Fit AND rested both at once - terrific. Though my impression is that the increase in quick bowlers' amount of rest seems to mirror their increasing fragility.

But fit and rested with no match experience for a few months - I wouldn't fancy your chances running in against a Ponting or similar.

England can be inspirational in the fast bowling department if their best bowlers are all fit...can we say that for sure about Harmison and Anderson? What's the logic behind picking a team 2 months ahead of a Test series, however important, especially if there's going to be cricket in between (even if according to CMJ nobody cares about that)?

On a more positive note, I'm looking forward to watching Monty Panesar bowl against the Aussies. If he can do some magic, he'll be called Turbanator 2...

Absurd that Collingwood won't be chosen- he won't be intimidated easily, is a great fielder, is already respected by the Australian side, averages above forty and hasn't inflated his figures on weak attacks.

On Batsmen - I think the England selectors should look at the form the batsmen take going into the Ashes thru the Champions trophy. Based on that, they should more likely select Collingwood play instead of Tresco. For me the batting order is Strauss, Cook, Bell, Pietersen, Colly, Flintoff, Jones, Hoggard, Harmison, Panesar, Andersen.

Bowlers - Would prefer the swing of Anderson to Saj's speed in Oz.

There is going to be nothing more potent and alluring than this years ashes series-but, alas, if England think this is going to be a contest, then they are sadly mistaken-i sincerely hope monty can make it interesting for the aussies, but one feels that they will decimate him on the aussie pitches.

If the team that has been named plays i.e. without S. Jones, Vaughn & seemingly Flintoff & Trescothick, you will be destroyed very easily. Giles doesn't even come in to the equation. He is not a factor at all & never ever was. All he did last series was add some valuable runs (he's a boring negative bowler who's had his day). All this nonsense about unestablished players such as Bell, Collingwood and Cook making their mark out here is complete tripe. They will go home basket cases if you have to rely on them. They maybe ok as supporting players, but to lead against our attack at home, no chance. They will be found out....as Bell was last year within the comforts of a home series, surrounded by players doing well. There is a huge gap from battling it out with average teams like Sri Lanka & Pakistan to coming over here.

Playing out here is a world away from the comforts of leaden gray skies, drizzling rain and warm beer. All your young & unestablished cricketers are going to experience a cricketing inquistion of their skills like they've never known. Their mettle & hearts will be tested in the white hot heat that comes with playing the worlds' best cricket side at home. Our fans will give you no love at all, ever. Our media will pick up on any weakness & exploit it to the maximum. You reap what you sow.

Lets not forget, no one bar MV did very well out here last time. Harmlessone was a joke & poor old Matty Hoggard was abysmal. I think it's fair to say they would both still have very vivid nightmares of that tour.....& they're leading your attack out here. It really doesn't look too flash for Hoggy out here...he'll just come on to the bat nicely, is about all he'll do. Stop talking about swing. There is precious little of that at the best of times, & you're using the Kookaburra.

Panesar will take some wickets, but at what cost? His psychological wellbeing is at stake. Where's he going to field, near the bat or in the outfield? It's not England. There will be no friendly calls from the boundary ho-ho style. He will quite possibly be tormented for his inefficiencies & reminded of them at length. However, he is possibly the one player in the team Aussie crowds could (possibly) warm to....that's a big possibly. It all looks very, very fragile & brittle for this England team. Only a few things have to go our way early on & I can see you lot just imploding massively, house of cards style with no return. On the other hand if some players return at least you'll have some steel, albeit very rusty steel. If Flintoff doesn't play from the beginning, you will not even be remotely competitive & will be belly up from the get-go.

A top order that includes Cook, Bell & possibly Collingwood.....I imagine Brett & Glenn would be rubbing their hands together.

I hope you are competitive. Good luck to England & her supporters. You are going to need it by the regular truckload.

The day of reckoning beckons......

England is having a really good chance of winning this ashes. They have to just believe in a repetition. We are all sure that they will be tried with the most difficult of mental experiments. If they cope with it..Ashes winner is just a chance of luck.

