Cricket: The Ashes 2009

[kevshat]

The main event of the summer is now only 2 weeks away. Australia begun their tour at Hove today so it's about time we get this thread up and running with discussion and bets. Plenty of markets up to get stuck into over the coming weeks ahead of what should be a fantastic series. Series odds: Best prices - England 12/5 Draw 11/2 Australia 8/11 Schedule:

Wed Jul 8 - Sun Jul 12 11:00 local | 10:00 GMT	1st Test - England v Australia Sophia Gardens, Cardiff	N/A
Thu Jul 16 - Mon Jul 20 11:00 local | 10:00 GMT	2nd Test - England v Australia Lord's, London	N/A

Thu Jul 30 - Mon Aug 3 11:00 local | 10:00 GMT	3rd Test - England v Australia Edgbaston, Birmingham	N/A
Fri Aug 7 - Tue Aug 11 11:00 local | 10:00 GMT	4th Test - England v Australia Headingley, Leeds	N/A

Thu Aug 20 - Mon Aug 24 11:00 local | 10:00 GMT

5th Test - England v Australia Kennington Oval, London

N/A

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009 Both England and Australia play warm up matches from tomorrow with Australia's game with England Lions live on Sky all week. Looking at this Lions side I think it's very light in the batting. 4pts Australia to beat England Lions 11/10 Blue Square Australia play their final warm up match before the Ashes at New Road when they take on an England Lions side which will be skippered by Ian Bell. This is Australia's 2nd warm up match but one which Ricky Ponting has asked for a high intensity performance from his players. I think he'll get it too. On paper, this Australia side looks a lot better than the English one, particularly in the batting which is all important at New Road. The wicket there will be pretty flat in the main but with thunder showers forecast for a couple of the days that should benefit the seamers. Australia will probably want a flat deck because England's strength is in their bowling attack, particularly the Durham duo of Harmison and Onions. Mahmood is a very good bowler too whereas while the batting has 3 home players in it in Davies, Moore and Solanki it still looks weak to me, particularly with Davies batting at 6. Australia have a good batting lineup who all got runs at Hove with the exception of North and they have a good attack too so I'll back them to pick up what I hope is there only win of the summer ;).

[WoodyTHFC]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009 I have to say I'm not a great fan of warm up games at all especially if there is weather around and on the last day or two here there could be but I still like the Aussie's to get a win here: Australia to beat England Lions 11/10 bluesq 10 pts Personally, I thought the Aussies would be just about odds on here. Sure in warm up games there can be an element of letting everyone have a go and a lack of intensity. However this is the last chance for the Aussie's to put a win on board before the real action starts and looking at their team, they look serious enough about it. They just look to have too much quality for the Lions. The Lions bowling will be a lot about Harmison and Onions here for me. Mahmood I dont rate, never have and for me if he was at a less fashionable county, I feel the fuss about him over the years wouldnt be as big imo. Rashid is the type of bowler who the Aussies I'm sure will target and whilst that can be a gamble, it could well pay off. The other main bowler in the attack is Bresnan who I dont see as a major wicket taking threat against top opposition. Whereas the Aussie bowling line up does at least look to have greater wicket taking threats and some with points to prove like Lee and Clark. As for the Lions' batting it looks painfully thin for me. After the top 5 there is Davies, Bresnan and Rashid who can all hold a bat if not a place too high. The Aussies will be having guys like North, Haddin, Johnson, Lee and even Hauritz down the order and that just further shows the strength of the Aussie's. I feel the Aussie's have too much here and can force a win.

[Monopoly]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009 Check out b365 vs ladbrokes on the +2.5 Eng/-2.5 Aus h'cap - 2.6% return

[theboybroon]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009 Unbelievably quiet in here lads......I though there was a big series starting tomorrow. Was looking forward to seeing some of your bets/opinions on the 1st test, and the series in general as i'm looking for a small interest.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009 Relax my friend. I'll be betting away through the evening ;).

[theboybroon]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009 Good man:ok

[Charlie Wong]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009 Outright - Ashes Top Australian bat Simon Katich, used to be vunerable against balls back of a length, can expect plenty throughout the series, has worked on his technique and can have a good series for Oz. 5/1 ppower Top English bat Firm believer in going with inform batsman and like the look of Ravi Bopara, of course this will be a much stiffer task than in previous matches against the Windies, has the ability to suceed. 5/1 willhill Top Australian bowler Has to be Mitchell Johnson, even without Brett Lee i thought he would take the most wickets, they way he roughed up the South Africans was superb and England have struggled against top quality left arm seamers in previous home series(Zaheer Khan). 11/8 stan james, will be the biggest bet out of the 3 for me.

