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Ashes Predictions 2017/18

TheParraboy

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
66,142
It's looking like we might get a particularly bouncy GABBA wicket with a bit of green on top.

England could well shit themselves if they bat first

come on mate, this is the greatest English ashes squad sent down under, ask Freddy...
 

mozza91

Coach
Messages
12,674
Saw earlier on WWOS that Michael Slater and I have the same 11 for the first test. I feel dirty.
 

lockyno1

Post Whore
Messages
52,539
Got a century in India don't think there's many current FC cricketers in Australia capable of that at the moment. He deserves a chance on home soil.

Scored nothing since that innings. How long can one be picked off 1 innings? Plus he'll probably try and reverse sweep something and get out looking like a fruitcake! It's not IF it will happen, it's WHEN!
 

AlwaysGreen

Immortal
Messages
47,824
I think they'll go a pacer for their 'allrounder' option so big no may miss out.

I say Bancroft will come in either for Renshaw :persevere: or Wade :sweat_smile:
 

Twizzle

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
150,753
For all we know Bancroft's form could be ignored as the team may have already been picked.
 

hineyrulz

Post Whore
Messages
148,319
Is his keeping really any worse than Wades???

The top 3 options just haven’t delivered in the Shield so far.

That said I would play Bancroft at 6 and Bring back Nev.
 

gUt

Coach
Messages
16,876
Prediction: Brisbane to cement its place as Australia's sporting capital:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/21420899/if-beat-australia-quickly-turn-crowd-rocky-iv

excerpt:

"Sometimes, such as on England's 2006-07 tour - when Andrew Flintoff's men arrived as Ashes-holders for the first time in 20 years - it wasn't simply a case of hearing what the crowd are saying, but reading it too.

"I knew that the Australians were coming for us that series, when every single time they hit a ball to the boundary, on the big screen came up an advert 'Tonk a Pom, Tonk a Pom, Tonk a Pom'," says Pietersen. "If there's anything that's mentally disintegrating, it was that advert that we saw for five Test matches. Every time they hit a boundary 'Tonk a Pom'."

That campaign, inevitably, was launched at the Gabba in Brisbane, a venue at which the Aussies haven't lost a single Test since West Indies' fast bowlers ruled the roost way back in 1988. When packed to the rafters by baying home fans, there can be few more intimidating cauldrons in the whole world of sport, let alone cricket. And Michael Vaughan, the former England captain turned BT commentator, experienced its full, terrifying glory in the opening exchanges of the 2002-03 tour.

"I'm sure opposing teams say that, at places like Edgbaston, Manchester, Leeds, The Oval at times, you can feel the England crowd are right behind the England team, but it's nothing compared to what Brisbane is," says Vaughan. "Every single Australian who arrives in that venue believes it is their job to put the opposing team off, especially if it's England."

And that was very much the case even on the triumphant 2010-11 tour, when England opened the series as if caught in the headlights by that familiar Australian juggernaut. Swann's first experience of Ashes cricket Down Under, in fact, came as a batsman, moments after Peter Siddle had ripped the roof off the stadium with a first-day hat-trick.

"It's a really feral atmosphere," he says. "It's loud, in your face, it's raucous, and you do feel that as a player. I've never known noise like it when I've walked out to bat in 2010. The noise was just phenomenal."

The only way to win such crowds over - let alone silence them, as England managed so gloriously seven years ago - is to earn their respect through the way that you play. This was something that Vaughan himself managed on the 2002-03 tour, when his three glorious hundreds, including a match-winning 183 at Sydney, allowed England to retain a modicum of pride in a 4-1 shellacking.

"With Australians, they like to see players having a go," he says. "Back in 2002-03, and in 2006-07, the Aussie public almost seemed to be bored of the team winning everything, and bored that teams weren't coming to have a go at them, or individuals were frightened or timid.

"I tried to have a go, and I think the Aussie public looked at me and thought, this kid is coming out of the blocks, he's playing a bit risky, but at least he's trying to take McGrath and Gillespie on. You gain a lot of respect from playing that way."

And, on those rare but unforgettable occasions when the team's collective performance manages to out-gun the hosts - such as on the fifth day at the Gabba in 2010-11, when Alastair Cook's double-century guided England to the extraordinary scoreline of 517 for 1 - the silence in those mighty Australian stadiums can be deafening.

"You could hear a pin drop the whole day," says Swann. "That's what England must strive for, get rid of the noise, get rid of the vitriolic atmosphere, and then it's as quiet as a mouse, and that's quite lovely.

"There's a lot of noise on the field, but if you beat Australia, they quickly turn like the crowd in Rocky IV," Swann adds. "They start screaming for "Drago, Drago" but by the end it's all "Rocky, Rocky!" That's what the Aussies are like. They don't like losers, and if you're beating them, they quickly turn on their own."

Rarely has that happened with more devastating speed or impact than at Melbourne in 2010-11 - on Boxing Day, no less, the crown jewel in Australia's sporting calendar. After winning the toss and batting first, Ricky Ponting's men were bowled out for 98 before England closed on 157 for 0 in reply. The match, and the Ashes, were all but sealed before the nation's turkey had been digested.

"It was the biggest day in the Aussie calendar," says Swann. "But it turned into fancy-dress day at the MCG - everyone came as empty seats. That's just incredible, to think you've just destroyed a whole nation's Christmas. That shouldn't make you feel happy, but the fact that they were Australian really made me happy about life."

"It's just a wonderful event on Boxing Day, but it's intimidating, it's meant to be," says Butcher, who was also part of an MCG victory in 1998-99. "It's more of a footie stadium these days, the cricket almost intrudes on the footie season, but as a Pom playing in that Test match, you're certainly not welcome. The public are very happy to be there and intimidate the English team, but if that team happens to play well, they scarper, and the ground is yours."
 
Messages
21,867
Is his keeping really any worse than Wades???

The top 3 options just haven’t delivered in the Shield so far.

That said I would play Bancroft at 6 and Bring back Nev.

It’s not his ability that concerns me, it’s the lack of practice he’s had.

You can’t go from not keeping to keeping in an ashes test.
 
Messages
21,867
And that’s a fair call, but does Wade even practice???

Haha, there’s no way I’d select wade.

The only option is Nevill at this point. He’s the best keeper.

With Bancroft at 6 it should help stabilise our middle order.

We certainly don’t need an all rounder. If Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins & Lyon can’t take 20 wickets, we can’t win anyway.
 

hineyrulz

Post Whore
Messages
148,319
Haha, there’s no way I’d select wade.

The only option is Nevill at this point. He’s the best keeper.

With Bancroft at 6 it should help stabilise our middle order.

We certainly don’t need an all rounder. If Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins & Lyon can’t take 20 wickets, we can’t win anyway.
Thats the way I would go as well, but as long as Wade isn’t there I don’t care who gets the keeping job.
 
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