Couldn't agree more about the commentary, which to this point has been diabolical. Why oh why is Paul 'I can send a screaming baby to sleep in two minutes' Allot been chosen. The rest seem to take utter joy in pointing out the bleeding obvious and recapping the score every two seconds. Gentlemen the score is plain to see by all with graphics. At least tomorrow’s game is also on radio four so I can tune into some more insightful and entertaining commentary.

Of the eleven wishes Tim, I found the eleventh wish the most pertinent. Will someone please write an article on how bad at commentating Mr. Sidhu is? Or do journalists have an unwritten rule that they will not bad-mouth a fellow media person?

I single out Pietersen and Ponting as the key batsmen for tomorrow's game. Both are the premier batsman in their own teams. Their failure in the last game just means they would be that much more eager to stamp their mark in the championship.

Here I have to add my two cents on the quality of commentary. Every utterance of Ramiz Raza is full of cliches. He does not provide any refreshing insights into the game.His abuse of the language and drab descriptions are enough to force even the most ardent fans to turn off their tv. I personally enjoyed listening to all the commentators so far.

How is Yardy not a specialist? He plays for his batting at Sussex. Only England have discovered his bowling which does, however, appear to be remarkably effective. This doesn't make him less of a batsman surely?
But he does still need to prove he can bat at this level. What a confusing chap.

Tim, please stop with nostalgia already. McGrath is done, look at him - he looks old and grumpy. Ricky Ponting is nervous - look at his body language. Andrew Symonds - he is too much into himself and trying to talk and look tough - no match for Chris Gayle. I can go on.....face it: the Aussies' downward spiral has begun, just in time for the world cup.

The commentary is awful. It puts you to sleep...zzz...I could give the same commentary...sitting on my couch at home. The commentary team at Channel 9 (Australia) is the best

English team is not the same that it was about a couple of years back. Without Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick, the batting looks feeble and often crumbles when under pressure! Bowling is not reliable and England is missing Simon Jones dearly. I think to beat the Aussies, England need Harmison and Flintoff in the groove. Nevertheless, its a psychological battle where the one victorious shall gain the upper hand at The Ashes!

Sensibly written from an objective point of view without a hint of bias, well done Tim! Your best effort yet. Bravo sir.

Good call on the commentary box idea but it reflects my view that we should have a professional commentator instead of a bunch of old pros. I would not say that none of them don't deserve their places as they were all great players but some of their comments are a little bit obvious or unjustified

Reference to wish no. 11

The tournament broadcast has a who's who of the worst cricket commentators in the game today. Laxman Siviramakrishnan, Arun Lal, Rameez Raja, Ian Bishop, Nick Knight and the leader of the pack, Ranjit Fernando. It really doesnt get any worse than Fernando who is a total blithering idiot. All we need is for Sunil Gavaskar to show up with his absolutely random comments and I would be convinced to watch the match with the mute button pressed.

Amen to the last point. Navjot Sidhu, in particular, is such a pain to listen to. Does anyone really enjoy non-stop similes and cliches being shouted on top volume if the batsman so much as hits a boundary? Someone tell him this is not a circus and he is being allowed to commentate because he is supposed to have some cricketing knowledge and experience.

Tim is perhaps asking for too much from this one day game. He wants quite a few runs from flintoff, Watson, Bell and then better bowling performances from Mcgrath, Harmison and presence of Jon Lewis. Sorry but the devil in the pitch won't allow all these incidents to happen simultaneously. And people would like to see verbal assaults on the field rather than from the commentators. I am still not so sure if Shane Watson has got the skills required to play on such a tricky wicket where deliveries tend to stop a bit. Dual paced, as they say. Though Watson gives an extra bowling option to the team. I wonder why selectors dont choose Panesar for one day matches. Englishmen are just too worried about their Ashes fortunes. They thoroughly deserve a whacking for some poor selections in the bowling department. And there can't be a better team than Australia to do that!!

Good comments, one thing I agree for sure is about the commentary. Why dont networks find good guys like, Ravi Shastri, Ian Chappell, and some good fun Australian cricketers.

Tim, I can't agree with your statement in Point 9 that Ponting shuffled his bowlers well in the match on Wednesday.

I thought his decision to only give three overs to the only genuinely wicket-taking spin option in Brad Hogg and give eight overs to the pseudo-spin of Andrew Symonds was a conservative move that probably made things easier for Lara and Morton then they should've been.

Obviously Ponting took Hogg off after a poor over where Lara hit him for consecutive boundaries and feared that Lara's genius against spin bowling would be less dangerous against off-spin bowling as opposed to leg-spin bowling.

While an understandable perspective, it was a negative one that betrayed a lack of faith in Hogg, who is often derided but in truth has been an excellent replacement for Shane Warne over the last few years.

It's not the first time that Australia has paid the price for not utilising Hogg - I don't think it's a coincidence that Australia's failure to defend 331 against NZ last year and 434 against South Africa this year were because Hogg had been left out of the side.