[Charlie Wong]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009 1st Test - Cardiff Am taking the 7/5 on offer with SJ for the draw in the first test, there may be a little bit of rain in the air, but i expect the Cardiff pitch to be batsmen friendly, the bookies are pretty much having both sides to win the game at around 2/1, the draw looks the % call in my imo.:)

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009 Time for my 1st bet in the series. Can't wait for this series. It won't be as good as 2005 but it will be excellent anyway. I took this at a bigger price last night but lost internet connection while I was posting it :sad. Thanks to the Racing Post's pullout the odds have begun to drop so I'll use current prices as ever. 3pts England to win The Ashes 15/8 Totesport I really like England's chances of winning this series. I don't think there's much between these two sides. In fact I think I like England more man for man. When there isn't much between the sides home advantage can play a big part and with the anticipation around this series England will be supported for these 2 months like never before. In Kevin Pietersen and while he is fit Andrew Flintoff, England have 2 exciting match winners. Both are big name players and if they have good series England are sure to. Ricky Ponting comes into this series under a bit of pressure. He's not performing with the bat and he's no longer got McGrath and Warne to bail him out of the shit. Those 2 took 58 wickets between them when these sides battled it out over here in 2005. Another area which I think can be key is the spin bowling. Australia are non existant in that area while England are suddenly getting a nice little spin team together and in Swann and Panesar we have the best two spinners on show. This won't be an easy series to win. It will be competitive, tight, tense and nailbiting like every Ashes series should be but when the series ends at The Oval on August 24th, I firmly believe Andrew Strauss will be lifting the little urn aloft.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009 A few more series outrights. 1pt ew M.Hussey Top Series Runscorer 8/1 Bet365 (1/4 1,2,3) 2pts M.Hussey Top Australia Series Batsman 4/1 Stan James England Lions have done England no favours at all by playing Mr Cricket into form in the warm up game. We've seen before in his various county spells that Mike Hussey loves batting in this country and it's not like he doesn't enjoy facing England either having hit no less than 458 runs against us in the whitewash in Australia in 06/07. This Australia side isn't what it was with the bat. Phil Hughes looks sure to score plenty of runs, especially after Middlesex kindly gave him 6 weeks of getting used to the conditions and Michael Clarke is gritty enough to go well but Hussey is a run scoring machine when he's in nick and I think he'll go very close to top scoring for Australia and in the series overall. 1pt ew J.Anderson Top Series Wicket Taker 5/1 Ladbrokes (1/4 1,2,3) I personally believe James Anderson has been England's best bowler for a while now and with the Aussie bowlers playing the 1st two tests having never bowled a ball in a test match over here I believe the England bowlers have the advantage in this market. Flintoff was tempting me at 9/1 but will he play every game? Barring injury Anderson will and similar to Hoggard in the past he'll trouble the Aussies with swing, both natural and reverse. I like the look of this England attack but Jimmy's the leader of it now and I think he can top the wicket taking charts for the series. 1pt England to win 1-0 66/1 Boylesports 1pt England to win 2-1 9/1 VC As I said before I think England will win the series and I think we'll win it 2-1 but at 66/1 I'm not ruling out the 1-0. This series could be like England's series in the West Indies. Good batting wickets and 2 bowling attacks which struggles to take 20 wickets. Throw in a bit of rain and the administrators wanting to take advantage of ticket sales for all 5 days and we could get a few draws. I certainly don't think we'll be getting 5 results. I expect a tight series so I'll have a small bet on the two tight England winning combinations which don't require 5 results. 4pts Lowest All out innings - Over 155.5 runs 8/11 Bet365 In 2005 there was only one score of under 155.5 and that was England's 1st innings of the series when we was bowled out for 155 exactly. The key here is all out innings and that's what makes me believe this total is way too low. Not only are both bowling attacks not guaranteed to take wickets but pitches will be good for batting and both sides have very long tails. England will have Broad and Swann at 8 and 9 while Australia will be having Johnson and Hauritz at 8 and 9. All 4 of those guys can bat and even the likes of Clark, Anderson and Siddle can all bat so with tails likely to wag a bit I can't see a side being bowled all out for less than 155 in this series. 1pt Edgbaston Highest Scoring Ground 11/2 Boylesports In 2005 Edgbaston was the 3rd highest scoring ground. Trent Bridge and Old Trafford, the two which beat it aren't in this series and Cardiff and Headingley aren't likely to see a barrel load of runs. Warwickshire have gone well with the bat here this season and it's England's best ground so I expect a lot of runs on what is a pretty placid wicket at the minute. All people will point to The Oval but as the last test it may see strategic batting if a side is ahead going in there. Lords sees runs normally too but at over double the price of those 2 I'll go with the Birmingham venue to yield the most runs of the 4 grounds in the series.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009 3 player outright bets. 4pts M.Prior Series Runs - Over 250.5 5/6 Sportingbet Matt Prior is a very very good batsman at any level including this one and with a pretty long tail to come after him I think he'll have a good series with the bat. Let's assume he'll bat 8 times in the series, he'll need to average a shade over 30 which is a lot less than his test average of 48.40. Prior's been in good form for England in 2009 and I see no reason why that can't continue and I think he'll go past 250 runs in the series. 3pts R.Bopara Series Runs - Over 330.5 5/6 Ladbrokes I'm a huge Ravi Bopara fan. I love his self confidence and I'm certain he'll go well in this series. He's been helped in a way by Michael Vaughan retiring so he knows that number 3 spot is all his. All the chirping from Shane Warne won't effect Bopara who really is a class act. He's scored runs by the barrel load in test match cricket since his recall and on good pitches, against a bowling attack which could be better I think he'll cover this line. 3pts R.Ponting's Series Runs - Under 400 5/6 Bet365 It's always dangerous taking on Ricky Ponting but he didn't get close to 400 runs last time round over here and he was in better form coming in then. I still believe he's the one the English bowlers will target and is the prize wicket. He's vulnerable to a swinging ball early in his innings and he could get a few low scores. I'm sure at some point over a potential 10 innings he'll get a decent score but I still don't believe he'll get up to 400 runs overall.

[south_eastern_ram]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009 What odds can you get on a wicket in the first over of the series?

[Charlie Wong]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009 good luck for the series Kev, great write up as per usual.:ok

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009 Cheers mate. Good luck to you too. 1st test bets. 5 in total which is only 4 really because there's 2 in 1. I quite like England in this match but I've not gone too mad because rain is around. Hopefully there will be lots of in play bets to be had. 2pts England to win toss & bowl 1st 15/2 Sportingbet 2pts Australia to win toss & bowl 1st 15/2 Sportingbet Had this test match been 2 weeks ago I'm sure both captains would have won the toss and batted. I'm not so sure now. There was lots of rain around in Cardiff today and there's more forecast for the morning so there should be a fair bit of moisture around in the wicket. To add to that, this is the 1st test match that's been held here so a captain could well be more tempted to stick an opposition in, especially with the forecast the way it is. Knowing the Cardiff wicket as I do from following the county scene I'd be happy to stick a side in because the wicket will run true for a couple of days before taking turn. There will be nerves about on the opening morning of such a huge series so that could make Strauss or Ponting insert the opposition as well. I actually think Ponting could stick us in regardless, similar to how he stuck us in at Edgbaston in 2005 after McGrath went belly up over the ball before the game. Whatever happens at the toss. 15/2 is the wrong price for a captain to bowl 1st given the conditions that at over 4/1 to cover the two I have to get involved. 3pts England 1st Inns Lead 11/10 Ladbrokes With Australia having to come to terms with the loss of Brett Lee, taker of 7 of the 14 England Lions wickets to fall last week, England could just have the upper hand early doors in this game. Mitchell Johnson will be tough to face but he can either be fantastic or ordinary. Stuart Clark is very dogged and Siddle bowls a heavy ball but with England genuinely batting down to number 9 I think we'll score quite a few runs. Australia can as well but I like our bowling options more with the 5 out and out bowlers and if we can get off to a good start I believe we'll lead at half time. 3pts M.Clarke (-1.5 runs) to beat P.Collingwood 5/6 Ladbrokes (1st Inns Only) Michael Clarke is a very accomplished batsman who has played well against England in the two series he's played. He's got enough experience of English conditions now that he'll go well over here and I like him to beat Collingwood in this 1st innings match up. I've never been a huge Collingwood fan in test cricket as he gets bogged down too much. Clarke loves batting on low, slow wickets and he'll have one of those here. It should help Collingwood's technique but I believe he's up against a superior batsman in this match up and as a result I'll take the Aussie vice-captain to beat Collingwood here. 3pts M.Johnson Top Australia Bowler (1st Inns Only) 2/1 Coral Although he can be hit and miss I expect Johnson to be the top wicket taker in the 1st innings. As I said before, Stuart Clark is dogged but he relies a lot on seam movement and I'm not sure he's going to get a pitch for that. Johnson swings it both ways and he's hard to face when he's on song. Naturally he'll bowl well to left handers and with the new ball he could prize a couple of early wickets. Cloud cover is forecast for most of the test and that will only help Johnson in what is pretty much a 3 horse race as spin isn't likely to come into the game until the 2nd innings. 2/1 is fair odds given Johnson's form in the series with South Africa over the winter so I'll take that in this 1st innings at Cardiff.

