds fun already!  :surrender:

hoggy looks proper ginger!

How can I fool the internet into thinking I'm in the UK so I can listen to the cricket ?

NMH

Aussies 332-3 off 84 overs. I got up 5.30 am and Ian Bell was Bowling.

meh...not brilliant but if the ball didn't do much and it's a batting pitch, which is the impression i got from listening to 'em now, then it's not terrible.

i just hope we can bat!

Harmy 1st ball was a bit of a shocker. Straight to 2nd slip.

going to be a Warney paradise by day 3 .. and with us batting 2nd .. looks like weve lost the first test again .. still we did that last time as well

Well much as i expected it was a bit of a crap day,really needed to have a bat first.Ah well at least we didn't win the toss and put the convicts in and have a major injury to one of our players this time around :-))(

I got up at 4.30,just in time for tea,won't be doing that again!5.00 for me tomorrow.The one good thing about our being rubbish is you can doze off a bit,happily i missed Punter making his century :)

Just got back to the hotel after the first day's play. Bit depressing, but hopefully we can turn it around tomorrow. Atmosphere was amazing.

Best bit: Seeing Gladstone Small

Highlights of 1st day
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid296746336?bctid=325389726

I yelped in fear when KP caught his knee in the turf :oops: Had visions of Jonah's injury

thanks for that. Keep 'em coming !

NMH

Have we?

And there i was thinking that we hadnt batted yet.

not a great start really was it? hmmm we need to bat quite well i think. can't help but feel that Warne and Glen are up for this one  :|

Batting paradise, no reaction from the ball, a hugely determined batting line up and a drastically uncercooked bowling attack is no indication of how the series will go. No excuses though, we looked toothless.

Anyone else manage every ball? I did, just got up now. Back to work next week so this will have to stop though  :?

No i got up at half 5 and listened to the last 2 hours on the radio. I am doing nights from the next week until the 23rd dec so i am alright for the 2nd and 3rd tests. I will be up at half 5 again tomorrow morning.

Another hard day for England. Aussie made 602/9DEC. England finished the day 53/3 with Bell on 13* and Pietersen 6*. I will put the highlights on later.

Update from Brisbane: Day 2 less noisy than Day 1, but still a fantastic atmosphere here today. Aussies are well up themselves and think the game is won already. Pitch still looks pretty flat, but if we lose any wickets early tomorrow we'll be following on.

Strauss should be ashamed tonight - awful way to get out.

Hoping for an England fightback or my 5th day ticket won't get used!

Inevitable tho wasnt it .. weve batted now - 3 down already!

oh dear. it was going quite well when i went to bed about 2ish :/

i remain optimistic...

Bell and PK are along with Strauss are England's best batsmen and they've got to go big tomorrow. If they are going to be as good as their talent suggests tomorrow's a good place to start.

After all that England gave out in 2005... especially the contrived 'craziness' displayed by the so called 'Barmy Army', I reckon they should take the piss as much as possible... Stick Andrew Johns in the lineup for the next game.

Oooooh well done Mystic fucking Meg!

Strauss and Collingwood Dismissal were Awful. Strauss the hook shot, Collingwood playing a ball on off-stump on the walk and onto the onside.

Septic fucking peg more like

bloody hell, lucky we've got giles and his superior batting ability in our tail, otherwise we'd be fucked!

Mr Ultra - Any chance of a link to the 2nd day highlights ? (Or is that lowlights !)

NMH

masochist!

Sorry, realised that it is the same link as before.

Masochist ? ....Yeah ! Unfortunately I work with a load of Aussies and have been giving them greif since we won back the Ashes. Need to watch this shite now to see if there is anything I can use in defence...Haven't seen anything from the first 2 days though !  :evil:

NMH

Here you go.

2nd Day Highlights

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid316007548

Anyone outside the UK looking for commentary can try this

http://www.sportinglife.com/clients/bet365/cricket/ashes2006/

and click on the link to "commentary" on the left.

...not entirely sure if you need an account for it to work though.

Fingers crossed for day 3 then... bit cloudy here this morning, which could spell trouble for our remaining batsmen early on. I'm looking forward to watching a Pietersen ton though!  8)

Peitersen gone for 16, Freddie followed him into the pavilion pretty quickly with a ruddy duck. If we get to day 4 it'll be a miracle, let alone getting a draw

i know it's no excuse bit it doesn't help when niether were actually out

come on belly

it might be that i'm knackered and a bit drunk but i'm certain harmison deliberately got out  8)  wanker

One word Depressing.

I haven't got a clue about cricket, obviously, but I made the effort and watched it tonight.

181-1 and Australia 626 ahead, so we're not doing very well by all accounts?!

Barmy Army.. Barmy Army.. Barmy Army.. Barmy Army.. (repeat all fucking night)

I tried, but no, I'm sorry, I still think cricket is about as interesting as Rounders  :|

One word:Predictable.

hey!! rounders is awesome, not to sure about cricket though :D

highlights of day 3 if anyone wants to watch it.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid316007548

no thanks. how bad can it really get? unless KP and Freddie get their batting caps on and get record scores its 1-0 to the convicts

The "barmy army" are a bunch of wankers.

I watched the first session, Australia simply look far superior at present.  You never know if the Aussies bat too long England could snatch a draw.

The Barmy Army >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The Tartan Army

Don't think so Spuddy.  No comparison.  I had the misfortune to be sat by this sad fuckers during a one day match in the summer, their humour leaves a little to be desired and seem to get off on mentioning every place they've ever been to.

The TA just go abroad get drunk have a laugh, I have yet to be subjected to jokes with punchlines like


"You wouldn't run out of beer in Islamabad"

For 5 hours solid, whilst with the Tartan Army.