Manoj K. john
Manassas, VA - 20109

There is one thing that is very apparent from the last ten years of Australia's dominance of the five day game. That is, when faced with real quality, they are just not able to emerge winners. The 2001 and 2003 series against India and the 2005 Ashes are a case in point. The teams played like teams and the players outdid Australia man for man. What's more,in these series, a player or two did enough to put 'fear' into the Aussies- Harbhajan Singh 2001, VVS Laxman 2003-04 and Andrew Flintoff 2005.

Lets hope this time Monty and Co wear their scariest costumes to the party!

I like how Mr. Vishnu describes Pakistan and Sri Lanka as average teams. People everywhere reveal the limitations of their thinking from time to time, and this is a pertinent example. However Flintoff's appointment as captain seems to be the only bold move the English selection committee has undertaken. Strauss is competent and more cerebral than Flintoff but that won't cut it in the Ashes 2006. England as they currently stand need something special and the one player you would bet on to pull something spectacular from his hat is freddie. As far as I can tell Flintoff will have plenty of people giving him advice and Strauss can be one of those guiding hands in the field. I hope that flintoff is up for listening to his team mates cause his style of leadership isnt about strategic brilliance but rather about attitude. He can carry his team forward, all he needs is someone to watch his back and Fletcher should be doing all he can to ensure his no.1 player is getting support from all quarters. As far as intent goes the ECB was right in choosing Flintoff cause he will die trying to keep that little urn in England. And I would like to say that the Ashes winner is not just a chance of luck, Mr. Manoj John, and I bet the likes of Ponting, Warne, Flintoff and Pietersen would whole heartedly agree.

Mr. Vishnu seems to be forgetting Strauss and Pietersen when he talks about the England top order. If they play the way that is expected, then Cook, Bell and Collingwood won't have to be anything more than support players.He should also remember that Monty Panesar was booed and jeered in England, by English fans, but managed to shrug it off and bowl well to a team that plays spinners very well.
He also talks of how Harmison can't seem to get his act together in Australia, but he certainly seems to be bowling well now, and Aussie tracks will only help.

Since the English team has discussed, why not take a look at the Aussies?
Langer: Very uncertain against the incoming ball early on. Fell 5 times out of 8 to Ajit Agarkar the last time India toured. Enough said.
Hayden: Was nowhere near his best in England.
Ponting: The best batsman in the world at the moment. But, hasn't played any test cricket since Bangladesh. Mediocre captain. Uncertain of what to do when things don't go his way.
Clarke, Katich: Iffy. Clarke's fall was just as swift as his rise. Katich's place isn't even fixed.
Gilchrist: Can be dangerous, but didn't cross fifty once in England.
Brett Lee: Bowls fast, leaks runs, takes (a few) wickets. On a bad day, doesn't take wickets, leaks even more runs.
McGrath: The best fast bowler for a while, but has the tendency to step on stray cricket balls. Is way past peak physical fitness.
Gillespie: Bowls with real venom, but won't be having the best memories of when he played England last.
Kasprowicz: Please.
Warne: The real danger man in the Aussie bowling lineup.
Tait, Johnson, and God knows who else: Haven't really played at this level before. Will be no different to the new guys in the England team.

The most pressing problem England will have (apart from Freddie's fitness of course) is who will bat at 8. Tim's team has Matthew Hoggard in this role, and this looks very unconvincing to me.

Mahmood doesn't look like a No8 either, and while Giles is clearly the best batsman among the bowlers he is out of practice and probably also the least likely to take wickets. My preferred alternative is to leave out Anderson for Plunkett (if fit). He looks like he can bat (despite disappointing returns so far), and he should be able to fulfil his role with the ball - in this perm he would be the fifth bowler, holding up an end when others need a break.

At all costs though, we should resist the temptation to start the series with six batsmen and Flintoff at 7. Freddie would be bound to overbowl himself if this occurred - and the worst catastrophe which could possibly befall England is a crocked Flintoff. Five bowlers it must be then - but one of them needs to be a compromise with batting ability.

BRENDAN

I think you've forgotten last year all too quickly. Only rain (one day at Old T and one at the Oval) saved you from losing 4-1. I remember hearing similar rubbish to the above from last February to July, and look where it got the mighty Australia.

Australia may have won 11 out of 12 tests since the last Ashes series, but I think that statistic is misleading. One test against a team who'd never played together before, home victory against the weak Windies, close home series v SA (each game was close) and the struggles in Bangladesh put the statistic in context.

The flaws exposed by England have not been solved- no fourth bowler, Martyn and Clarke still in the middle order and overconfidence. Ricky Ponting may be in the form of his life (or was until the 6 month break), but one batsman can't win a series.

As for your comments re Pakistan- what trump. They have the best batting line-up in the world, three quality seamers and the second best leggie in the world.

WG

I think you've forgotten last year all too quickly. Lords, England were outplayed. You talk about Martyn and Clarke. I'm a Holland resident but during that Lords Test I was in England. And you know what headline still sticks with me? "Martyn and Clarke join forces", and they put on runs in a test match where everbody bar Pietersen failed. There was nothing in the two matches that England won. It could have been 3-0 there. I admit that rain saved Australia at Old Trafford. On the other hand, rain saved England at the Oval. Australia were 264/1 and cruising. They wanted to bat just once in the match and get a lead, then Warne would bowl England out on the last day and Australia would win by an innings or have a small target to chase. The pitch would have been worse because there would have been played more. Instead, rain came, Australia had to improvise and while trying to up the tempo they were all out for 370. Might I remind you that the opening partnership between Langer and Hayden was the highest partnership of the series? Figure out who was saved by rain.

Yes, Australia has won 11 out of 12 tests, but the only statistic England can show is that Collingwood and Bell scored a lot of runs against the mighty Mohammed Sami. Neither does Pakistan have the best batting line-up in the world. The best line-up must be a collective thing, and for all the greats that Younis, Yousuf and Inzy produce, the other four of the top seven are no way near the best of the world.

Aditya Pandit

You want to look at the Aussies. Very well. I think you're missing a few points though.

Langer, you say: Very uncertain against the incoming ball early on. Fell 5 times out of 8 to Ajit Agarkar the last time India toured. Enough said.

I say: Australia's best batsman last series. And, in form. Ask around at Taunton.

Hayden: Was nowhere near his best in England.

Agreed. Yet he still scored a century. What if he will be at his best?

Ponting: The best batsman in the world at the moment. But, hasn't played any test cricket since Bangladesh. Mediocre captain. Uncertain of what to do when things don't go his way.

England's best player, Andrew Flintoff, hasn't played test cricket for a long time either. Nor was he good captain last time I saw him.

Clarke, Katich: Iffy. Clarke's fall was just as swift as his rise. Katich's place isn't even fixed.

Clarke will bounce back stronger. Katich's place indeed is not fixed, as he should be left out in favor of Michael Hussey.

Gilchrist: Richie Benaud's keeper in his all-star team.

Brett Lee: Bowls fast, leaks runs, takes (a few) wickets. On a bad day, doesn't take wickets, leaks even more runs.

On a bad day, on a good day ... won't say more.

McGrath: The best fast bowler for a while, but has the tendency to step on stray cricket balls. Is way past peak physical fitness.

Yeah, he was over the hill at Lords too.

Gillespie: Bowls with real venom, but won't be having the best memories of when he played England last.
Kasprowicz: Please.

Stuart Clark is at the moment probably a better option. I think Gillespie can be a better bowler, but like you said, he won't have good memories of playing England and his confidence is low.

Some people are forgetting that Australia is just one injury away (to Glenn Mcgrath) for their gung-hoism to disappear. Without Mcgrath, Australia's bowling line up lacks the firepower to consistently win test matches. Shane Warne may also not be able to repeat his performance at the 2005 Ashes, due to the harder nature of wickets in Australia. Gillespie seems to be more of a stock bowler nowadays. Stuart Clark is at best(and I mean best) a poor man's Mcgrath. Kasprowicz falls into Gillespie's category. Mcgill is injured. Bracken cant run through a batting line up. Cullen is too raw.

And England, well they are only missing Simon Jones. N they have a better spinner now vs last time. Harmy, Flintoff, Hoggy( hopefully fit), Panesar , you have four top class bowlers and one of Mahmood, Anderson or Plunkett should be able to do a decent enough job.

Bring on Australia's vintage(pun intended) top order then!

I forgot to add about Brett Lee. He leaks runs.

Really, Akshay? And Sajid Mahmood does not?

Mustafa, Akshay, Aditya Pandit, WG----

You guys are living in a dream world!!! Big time. Pakistan "the best batting line up in the world...three quality seamers....the second best leggie"!! PULEEEASE!! Now that is what I call the trump of someone feverishly grasping at straws. They only make runs against you lot, or at home. Yes Mustafa, Pakistan & Sri Lanka are average. Tell me what makes them above average? Their winning ways? One bowler & a batsman (or, just two batsmen in Pakistan's case) are not enough. You need to win more than you lose to be a good side. Not hard to figure out.

What is evident is the concern of England supporters & the dross cricket their side has been a part of recently. Say what you like about Australian cricket. It stands up. Not every side can win every test, or series for that matter. Yes, we were beaten in India in '01. Yes the Indians drew the series out here in '03. Yes England won last year. You can say the rain saved us in Manchester. I can say if Glenn didn't stand on that ball then it would've been us 2-0, & you lot would've curled up.

I can say have a look at how fit your side is right now going into an Ashes series. It's obvious your all worried. All so keen to deflect to Australia's ageing side & who is & isn't past it....you seem to forget these are professional players who're mostly very seasoned campaigners. Last year hurt. These mens are fixatedly determined to seeing to that not happening again.

Shame England won't have you there cooing from the boundary this time. It's been played over here this time, you know? Big difference.

To Mr. Pandit. You seem to forget that Steven Harmison is a notorious homebody & poor traveller. We all know that. He WAS rubbish here last time. Hopefully he can bowl better this time. Because he's going to have a big old load to pull miles away from lovely county Durham. As for Pieterson, you think the Asif tapes will not have been closely scrutinised??? Come on, he got worked out & over. Strauss, well he's good, but he only has to face a brand new Kookaburra each innings on the fastest, bounciest tracks in the world....

I hope some of you get the chance to come out here & see a few days. You need a change of scenery by the sounds. Good on you for sticking up for your team, they'll be needing all the support they can get like that throughout "our" summer.

Instead of looking at the weaknesses of the Australian team, England and English fans would do well to look at their own strengths. The last Test captain not to get beaten in Australia is - hold your breaths - Saurav Ganguly. Agreed, McGrath didn't play in that series, but India didn't have their top bowler Zaheer Khan for most of that series either. Warne didn't play in it, but Warne looks like an idiot whenever he plays against India anyway - so it wouldn't have mattered. Where Ganguly and the Indian team were successful was that they looked down on Australia and didn't even mention the opposition's names during the press conferences. Flintoff's latest press conference tells me that he's got his thoughts together and he looks composed and ready to go. He seems to be on the right track, so let's hope he doesn't fall into the trap of caring too much about the opposition.

Aditya Pandit FYI:

Simon Katich was immediately dropped from the Australian side after failing again in the 1st test (post Ashes '05) against the Windies last year. Michael Clarke wasn't given much longer either, he just won a spot back in Bangladesh replacing Andrew Symonds. Keep up to date.

Akshay: You obviously know quite a bit about Stu Clark (I use Stu, because you are VERY familiar with him & his work, obviously). Did you catch much of debut test in Sth. Africa?? The second best bowling figures by an Australian on test debut, EVER! He lead the bowling numbers over there (while we notched another away series win, Mr. Akshay), not bad for a debutant, I'm sure even you'd agree, Mr. Akshay? Poor mans McGrath! Read up a bit. Even the normally very 'quiet & humble' Sth. Africans verbalised their praise for Stuart Clark & acceded there was another spoke in the Aussie bowling wheel.

I agree Mike he does. But he might not even play. Brett Lee will.

The "gung-hoism" as one observer puts it, is meerly a tired response to all the one-way prattling & twittering in this forum extolling the virtues of English cricket...of what so & so will do in Australia, & how the Aussies are such & such. You guys need to look up & have a good look around, because as much spin as you want to put on it & paint such a rosy picture of your house, the news is not good. By the way, this is not just an English blog. It's on the baggygreen.com.au too.

Any sage cricket observer recently has noted the decline in English cricket post Ashes '05 & the massive overhaul the team has witnessed. So I can feel empathy for your situation. I know it would not be easy after the exhaultations of last year & the flirtations with some semblance of consistent form, but try & accept that last year was an just an anomally & things will go back to normal very soon.

Akshay, you would do well to look at your own unsound & wobbly comments. All your much vaunted bowling lineup is under a cloud right now. Then to suggest Mahmood,Anderson or Plunkett as ready support suggests how much you too readily believe the hype. Try & read around the whole subject & take in a bit more unbiased cricket reporting & then you may get a more realistic feel for the actual state of the WHOLE lead up into this forth coming series.

Mustapha,

I notice you neglected to mention Hussey in your summaries. His test average of 76 isn't too shabby?

Typical Australian mentality and here I expected something more.

Vishnu you talk of average teams, and your point about 2 or 3 players not making a team great is interesting cause i dont see Australia sitting pretty after warne, mcgrath and gilchrist have retired, which is going to be pretty soon. so i guess you should enjoy that inflated ego of yours while you can. however i will agree with you that the Ashes 2006 will be Australias.

As for John B i didnt neglect hussey, infact i think he will be one of the pivotal players on the tour.

Ill say it again for all of us who have witnessed this shameful decade of Australian dominance "Go England!"

Andrew Flintoff is captain, Andrew Strauss is vice captain. If Strauss helps Flintoff with the technical work, such as field placing, and Flintoff does his inspirational work, Mr. Ponting would have quite a bit of work to do.

The Aussies want to gloat till the cows come home. However,very importantly, they forget that being the last winners of the Ashes..the English have all gloating rights until the series begins!

As im writing this I am witnessing Australia struggle against India at 198/5. Much of the focus here has been on test cricket. But I would like to ask everyones opinion on the next world cup. Which teams look likely to contend? Which teams dont have a chance? in my opinion the top contenders are pretty much the top ranked ODI teams.

Australia of course have to be mentioned. very powerful batting line up, the bowling has some question marks over it but if McGrath gets into his stride then we may yet again see another victory for those damn canaries.

South Africa, have been plagued by injuries lately and the decline of pollock as a bowler must be worrying them. however they still have some exciting one day players (G. Smith, Gibbs) who may put up a good show in the caribbean.

Pakistan despite their recent abysmal tour of England seem to be a pretty good bet and would be close favorites if it wasnt for their despicable fielding. The batting triumvarate of Inzi, yousuf and younis seems pretty unstoppable nowadays. Their bowling looks good if they can maintain shoaib akhtar's fitness with asif and rana in tow. The worry for them comes at the top of the order, which may be somewhat alleviated by the sluggish west indian pitches on which their batsmen have normally thrived.

the dark horse if i can call them that are India. Batting is amazing on paper and if it delivers, will make life difficult for the scorers. bowling is more of a concern with pathan, singh, agarkar and co. not showing the signs to take the team through to the final.

the rest i guess have a chance but in one day cricket you never know which is what makes it so exciting and infuriating at the same dam time!

I guess Mitchell Johnson might make me eat some of my words above. He was outstanding against India today. Lets see whether he does well enough to reserve an Ashes place.

"lll say it again for all of us who have witnessed this shameful decade of Australian dominance "Go England!""(sic)

Posted by: Mustafa at September

What does that mean Mustafa? That has to be the oddest, most unbalanced statement. You mention my ownership of an overinflated ego.....

I'll give you a big tip for free right now: in case you hadn't noticed Australian Cricket in this time you term a "shameful decade", rebuilt itself from the ground up & consequently whether individuals such as yourself like it or not, our brand of cricket has become the blueprint for every cricketing nation. All you need to do is look at all the national cricket academies that have sprung up in emulation, or the amount of international cricketers that attend our Adelaide academy. Or, look at the amount of Australian coaches coaching national teams. Does that suggest anything to you Mustafa? Or, look at the Australian specialist coaches that go & work in the sub-continent & Africa to help improve the game. Is that part of our "shameful decade"? Australian fans are rightly very proud of their team. We love cricket & it is part of our culture, much the same as in the subcontinent. It is grass roots stuff & there is no elitism or snobbery attached to the game here at all. We love cricket & our team, & make no apologies for being parochial in our support.

Mustafa, what has England done to better the game? Or even her own game? Do you think the policy of importing foreign players is a sound one? How many foreign players have played for England during Australia's "shameful decade"? A lot Mustafa (from the Caribbean, Sth. Africa, Zimbabwe, Australia, NZ). The ECB (& WICB for that matter) offered Andrew Symonds (born in Birmingham, UK) the opportunity to qualify to play test cricket for those respective nations a few years back. He could've easily accepted one of the offers & regularly played test match cricket for either country, but he chose to strive for the far remoter dream of representing Australia. I think that speaks volumes of Australian cricket.

If you think it is bigheaded for Australian players to carry themselves with an air of self confidence & self belief on the pitch, then so be it. I say, Australian cricket has earnt every right to be self confident. They have a winning culture & strive to win & have earnt the respect of all their opponents. However, people like yourself, want to knock that simply because your own side is not & has not been good enough to consistently compete against Australia during this "shameful decade" of Australian dominance.

Mustafa: did you keep watching the Ind v. Aus game? Didn't quite turn out to be an Australian struggle did it? In fact quite the opposite. Lucky it rained for the the Indians who were on the ropes reeling from young gun Mitchell Johnson:
R Dravid c Martyn b Johnson 6
SR Tendulkar c Haddin b Johnson 12
IK Pathan b Johnson 0
V Sehwag run out (Clarke/Haddin) 8
Yuvraj Singh c Hogg b Johnson 0
SK Raina not out 1
Hmmmm. Not a bad four overs from M.Johnson. India: 35/5 (or 5/35 depending on where you're from) when the game was washed out.

Ashay:
Call it whatever you like. The facts have been simply stated, which just happen to be punctuated by this period in time of Australian strength in world cricket. Fact: your Ashes-holding team is under a collectively large injury cloud coming into this series. Fact: your talismanic captain carries a huge load. Not only is he the best fast bowling all-rounder ever, he is now captain & he has suspect ankles. The more he bowls, the sooner his career will end. That is a sad fact, as no one wants to see him out of the game. He plays the game the right way, & is one player I think pretty much all Australian fans wish wore the baggy green. "Gloating rights".......you can keep them mate.

Hes my reasons why England cannot win.

Flintoff wont be at his best, if he plays...
Missing Simon Jones
Matthew Hoggard does not bowl well in Australian conditions, Neither does Harmison, they dont seem to like the heat and the hard grounds.
Batsmen wont score boundaries on the much bigger grounds.
Panesar will not spin on our grounds and our guys will take him apart, as they do to every other finger spinner that tours.
Who said Langer could be exposed to fast bowling? Hes from Perth, fastest pitch in world cricket. Reverse swing will not be a factor, allowing our batsmen to play their game and they will. Gilchrist will relish the open spaces. Mc Grath wont be stepping on balls ever again! Lee is improved, S Clark is in the side and extremely good on our pitches. Hussey is a huge find for us and will likely challenge Ponting to be the highest run scorer. Poms wont have specialist fielders giving bowlers a rest with fake injuries, to run out our guys. (That epsisode was blatant cheating, hence why Ponting blew his lid, shame on England. and matter was taken up at ICC) Australia will be lot more motivated and wont make the mistake of underestimating again (even though I could be!). Given all these factors. I'm actually more worried that the series will be a cakewalk. Im biased of course though I've read all the comments by england supporters. Im certain these are undeniable factors, far too many positives for Australia and negatives for England. Close to 100 thousand crowd at MCG every day will be an incredible spectacle.

Vishnu, Vishnu, Vishnu you must be the most sensitive blogger on this site. If youve read any of my other posts youd probably understand what I was saying. I hate the Australian team, ill admit it, arrogant and brash to the very end. I however can admire and appreciate the brilliance of their team and their players as well. in short, not being from australia doesnt cloud my judgement when it comes to cricket. I have no idea why you went on this tirade about elitism and snobbery, and how england hasnt bettered the game, and the greatness of australias local cricket structure. i know its a good one, thats why they have a good team. Also you must learn not to take words too literally, when i said shameful decade of australian dominance it was from the perspective of a non australian. and as a non australian i like to see the best team in the world lose. the problem with your team is that they swagger and act like complete asses and then complain when they arent universally loved. if you think you deserve to be "self confident" just remember its lonely at the top and heres another cliche, those at the top have the furthest to fall or something like that.

As for the ODI match between AUS and IND, well it ended well for you guys but do i have to point out the obvious that it had been raining the whole time? thats why the overs were reduced and the match finally abandoned. If you think young Mitchell (who looks good i admit) can do that again without such helpful conditions (moisture, swing and a dodgy pitch) against such a batting line up, then quite frankly your deluding yourself. add to that the fact that if India got in the 50 overs they would have to be scoring at under 5 an over, but with the duck worth lewis they had to go to close at 7. And let it please be noted that I am from the subcontinent, but am Pakistani, so pls no accusations of bias!

Go England!

I don't want to jump the gun, but things are looking pretty cheerful as Australia are 64/4 against the West Indies. Is this an indication that Australia might miss Ponting more than Mcgrath should one of them be injured?

My Two Cents:

Well first i should clarify that I am an Indian but an avid Aussie fan.However while watching the DLF cup today and seeing Stuart Clarke being taken apart by Lara and company one thing crossed my mind that Aussies are vulnerable when under pressure. As Lara said they are beatable.

I believe that Aussies have a problem in the third seamer's role (not withstanding Johnson's exploits under helpful conditions and Clarke's wonderful debut).But despite this one weakness (though i have the feeling johnson/clarke might make me eat my words) Aussies are way too strong a team.

Looking at the English squad one cant help but have the feeling that this English team might get a hiding from the strong Aussie squad.
The English supporters may gloat over their bowling attack but bowlers like Mahmood,Plunkett,Anderson are not even test level bowlers to even think of even comparing with McGrath,Lee & Co. Hoggard's swing will be severely handicapped by pitches at Aus. The only bowlers who can rattle Australia are Flintoff, Harmison(Aussies may say he is Harmlessone but deep inside they know he has the capability to run through the vaunted batting order) and Panesar(with a big IF). It's a pity that Simon Jones is not here else he could've made a difference.

In batting the contest is more skewed. From Australia's side watch out for Hussey. He could be real dangerous. Ponting - Well no more praise required. Hayden coming back to life and Langer could still be a handful. If Clarke/Martyn fire in the middle order with Gilchrist waiting in the wings we could look at some huge aussie scores. For England apart from Pieterson and to a certain extent Strauss and Flintoff the English are highly vulnerable. But Asif's exploits could make the English skip some beat and Aussies rubbing their hands with glee. For Bell and Cook -Its entirely different scoring hundreds against a weakened pace attack coming at good position after a good start and entirely different from facing a quality attack right from the word go. Cook looked scratchy in parts and Bell wont have good memories of Aussies.

Being a neutral,i strongly wish English give some fight to Aussies to make it a competitive series. Else it could well be the familiar sight of the last decade and the half!

Goodness, hasn't this blog turned rather unpleasant?! Come on guys, where's the 2005 bonhomie that was shown so spectacularly between both sets of players (and fans, I have to add) at every game? This is cricket, remember, not that girly football game...

For what it is worth, although a die-hard English (and Lancs) fan, I fear for the worst this time. On the bowling front, we have two players coming back from injuries, in Fred and Harmy and the latter was hardly in form when he was fit, that one Test at OT aside. Hoggard is unlikely to find conditions to his liking in Aus, whilst the fourth seamer is our real achilles heel. Not only did Simon Jones take wickets at a staggering rate, and with an old ball, he was also highly economical. In contrast, Plunkett should be steady, though hardly penetrative, and whilst both Anderson and Saj are capable of taking wickets against the best, they are also likely to bowl spells where they are carted all round the park, leading to a loss of initiative to the Aussies and, most likely, Fred over-bowling himself to compensate. Monty is the one real hope: if he can cope with the pressure that will be put on him by the Aussie batsmen and crowd - and I think he will - he might just be our diamond.