[WoodyTHFC]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009 I have to say at this time I’m not getting involved in the series outright result. From an England fan perspective I want us to win but at the current prices I’m not willing to jump in on what has to be said is an inconsistent team for a long time. Actually since the last Ashes series (we lost 5-0 which has been conveniently lost by parts of the media) our record in tests have been pretty awful in truth. If weak opposition like NZ and WI (who we still managed to lose to on their patch) are excluded, we have not won one ‘live’ test match since the last ashes series. That’s in complete contrast to Eng record prior to 2005 where the momentum gained prior to 2005 was crucial in the series. After a series defeat in WI at the same time Aus were recovering to beat SA away, I would definitely have favoured Aus much more for this series. Now I do feel the emphasis has slightly changed in that Eng have got some crucial players back fit and were impressive against the WI for all that the opposition couldn’t have been more disinterested. Plus the Aussies have made the odd strange selection choice, lack of an extra batsman for one which could yet haunt them and the odd injury which has not helped them. However the first test or two I can see it being very tight and with results very hard to come from; it’s after the first couple of tests where England could fight back and I might become more interested when they become a much bigger price. Anyway here I my series bets: K.Pietersen top Eng series runscorer 11/4 sj 10 pts My concern here is KP’s ongoing injury problem but I’m hoping he can overcome that and if he does I can see him scoring a lot of runs here. KP sounded pretty down about his injury during the 20 20s but recently he has claimed that he has felt improvements with his injury and the bottom line here is that he is a big match player who I can see rising to the occasion as he often does. He has top scored in both his previous Ashes series and no doubt will want to prove a point after all that has happened to him in the last year. When looking at England’s batting line up, there are players who still have a bit to prove; how will Bopara cope with the Aussies?, Cook’s technique outside off stump has been found wanting before against the Aussies, Collingwood hasn’t looked amazing so far this summer. So the competition in this market might not be as strong as it could be, certainly not as strong as in 2005 and I can see KP scoring more than any other Englishman. P.Hughes top Aus series run scorer 5/1 sj 5 pts e.w (1/5 odds 3 places) I saw a bit of this lad play for my county side earlier this season and there is no doubt he is top quality player. Slightly unorthodox but he is the sort of guy who whilst potentially getting the odd low score, will also score his fair stack of runs and at a very good rate. He showed against arguably the best pace attack in the world what he can do in SA. Coming back from a poor shot in his first test knock, he scored a vital half century in the second innings and then went onto smack two hundreds in the next game, not bad for someone in just their second test match. Coming to England early this summer will help him understand the conditions a bit more than if he had not and that could ultimately be a costly error. Some have highlighted Harmison’s rattling of him with the shorter ball in the lions game but I’m careful not to read an awful lot into that. Any real deficiencies with the short ball would have been exploited by SA on much more pacer wickets and arguably with quicker bowlers. Yet that didn’t stop Hughes scoring a lot of runs in that series and he could do so again in this one knowing that if he gets in the top 3 Aussies its money back. A.Flintoff top Eng series wicket taker 5/1 boy 5 pts Again fitness could be the issue here but Flintoff is another player I could see bouncing back to form in this series with a point to prove. His career has stalled somewhat lately with a stack of injuries not helping. However he has managed to get himself fit just in time and this attack in many ways has been designed for Freddie. The 5 man bowling attack should enable Freddie to be more attacking as a bowler, just like he was in 2005 and that should only benefit Flintoff and England. In a