(I realise I am generalising not every "Barmy Army" member is a boring cunt, it just seemed like it that day)

Thanks for the link again.....Anyone know any good proxy ip addresses that I can use to fool t'internet into thinking I'm in the UK ? Tis the only way I can listen to test match special methinks ?

NMH

Day 4 update: no clouds here this morning I'm afraid. Here's hoping that Ponting gets stupid and bats for too long. Personally I don't see why he didn't enforce the follow on - the worst for him would have been us 200-0 at stumps last night, when we'd still be trailing by 250 and his bowlers could rest. The best would have been a win in 3 days.

Interestingly, apparently the Aussies get paid a percentage of Cricket Australia's revenue. So if the game goes on for longer, the players get more money. Greedy convicts!

Close of Play score England 293-5. KP 92* Jones 12*.

Finally something to cheer! KP and Collingwood were tremendous today, and there was a fantastic session just after tea where they were whacking Warne everywhere.

Strauss and Flintoff should be ashamed tonight.

I'm doing my raindance tomorrow. There was rumoured to be storms on the way in the afternoon...

haha that KP record score is still on. i think we'll win  :D

I loved it when Warne picked up the ball and threw it at K.P and K.P just hit it.  :soapy tit wank:

Spencer White is out there isn't he? He's on these highlights i think, straight after Freddie hits a 4 and the commentator says "Flintoff stands and delivers" 8) (around the 10 minute mark)

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid316007548

have you seen me?

They're still forecasting rain this arvo - hope KP can hold it steady until the storm rolls in

That depends what you look like :)

well spotted 8)

Which one of those vids can you see Spencer on?

12min 20sec long vid, marked day 4 highlights

ha ha seen him 9mins & 7 seconds to be precise.

I think you'll find it's 10 minutes exactly, but he may well be in another bit

he's in there twice  :shock:

I must have clicked the wrong one then but yes it was him in a White Barmy Army polo shirt, he's a TEF celeb.

hahahaha i just almost had a fit when i saw him on there  :D

i knew it was him and i also knew one of you cunts would've mentioned it first.

Happy to oblige

 8)

I saw him three times Sunday morning,might have been on the coverage more but tbh i couldn't face getting out of bed before 6am,lightweight that i am   :roll:

Ive seen myself on the big screen. Im on there quite a lot. Just the other times Ive got shades or a hat on. Or both.

Highlights of Day 5

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid316007548?bclid=326745279&bctid=331187170

Jones and Giles bated well.

Your only on there because your sat near the mighty personage that is Jimmy 8)

Can't bear the thought of watching,when we're down under ignorance tends to be bliss :( If i don't see it it couldn't possible have happened is how i deal with it  :wink:  :(

i'm far from an expert but...

it wasn't too discouraging. the second innings wasn't too bad - bar the late collapse but tailenders facing clarke, lee, mcgrath and warne won't stand much of a chance anyway - collingwood and kp both nearly hit a century and both cook and jones had a decent knock.

we just need to take some wickets in adelaide now.

i think we'll see Panesar playing in the next one with Giles as well. Anderson to be left out

Yeah agree with you Rich. Also i think the Aussie are going to call up Stuart Macgill. They might drop Stuart Clark.

i think it would do us good to play 2 spinners. it seems to me like we are wasting a bowler but playing Anderson. i think we would have bowled a bit better at the Gabba with Monty in the side

Love it, England say they might call up an extra spinner, so what do the Aussies do, drop MacGill from the squad and retain Clark.

Yeah but then the convicts only spinner in their squad is one of the best ever  :roll: lets face it Warne could bowl us out almost by himself,don't think they need Stewie even on a turning pitch tbh.

We on the other hand could replace Jimmy with Monty,so we don't lengthen the tail and more importantly stand more chance of getting those twenty wickets.
I do fear that there's a lot of pressure on Monty,but then i guess thats what the test cricket and especially the Ashes is all about,coping with the pressure.

Providing no injuries id go with this lot :-

Cook
Strauss
Bell
Pietersen
Collingwood
Flintoff
G Jones
Giles
Hoggard
Harmison
Panesar

With Mahmood as 12th man !

Do you think that team has 20 wickets in it ?

NMH

Maybe not,thick convict cunts :x http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/6190632.stm

that will be the team i reckon. lets hope we bowl a bit better this time. the toss in this game is huge. we need to win it and bat first. if we lose this test we are fucked and the Ashes are back with the convicts

I agree rich, basically in the first test it looked like we'd need 8 bowlers before taking 20 wickets, all we can do is put out the best side and hope they perform, it's not like we have a huge amount of time, or many choices of replcements, just back the best eleven we have to do it right this time.

The one person we are missing along with Simon jones and you lot can  slate me is former Bowling coach Troy Cooley. Now the convicts have got him. I was really annoyed when Fletcher let him go.

i was thinking about that the other day as well. he did wonders for us. its funny how Harmison has gone downhill since he left isn't it? Anderson looks like a nothing bowler and Hoggy has lost some form too.

You can look at the success of the Bowlers in the Summer of 03,04 and 05 were down to Troy Cooley. He helped Harmison in the West Indies were he picked up 23 wickets in 4 test matches. Cooley helped flintoff who was not picking up wickets but bowling well, Flintoff was bowling defensively now you can see he is more of an attacking bowler. The summer of 05 Cooley helped Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff with the reverse Swing which bamboozled the Aussies.

Yeah, he likes to come and sit near me sometimes. I say 'Jimmy you stink mate'.

 :soapy tit wank:
Jimmy strikes me as an Old spice kind of man :wink: