A glimpse of life after Freddie

Yes, a couple of dodgy decisions, always more noticeable in a deciding test, but they even out in most tests, even more so in a series of 5.
Love to hear from the Broad lynch mob from a couple of weeks ago.
One swallow doth not a summer make but you can't bowl a spell like that unless you have real talent - especially at his age.
Why did I mention age, just realised, he's younger than my daughter.
Cocoa and bedtime.

Mr Dirs, You have certainly changed your tune in the last 24 hours.

I have said since the first test that Broad should be persevered with, he was low on confidence but that fine knock of 55 at Edgebaston returned his confidence and he has been Englands best player since.

England are in a great position and i feel that its their test to lose from here.

There is also a lot of talk about this being Flintoff's last test but this test could also signal the end of one of the greatest batsmen of our times careers in Ricky Ponting. Even as an England fan i have admired his performances for years.

Was sure Broad would come through, and my faith has been well placed. He has brought me some good money betting on the last few tests, where so many doubted him for no good reason.
Would be nice for Freddie to be "the hero" but better for the team for him to be useless

As mentioned, great to see Broad performing well with the ball. Maybe he's decided to do what he's best at, rather than working to the plans for each batsman, which didn't serve him particularly well in the first three tests.

Hope the doubters hold their hands up now .....

Come on England!

Nice blog tonight Dirs, concentrating on the positives as we get to the 'business end' of the series. Commeth the hour, commeth anybody i was beginning to think as the Aussies were 70 odd for nothing. What a fine spell of intelligent bowling from Broad. When Strauss threw him the ball it was almost an after-thought, the last chance saloon if you will. Another 150 tomorrow and then let the pitch do the work!!!

Even houdini coudn't escape from this position. I dont to want say I told you so, but I told you so ...Well done Broady, brilliant bowling...take that mantle fron Freddie you deserve it

A marvellous spell of bowling by Broad.The King is dead - long live the King !!

The dodgy umpiring decisions do even themselves out. Watson was absolutely plumb LBW when he had hardly scored a run but was given not out. So far 3 England batsmnen in this match have been out off blatant no balls - so no Aussie whinging please !!

Chris Broad has every right to be extremely proud of his son today. The criticism aimed at Broad over the past few weeks has been very frustrating to watch and listen to, well, where are you all now ey? Perhaps we should start with asking what Oliver Brett thinks, hmmm? Broad is only just 23, he's a hard-worker and his bowling thrives on confidence, if he'd bowled the fuller ball a bit more earlier in the series I think he'd have taken quite a few more wickets. His batting has ever improved, he looks a little nervy early on but gets very composed quickly and will only get better with experience. I'm tired of the "cricket media" (a.k.a. football writers in need of a summer job!) picking on certain England players, overreacting to every slip up and then wondering why confidence is so low. I hope, after today, everyone gets behind the team fully, I think we've played well so far this series, we were never going to take Australia to pieces but believe me Ponting will be sat in his hotel room right now chewing his finger nails...

Amazing effort for Broad who was always better than Flint Off! Great work and it has put the Aussies in a tough place that as already said - Houdini might have issues getting out of.

Bye Freddie, you were always average and your efforts today prove it. England has a better man in your place.

Can we stop paying the umps now? They have done a fine job in general but whilst some say these odd decisions even out, in this series the Aussies have come off very poorly with yet another two outs today that were not, and they have been gentleman about it, perhaps more than we deserve given the total number of bad decision they have received. I hate to have these things hanging over our heads as they really do sour the win and detract from Broad's wonderful performance.

Please do not mention bad decisions, as all the commentators highlight the ones for England. Two England batsmen were out off no-balls, which would have been bemoaned had they been aussies. It really is poor that commentators have to belittle a performance by this.

When the English are out its a bad shot, Aussies never are according to the media.

Also Broad was lambasted for bowling badly early on in the series, but he actually bowled exactly what he was told to do, it was just that the plans weren't effective.

Its time that England set up a rotation policy for players, like the good football teams do, so that they have a squad of good players to call on dependent on form and situation. Otherwise how are others to get experience. Dropping Strauss was what he needed, and why on earth should any player continue to play if they don't perform. We need to find competitors rather than replacements for people like Collingwood, Bell and Cook, so that they know that if they don't perform they will lose their position.

One question worth considering is how far days like today (when 15 wickets fell) are caused by the prevailing conditions at most Test matches: good, flat pitches where average or good batsmen look great.
Perhaps the saying that "[a batting average of] 50 is the new 40" is true. It certainly throws into sharp relief the records of some current English batsmen.

When a pitch comes along which is the exception, and is less than perfect for batting, the batsmen seem to panic, as if somehow they are entitled to dominate the ball at all times. That's what has happened in this match. Many of the specialist batsmen on each side have been complicit in their own dismissals. For England in the first innings, that means Strauss, Cook, Bell, Collingwood and Prior - at least. For Australia, it means Watson, Clarke and Haddin - at least. Admittedly, one or two batsmen such as North were the victims of umpire error. But very few batsmen were genuinely got out without giving any help to the bowlers. In this age of scoring at four runs per over, perhaps the batsman who aims to bat time is almost extinct.

But as today demonstrated, Test cricket is more interesting when the bowlers have a good chance of taking wickets.

England need at least 100 more runs tomorrow - preferably 150 for the sake of their fans' well-being! Then, if they can bowl as well as today (a big if), the Ashes are coming home...

I am pretty sure Broady didn't read my post on this blog yesterday, but would probably have been quite miffed at me mentioning every England bowler by name except him, as the source of our turning this game around. Sorry about that. Whatever the source of his inspiration, I could not be more pleased for him. Obviously young enough to think (rightly) that the game can be won in just one session.

Now let's get behind the boys to put on another 200 and get the Aussie whingers complaining about everything and not just the "wicket playing like a Karachi dustbowl on the second day". Marvellous!

3 awful decisions went against Australia when they were trying to save the match at Lords and now they get a couple more when trying to do the same at the Oval. Whilst England have had their fair share, generally it has been when the umpires have decided not to award them a wicket rather than awarding wickets that never were.

Having said this, for Australia to crumble the way they did today was, for the team ranked number one in the world, woeful. I thought Broad was fortunate to pick up as many wickets as he did at Headingley because of the position that Australia were in, but today he was fantastic.

I don't expect any result other than an England victory at the oval. Do they deserve to win the series? Who knows, but Australia had their chances and didn't take them. England wont make the same mistake

I'm just thinkin, if england win, who would get the man of the series award?
Strauss has been good, but probably not as good as Michael Clarke, Ponting or even North really. None of our Bowlers has been consistently good, i think it's a hard one.
If we win it really will be an all round team effort

A good post, Ben. As you state, the beauty of this series has been it's unpredictability.
With reference to the paragraph about the batting averages (and indeed the bowling averages), if England do go on to win the series, I feel that the abiding memory will be that individuals have contributed when it mattered (kenadams777 - "cometh the hour, cometh anybody"), looking back on the series we had Collingwood and the tail on the Monday at Cardiff, Strauss on day 1, Anderson on day 2 and Freddie on day 5 at Lord's, Anderson on day 2 and Flintoff on day 3 at Edgbaston setting up a potential victory opportunity, and now Stuart Broad and Swann today.
The evening session has (again) showed how fragile the middle order is, and I fear that, if England finish the job, the cracks will be papered over once again.

I actually posted here yesterday that Broad and Swann (he who gets less credit than he desreves, took 4 when Freddie got all the credit for taking 5 too.....) would skittle the Aussies for about 150, and 330 odd was a great score under the circumstances - how right I was!

Sadly for some reason my post must have been deleted, as I can't see it now...

;-)

@ 14;

Player of the series? Whatever happens in this series i feel that North has to be named as POTS. He has been amazing, totally under-rated and nobody expected anything from him but he has shown that he is the future of Aussie cricket.

I admit I advocated dropping Broad for Leeds -- I also said fire the bowling coach. What a difference bowling line and length makes compared to a predetermined pitch it short. I was against selecting Harmison too for the same reason -- maybe he can watch Broad and learn. Stuart Clark verdict was terrible -- but meaningless as we had already ripped out their middle order. Rauf also missed a couple of lbw's but that's all part of the game. We need to set Australia over 400 -- it only takes a stroke of genius from Ponting, Clarke or North (and Hussey may come good one day -- against someone else hopefully) to get them to 300.

13. At 9:36pm on 21 Aug 2009, lenny66goteam wrote:

3 awful decisions went against Australia when they were trying to save the match at Lords and now they get a couple more when trying to do the same at the Oval. Whilst England have had their fair share, generally it has been when the umpires have decided not to award them a wicket rather than awarding wickets that never were.

---------

North - poor decision, I heard two noises very clearly. However, with his front pad in front of his bat, the umpire could have thought it was front pad then bat. But I wouldn't have given it.

Clark - he's a #10, he wouldn't have scored many more.

Can't remember the third mistake.

And, in our first innings, Strauss was out off a no-ball, I thought I heard that Bell was too. This innings, Collingwood was also out to a no-ball. Watson should probably have gone earlier.

If anything, we have been penalised more in this Test. But there's nothing you can do about mistakes, so there's no point moaning.

Anyone know if any Aussie captains have lost the Ashes twice? That would surely take the shine off Ponting's outstanding batting record.

@ 13;

I think that there were a few dodgy decisions that went the Aussies way in Englands first innings. Swings and rounabouts. The dodgy decisions have evened out over the course of this series.

lenny66goteam, some of England's ill-luck with decisions has been with their batsmen being given out from deliveries which should have been called as no-balls. Collingwood today was another example (though he played the ball poorly).

As for who deserves to win the series, it's a good question. Arguably the series should be 2-2 right now - though, if Australia had taken one more wicket at Cardiff, it could be 4-0 to them. The pattern always seems the same, Australian wins are overwhelming, England wins are nerve-wracking.

What a fantastic afternoon session.... almost a pity I was there yesterday and not today :)

What really struck me was Broads post match interview, a real sign of maturity and insight.

I wonder if the bookies are offering odds on him being a future England captain?

Now lets wrap it up and look back on the summer with a smile :)

But all the debate of poor decision takes away from the victory. A lacklustre English Batting effort has been saved by some excellent bowling which was assisted by poor decisions yet again. As the tail betted well in the first test (where Panesar helped save the game and was dropped as thanks) there is nothing to suggest the Aussie tail would not have dug in a bit today in their turn. Maybe they would have made little difference, but maybe, as at Cardiff, it could have been a larger difference.

We need better umpiring. Wrong, Matt, England has benefited from the uneven poor decisions and we wish it were not so. There is something we can do about mistakes - we can demand better. We can moan and make change because to accept the current efforts are not acceptable. Warne has a plan for this and the ECB must study it and act.

However, Broad and Swann were so good...... what a fantastic day for English cricket.

Bell- a streaky 72 and he will now be a certainty for an England place--for God's sake he is a waste of time PLEASE drop this loser and find a batsman.
Selectors --hang your heads in shame for selecting this guy.
He is not and never will be England quality and prevents good men from getting a chance.

i'm loving it, i wonder if them aussie clowns who write for the mirror are taking the mick now. i bet there choking on there bacon now ey lol, one of them ripping into bell saying johnson has his number "dial a wicket", (i kno proper camp) and ripping into broad as a pretty boy an nothing more,
well take your pen and arrogent backside back to australia.

#20

Allan Border (85 & 86/7) but he's better remembered for being a great captain and the start of Australia's period of supremacy.

Cracking day today though. When Aus were 60-odd without loss at lunch with Watson not being given out I thought they would get 500+. Good thing I am not a betting man!

Stuart Broad has bowled England into a super position - but we don't have the urn back quite yet.

Keep your concentration, guys - another 150 runs needed.

Hello Eirebilly

I must agree with OBloggs here. We need better umpiring. Decisions may even out/ be evened out in number, but not in effect.

However, much better from England today. If this does not get the fans and media behind you, nothing will. Even Mr. Dirs has struck a positive cord. Well done Ben.

England have shown today how they can perform without Fred (I know he played). Broad has learnt a big lesson about bowling thanks to his admiration of 'pidgeon'.

Tomorrow is crunch day. Strauss and Trott to roll the dice, Punter to call the price.

Stuart Broad showed how good he was in the 4th Test, as the only England player who actually played well, and he waited patiently today to get a bowl and then showed everybody that he can bowl like Glenn McGrath and is ready for a future as England´s new all rounder.
I agree with some of the previous writers that the poor umpire decisons have evened out - today Shane Watson had and extra life and Michael Clark didnt.More rubbish from Collingwood with the bat, not my choice to captain England or even be in the one day games to follow.And Andrew Strauss doing a good job and I believe going onto yet another century on saturday.Looking forward to the next 2 days play!

I have been one of Broady's most vociferous defenders on 606, so today is a sweet day, but don 't go mad and expect this every game. Many people simply don't understand that all rounders aren't obliged to get five-fers and score centuries in every match, but often contribute in a more low key way. 37 runs today, that'll do nicely, not spectacular but pretty useful. 3 five-fers in tests for Broad - remind me how many Fred has?
An utterly mind boggling day. The deficiencies in England's batting are glaringly obvious yet again but somehow we have the upper hand. (Can someone please put Colly out of his misery? He bats like a lame dog) the Kp and Moores caper at the start of the year, followed by the 51 all out could not forerun an Ashes victory - surely?
There is cricket magic and witchcraft at work here.

Well his dad already summed up what I wanted to say... just a quick thought re the moment Mitchell Johnson had a go at him. The way Broad looked at him and just had a laugh showed me this bloke got heart.

Untill that moment the only significant contribution this series was that excellent catch at Lord's which started the first innings Aussie collapse (also took 2 important Aussie wickets that innings if I'm not mistaken). He got his fair share of critics as well so he must have been a bit low on confidence. That's why I reckoned he was up for the Ashes battle this summer and he sure did deliver after that encouter with both bat and ball.

Much respect to him!

Full credit to England, I can't see Australia getting out of this pickle. Session 2 was going to be the one that decided the series, and Australia folded under the pressure. For all the talk about our sub-standard attack, really it has come down to the batting line-up folding under pressure on 3 different occasions during the series - all of which have proved to be crucial. There have been noticeable improvements since the South Africa series (where our totals were constantly rescued by the tail) - a bunch of centuries from North and Clarke - but Ponting and Hussey have been our downfall. Very brittle in the middle, from the two players you would expect to stand up and lead the way.

I do have the feeling that Australia will look back at this series and wonder how they didn't win it. The English batting has been pretty poor, but the bowling largely toothless. But in those big moments, where we have normally stood up and taken the game by the scruff of the neck, we have this time failed miserably and lost lots of wickets in short spells.

Once again, well done to England for taking those opportunities.

Always knew Broad had it in him!. Good night to you all from a very happy Cricket lover x.

Lets not forget that we will have to bowl them out again, the job is only half done. My money is for Fred to bowl them out for less than 200 second shout.

I'm in quite a good mood, so I'm going to write a few things and put titles on them in capitals! How fun!

DIRS:
Good blogging. Summed up the day beautifully. Cheers.

BROAD:
I was one of the people insisting that we stick with him. Unfortunately, I was using his batting as the cornerstone of my argument. A fantastic spell that surprised and exhilerated me. He has suggested that if he bowls line and if he bowls length then he could be a genuinely world class all-rounder. What I do like about him is that I don't think he'll be lying in his bed tonight thinking about how great he is. I have a hunch he'll be thinking about how he can do the same in the next innings. I like that.

UMPIRES:
A bad day for the Umpires. A good day for the crowd who support the referral system. The errors in favour of England were more blatant but in the broader scheme of things I think that the errors in favour of Australia could have had a bigger impact. England are only being seen as the beneficiaries because they are winning. Consider if Watson had been given out and the delivery that took Strauss had been called a no-ball. We could have been sitting on a 300 lead already. Ultimately, no-one knows, but I think the rub of the green has gone both ways so far. That said, the Umps won't be feeling great tonight.

BELL:
No. He isn't a great test batsman. But he is a good enough one. I'd love it if we were in a position to say that that's not good enough, but actually we don't have world class batsmen coming out of our ears. Those quoting averages all the time need to acknowledge that County cricket is not a decent preparation for test cricket, even test cricket against the 'poorer' sides in the world. Ian Bell is a good batsman. He has played 49 tests and has an average of 39.8. It isn't great but it is good. And the number of tests played gives the lie to those who simply try and quote his average v. Australia etc. in order to do him down. I'm by no means his biggest fan, but I do believe that he has a future for England.

THE PITCH:
Have we been unsporting in preparing this wicket? Of course not. No-one knew who would win the toss. What is a concern is that few Aussies got out due to the pitch. Their wickets were bought with quality bowling. Unfortunately, they have rarely made the same mistake twice in a game and similarly, no England player has managed to consistently play to the top of their game over the course of a whole match (Fred at Lords aside). We are certainly strong favourites, but I will not be counting any chickens.

THE AVERAGES:
I love the fact that all the good averages this series belong to the Aussies and yet we still might win back the urn. Just goes to show how wonderful, how unpredictable sport is. Also demonstrates that however much one might perceive cricket to be a sport of individual performance, it will always be the team that counts.

Just imagine what position we might be in now if Colly and Bell and been ditched? (Forget that 72 in the first innings....if Punter was half smart Mitchell Johnson would have cleaned Bell up in only another 6 or so deliveries....he was looking, as usual, like a startled rabbit) Trott by comparison looks completely at home and what a debut he is having. The ECB, for the first time in many years have made a reasonable selction decision. But explain to me the Harmison selection? He has consumately proved that after 2005 he cannot perform on the test arena and it is only past glories and a mediocre run in the county game that warranted his selection.
Those that must not be picked in an England shirt ever again are Bell, Collingwood and Harmison.

#37 - I fully understand your comments about Harmison and have the same frustrations with him. However, if this wicket continues to crumble then he could be our most effective bowler when it comes to winning this match and series. That doesn't make him a great test bowler, but it would make him a great selection.

Also think you're being harsh on Bell. Trott certainly looks good, but he has another 20 or so runs to go before he matches Bell's contribution with the bat in this match. Give credit where its due: without Bell's 70-odd, Broad's bowling would not be a potentially match-winning performance. So far we have had 2 complete innings in this match and another 3 batsmen have fallen on top of that. This means that out of 23 dismissed batsmen, Bell has the highest score. I'm glad he was picked!

Since the beginning I have been wondering why Broad has been getting the stick while so few of the Old Lads Club that seems to make up the England Dressing room skates.

Exhibit A: Cook. Looks cute, wears a shirt provocatively open to impress the lasses but what is his average for the series? Yes, he is young and has potential but has not impressed as a number 2. Back to the counties for a spell I think.

Exhibit B: Collingwood. Time and again he has wafted in a half baked manner at balls that need leaving alone and precipitated the infamous middle order collapse. His bowling is a non factor too.

What people forget is that Broad has been pigeonholed as a bowler, whereas in fact he is more of an all rounder. He started his career as a batsman at school and when he grew an inch or 4 was converted to bowler. I can't find his batting average for this series but it iI am ready to bet it is in the 20's or 30's and many of his innings have been vital to the result.

Perhaps now we will see him accepted by the lads club and we'll hear him being described as "Broady". We'll know then that his international career is secure, at which point he'll probably go to seed like the rest of the losers on the team.

I've heard the word "momentum" used more in the talking-shop interludes of this series than ever before. But doesn't this series show that it has absolutely no application?
In other words, lots of people talk a lot of rubbish based on what has happened most recently.
And that unsurprising observation accounts for the Broad phenomenon - criticised one day by self-appointed experts who can see no further than the most recent past, and praised the next day by similar experts.

I know we all have our favourites but this side has the makings of being pretty good. Flintoff will be a loss but Broad still has much to offer and will only mature as time goes by. Swann has performed admirably really and gives an unrealistic additional depth to our batting. Before this series started the Aussies had already pin-pointed the middle order as a weakness and how true that has been. I agree that there aren't a bundle of obvious choices in the county circuit that can immediately fill in but Trott has done exactly that. Given that KP would be at 4 then there's only the no.5 spot to sort.....Bopara?
Filling FF's boots could be Broad but how about Prior back at 7 and fill no.6 with.....what's his name...he'd be good....

Number 15: Drewbarb: "The evening session has (again) showed how fragile the middle order is, and I fear that, if England finish the job, the cracks will be papered over once again." It isn't the middle order that is the real problem. I'm not sure where you reckon the middle order starts but our "top of the card" - with the exception of Strauss - has reliably stunk up the place ALL SERIES, thereby exposing a middle order to a fresh attack. Agree though that a win here will cause a bout of self congratulation and no lessons will be learned. If Australia lose they will do the opposite and retool like they did in 05/06.

oh, how i laughed! i have been a devout england fan for most of my life and though i have believed in the broadside i never thought he would do this. we are on the verge of the rarest of days, an ashes series win. incredible.

great stuff from the English bowlers- take a bow- especially Stuart Broad who proved his critics wrong. Enough of this bad umpiring on the Aussie wickets nonsence. Strauss was out unfairly and was in excellent nick. He and Bell could have added a good many runs together but for the umpires. Speaking of Bell, he also got a poor one and might have made a century.
The Aussie wickets of North and Clarke (!) cost them far fewer runs than the above decisions. In this instance if any team should be aggrieved it's England but since they are ahead in the test their bad luck gets forgotten.

I don't know if there is any pattern from earlier series, but I get the impression that the best thing about Broad is his intelligence and willingness to learn. He has continued to improve as the series has progressed. Other players (Cook, Collingwood) get worse as the opposition figures them out.

Oh and number 20: defeat to England might take the gloss off Pontings captaincy but leaves his excellent batting record completely untainted.

Stuart Broad, appeared to me, at the 2007 WC, to be a force to reckon with, in the future, in English cricket.

He's a legitimate allrounder!

The future looks sunnier, for England, with players like him!

Cheers!

I sometimes wonder if it's a characteristic of Englishmen to look for negatives. Your review of England's middle-order is a bit grudging. First, Collingwood; he's batting out of position in a side briefly top-heavy with no. 6s. Overall, he's been a rock for England on many occasions. Bell is probably going to be the highest scorer in the match - enough said. So far, Trott looks ok as a batsman, and special as a fielder. But, cricket is a team game; everyone gets to bat, and you only get one chance to fail. So, if nos. 8-10 get 100s, it doesn't matter too much if the upper order averaged 5 - so long as they don't do it too often! So lets forget about the number of 100s, it's a statistical threshold, and that's all. Is 101 really much better than 99? Let's look at totals - they win matches. Only two of England's totals have been less than 300 in this series (Headingley), and their first innings totals were 435, 425, and 376 before then. Source: The Australian! These are good tactical scores, generally better than 2005. Finally, a word about Freddie. A much greater player than even him, Don Bradman, also played his last Test at the Oval. He was out for a duck! But, his team won that Ashes series.

Just been on some of the Aussie Press sites. If you want a laugh have a look. The games not over, an England collapse tomorrow and who knows but, excuses are being prepared already. Face it boys, your team is a one man band and when he goes well, roll on South Africa.

What a fantastic day's cricket, and people say that test cricket is past its sell by date, what a complete load of rubbish.

I've got to admit that if I was a selector I wouldn't have picked Broad, as in a match where we have to take 20 wickets, I didn't feel he was amongst our top 4 seamers. How glad I am to be proved wrong, what a great spell of bowling.

A crucial session in the morning, and if we can bat well, then the Ashes will be in touching distance. With our brittle batting line up, you could easily see them skittling us though, and I won't start to breathe a bit more easier until we get over 300 in front.

Having said that I thought Trott looked pretty comfortable out there, and looks to have a good temperament.

If we had an anywhere near decent top order (Strauss excepted) we'd have put the game beyond the Aussies already. Collingwood's position has to be in doubt, after a pathetic attempt at trying to defend a short ball, at which I'd be disappointed to get out to when playing later today.

The Aussies must be feeling pretty low after yesterdays drubbing but as they say downunder GO AUSSIES

The English love to beat Australia whereas the Aussies expect to beat England.
Its much easier to win at home with the crowds, media and groundsman behind you. Although England should celebrate this victory accordingly, they need to learn from the mistakes of 2005 and not go over the top with MBE's etc etc. A real achievement will be to beat the aussies in Australia. They are a real chance as long as they see victory here as half of the battle won.

To the post-Headingley suicide mob decying everything about English cricket and ripping into your own players ... shameful. We don't want you back on the bandwagon.
For those of us who stuck with England through thick and thin ... let's enjoy today and finish ther job. Brilliant.

First Bloodgate now its Pitchgate. A blatant result pitch that shames Test cricket. If 15 wickets fell in a day of county cricket there would be a pitch inspection. But such is modern sport. Too much money involved so all sense of fair play goes out the window. Just a pity Australia didn't win the toss.....

"If England do manage to regain the urn, in years to come people will pore over the record books and marvel at how they managed it: four batsmen averaging under 30, against six Aussies averaging above 40. But, as if we didn't know already, England v Australia at cricket doesn't always make sense."

It makes plenty of sense when you remember the valuable contributions made with the bat by Broad, Swann and Anderson. There's no room for a misfiring bowler because he chips in with runs? That bowler might have won the series for England, and not just by his heroics today.

It's not that England Vs Australia doesn't make sense, it's that the bandwagon media are simply clueless.

Pommiebasher, there's no point in having home advantage if we can't 'doctor' the pitches to suit our bowlers. It happens in county cricket every week. That said, there is a long way to go yet. Australia do not give up easily. England need a lead of 400 at least.

If England win their second Ashes in 20 years then we can consider ourselves lucky. Some boring batting insterspersed with some hero bowling does not a winning combination make. We should revel in the glory as God knows, we don't get to do that too often.

But as alreayd mentioned, we should not go over the top as happened in 2005 when the first Ashes win in 16 years occurred and MBEs were handed out like lollies. We should look to see what was good, what was bad, and get into building up the bad and capitalising on the good. Winning the Ashes in England does not make a South African win and those guys will not sit idly by as we bowl around them either.

There's a logn rest of the year ahead and we need to be careful about not tossing the baby out with the bathwater, not getting too big headed, and continue to build on the formula.

That said, there's always time to have a beer or three in celebration.

OriginalBloggs.
No comparison with 2005, BOTH 2009 teams are mediocre compared to their predecessors.
Nor can you compare post-Ashes building for England now and then.
Simon Jones, Vaughan, Trescothick, Giles and Flintoff were all lost to injury/illness/retirement.
It has usually been true that the overall standard of Oz domestic cricket means there are good replacements waiting in the wings.
However, not for Warne and McGrath.
I maintain that England do not have a formula on which to build, where are the young replacements going to come from, when counties are all too keen to employ Kolpak players in key positions?
Also, when a young player shows promise at Test level and then his form dips, why are so many people so quick to want to discard him?
Well done Stuart Broad.
Finally, Flintoff was always average? Do me a favour.
Matt Hayden puts hims in the top 5 bowlers he has faced, he was ICC World Cricketer of the Year (with Kallis) and he is admired, respected and sometimes feared by all his peers - who all know more than you about Test cricket, I think.

Well said Peterbuss...I was just about to put to finger to keyboard and you saved me the bovver.

It weren't long ago; Edgebaston in particular, that we had all suggested that Broady go back to county cricket and work on his line and length.

It don't really mean as much beating the Aussies here, when we can work pitches (groundsman at the oval deserves some mention, how many draws have surrey had in the county championship over the last 2 years) and we generally have the armory in our ranks to use the conditions i.e. cloudy bring on James Anderson; desperate a crippled Fred; sunny, eh dunno? We should be aiming to go out there in 2010/11 to at least contest the Ashes rather than the pitiful display last time.

Originalbloggs;

Ask Adam Gilchrist what he thinks of Fred. In fact listening to him at Cardiff he said he was still haunted by him.

If Warne has a plan it will either involve texting, smoking, playing cards or eating.

So it's Fred's last test match.

Let's look at his test career:

66 matches played; Batting- 3331 runs averaging 32.66

Bowling- 190 wickets averaging 32.6 with 2 fivers

Fielding- 44 catches

Hype- top drawer

Motivational factor- top drawer/disruptive

Captaincy- unsuccessful

England have won more test matches without him than
with him in the side

So it remains a matter of opinion whether Fred was average or good or great.

I have admired Fred on the one hand for sorting himself out after the pedalo issue, but dislike the 'spreadeagle' celebratory gesture side of him.

He will certainly be remembered as a favourite of the fans. Good luck to him, and goodbye to a character of the game.

Congratulations Stuart Broad on a great spell of bowling! Finally the Broad fan brigade have their day in the sun ;)

Just to show how 'out of character' Broad's performance has been though: in his last 2 innings he's taken 11 wickets. Normally he would need 7 innings to take 11 wickets (he only had 52 wickets after 34 innings!).

Just as we've seen bowlers such as Flintoff having a similarly mediocre start to their career, but then being able to turn it around consistently, we've seen bowlers like Harmison being able to live for years afterwards on a reputation gained from just a few great performances.

So I take a slightly longer-term view and say that I'm still on the fence: I'm certainly not joining the I-always-knew-he'd-be-good-ers, but calls earlier this series (including mine) for his drop are no longer justified. He has secured his place for the coming couple of series and I hope for Broad and for England that he will use those series to show that the last two innings marked a genuine turnaround and not a flash in the pan.

Great blog Mr. Dirs. I am up earlier than normal on a Saturday morning, filled with anticipation of another fascinating day's cricket.
This series has dumbfounded all the pundits. Who would have given England a chance after Cardiff and yet in the very next match four days later, we win, convincingly.
Not only that, but we stand level now and on the verge of an ashes win, with aussies occupying the top 3/4 spots for batting and bowling.
The quality of the cricket on show is not at the standard of 2005, but I am not sure we will get a series like that again. This series has been absorbing in the extreme, mostly for its unpredictability. Let's hope we can get to the end of this test without any more twists though, as England should win from here.

Dear Ben,
Your coverages,reporting and writing of this cricket between England and Australia at Oval are great.
I have collected lot of details of English players strength and weakness on cricket grounds.Fine to get information of this game from you.
As on today,fairly speaking,England players had played well and showed their contributions to England and to cricket fields.
Wonderful,admirable actions by Bell,Captain,and special appreciation to Broad.
Great bowler indeed.
I saw his speech in BBC video.Interestingly,i have listened.
Let us wait and watch of remain days play.

... as a faulty consignment of Eastern Bloc weaponry? Mmmh Monsieur Dirs, if only it was then England would have won the ashes long time ago. Nothing wrong with Eastern Bloc weaponry, opposite. English weaponry? there you have an issue. Very good and expensive when working but sadly unreliable for some obscure reasons. Very much like the cricket team and as a matter of fact any other team sport.

First blog ever anywhere but felt impelled to post a comment today as I feel this could be the greatest England victory ever!!

I had grave doubts about Straus easy going captaincy, thought Broad was lacking confidence and that Flintoff was just looking to boost his ego with a farewell slog.

How wrong, the captaincy has managed to steady what was a very rocky ship and given individuals chances to shine, though some have failed, others have excelled. Broad has finally found that confidence that will make him into what I think the best all rounder in the world (better then Freddie!). Flintoff has shown that we need big characters in the side, no matter what off field antics have taken place in the past and I hope his farewell is a fairy tale ending,

Come on England.

A penny for your thoughts Twango?

I will take your penny and put it on England to win by 10 - 30 runs, close I know but the way this Ashes has gone it wont end in a wimper.
It will get all our hearts racing to the point where we will find it impossible to watch - plenty of cool beers needed this weekend.

Broads display was nothing short of wonderful to watch, especially against the old enemy. A word of caution though as usual, where have all the middle order batsman gone? Whatever happened to the conveyer of talented players that used to populate the england middle order. Dexter, Cowdrey, Close,Graveney, Stewart,Gower etc etc. What happened to that sort of talent within the English game. I hope we rediscover it soon, maybe then we can again give the rest of the cricketing world a run for their money.

Right..lets clear up a few loose ends. Firstly we still have to finish the job, although we should win from here we still need 10 wkts.
Secondly, this England don't deserve it nonesense....Ausralia dominated at Cardiff and Headingly...this is fact and can't be argued. England dominated at Lords and Edgbaston...difficult to argue against. So all even coming into this test (scores support this)so whoever wins here deserves the ashes. Now umpiring decisions. both teams have had bad ones, Australia more so, But it is Broads superb bowling that has put Australia on the rack. Finally if you believe Australia do not prepare the Wacca and the SCG to suit thier bowlers you are living in cloud cuckoo land....right lets go and finish the job.

Think we need to big up Fred a bit more the country isnt behind him enough - also why wasn't his one wicket of the last Aussie batsman shown more on the news, it's not all about Broad you know

In amongst lots of chat about the state of the pitch, poor umpiring and a very good England bowling performance, there hasn't been too much reference to the Aussie batting performance.

If the performances were reversed - Eng being bowled out for 160 following an Aussie 1st innings of 332 in the final winner takes-all-test - Eng would, without any doubt, be labelled a bunch of chokers with no spine. Ponting (great great player that he as been) was the epitome of a cat on a hot tin roof and the team imploded.

Remembering Pontings rather arrogant dismisal of Strauss' fair comment that the Aussie aura went with McGrath, Warne and Hayden now looks quite funny. Aussies who crumble under pressure? Englishmen who save their best for the critical hour? Think I'll have a good old fashioned Brit fry up before play and revel in the moment!

wicket2wicket

England need you in the dressing room this morning! No nonsense, unemotional, and factual! Well done.

25. At 10:12pm on 21 Aug 2009, jeanchene wrote:
Bell- a streaky 72 and he will now be a certainty for an England place--for God's sake he is a waste of time PLEASE drop this loser and find a batsman.
Selectors --hang your heads in shame for selecting this guy.
He is not and never will be England quality and prevents good men from getting a chance.

--------------------------------

yeah wot a loser, top score in the match get him out the team!

As the sainted Sir Geoffrey has said again and again: line and length, line and length.
Maybe Broad became a man yesterday afternoon. Line and length and wicked control; bowl them out, don't try to scare them out.
Anyway, may he go on doing it - like his hero, McGrath.
Man of the Series has to be Strauss both for his batting and his captaincy. A very shrewd, quiet man.

Hello tommy

It's the same cynical mentality as KP topscoring and then being criticised for the dismissal stroke.

Rather focus on the dismissal shot and not the preceding 99 runs.

We need to be more positive. If Mr Dirs can do it, then there are no excuses.

Will everyone stop prattling on about the averages, tons adn wickets, there are reasons for all of them!

First and easiest is wickets, the aussies only have FOUR bowlers to England's FIVE, they are going to bowl more overs and ake more wickets, end of story.

The tons from Australia are a nice stat, but several came in defeat or drawn games and the aussie tail has been dreadful so it more or less evens out.

If we win the Ashes without KP then it will be a miracle. Freddie and KP and widely regarded as two of the best cricketers in the world, and probably the only two englishmen many would put in a world 11. Broad is starting to come of age, and I hope he keeps this sort of form going, and develope it! Line and length please!

The only two important stats after 4 tests were that it was 1-1 and that it was 2164-2378 in favour of the aussies in runs scored, the only true reflection on how teams fare against each other, that works out at l;ess than 30 runs an innings which is close enough by most peoples margins.

Yesterday, on 606, I made the observation - "One of the bowlers, but preferably all, has to get amongst them from the word go. The wicket seems to be breaking up already and they really are not that special, so it can be done." Thank you Stuart Broad and, to a slightly lesser extent, Graham Swann, for making that a reality.

There will be a result in this match, so for England to lose from here and not regain the Ashes is almost unthinkable. The fact that it can even be contemplated reveals that everything is far from rosy in the garden. If Trott can steady the ship with Strauss this morning, a big enough lead should be established to go on and win. In the process, Trott will probably have secured a middle order role for the next series. With the return of KP, three of the top five will be shoe-ins for the foreseeable future. Pity, therefore, that they are all exiles from SA.

The questions remain, however, as to what to do with Bell, Collingwood, Bopara and, belatedly, Cook. Each has their advocates, but continued failure says more than prognosis of great promise yet to be delivered. In my opinion, Bell's first innings has contributed immensely to the prospect of a victory in this final test. It is such a shame, therefore, that his second has contributed to the lingering doubt that the Aussies can still come back.

As for Collingwood, doggedness is not enough to warrant automatic inclusion and even captaincy of the limited over side. Cook is still young enough to put things right by working on his technique. Bopara seems to be most people's hope for the future, so it is important that he is not exposed at #3 and exercises his swash-buckling, avant garde approach from lower down the order where he will come up against tired bowlers, bit part bowlers, older balls and can make an impact with the bat.

Even the bowling presents selectorial headaches. Broad is clearly part of the way forward, but he is not yet the finished product and cannot be expected to repeat yesterday's performance on a regular basis. Swann has ousted Panesar and is likely to be around for a while. Anderson has his days and has done enough to be persevered with. Two of the five on display, however, are probably about to be committed to history. Harmison was, in case anybody has forgotten, the best bowler in the world, but yesterday it was not obvious he was even at the Oval. Freddie can retire from the test arena with legendary status, which may or may not be thoroughly deserved. So there is a void to fill and it is perhaps the biggest void of all - a strike bowler. Somebody to terrorise the opposition. Somebody to take wickets with the new ball and the second new ball. Somebody to polish off the tail. Those currently waiting in the wings do not meet these criteria,

Who would want to be an England selector at this time. To wake up this morning aware that England stand on the threshold of regaining the Ashes, without comprehending how they have been able to reach such an improbable position, bearing in mind how things looked at 14.00 on Friday.

Fair play to Broad, and also to Bell in the first innings, who I was expecting to make about 8, but who hung in well against some serious hostility. We might have found something in Trott: he batted well under immense pressure (very unlucky to get out to an incredible piece of fielding) and took a magnificent catch. I hope he retains his place when KP returns. I feel Collingwood may be the one to go. Along with Cook, he has been seriously under par; Cook's England career seems to have got worse every year since he started.

Back to Broad, he has the height but not the pace to be an Ambrose/Walsh/early Harmison, so I agree that he should model himself on McGrath. That won't be easy, and will require serious patience and accuracy. Good to see his batting coming along as well; he was a specialist batsman when young, and given his father you'd expect he'd know which end of a bat to hold. Incidentally, along the same lines, KP started out as a specialist spinner; I wish he'd take it up again, because on pitches like this he could be very useful.

' If Trott can steady the ship with Strauss this morning,'

Yep, just like 2005 then - if the South African(s) can hang on in there, England can win the Ashes! So much for 'English' talent.....

You do have to wonder what it is about the English psyche/our cricket system that has meant such a high proportion of our really top cricketers over the years - and batsmen in particular - have not been English by birth. If we had always had to field English-born players only, I doubt we could regularly have beaten Bangladesh...

Can everybody make sure Broad isn't hyped up into being the next allroudner. Just let him be a good bowler who can add a bit with the bat.

Well done Broad, if Flintoff had taken 5 wickets then it would be so much ga ga...Many said drop Broad and now he performs brilliant

Hopefully Broad may have seen the back of some very nasty and relentless criticism from a vast, really hostile constituency of England fans. However he will have truly lent meaning to his cameo effort only after he sees to it that Ponting walks into a similar constituency of his own among an opposing set of equally volatile and well, presumably avid and well-informed followers of cricketing fortunes.

In this series the pendulum has swung like a logic defying, crazy metronome. Imagine, after England were 'skittled' out for 332 how many England fans predicted Australia to easily knock up 600 plus in less than two days and put England on the rack. They had already pronounced the Ashy verdict by the time Australia were 61-0.

To that extent I will not feel too much at ease if England do not post a lead of 450 plus now. I would they rather have the pleasure of a declaration. Too much is at stake and despite the cataclysmic Aussie collapse on Friday, I have not stopped rating them as an excellent batting side, one of the top three in the world. And as Ricky never fails to remind us from time to time, Australia fight best when they are deemed down and out. He leads one of the best come back machines there.

I wish I were gullible enough to coolly take the word of #6 wicket2wicket above.

I for one am quite happy to be heard eating my words about Broad. He clearly made the breakthrough in the last Test, and surprised me by carrying on with it here - I hope he can continue with this.
It's been a weird series, hasn't it? I think your blog has summed it up well; somehow it's never been quite as expected; sometimes catching fire, anti-climactic in other places.
One thing is for sure: whatever the result, England will end the series with as many questions hanging over them as when they began it; only Strauss will finish with his reputation enhanced - everyone else has been too patchy, and none has been consistently reliable. In some ways, it might be good for the England side: we KNOW they have work to do now, whereas after 2005, there was a general feeling of 'oh, we've beaten the number one side in the world, we're the greatest now'.
If England manage to end this match having possession of Ashes, it must be a starting point to build from, not a pinnacle. Australia are in a transitional period, and I fully expect them to be much stronger when we next meet them. But all that's in the future: let's see how this one finishes first!

Off to outlaw dominated BBQ soon (sport a waste of time lot). Sithess has stated marital stability is dependent upon the my adherence to the following: a)imbibe moderately b)don't "go on about the bloody cricket". I really love the woman but when the divorce letter from Messrs Sue, Grabbit & Run arrives, do any TMS inbox legal eagles think that when it comes to judgement, his m'learnedess will let me keep the Labrador on the basis that Mr Strauss should have declared at 1030 this morning in order to skittle out the Aussies before the start of the aforementioned event?

