# The Ashes



## jaslfc5 (Jan 2, 2007)

very excited ,ive just found out my mates have secured some tickets for the opening day of the first test here in cardiff at the home of english cricket.

ive been to see a few one dayers but never a test and never an ashes game.all i hope now is we get to see some play and the weather holds out ,but whatever happens im sure the atmosphere will be awesome and its an excuse to get on the lash in a big way whatever happens .

so anyone else going or interested in watching england hammer the ausies?


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

jaslfc5 said:


> cardiff ...the home of english cricket.


:rofl:

well I'll be trying to listen to as much as I can on TMS but I don't think England stand a chance tbh.


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## squareleg (Mar 6, 2008)

jaslfc5 said:


> ...cardiff at the home of english cricket.


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## jaslfc5 (Jan 2, 2007)

i cant wait .i sat and watched all 5 tests of the last ashes when england won on tv and loved it so being there and getting involved will be awesome.

as for baseball ,is it a sport im not sure more of an exercise in generating stats i reckon. and all the good players are on drugs anyway .


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## bornnslippy (Feb 20, 2008)

Cant see us winning this one


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## PhilM (Nov 5, 2004)

Just a shame it's not on poor mans TV these days


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## squareleg (Mar 6, 2008)

PhilM said:


> Just a shame it's not on poor mans TV these days


Yup. MurdochVision. :groan:


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## bornnslippy (Feb 20, 2008)

PhilM said:


> Just a shame it's not on poor mans TV these days


Its a disgrace PhilM we have to pay for everything

I think were the only country in the world that have to pay to watch the national team play football

Balls to sky


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## BondandBigM (Apr 4, 2007)

squareleg said:


> PhilM said:
> 
> 
> > Just a shame it's not on poor mans TV these days
> ...





bornnslippy said:


> PhilM said:
> 
> 
> > Just a shame it's not on poor mans TV these days
> ...


I think it's called free market capitalism or something along those lines :lol: :lol:


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## squareleg (Mar 6, 2008)

BondandBigM said:


> squareleg said:
> 
> 
> > PhilM said:
> ...


Yeah? Well, I think it's called bo11ocks. Shame, because I'd guess 90% of people who subscribe to $ky do so for the football and probably couldn't give a rat's colon about Cricket. But then the County chairmen don't either, so fair's fair - they're more concerned with lining their own pockets now than with the future of the game (harrumph... going to Hell in a handcart, etc..) Rant over.


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## mel (Dec 6, 2006)

bornnslippy said:


> PhilM said:
> 
> 
> > Just a shame it's not on poor mans TV these days
> ...


When Mrs Mel and I were touring Spain in our caravan for the three years we did that, I remember the Dutch telling us we were mad to take the cr*p Sky were dishing out about having to switch to the (then) "new" satellite. The Dutch just basically said "f**k off, we;ll not renew our subs" Guess what, it worked! We're a bit too ready to accept what's thrown at us - what about SatanTV taking folks money for footie, then going down?? :grin:


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

pg tips said:


> jaslfc5 said:
> 
> 
> > cardiff ...the home of english cricket.
> ...


Umm Aus 463-4, praying for rain and a draw already!


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## jaslfc5 (Jan 2, 2007)

i definatly picked the right day to go on wednesday as far as entertainment went the cricket was brilliant and up until lunch on thursday we were just about edging it, but since then the ozzies have put down a marker for the rest of the summer.

i have really bad sunburn and i have the remnants of an hangover still double figures on strongbow i was mangled.


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## MarkF (Jul 5, 2003)

jaslfc5 said:


> i definatly picked the right day to go on wednesday as far as entertainment went the cricket was brilliant and up until lunch on thursday we were just about edging it, but since then the ozzies have put down a marker for the rest of the summer.
> 
> i have really bad sunburn and i have the remnants of an hangover still double figures on strongbow i was mangled.


Surely "entertainment" and "cricket" can't go together? :blink: I'd need a hangover to even contemplate going in the first place. I still wouldn't go.


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## squareleg (Mar 6, 2008)

Well, it's a batsman's wicket. Neither team has the bowlers to bowl out the other side twice - which is what is required to win any Test... ergo a draw is the most likely outcome. England batted first on a slightly greener wicket - the strip flattened out, hence Australia are making hay. England will bat again and the Aussie bowlers will struggle in their turn. Result - a draw. Boring, really.


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## Parabola (Aug 1, 2007)

Bring on the rain today


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

Bloody embarrassing ..... 42 for 4 :bb:


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## jaslfc5 (Jan 2, 2007)

i cant believe this i was so optimistic after england made 400 plus in the first innings. but since then they have looked like a poor villiage side no ideas and no fight.

i was supposed to be going to watch them at the oval i dont think il bother now. a shambles.

and sadly it doesnt look like it is going to rain anytime soon here ,so someone needs to grow a pair and see out the day.


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## squareleg (Mar 6, 2008)

squareleg said:


> Well, it's a batsman's wicket. Neither team has the bowlers to bowl out the other side twice - which is what is required to win any Test... ergo a draw is the most likely outcome. England batted first on a slightly greener wicket - the strip flattened out, hence Australia are making hay. England will bat again and the Aussie bowlers will struggle in their turn. Result - a draw. Boring, really.


Shows how wrong you can be. :groan:


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

Geoffrey isn't too pleased at the moment 

Prior out trying to cut a part-time off-spinner against the spin ..... :taz:


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## squareleg (Mar 6, 2008)

Oh FFS!! Pass me the Luger, John, I'm going to top myself right now. No, I mean it this time. Goodbye cruel world... :wallbash:


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

Collingwood you plonker :cry2:

Panesar and Anderson to survive 12 overs? I don't think so


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## squareleg (Mar 6, 2008)

:death:


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

Come on Monty


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

The lucky lucky ! :lol:

Probably the best 7 Monty will ever get!


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

The great escape  :toot:


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## squareleg (Mar 6, 2008)

Blimey.

Brlilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :tongue2: Special game, cricket. Cue for a :cheers: I believe.


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## jaslfc5 (Jan 2, 2007)

well well well never saw that coming.bring on thursday clean slate they need to bring back harmison .

a great result for cardiff though they spent 5 mil getting that test match you cant blame them making it last can you .


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)

Looks like Onions will come in and Panesar get dropped

Ponting must have been gutted.

I hope Botham turned up in the pavillion and rubbed it in


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)

Why the hell cant we find a really top bowler!!!!! :blink:

We need another Bob Willis


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

Or Harold Larwood .... a magnificent bowler


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

amazing 3 days at Lords, here's hoping England don't blow it now!


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

I was amazed to find out it has been over 70 years since England beat Australia at Lords


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

4 wickets down :clap:


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

Five! half way there!


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## thunderbolt (May 19, 2007)

potz said:


> Cricket ... :yawn:


I really don't know why people find cricket boring. A fine summers day, (I believe the last one was in 1993 h34r: ), scintilating conversation amongst friends :friends: to the sound of leather on willow, copious ammounts of falling down water :beer: all interspersed with the occasional "Damn fine shot sir" as and when the mood takes you. A lovely way to spend an afternoon.


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

I'm watching the open, cricket on TMS and following both on line as well! Mrs is ill, litlun is out! Sheer bliss


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)

I think Australia will win and England will cock it up again, but I hope not


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## jaslfc5 (Jan 2, 2007)

its going to be close thats for sure.very exciting.


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## Alas (Jun 18, 2006)

Another 2 wickets down - 363 for 8 now.


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)

All out..........deep joy.......glad I was wrong


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## jaslfc5 (Jan 2, 2007)

records there to be broken .well done to freddie he deserved that.aussies looked very ordinary throughout this match but maybe if they get lee back might be a different story.nice win though.


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## Dorje (Jun 8, 2009)

WOOOOOOOP WOOOOOOOOOOOOP!


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## Parabola (Aug 1, 2007)

Looks to me like the Warne show has left town!


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## squareleg (Mar 6, 2008)

_Some great quotes from ordinary people, sent to TMS this morning. Enjoy_. :tongue2:

From James in York, TMS inbox: "I'm willing to donate any body-part Freddie needs to keep him playing Test cricket. Just say the word."

From Rich Tyson, TMS inbox: "Does this mean we have to go back to work now, or do we unite and declare a public holiday?"

_And my personal favourite..._

From Marc Kelly, TMS inbox: "Of course this is bigger than Neil Armstrong's achievement. This was against Australia."