similar way to KP, Flintoff is a man for a big occasion and I can see his bowling impressing in this series. P.Siddle top Aus series wicket taker 7/2 bluesq 10 pts Siddle could be a dark horse in this series with the ball. Many will like Johnson for this market but Siddle has been impressive in the tests he has played and could be a typical steady Australian bowler who puts in long shifts during the series yet still picks up wickets. In the SA series’ both home and away he was extremely economical but also grew as a wicket taking threat as both those series went on and let’s not forget that’s against a far better batting line up. He took 5 wickets at his home ground down under and continued to cause some problems for SA ‘s in SA where he was extremely economical. Unlike Johnson, he looked in better form in the warm up game he played and he should be raring to for this his first ashes test and he could do well. R.Bopara under 350.5 series runs 10/11 spo 10 pts This series will be an interesting challenge for Ravi Bopara and something he has not faced before. He has been revelation so far in the way he has changed his test career around. In his last 3 innings he has made 3 hundreds and there is no denying that is some effort. However facing Australia is a completely different proposition to the WI. Against the WI he was impressive but that was against some poor bowling and some atrocious fielding, he must have been dropped at least 5 times in those hundreds and one thing the Aussies are unlikely to be is as careless. Guys like Clark and Siddle will examine his technique outside off stump and also it will be interesting to see how Bopara reacts to the shorter ball. Against the WI over there he was very positive against it and got away from it but he was more subdued against it over here and he might want to be again otherwise he could be caught out. Getting over 350 runs in an Ashes series is not easy for a debutant, last time in Australia only two England batsmen got over the run mark here and with Bopara slightly unproven in such a test, I would rather side under on this line. P.Collingwood under 315.5 series runs 5/6 lad 10 pts Of all the England batsman Collingwood is one who I worry about most. He has always been a gritty player who will never look pretty and often can look horrible during a bad patch and I wonder if he is in another bad patch. Since his last gaps escape at Edgbaston last summer he found some form. Both in the rest of the SA series, then in India and in the WI. However after that he sat on the bench in the IPL and I don’t think that really helped him. It has meant his f/c innings’ have been limited so far this summer and that hasn’t helped him establish much of a rhythm. Instead he has played a lot of ODI’s and 20 20s and they just seemed to unsettle his form even more. This isn’t the biggest amount of runs to get but with doubts over colly’s form, I’m not sure he can get them. And one for the first test itself: England v Australia 1st Test – Draw 7/5 bet3 10 pts I must admit I took a slightly better price about this earlier in the week and the price now is getting skinny but the draw is a result I think we could see quite a bit of in this series and it wouldn’t surprise me to see it happening straight away here. Much has been made of the Cardiff pitch and possible turn and I do expect it to turn. However that has to be put into context, there should be some turn but I imagine it will be slow turn and generally in context with a slow, low and pretty dead pitch. Weather also comes into this and whilst the forecast is ok initially, later on in the test things look doubtful which may also negate the spin factor. Also despite a slightly more positive forecast for the first few days, I wouldn’t necessarily think that will hold in Cardiff, forecast’s there are notoriously hard to hard to predict in terms of dry days and normally end in some sort of rain even when its not supposed to happen. Plus I think both sides bat pretty deep here. England have someone like Swann at 9 and the Aussies have Johnson at 8 and even though Lee’s batting down the order means their tail doesn’t look quite as strong as two days ago, the likes of Hauritz can hold a bat and generally both teams will not be easy to roll over even with early wickets. It’s a draw for me in this first test.