Excellent comments. At least the guys in the com box can be more entertaining. Barring Ian Chappell, others do not come out with little nuggets of interesting information which can lighten the tedium of watching the none too exciting matches.

Allow me to sum it all up in one line: better performances from both teams.

As quoted in your article "Ian Bell may not have done anything to earn a spot in the Ashes Series '05", but he certainly did nothing in it to show he was up to Test match cricket. Some players star at county (or provincial) level but struggle when they reach the Test stage (e.g. Graeme Hick) and I think Mr Bell is going to struggle in Australia on our bouncy wickets and then when he hits Sydney Warnie will again show him up.

I don't think Warne has had a bigger bunny since Darryl Cullinan and I expect that Warne will take Bell's wicket 5 times throughout the course of the Ashes Series unless the Australia quicks get to him first. Sadly I think this tour of Australia will be the end and sadly the tune will play "Ding Dong the Bell is dead" to a test career which never rose to any great heights against the more powerful test match playing nations. Thankfully for England's sake he is surrounded by fine test match batsmen in Strauss, Pietersen & Flintoff. Let the games begin: only 34 more sleeps until Brisbane.

The issue is not just that Australia are opening with two non-specialist batsmen, it is that they are opening with two non-specialist opening batsmen. As they were when Katich was there. There was no reason whatever to drop Hayden, and it is vital that one of the openers is a specialist. On another matter, Tim, you seem to have been watching a different McGrath to the rest of us. He was OK on Wednesday, certainly not military medium.

This one is going to be a cracker of a contest under lights. I would like to see the players of both teams celebrate Diwali with their strokeplay and delight the crowd on this special occasion.

Talk of this game being a prelude to the Ashes is largely overblown nonsense. It's a different ball game, different country and half of the players from either side don't even play in their respective Test teams.

"Australia are firm favourites"...if thats not the understatement of the century then what!! Of Course, Aussies can win even with their knickers on, for tomorrows encounter.

As far as the XI wishes lucky'o'Tim, on this auspicious festive day, let me grant you those:

1. 230 Pitch - Apply loads of PVA on the pitch
2. Close contest - Allow each English batsman to bat twice
3. Glenn'o'Glenn - Get him Ramnaresh Sarwan for morning tea
4. Jon what?? - Play Ian Botham & Bob Willis, I still bet my quid on the kangaroos
5. No verbal shower - C'mon, thats not the Aussie ("What the ..." in the face) way
6. Freddie factor - BIG one, if he fires, England wins
7. Shane my mane - Hope he fires too, but if Freddie does, this holds no price
8. Xtras - Design the Jaipur pitch in the shape of the Ashes urn, that might get some inspiration for the English bowlers
9. Who's the boss - Both captains are smart, but I dont know why, for some reason, a win makes you look much smarter
10. Ringin a Bell - Talented bloke, but you gotto prove it mate
11. Other Comments - Dean Jones (do I need to say more)

Pardon the cynicism, a thrilling contest on the cards tomorrow only if England play to their full potential, & if they do, they can beat the Aussies for sure. (Deep inside, I wish Freddie has the last laugh)

C'mon Tim, the game won't be fun without a few verbal jabs being exchanged. And since Australia can't really afford to take this game lightly, you can definitely expect McGrath to go back to his old sledging tricks.... unless he comes in first change. Nobody is bullied by a first-change medium pacer.

Tim,

When are you going to stop the Ashes comparisons to ODIs? It's a completely different kettle of fish.

The only similarity is the Aussies will romp it home just as they will in the upcoming Ashes series.

Gaffa

I entirely agree with the need for better commentary. Blokes such as Sanjay Manjrekar, Rameez Raza, Barry Richards are very knowledgeable and excellent commentators. However, Navjot Singh Siddhu and Donna Symmonds are really getting on my nerves.

Sidhu's annoying habit of dishing smart remarks have clearly worn out their welcome. ("Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the conquest of fear"....duh...please spare these aphorisms during a tight game...)

On the other hand, Donna talks just way too much, and does not add any great insights into the game. ("Jerome Taylor is slowly walking to the top of his bowling mark, and he will soon turn around and run in to deliver the last ball of the over"....oh, c'mon for crying out loud...I can SEE that he is walking to the top of his bowling mark)

When both Donna and Navjyot are on at the same time, the problem is easily solved...I hit the mute button. It is when these two are paired with knowledgeable blokes that my dilemma begins.

Tim,

You're over-analysing things. You read it here first, the upcoming Ashes contest will soon be forgotten as one of the most over-hyped sporting contests of all time. And anyway, teams such as Sri Lanka and Pakistan are playing much better cricket than either Australia or England at the moment. Yawn.

Ryan
Wellington
New Zealand

Thank you for bringing up the commentary issue, Tim. Siddhu is just an unbearable bore who is only interested in showing off his idiom and metaphor which is often times very tacky. He surely thinks it's very clever. And Laxman Sivaramkrishnan is the king of speaking the obvious with his puppy-dubby convent English (middle-school level).

