2nd ASHES TEST: England v Australia at Lords, July 16-20, 2009

[nadera78]

Stuart Broad is a 23 year old with potential. He bowled poorly in the first test, a little better in the second. He's tall and gets bounce but seems to have been sucked into thinking he needs to pitch it short all the time. If he pitched it on a length then his natural bounce would cause problems but he's not fast enough to be an out and out paceman. He'll improve an awful lot once he settles down and understands his game. Plus he's got the potential to be an excellent number seven.

Mitchell Johnson is a 27 year old who came into the series rated as one of the best bowlers in the world, with pace and swing. But his action is so awful he couldn't swing the ball if it was tied to his wrist, and his radar is so off that some of his deliveries are so wide the batsmen can't even reach them. Good player to have batting at eight though.

Neither have played very well so far but I know which one I'd rather have around over the next few years.

 

[Fein]

Stuart Broad is a 23 year old with potential. He bowled poorly in the first test, a little better in the second. He's tall and gets bounce but seems to have been sucked into thinking he needs to pitch it short all the time. If he pitched it on a length then his natural bounce would cause problems but he's not fast enough to be an out and out paceman. He'll improve an awful lot once he settles down and understands his game. Plus he's got the potential to be an excellent number seven.

Mitchell Johnson is a 27 year old who came into the series rated as one of the best bowlers in the world, with pace and swing. But his action is so awful he couldn't swing the ball if it was tied to his wrist, and his radar is so off that some of his deliveries are so wide the batsmen can't even reach them. Good player to have batting at eight though.

Neither have played very well so far but I know which one I'd rather have around over the next few years.

There was nothing wrong with Johnson's action when he smashed South Africa.

The issue he is having at the moment is getting the seam to work for him.

Personally, if he backs off the pace a little I reckon he will get the desired result.

Give me Johnson over Broad any day, with both bat and ball.

 

[JJ]

There was nothing wrong with Johnson's action when he smashed South Africa.

The issue he is having at the moment is getting the seam to work for him.

Personally, if he backs off the pace a little I reckon he will get the desired result.

Give me Johnson over Broad any day, with both bat and ball.

Well, his arm has been continually low, and his fingers don't seem to be behind the ball often enough... he got it right for a while in RSA, but for the most part he has had these problems... perhaps the Duke balls are making them worse...

I certainly wouldn't drop him - Aust's success in RSA was almost solely due to him, and I'd suggest that if Aust are to win/retain the Ashes it will be on him too...

As for your last quote... any day except for those 5 at Lords? Clearly Broad was better with the ball, the batting of both is a bonus

 

[HevyDevy]

was wondering that myself... not sure if Johnson was at his worst... whether he was or not, hard to argue he was better than Broad

He certainly was NOT better than broad but he does have more ability. Broad adds very little.

 

[Fein]

Well, his arm has been continually low, and his fingers don't seem to be behind the ball often enough... he got it right for a while in RSA, but for the most part he has had these problems... perhaps the Duke balls are making them worse...

I certainly wouldn't drop him - Aust's success in RSA was almost solely due to him, and I'd suggest that if Aust are to win/retain the Ashes it will be on him too...

As for your last quote... any day except for those 5 at Lords? Clearly Broad was better with the ball, the batting of both is a bonus

Clearly? :lol:

I don't think so.

Anyway, let's see what happens at Edgbaston, hopefully after Australia win the toss and bat. ;-)

 

[JJ]

Clearly? :lol:

I don't think so.

Yep, clearly - you can't seriously argue that Johnson bowled better than Broad in that test??:crazy:
Broad was adequate... Johnson was about as appalling as you can imagine...

but like I said - they will and should persevere with Johnson... he's almost singlehandedly made Aust a force in recent times...

 

[hineyrulz]

Broad is a work in progress, his main problem is he bowls to short most of the time. He should learn to hit a length and use his height and pace.

 

[lockyno1]

Broady is my 3rd best player in this series. Don't bag him. Makes me sad!

1) Cooky (oh Cooky you're so fine!)
2) Haurie
3) Broady!
4) Sunshine (he'd be 2 if he was playing!)

 

[TheParraboy]

Briady is my 3rd best player in this series. Don't bag him. Makes me sad!

1) Cooky (oh Cooky you're so fine!)
2) Haurie
3) Broady!
4) Sunshine (he'd be 2 if he was playing!)

How you can leave out Katich from a top 2 spot, let alone a top 4 spot really baffles me

 

[Ridders]

I don't think Locky is using actual performances in this series for his barometre.

 

[Twizzle]

I don't think Locky is using actual performances in this series for his barometre.

please dont mention his barometre :crazy:

 

[TheParraboy]

I don't think Locky is using actual performances in this series for his barometre.

you know Locky was vacuuming at 2am during the 2007 ODI world cup final, when Gilly was going beserk :crazy:

 

[African Monkey]

I'm still trying to figure out who Briady is :?

 

[HevyDevy]

What is 'vacuuming' short for in Locky's world?

Actually stop right there - I don't want to know.

 

[lockyno1]

you know Locky was vacuuming at 2am during the 2007 ODI world cup final, when Gilly was going beserk :crazy:

Housework needed to be done

 

[hineyrulz]

And i don't want to even know what housework mean as well

 

[nadera78]

There was nothing wrong with Johnson's action when he smashed South Africa.

The issue he is having at the moment is getting the seam to work for him.

Personally, if he backs off the pace a little I reckon he will get the desired result.

Give me Johnson over Broad any day, with both bat and ball.

Most bowlers prefer the Duke to the Kookabura because it has a more pronounced seam. But then Johnson seems unable to keep the seam straight because his wrist is at such an awful angle when he delivers the ball.

 

[TimmyB]

Just for the record Fein, in case it's distorted your opinion, the figures you quoted for Johnson were wrong - he conceded the best part of 6 an over. 5.6 from memory.

 

[Fein]

Just for the record Fein, in case it's distorted your opinion, the figures you quoted for Johnson were wrong - he conceded the best part of 6 an over. 5.6 from memory.

I took the figures from the Fox Sports.

Feel free to correct them if they are wrong.

 

[Tommy Smith]

I disagree that Lee is not in form, his warm up game was very good, just what we missed in the two tests.

Ironically the man he would have replaced is Hilfenhaus, the only Aussie fast bowler worth his salt in this series.

It should also be noted that Lee averages over 40 on Ashes tours so any thought that he was to be some sort of saviour strike bowler is a tad over the top.

And yes, ive been offline for over a week but nice to see about 15 pages of whinging and sooking. Quite funny how bad umpire decisions all of a sudden matter so much when you consider touring teams to Australia have suffered from them for years.

Also funny to see no-one rate the England team. Sure we're not great, but man for man we match up pretty well with Australia and on home soil we were always going to be even money.

And in this Test England were much better. That wicket wasn't a 0/200 track which is where it was lost. Johnson was truly woeful and im ecstatic the Aussies are certain to pick him next test.