*Official* Second Test at the Adelaide Oval

[morgieb]

Though in all seriousness why isn't McDonald near the team? Better bat and bowler than Norf.

Right now he's injured.

 

[Spark]

Ponting always looks like that. People often note his similarity to George Bush, but how about John Howard? The look of failure haha...

That's not a look of failure, IMO, that's a look of "who the **** are you and why are you in my presence"

 

[vcs]

How about some pictures of Ponting in happier times...

 

[Ruckus]

ROFL

 

[vcs]

There really are some hilarious Ponting pictures out there...

Poor guy just doesn't photograph well.

 

[Ruckus]

Poor guy just doesn't photograph well.

haha that's exactly what I was thinking... he gets caught in the wierdest expressions. E.g.:

 

[Spark]

There really are some hilarious Ponting pictures out there...

Poor guy just doesn't photograph well.

Oh god that's awful

EDIT: I was going to respond to vicleggie's point - but I can't now, I'm just laughing too hard!

 

[Blaze 18]

Great performance by England, congrats to all English fans on this site.

 

[srkven]

No Australia lost!

Oh well, expected, considering how well England outplayed Australia.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Why is everyone complaining about the Batsmen alone?

Can't expect to win the game if the bowlers can't pick up 20 wickets.

They're not

 

[pasag]

Have a man crush on Ponting. Love listening to him talk as well, so direct, no cliches and always very interesting.

Bring back Brad Hogg.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Not sure how Midge Johnson is suddenly the answer again...he hasn't played a match since the debacle in Brisbane.

Would personally back Bollinger to come good (if fit) over Midge at the moment.

 

[four_or_six]

Woo!

 

[Jayzamann]

All credit to England, massively disappointed with the Australian effort. Really want to see some heads roll, yet can't for the life of me think of who would come into the side to make a difference, nor who is really responsible for playing so poorly. I suppose a 1-0 scoreline flatters the fact that the last 6 wickets for England have cost 1,000,000 runs each. Hopelessly crashing on batsmen-friendly conditions is inexcusable as well.

Lots to ponder, lots to worry about from an Australian perspective. Time to take out my frustration on my liver.

 

[Blaze 18]

Honestly, I did not expect Australia to lose this match. I guess the pitch deteriorated a little more than I thought it would, and England were brilliant with the ball, but you would still back Australia to do well when they have their backs against the wall.

It is hard to put a finger on what the problem exactly is. No batsman seems to be horribly out of touch, the bowlers have toiled away hard in unforgiving conditions only to be let down by their fielders. It is hard to put all the blame on Ricky Ponting either, it is apparent that he is giving it his all, both as captain and batsman.

 

[Jayzamann]

I checked the weather last night and it was something like 100% chance of 45mm of rain and I lost my footing a little bit. Morning it was sunny and nice, got some time on the river, but even though it was mad funs it was enough time for Australia to collapse in on themselves. If only it rained earlier waaaah.

 

[andyc]

Honestly, I did not expect Australia to lose this match. I guess the pitch deteriorated a little more than I thought it would, and England were brilliant with the ball, but you would still back Australia to do well when they have their backs against the wall.

It is hard to put a finger on what the problem exactly is. No batsman seems to be horribly out of touch, the bowlers have toiled away hard in unforgiving conditions only to be let down by their fielders. It is hard to put all the blame on Ricky Ponting either, it is apparent that he is giving it his all, both as captain and batsman.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Well, the actual settler will be how England bat on a wicket that's doing a bit (which they will surely have to at some stage) and how Australia bowl in the same situation.

The last two England innings have been on roads against guys bowling quite poorly for the most part. They've made the most of it, and that reflects the current standings of the series.

Australia will have to lift their bowling efforts though to take advantage of any situation where they might get a chance to roll England over cheaply. As the 1st innings in Brisbane showed, a little bit in the wicket and even just one to two bowlers hitting the right lines and things can get difficult.

If they do manage to bowl England out cheaply, then they have to actually bat well.

I think you have to look at the conditions up to this point when assessing batting performances. England are not as far ahead in the batting stakes as 2 big innings on flat tracks suggest. But are miles ahead in the bowling department at the moment.

Suggesting they're impossible to get out based on the last two innings is a little like suggesting everyone was wrong to suggest Swann would struggle a bit in Oz based on him just taking 5 in the second innings in Adelaide on a wicket everyone basically agreed he should go well on the last 2 days.

Australia have to lift dramatically to turn it around though.

The thing is though if the England batting fails on a pitch doing a bit what the hell will happen to the Aussie batting in similar conditions as England were able to get 20 wickets on the same deck in Adelaide without too much problem.

Australia have serious problems at present summed up by the fact they will be chopping and changing their side again for Perth in much the same way England used to in the 90's, picking various combinations randomly hoping to find the magic formula. From experience it rarely works.

 

[Spark]

It's not "random" though - the players being replaced do really need to go.

 

[Son Of Coco]

The thing is though if the England batting fails on a pitch doing a bit what the hell will happen to the Aussie batting in similar conditions as England were able to get 20 wickets on the same deck in Adelaide without too much problem

Exactly, which is why I said this:

Australia will have to lift their bowling efforts though to take advantage of any situation where they might get a chance to roll England over cheaply. As the 1st innings in Brisbane showed, a little bit in the wicket and even just one to two bowlers hitting the right lines and things can get difficult.

If they do manage to bowl England out cheaply, then they have to actually bat well.

Australia have played very poorly to get in the position they're in at the moment, and England have played very well. England had the best of the bowling and conditions in this match in my opinion, but they needed bowlers like Anderson and Swann to exploit those conditions (saying it was exactly the same wicket for 5 days is a little disingenuous - there was a bit there early the first day for the bowlers, and Swann got spin the last two days. The Aussies spent the second day bowling rubbish in 40 degree heat and the third just bowling rubbish). That's no excuse for us being bowled out for 245 in the first innings though. That was unforgivable. It was still a batsman's wicket. And, with the exception of Harris, most of our bowlers struggle to regularly hit the right areas again.

Whether or not we could do the same thing as England at the moment with either the bat or the ball is highly debatable. Australia would have to raise its game a long way to get there.

This is in no way making excuses for Australia or belittling England's effort though. As I said, they're much better than we are at the moment. If they maintain this form and we can't pick our effort up then it's as good as over.