:yahoo:


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)

England have made a pitiful start


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## PhilM (Nov 5, 2004)

Griff said:


> England have made a pitiful start


OMG that is not good


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## DMP (Jun 6, 2008)

PhilM said:


> Griff said:
> 
> 
> > England have made a pitiful start
> ...


oohh yes it is......


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

Collingwood DUCK 42-4 :cry2:


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## Russ (Feb 7, 2006)

Lunch on day 1 and we are stuffed already.  I have tickets for Monday, the odds are stacked for me to turn up to watch it go to 1-1. Bugger.


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## DMP (Jun 6, 2008)

All out for 102 and Siddle gets a 5fer - u little beauty!


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## PhilM (Nov 5, 2004)

Well lets hope it stays a bowler' s wicket :bb:


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

What on earth prompted Strauss to elect to bat on that pitch and under those conditions :blink:


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)

JoT said:


> What on earth prompted Strauss to elect to bat on that pitch and under those conditions :blink:


Mickey Strauss obviously


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

Here comes the big Aussie push, I predict a 1st innings lead of 300+


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## PhilM (Nov 5, 2004)

They need to get Ponting & Watson out quickly otherwise it's all over :sadwalk:


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## Russ (Feb 7, 2006)

My concerns have changed somewhat, now I'm worried if there will be any cricket left to play on day 4!


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## bridgeman (Dec 9, 2008)

:lol:



Griff said:


> JoT said:
> 
> 
> > What on earth prompted Strauss to elect to bat on that pitch and under those conditions :blink:
> ...


 :lol: :lol: :


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## PhilM (Nov 5, 2004)

Russ said:


> My concerns have changed somewhat, now I'm worried if there will be any cricket left to play on day 4!


Well I think the only way it's going to carry over into day 4 is if it rains for all of tomorrow


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## Guest (Aug 9, 2009)

Russ said:


> My concerns have changed somewhat, now I'm worried if there will be any cricket left to play on day 4!


There's always the gardening! Maybe if you turn up early at the next test you might get a game..


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## aussiederek (Jun 21, 2009)

:lol:



jaslfc5 said:


> very excited ,ive just found out my mates have secured some tickets for the opening day of the first test here in cardiff at the home of english cricket.
> 
> ive been to see a few one dayers but never a test and never an ashes game.all i hope now is we get to see some play and the weather holds out ,but whatever happens im sure the atmosphere will be awesome and its an excuse to get on the lash in a big way whatever happens .
> 
> so anyone else going or interested in watching england hammer the ausies?


 

I don't know whether the English team will even turn up at Cardiff after the last few days of cricket, but I hope yopu have a great day watching the Aussies show the Poms how to play.


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

aussiederek said:


> :lol:
> 
> 
> jaslfc5 said:
> ...


Where have you been mate; the Cardiff test was the 1st one! The Oval is the next and last test.


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)

aussiederek said:


> :lol:
> 
> 
> jaslfc5 said:
> ...


A match left yet you Aussie git

I just wish Ian Botham was around


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)

Aussies already 57 for 0

Oh dear oh dear oh dear :no:


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)

Bowlers hitting back though


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## RogerR (Aug 12, 2009)

Now over 300 ahead, I think we are going to need 400+ with the amount of time remaining.


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## Russ (Feb 7, 2006)

I'm a little surprised to be the first one to pick up this little thread. Has everyone got a hangover? :cheers: Nothing from down under yet either, mind you they will have only just woken to the bad news. :cry2:

Great to see us win yesterday, the Aussies had periods when I thought they might even hang on. It's been a strange old series with not much between the teams at all. England just shaded it I suppose but the margins were fine and the umpiring poor. It seemed the celebrations this time were a little muted but they should enjoy their day in the sun, those buggers are hard to beat at anything and when they beat us they're unbearable.