In terms of batting, I am more confident than most of Bell and Cook. Bell has matured and is ten times the player he was last year, whilst Cook has the most unflabbable temperament which I'm certain will stand up against all the flak thrown at him. My biggest concern for him is Warney - he struggled horribly against Kaneria, who, with respect, isn't fit to wipe the great man's boots.

One final thought. The consensus seems to be that if Tresco is fit, then Collingwood will miss out as his batting is not up to that of Bell and Cook. I wonder though... if we looked at how many runs he saves in the field, compared to ordinary mortals, might we suggest 8-10 per innings? Added to his current Test average, this brings it up to around 50 per innings. Not bad. Then what about those stunning catches and occasional run-outs that no-one else in the team is capable of emulating (with the possible exception of Bell's catching)? How many runs is the dismissal, say of Ponting when in single figures, thanks to a flying one-handed Colly catch, worth? Not to mention the filip he brings to the bowlers and the team as a whole through his fielding and general exuberance. How many runs do they add to his pure batting contribution? Anyone any thoughts?

One final point. I hope to be at the MCG on Boxing Day - and truly hope the atmosphere between the two sets of supporters is as good-natured as it was at OT last year. You Aussies have every right to be proud not just of your team but also your travelling fans, with whom I spent a great night in Manchester's Walkabout Bar after the match. Whoever comes out on top, let's hope it's as tight and keenly fought as 2005, and it goes down to the very last day again. That way, cricket will once again be the real winner.

I do completely understand now how you would be wholly unbiased now you have provisioned me with that vital piece of information Mustafa.....whilst all the cows & the sheep are flying backwards in the sky. "Hate" is a very strong & passionate word to use against a national sporting team Mustafa. Dare I say it for fear of invoking your chiding wrath again Mustafa, it does all seem a bit childish. I hope you're ok. You do sound a bit sad & lonely where ever it is you are, Mustafa. Hopefully you'll come to terms with that hate of yours Mustafa & realise in the world of professional sports & sport generally there is often a dominant side. Sadly for you, that isn't your team, nor is that at all remotely likley in the forseeable future. Maybe you could hate your own team too? For their continual underperforming & regular self-centred & selfish play throughout your "shameful decade"? Ta ta now Mustafa, you take care now in that big bad spooky world of international cricket. I'm worried about you.

P.S:Oh yes, before you go for the cheap shots; yes the Windies did win well yesterday evening. Who would've ever thought eh, the Windies beating a tinkered Australian side in a warm-up comp in Malaysia.....crikey, that's not bad, eh Mustafa? Bye now Mustafa. Do take care.

Panesar will do well both in first innings and second. He is so much better than Giles that playing him and three fit quicks may be enough. On the quicks front Saj Mahmood is starting to come good, Anderson came good in India and will do so again provided that his back holds. Harmison does like hard wickets - look at the old trafford game and his decent performance at Brisbane in the supertest. Flintoff will be fine if he is fit. Hoggard may turn out to be the weakest link in some conditions - but if he continues to be out of rythm in the warm ups England ought to consider playing Anderson and or Saj against him. Both are better old ball bowlers.
Panesar is class and willIts got to depend mostly on whether the quicks are fit and h

Panesar couldn't take a wicket at club level in Australia 12 months ago, looking forward to his improvement and battle with Australia's top order bulles. With such an unsettled England squad and Australia relatively settled and back playing some amazing cricket, refreshed from a quiet winter, the Aussies surely start favourites. Very Very Hard to beat at home.

collingwood has got to play, he's good in 3 areas, batting, fielding especially, and he can bowl a bit when we need to take the pace off the ball. the only real debate should be who opens with strauss, cook or trescothick... id rather have cook i think but maybe experience would be the way to go, interesting to see what happens. anderson if fully fit should definately play aswell, much more consistant than saj and also offers something different with swing.

sorry cannot see how u could, Colingwood , who is neither a batsmen , bowler or much of an allrounder, and an overated fieldsman, in the first eleven

i would also most certainly go for the pace of Mahmood, than the on/off swing of Anderson, I can tell you who the aussies would least like to face and it aint Anderson !

brisbane 11
strauss, threscothick, cook, peterson, bell, flintoff, jones, hoggard, mahmood, harmison, panesar, 12 th man anderson