On the commentary issue I actually think a couple of good new Aussies have been unearthed to replace Dean Jones. Bruce Yardley and Damien Fleming have both been quite insightful and seem to have a sense of humour too, which always helps.

Tim, I don't see much hope for England at the Ashes. Flintoff looks too rusty and his batting position in the Champions Trophy is not doing him any good.

KP appears to be becoming quite one-dimensional in his approach to batting. He has to take a leaf out of Gilly's approach in the match against Sri Lanka.

I'm afraid the Aussies will sort him out during the Ashes.
His performance against Johnson is the sign of things to come. England simply do not have the batting for the Ashes.Yes, they do have have the bowlers who can embarass quite a few of the Aussies. But overall England's batting will let them down.

Not sure about you guys, but we have a different commentary team - Ian Bishop, Nick Knight, Damien Fleming, Shivaramakrishnan, Ravi Shastri, Daryl Cullinan, Jeremy Lawson, Paul Allott, Bruce Yardley and Ranjit Fernando.

No complaints, although I could live without hearing Ranjtih's annoying voice. The rest have a nice mix of youth and experience, humour and insight.

We could use Geoffrey Boycott though. And I miss listening to Henry Blofeld.

As for the match, the less said the better. What England's batsmen were trying to do between overs 18 and 44 is anyone's guess.

Im writing this after the match so the benefit of hindsight is with me. England's batting was pathetic and I think it stemmed in part from their batting line up. First off the move with Flintoff up the order is clearly not working. He should be dropped down the order. Second, I have no idea what Yardy is doing in the team, his technique is awful and he seems ill-suited for the demands of the OD game. England should replace him with a specialist bat at no. 3, which leaves Pietersen, Flintoff and Collingwood at 4, 5, and 6, a stable middle order which should serve them well. Harmison's troubles are symbolic of England's problems, and they'll need him to fire soon if they hope to have any chance of progressing as a one day team. Australia won convincingly, but given England's recent travails I'd even be betting on Bangladesh to give them a whipping.

Rings a 'Bell'!

I am really not sure Bell has not proved his worth. In the recently concluded Test series against Pakistan, which I was fortunate enough to see, he scored three centuries in five tests. Two of these where with the tailenders and were really classy and important ones.

In the one-dayers he has a 88, 86 and 42 in 5 innings. Though not great by any standards, his form does not deserve criticism.

Three wickets apiece for young boys Watson and Johnson, a match-clinching innings from birthday boy Martyn, and a thoroughly hilarious 1990s-esque collapse from England.

I'm not reading too much into this game (or at least I wouldn't be if I were English), but it was a pretty miserable performance from England. We saw an impressive opening stand between the reliable Strauss (who I think will make quite a few runs in Australia) and the improving Bell (who may just turn out to be a good batsman, despite the feeble walking wicket we saw in '05), and I guess Mahmood and Anderson bowled a few decent balls, but that was about it. Harmison was painful to watch

Martyn's class, Watson getting Flintoff's wicket after hitting him in the visor and Johnson nailing Pietersen were my personal highlights. Question: Should both Watson and Johnson play on Nov 23? Maybe it's time to show faith in the young boys.

I couldn't agree more with your last request. Ranjit Fernando seems to be trying to make his commentary more exciting, but in the end, has only managed to point out the obvious. L Sivaramakrishnan...well, you can't expect much from him. Jeff Dujon can be insightful at times but he needs to change his tone from mortally drab to a little more exciting. Ian Bishop seems the only one who's got consistent insight into things.

It's easy to deride commentators, but we have to keep in mind though that these are former cricketers, and they might not be great at saying a lot of things off the field with mike in hand.

England's batting was absolutely shocking apart from openers, from 83-0 to 165 all out is very poor. It is makes it very difficult for the bowlers to actually have a go. It seems England's batting has let the whole team down again.

Mitchell Johnson HAS to play his home test at the 'Gabba, with the untimely injuries to Clark & Kaspa (the other frontrunners) putting them out of the equation for now. MJ's performances alone suggest he must play. Young, fast, hostile & swinging it both ways & then to debut on the pitch he's cut his teeth on....bring it on.

Damp squib on its way - the utter lack of will shown by England in its recent encounter with Australia in Champion's Trophy which is disguised as "we suck at ODI but watch us not care" attitude does not augur well for the Ashes. I was a big England supporter in the last Ashes and also had taken some bets that they would win. Not so for the coming edition.

I know that ODI and Test form are different things but I would argue that attitudes arent. This English team has been OK being one of the world's worst in ODI for a very long time now. This attitude would get transferred to the Tests soon.

Probably the first time they are getting hammered by Australian batting and Flintoff's inspiration fails to deliver.

Ranjith Fernando (The Corridor of uncertainty) is
woeful and parrotlike in his comments - I think the other commentators are on to this and wait for him to repeat what they have said which he duly obliges within minutes. Just listen to him (if he is selected in future).