Official New Years Test - SCG

[Adelaide Hawk]

Game's almost over. Mahmood has come on to "bowl". 11 off the over

[Adelaide Hawk]

Hados hits some more smorgasboard from Mahood for 6, then a single for 5-0.

Well done Aussies!!!

[rod_rooster]

What a phenomenal Australian side.

Must pay credit to the English side. Not on their cricket but the class they showed in paying such respect to Langer when they formed the guard of honour.

[mal]

Hados hits some more smorgasboard from Mahood for 6, then a single for 5-0.

Well done Aussies!!!

Hado batted like PIETERSON

[Maddogmike]

Fair play - I think the series was closer than 5-0. Poms had their moments when the series was alive in Adelaide and Perth. Beaten by an exceptional team! Glad I can gloat to all those who have given me grief in the UK during 05/06!!!

[RoosterMarty]

Too easy!! 5-0 is an amazing achievement after losing the Ashes last time and with this series being the most hyped and anticipated in history. Australia showed what a class act they are with a clinical, ruthless and professional demolition of the English. A fitting way to say goodbye to 3 champions in McGrath, Warne and Langer.

[Aerie]

Just too good. So much class in every facet of the game. Well done to Ricky Ponting's team. Can't imagine a performance over a series to be any more perfect than that against pretty good opposition.

It was a fitting farewell to the three retirees. Can't say I've ever sat down and watched cricket with a lump in my throat for two hours, but that's what I did this morning. Loved Langer's final words on the meaning of the baggy green and how he wanted to be remembered with respect and as a good bloke. He certainly will be.

How proud do you feel being an Australian today!

[mal]

RATINGS FOR 2006/2007 SERIES
--------------------------------------
HAYDEN 7............. done his job
LANGER 7.............. great start
PONTING 9-5 .........won the series with adelaide ton, great series
MARTYN 2 ..............age caught up
HUSSEY 9 ..............mr fixit so consistent
CLARKE 9...............took his opportunity + career best form
SYMONDS 7............last 2 tests maketh the chosen one
WARNE 7................not at his absolute best, invaluable contributor
LEE 5......................was a flop until a great last test
CLARK 9..................best bowler in the series by a country mile
MCGRATH 7............36 yo still mixing it with the younger blokes

STRAUSS 4.............no luck with umpiring decisions, had starts no conversions
COOK 4..................one good innings
BELL 6.....................consistent but no 100s
PIETERSON 9...........took the aussies on and ave of 53 confirms champion status
COLLINGWOOD 7.....great 200 adelaide, tries hard all tour
FLINTOFF 4..............injured ankle, poor series bat and ball for him
READ 3...................good hands thats all
JONES 2..................ordinary
GILES 1..................laughing stock, most overbowled cricketer for a long time
PANESAR 6.............great debut in WA quicks did not keep pressure on
HARMISON 4...........improved throughout from dreadful to handy
HOGGARD 5............brilliant in adelaide but another disapointing tour
ANDERSON 2...........not good enough
MAHMOOD 4............showed promise 6 wkts in MCG test, learning

MAN OF THE SERIES
--------------------
1 PONTING
2 CLARK
3 HUSSEY
4 PIETERSON
5 CLARKE

SUMMARY
-----------

Every Australian player is a potentail matchwinner, simply outclassed the opposition.
Only Pieterson, Strauss, Flintoff + Harmison are matchwiners and only one of them was this tour.
I mainly blame the english bowlers for thier 5-0 drubbing, fancy picking 5 bowlers
and allowing the opposition dominate.
The batting was disappointing most of the time, the tail pathetic.
The tails best success was in Adelaide first innings !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In the 2005 ashes only Warne in particular could hold his head up high[Ponting OK]
In 2006/2007 only Kevin Pieterson can walk away with dignity.

UMPIRES
-----------

Favoured Australia heavily, but despite this Australia would have still found a way to a 5-0 win

NEXT TIME THEY PLAY
-------------------------
Ashes 2009
In England with reverse swing England will find a way to polish off our batting more often.
Our bowling will be revamped
Clark and Lee will be 33-34 years old and peaking downwards Macgill retired by then
Much will depend on new sensation Hilfenhaus and Tait/Johnson/Bracken/
No genuine spinner White/Bailey/Cullen I dont see as a threat, Hogg too old, Macgill too old.
England will bat better due to a rebuilding attack
Close series 2-2 draw and retaining the ashes.

SAFOOTY
---------

For all those who agreed with me in the 2006/2007 ashes thanks
For the snipers thanks for letting me outclass youse most of the time.

[JK]

How proud do you feel being an Australian today!

As proud as yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that ....

[Aerie]

How proud do you feel being an Australian today!

As proud as yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that ....

True....

[MAY-Z]

Not a bad summary mal

hayden 5……offered little until being given a test century by some inexpicably poor umpiring
langer 5…….set the tone at the gabba but did very little after that
ponting 9....was at his best when the series was there to be one, captaincy could still improve
hussey 9……as has been the norm for him but wouldve liked to covert another 50 into a 100
clarke 8 …….his best series hopefully he will now build on that
martyn 0……useless glad he has gone
symonds 5.5. doesn’t bowl well enough to be an allrounder, still had some juvenille dismissals as per hayden for his 100 ie very lucky
gilchrist 7.5.. got back to some form with the bat but still not quite enstilling the same confidence that he did a couple of years ago
warne 7……not his best, a good time to retire I feel but still a good performer and had it mentally over the english most of the time
lee 5…tried hard but is still struggling
clark 9…on pitches where batting seemed easy he still troubled all the batsmen and deserved his success
mccgrath 6.. as with warne not his best and the right time to go


strauss. 5 ..kept getting starts and either got himself out or was given out
cook 4……good 100 as wih strauss kept getting starts but needs to work out where his off stump is
bell 6……. Much better than last time but for a player of his style got out playing some very poor shots and he needs to rotate the strike more often
pietersen 9.. easily englands best wasn’t given the chance to convert some starts due to the lack of ability of the rest of his side
collingwood 6.5 started well but then faded out
flintoff.4…started well with the ball at the gabba that was all of note, poor captaincy and the tail started with him at 6
jones 3…was ok at the gabba, keeping very poor in perth and deservadly dropped
read 5….clearly the best keeper and ended up with 11? Dismissals from 2 innings
giles 0…. The score says it all
anderson..3. swung the ball at times but is not the bowler everyone expected him to be when he made his odi debut here in 2003
harmison..4 got better as the series went on but was awful in brisbane and set the tone for the series
panesar 6…good start but the fields set for him were poor
hoggard 6.5..tried hard was given little support early and was rewarded in adelaide
mahmood 3.5..is better than what he porduced but needs to find some consistency

umpiring

was good for the first test and a half but then fell away dramatically (unless your australian) and didn’t help englands plight as it probably would have only been 1-0 heading into perth and would've changed the psych a bit but it woul still have probably been 4-0

as for next time I don’t think either side will be bowling sides out cheaply so I will go for a 1-1 result

[sydney-dog]

what an amazing day

just got back from the cricket and I must say I have not expierenced too many better days at a sporting event

it was a wonderful celebration, not just of a wonderful cricket team but also of three all time great australian players

om the POM's, very ordinary!!!!

if they believe that they stand a stong chance just on the basis of Australian's retirements, thinh again

Hussey and S Clark prove that our shield comp produces ready made test players, now their is an opportunity to find 2 or 3 more, Australian cricket is in great shape.

