The Ashes

[Kartikey]

This should shut Botham and the Pommies up. Lets destroy them in the other ODI's and Tests. Australia may not be the Australia of before but they are still 10 times better than the Poms.

[Dinx - the Jinx]

Ashes - What a joke that series is going to be.. As someone wrote in his thread earlier - Ashes is the name of a test series between two sides who got plastered by India recently, to decide who were beaten badly by India.

[King Tendulkar]

Aussies ain't as good as before. But they will easily will win the ashes.

[Sachinism]

Ashes is a long way things can easily change, Botham is making predictions too early

[Fontaine]

It wasn't just Botham, Boycott said this is the Best chance England have to beat India. Before that Graham Thorpe said this was the best England ODI team since the 1985/86 teams!!! I always said when England were cockahoop at their performances against the Kiwis and West Indies that they are one of the most over rated and over hyped teams. Their bowlers are going to suffer when they bowl on Indian pitches and all that talk about Harmison coming back to his great form, Freddie being the worlds best all rounder, Anderson being the best swing bowler in the world and Sidebottom the best left hand bowler blah blah was pure rubbish. England got exactly what they deserved after Peterson was so flippant and casual when they got thrashed in a warm up game by a club side. And England pundits actually have the balls to compare this guy to Dhoni as a captain. Their over hyped fast bowlers just managed three wickets today in all 40 overs. Zaheer and Munaf managed 4 by themselves in their first 13 over spell. And they didn't bowl any wides/extras unlike Anderson/Broad who looked half asleep.

[King Tendulkar]

To be fair to the commentators SO FAR they have not being talking like knobs. Giving a lot of credit to India and not making excuses. Welcome relief from the idiotic aussie commentators

[sm332]

yeah the Poms are much better really ... the commentators that is. I really like Lloyd ... he is fun. Botham gets along well with some of the others as well

[Fontaine]

Well I think the English team does have a decent chance as long as they're playing the ashes in England. Their bowlers are much more suited to do well at home. If they can keep Bell/Flintoff/Peterson in good batting form then they'll have a chance otherwise it'll be batting collapses as usual for England. Really today, if it weren't for Peterson England would have been bowled out for under 140. Quite pathetic really.

[Dinx - the Jinx]

I was a little confused about the wisdom behind playing the ODIs before the tests. We are on a high after the Aussie series and would have continued with the momentutm going into the test series against the pommies. Now I think, playing the ODIs first is a blessing in disguise. I think our new look ODI will thrash them properly and they will enter the test series with their confidence at rock bottom. We can give a 2-0 brown wash. Also it gives enough time for the Test regulars like Sachin, VVS, RD and the likes to take a little bit of break, work on any short comings in their techniques (if there were any barring RD) and come back harder at the pommies. Anything less than a 2-0 verdict in the test series is not acceptable... That will place us firmly at No. 2 and with Aussies losing to SA and the Ashes while we beat Pakistan in Pakistan or Abu Dhabi, whatever - we have a great chance of getting to No. 1

[cricketman]

I'll be rooting for England. I always like the underdog team (apart from when India plays) and I don't like Australia at all. Plus, players like KP and Flintoff are awesome.

[cowboysfan]

I was a little confused about the wisdom behind playing the ODIs before the tests. We are on a high after the Aussie series and would have continued with the momentutm going into the test series against the pommies. Now I think, playing the ODIs first is a blessing in disguise. I think our new look ODI will thrash them properly and they will enter the test series with their confidence at rock bottom. We can give a 2-0 brown wash. Also it gives enough time for the Test regulars like Sachin, VVS, RD and the likes to take a little bit of break, work on any short comings in their techniques (if there were any barring RD) and come back harder at the pommies. Anything less than a 2-0 verdict in the test series is not acceptable... That will place us firmly at No. 2 and with Aussies losing to SA and the Ashes while we beat Pakistan in Pakistan or Abu Dhabi, whatever - we have a great chance of getting to No. 1

I get it-its a brown wash and not a white wash because its at the hands of indians-very clever.

[Mr. Wicket]

Before that Graham Thorpe said this was the best England ODI team since the 1985/86 teams!!!

That's really not saying much!

[Lord]

I was a little confused about the wisdom behind playing the ODIs before the tests. We are on a high after the Aussie series and would have continued with the momentutm going into the test series against the pommies. Now I think, playing the ODIs first is a blessing in disguise. I think our new look ODI will thrash them properly and they will enter the test series with their confidence at rock bottom. We can give a 2-0 brown wash. Also it gives enough time for the Test regulars like Sachin, VVS, RD and the likes to take a little bit of break, work on any short comings in their techniques (if there were any barring RD) and come back harder at the pommies. Anything less than a 2-0 verdict in the test series is not acceptable... That will place us firmly at No. 2 and with Aussies losing to SA and the Ashes while we beat Pakistan in Pakistan or Abu Dhabi, whatever - we have a great chance of getting to No. 1

aus will thrash SA n eng easily now that symmo is back

[cochise]

I can't wait for SA to be in town. I have lived in Oz for 20 years...but I will root for SA...you know why? When I first came here, I started to watch cricket...I watched how they played and I thought they were wonderfully athletic and they played a great game...but I hated the sporstmanship they displayed....I hated the sledging, the subtle put downs in the press of the opposition, the pyschological games palyed on many different levels, the biased commentary...the one-eyed lack of objectivity and the tribalism and racism evident in the thinking....the levers and cogs of the thinking was revealed to me, of the society at large, through the sport. Most here just falll into lockstep...go with the flow...you know the type...most common...and even more vociferous than their progenitors....too weak to be original or real, they fall into the group think and the herd mentality...security comes with the secure cover of numbers and the herd..... So this tight bound psychological nexus gives rise to the actions that you observe on the cricket field.... So do not be too hard. Understand their case.