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## squareleg (Mar 6, 2008)

Typical reporting in the Sydney Morning Herald - not a word of praise for England, just a lot of slightly sad hand-wringing and complaints about the pitch:

*"Moreover it has been an especially tough tour. Australia have lost four out of five tosses, the last of them crucial, two senior bowlers arrived with hardly any overs under their bonnet and the tyro opener and leading bowler started badly, a combination that caused untold complications. As well, England seemed to have combed the cricketing world to raise a side.*

*
*

*
Of course the campaign has been flawed. Australia have kept picking the wrong side. Nathan Hauritzâ€™s omission at The Oval was a culpable blunder made by a think tank given the chance to examine a pitch allowed to bake under a hot sun for several days."*

*
*

*
(Peter Roebuck) *

When considering the Oval pitch, somebody should remind the Aussies that England scored twice the number of runs in the third innings of the match that Australia had scored in the second - that's not a crumbling wicket, it's good batting (and / or rubbish bowling).

And as for England "combing the cricketing world to raise a side" - well that's just pathetic, if you ask me. The Aussies will always look for someone else to blame for their defeats - it's never their fault. Perhaps someone should explain to them the rules of cricket: in order to win a match you have to score more than the other side and bowl that side out twice. England did that more often than they did. End of. The scorebook never lies.

I'll say it for you, Mr Roebuck: Well done, England! :notworthy:


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## HHHH (Jul 28, 2008)

The Aussies didn't seem to mind combing the cricketing world when they capped Andrew Simons. He's a Pom, born and bred in Birmingham.

Whats curious is the author of the report quoted. Is that not Peter Roebuck, ex Somerset and England?


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## squareleg (Mar 6, 2008)

HHHH said:


> The Aussies didn't seem to mind combing the cricketing world when they capped Andrew Simons. He's a Pom, born and bred in Birmingham.
> 
> Whats curious is the author of the report quoted. Is that not Peter Roebuck, ex Somerset and England?


Sure is... little turd! :lol:


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## Russ (Feb 7, 2006)

Lol,the Aussies like to make much of England finding English stock in South Africa. A certain Kepler Christoffel Wessels managed to get into a baggy green cap as I remember. As for the pitch, it played bloody well. Puffs of dust or not, it was a track capable of supporting big scores and "hot sun" ? Where did they get that from? :rofl2: More than a hint of foul play suggested in that little article, the guy should man up. At least we didn't resort to aluminium bats or underarm bowling. :afro:


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## HHHH (Jul 28, 2008)

squareleg said:


> HHHH said:
> 
> 
> > The Aussies didn't seem to mind combing the cricketing world when they capped Andrew Simons. He's a Pom, born and bred in Birmingham.
> ...


Rumour has it that during his Somerset days Beefy Botham knocked him out during a dressing room row. Not a bad judge.


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## RogerR (Aug 12, 2009)

Great series win but it was an anticlimax for me, it lacked the drama of 2005.


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## Stan (Aug 7, 2003)

It's a difficult task being English, all the world hates us, even when we lose. But they hate us even more when we win.

Perhaps we should just stop being English?

Feck that for a game of toy soldiers.:wink1:


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## BondandBigM (Apr 4, 2007)

Stan said:


> It's a difficult task being English


I'll never have that problem


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## Christian. (Jul 8, 2007)

Am I about the only one who can't stand cricket. Sitting there watching them throw the ball to each and every fielder, occasionally rubbing it on the crotch....then a quick bowl, nothing happens, umpire makes a random gesture and we go back to watching people stand about throwing a ball to each other for the next ten minutes!

I know I'll get flamed for that...but can never fathom the appeal of the game. I used to have heated debates with my cousin, who used to hate golf...yet at least with golf coverage you cut from shot to shot, different player to different player.

Having said all that...I'm quite happy to join the banter about beating Aussies...whatever sport that might be.


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## RogerR (Aug 12, 2009)

Christian. said:


> Am I about the only one who can't stand cricket. Sitting there watching them throw the ball to each and every fielder, occasionally rubbing it on the crotch....then a quick bowl, nothing happens, umpire makes a random gesture and we go back to watching people stand about throwing a ball to each other for the next ten minutes!
> 
> I know I'll get flamed for that...but can never fathom the appeal of the game. I used to have heated debates with my cousin, who used to hate golf...yet at least with golf coverage you cut from shot to shot, different player to different player.
> 
> Having said all that...I'm quite happy to join the banter about beating Aussies...whatever sport that might be.


Cricket has to get you early, if you miss the boat it is difficult to develop the love/obsession.

It can depend if you grow up in a rugby/cricket area or if you are unfortunate enough to grow up in a chavball area.


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