[Cramer]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009 I had some success betting on cricket a while ago but I haven't bet for some time. Ashes starts tomorrow so I will try cricket again! Oh yes!

Sport	Cricket
Event	England v Australia 1st test
Selection	Lay Australia (Lay)
Strength	10/10
Date	12/07/2009
Bookmaker/Price	>Betfair @ 3.10 (Lay)
Reasoning	I think this will be a very difficult match for Australia to win. first of all I see weather reports maybe quite bad on Saturday and possibly Sunday. Johnson and Lee very good bowlers but behind that they seem pretty average. Not without Lee in this match I think they struggle to take enough wickets. Also first match maybe neither team wants to take big risk and go behind, so I like having draw on my side. I think some value in England price but as this is first match, like both the teams I want to play it safe so I take they lay option!

[The Pope]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009 I like the odds of 15.00 being quoted by Bwin on Mitchell Johnson to be man of the match in today's first test.. Johnson is the standout bowler in this series and if Australia get the win I think he would have a great chance for MoM.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009 Really interesting 1st day which ebbed and flowed. It's hard to know who's on top at the minute and the current match odds reflect that. My gut feel is with England because this pitch will go and it'll go quickly. I would imagine it'll hold up for another couple of days though. Our spin twins should be rubbing their hands with glee tonight. One for tomorrow. 3pts S.Broad's 1st Inns Runs - Over 16.5 5/6 Blue Square Stuart Broad will begin day 2 on 4 not out. He'll enter a scenario where England still need runs and the partnership he has with Jimmy Anderson and then hopefully Graeme Swann will be crucial to the outcome of this test match. England will want another 60-65 runs to get up to 400 so Broad will have to bat and bat well. The new ball has done a bit but it's 10 overs old and had Flintoff cracking it to all parts so it should die down fairly quickly. This wicket is fairly placid and Broad, who will still play his shots as that's his game, will still play carefully to ensure England reach their target. There could yet be a half century out there for Broad but I'm confident he'll get the 13 runs he needs to cover this total.

[Cramer]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009 Yes pitch looks pretty good for spin already! Much better if Prior still in, but still a pretty good day for England. I think it will be hard for Australia to win from here!

[Spooner]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009 Good luck all and come on England! :hope I'll take one 'in-running', which ill mostly do through the whole series. England First Innings Lead? Yes @ 1.83 Stan James England currently stand on 336 for 7 which I think is an alright total already, I think the bookies believe that England are going to get bowled out very cheaply when play resumes today but lets not forget that Stuart Broad is no mug with the bat, he can play alright. If others can stay in and support him England could well get nearer to 400 rather than 350, as I said its an alright total already and the Aussies could well struggle to get England's total here.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009

Really interesting 1st day which ebbed and flowed. It's hard to know who's on top at the minute and the current match odds reflect that. My gut feel is with England because this pitch will go and it'll go quickly. I would imagine it'll hold up for another couple of days though. Our spin twins should be rubbing their hands with glee tonight. One for tomorrow. 3pts S.Broad's 1st Inns Runs - Over 16.5 5/6 Blue Square Stuart Broad will begin day 2 on 4 not out. He'll enter a scenario where England still need runs and the partnership he has with Jimmy Anderson and then hopefully Graeme Swann will be crucial to the outcome of this test match. England will want another 60-65 runs to get up to 400 so Broad will have to bat and bat well. The new ball has done a bit but it's 10 overs old and had Flintoff cracking it to all parts so it should die down fairly quickly. This wicket is fairly placid and Broad, who will still play his shots as that's his game, will still play carefully to ensure England reach their target. There could yet be a half century out there for Broad but I'm confident he'll get the 13 runs he needs to cover this total.

That didn't take long to come in :cow.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009 And then he's out to Johnson. Good work son :lol.

[Spooner]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009 Nice one Kev, didn't see the bet otherwise I would of took it myself (aftertiming) England past the 400 mark now, bowlers getting a good look at the ptich, great morning so far.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009 Superb stuff this morning. If Brett Lee doesn't come back in this series, this attack could really go round the park for the next 6 weeks.

[Spooner]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009 Just home from work, getting my head around Aussies on 249/1. :\

[Henry Jr]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009

Superb stuff this morning. If Brett Lee doesn't come back in this series' date= Englands's attack could really go round the park for the next 6 weeks.

You got that right Kev...... Gawn a bit quiet in here all of a sudden lads........ :lol

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009 England's attack hasn't exactly gone round the park has it? We're only conceding 3.5 an over. And that's to numbers 1 and 3. I mean it's not like your 9, 10 and Jack are smashing 7 an over off us is it ;).

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009 One more for today. 1pt England to win 1st Test 8/1 Bet365 England look way overpriced here. Despite the Aussies being in a good position we are still 186 runs ahead going into day 3. Initially I was going to leave this alone but the forecast for tomorrow suddenly doesn't look as bad as it did so I believe we'll get most of the 270 overs left in the match in. That's an awful lot of cricket. And the key to it all is we'll be bowling last on this pitch which should be turning square by then, especially with the sun on it all day today. England didn't bowl well yesterday but we've seen before that this can happen only for it to be put right the next day. Graeme Swann will be key for England but with a good morning session we'll be right back in this match which will make this 8/1 look big and if Australia are chasing anything around 200-250 on the final day England will be strong favourites to win.

[Henry Jr]

Re: Cricket: The Ashes 2009

England's attack hasn't exactly gone round the park has it? We're only conceding 3.5 an over. And that's to numbers 1 and 3. I mean it's not like your 9' date=' 10 and Jack are smashing 7 an over off us is it ;).[/quote'] Don't mind me mate - just yanking ya chain thats all. :) Reckon the Aussies can get to around 100 infront tonight and would look to bat till around lunch tomorrow (wickets pending of course) giving them a 200 lead and 1.5 days left.