Harmison has been the flop of the tour, his attitude is his weakness, it took the final day for the guy to bowl his best spell, Im not sure if too many of you guys seen his interview with Dave Gower, if you did, you will have a clearer understanding on why the POM's got smashed 5-0

Others such as Bell, Strauss, Cook and Collingwood have plenty of work before being considered as class test players, while more bowling depth is needed at test level, both Anderson and Mahmood, will never be more then 2nd change bowlers at test level

In 2009, no matter who takes the pitch in a baggy green, the POM's have there work cut out

[mal]

SD you hit the nail on the head, our domestic competition is the reason
why we dominate test cricket.
Clark was a good honest bowler at domestic level
Hussey was just a good batsman
Both of them have starred for 12 months in tests and far exceed thier domestic form.
Warne + Mcgrath rarely played at top form at domestic level.
We have only 6 teams at domestic level which equates to 66 players in first elevens.
I would say apart from the test X1 there is a hard core of 15 very good players
who could take the next step, and about 5 who would aquit themselves well at test level.
Most teams select about 6 good to very good players.
Even the easybeats SA provide talent
D HARRIS/BORGAS/COSGROVE/CULLEN/BAILEY/TAIT/ and GILLESPIE/LEHMANN


SD whats your Pieterson rating
MAY-Z and I both had the same rating

AH your HONEST rating for Plonkerson as well

[Punk Rooster]

Fair play - I think the series was closer than 5-0. Poms had their moments when the series was alive in Adelaide and Perth. Beaten by an exceptional team! Glad I can gloat to all those who have given me grief in the UK during 05/06!!!

the Ashes were lost in 5 days- 1 day in each Test

[sydney-dog]

Mal

My Pieterson rating

First up we need to be careful when rating performances over the series, my preference is to put greater weight on the first 3 test when the series was their tp be won then the last two dead rubber tests

My player of the series was Hussey, scored 458 runs at an averaged of 91.6 for the series but in the first 3 tests, he smashed 415 runs in 5 innings, at an average of 138, for this he gets a rating of 9

Given Hussey is my bench mark

Pieterson, scored 490 runs but batted at an average of 54.4 for the series but batted three more innings then Hussey, but in the first three test Pieterson scored 398 runs at an average of 80

My rating for Pieterson7.5 or 8

[mal]

Mal

My Pieterson rating

First up we need to be careful when rating performances over the series, my preference is to put greater weight on the first 3 test when the series was their tp be won then the last two dead rubber tests

My player of the series was Hussey, scored 458 runs at an averaged of 91.6 for the series but in the first 3 tests, he smashed 415 runs in 5 innings, at an average of 138, for this he gets a rating of 9

Given Hussey is my bench mark

Pieterson, scored 490 runs but batted at an average of 54.4 for the series but batted three more innings then Hussey, but in the first three test Pieterson scored 398 runs at an average of 80

My rating for Pieterson7.5 or 8

Yes indeed we should put prevalence on what happened earlier in the series.
Lets hope Warrrrrrrrrrrney helps out at St Kilda in the AFL and give us
something to argue about in footy season

[sydney-dog]

not sure what value Warne could add

but hey, we don't need warne to argue about the Saints

[mal]

Did Warne, Mcgrath or Langer retire too early
Of the 3 Im sure Warnnnnnney could have gone 1-3 more years
Being the leading alltime gretest wicket taker Im surprised he decide to quit.
The other 2 were ripe enough maybe one more year each.

[heater31]

Did Warne, Mcgrath or Langer retire too early
Of the 3 Im sure Warnnnnnney could have gone 1-3 more years
Being the leading alltime gretest wicket taker Im surprised he decide to quit.
The other 2 were ripe enough maybe one more year each.

Warne has gone on record that his body has had enough. with the amount of overs he has been bowling in the series 1 more year might bugger him completely and retire with an injury which would have been a great injustice to the great man. interesting how he goes at Hampshire for the next 2 years. will he bowl???

[Punk Rooster]

Did Warne, Mcgrath or Langer retire too early
Of the 3 Im sure Warnnnnnney could have gone 1-3 more years
Being the leading alltime gretest wicket taker Im surprised he decide to quit.
The other 2 were ripe enough maybe one more year each.

No.
Their timing (just like McGrath's line & length, Langers cover drive & Warnie's sledging) was spot on.
They've retired while they are still a threat as cricketers, & before they become a parody of themselves.
Better to leave on your own terms, & still on top- & let's face it, they've won the Ashes 5-0, a perfect way to retire.