Pommiebasher.....so it's the 'result pitch', this time, is it? Even if the groundsman deliberately prepared a result pitch, SO WHAT??? The Aussies have been banging on about 'going for a win and not a draw'.... and a result pitch has given them the chance. No matter what the pitch, conditions are equal for both teams, so both have the chance. No one knew that England were going to win the toss, or that Australia were going to leave their one specialist spinner out of the starting eleven.
Be interesting to see if you mention the pitch if Australia manage to conjure a win. 'Whingeing Poms'? You want to take a look closer to home....

My dad was always sceptical about Stuart Broad saying he was "just another pretty face", but since I saw him play in April 2007 and save the game in an over by hitting four sixes and two fours I knew he'd do well. Throughout all the criticism I've always kind of defended him even though I knew my thoughts made no difference to the other few thousand out there that thought he shouldn't have made it this far. But now I'm glad I defended him and it all paid off. I got a call from my dad yesterday while I was out and the first thing he said was "Your boys done it, he's ripped the heart out of them." I didn't care what else he was saying because I was so proud of him and so happy I'd defended him. Because he really did rip the heart out of them. And he'll be absolutely amazing no matter what he does.

John Arlott described George Mann's first ball dismissal by his brother as "the perfect example of Mann's inhumanity to Mann".
John Bromley-Davenport

Andrew Flintoff should have retired before the start of the series and Pieterson shpul have declared himself unfit before the start of the series. Why Harmison was brought back into the side I cannot undrstand his cricket is as poor now as it was 2 years ago. Collingwood must pay the selectors for his place in the team.
Andrew struss has shown too much favour to the 2005 ashes team. Bopara goes back to Essex and scores 201 and 15 no in there win against Surrey.
For South Africa lets have a team thats fit and wants to play. Collingwood making his way to the crease of Hrmison being given the ball always gives me the impession they do not whant to be their.
After 2 years we still have a bits and pieces team. I expext the selectors to holf the faith with a below average England team playing a below average Aussie team. I still think Austrailia will keep the ashes. We have not won yet.

92 fedupwithelvs, very constructive. And your point is?

so much for all those clichéd sports psychological analyses regarding "momentum", "confidence" and "playing each ball on its merit". England looked weather beaten in cardiff, unbeatable at Lords, dreadful at Headingley and both sublime and amateurish in this test at The Oval.

The fact is, an Ashes Series is a drama not even Shakespeare could have scripted.

The one great decision in this series was to drop Bopara. Forget the the centuries against a West Indies side that would struggle against County opposition, he has simply looked out of his depth at this level. In steps Jonathan Trott and finally England look to have some stability in that frail middle order. Isn't it fascinating, though, that the tail has kept this series alive with some crucial performances?

Stuart Broad was, ofcourse, brought in to take wickets. However, after that dire performance at Cardiff, there were glimmers of his potential at Lords and he was the only England player to have come out of Headingley with any credit. So he has done what he was brought in to do. And he can bat. Got a bit washed up in Freddymania today, but definitely a player who will provide us with a lot of joy, if he keeps it simple and plays to his strengths.

Forget Fred, a great servant and entertainer, the future of this team is Broad, Trott, Swann, Prior and Strauss. On current form Alastair Cook is not looking test quality, but thankfully England do have a bit of depth these days. World beaters they may not be, and fortunate to be playing a transitional Australian side, but cricket shouldn't be about individual heroics. If the team plays as a unit, everyone will have their role to play, which is what made Australia so dominant in the 90s. Feel for Ricky Ponting, though, man of the series so far, only to get smashed in the face with the ball.

So things do look hunky dory for England. If their is a misgiving, it is that this series has not been endearingly amenable to predictions. Most punditry has had to bite the dust.

Is it now safe to say that Trott's was an inspired selection? He has, for some time at the least, successfully deflected from himself and from the selectors the tiresome attentions of the 'anti-Safferish or anti-everything or everyone smelling unEnglish' brigade. It was getting to be quite a lobby that is egregiously averse to any decent debate. Thankfully for England, the selectors have regularly found the pluck to ignore it.

To me, Trott seems to have one flaw. After he has done a bit on the crease he deems enough for the day, he is overly keen to return to the dressing room. In the first innings he broke into a short awkward trot for a non-existent run. In the second he was overly prompt in walking even before the fielder could claim the catch. It did not look a clean one to me. Even though the two commentators endorsed it, the tv replay suggested the ball had grassed. A big give away was the lack of celebration in the opposing camp to mark the relief they had dismissed their nemesis. Nevertheless, in view of the declaration Trott's unilateral closure of his innings is only of statistical import.

How will the match go from here? In spite of unpredictability attendant on this series, I will say it should go England's way, may be today. It is a tinged verdict; you will have to debit from my prediction the fact that I am not a huge fan of Ricky's, not his captaincy style at least.

PommieBasher (54)
"If 15 wickets fell in a day of county cricket there would be a pitch inspection"...."all sense of fair play goes out the window".....
But England scored 332 & 373. So it was only Austalia that struggled? Could it just be that Australia weren't good enough? But no, the pitch was doctored and England should be ashamed.....
Why not jut accept it, England won the day fair and square and possibly with it, the Ashes.

If England win than hopefully Freedie will be remembered for that throw to run out Ponting...

Stuart Broad is shaping into a top quality allrounder. In the Ashes Series, the young man has shown tremendous promise with the ball and the bat. Let's hope he keeps on improving in the years to come.




Dr. Cajetan Coelho

so far I have read some worrying things about Broad... most wrryng is that there are already PR firms sniffing the air,and all of them are keen to get him out earning, rather than playing.

Lets celebrate the early signs of class that Broad has given us,and get some sensible folk stood wth him to focus him upon the onward challenges of becoming a better cricketer. I hope that winning a series, even if it is an ashes series, doesnt derail his journey to capuring the real long term value in his talent and delivering more fine efforts wih bat n ball. There are a few from 2005 that ave rode that reputation, and simply failed to fulfil on the promise. If England really wans to challenge for World No1 status then we need concentration and for the curret efforts to now double, rather than diminish as they did in 2005 with payers languishing in their own glory.

Congratulations to the whole team, all contributed,but some more than others. Broad holds his head high, but hopefully remembers the weak bowlingthat typifiedhis earlier contriutions to the series, and continues to be motivated to do more, better.... because it seems to work!