the saint

The press here have been mooting that Symonds might be used as a spinning all-rounder for the second test.

I think the only possible change is Anderson for Panesar. Jones will be retained, and England need Harmison at his best. He has one more shot, then Mahmood will be in to replace him. Adelaide is more suited for attacking spinners than the Gabba, so Monty is likely to play.

Trust me boys and girls, we aren't happy with it either. After last summer we were ordinary in Pakistan, played OK in the tests against India, faded at home to Sri Lanka and then played well against Pakistan, albeit against a side with a reduced bowling attack. We have, however, been completely shocking at 1-day cricket over the last couple of years and now the general malaise that has afflicted us in that form of cricket appears to have spread to the test forum. Fletcher's selections have been mysterious (Giles for Panesar when the former hasn't even played in a year, Jones for Read when the former has yet to prove he can provide the extra runs and not drop everything that comes his way) to say the least. English Cricket need to take some of the blame for not giving Troy Cooley the contract he wanted - Harmison has not been the same bowler since, indeed Harmison needed to play more county cricket last summer to sort his head out, get his confidence up, his rhythm going and become the Grievous-Bodily-Harm we so love. The batsmen need to dig in more, and we can't keep relying on Flintoff to produce heroics out of nowhere. Credit where credit is due. The Aussies were really hurt by losing to us last year, and they have picked their game up. Its annoying that considering how often we lost to them over the previous 16 years, it took so long to pick our game up.

Time to get Beefy, Boycs and Gower out of the commentary box...

Call yourself an Englishman Micky? You philistine!! :rolleyes:

It is a known fact that a nice brew (PG Tips/Tetley) is the cure for all known illnesses, diseases, and general life problems - especially when your mum makes it and serves it up with a nice digestive biscuit. But maybe its because I'm Emglish and we drink the stuff by the gallon. Oh and by the way - herbal teas, fruit teas, infusions, earl or any of that other crap that masquerades for tea whenever I leave these dear shores does not count. It has to be a proper brew up. In fact when visiting English friends abroad, Teabags are the biggest single request I get. Coffee is minging.

Time to bat for a draw.

Yup, I did. Sachin had set that record with Vinod Kambli who also played for India - and got a double ton against us... (surprise, surprise!)

He was completely selfish in that match and threw away any chance the Windies had of beating us just for his own personal glory. He should have declared earlier. The Aussies put the team first. When Hayden got his 380 against Zimbabwe, he was told he had until a certain time to get it or the team would declare no matter what. He had to give it some tonk to get there, but he knew that Ponting would declare and leave him high and dry if necessary.

As I said before and I will say it again - exactly the same poster poseted exactly the same post on another completely unrelated forum to this one = SPAMBOT.

The boy has a claim. His sheer appetite for staying at the crease and batting, and batting, and batting, and batting... And he is capable of playing slow or fast on an type of track. One of the greats.

I cannot begin to express how despicable I feel this correlation between demanding truth from our elected officials and unfeeling, uncaring non-concern for those whom have died - it is the most base form of false causation. To say one implies the other belittles the very basis of the republic and all those who died to free us from Brittish imperialism. Oi! Less of the anti-British crap. Its your own fault (USA in general) for electing that complete spanner of a President in the first place. Note - I do note decry the efforts and loss of any of the armies involved. They were sent to do their jobs. The errors of judgement lie firmly with the men in charge.

This is spam. There is the exact same post on another forum I am a member of.

I think that the computers sent a pair of terminators back from the future to do it. Its as plausible as all the conspiracy theory nonsense.

Now that Banger (Trescothick) has flown home it certainly has got a lot more interesting. Englands Starting XI Cook Strauss Bell Pietersen Collingwood Flintoff Jones (why Reed was dropped no-one knows, but Fletcher loves him) Giles/Panesar Harmison Hoggard Anderson The batting line-up now picks itself and the 3 seamers have already been named. Basically we have an incredibly long tail. The only possiblity is that if Flintoff proves able to bowl a full quota then Anderson might make way for another Batsman. For England to win they need the top 6 to fire - we have a very long tail, even longer with Monty (Panesar) in for the King of Spain (Giles). If we play with 6 Batsmen, Flintoff, a keeper, two seamers and Monty, then Monty is critical. He has the ability to bowl all day like Murali and keep attacking while not conceding. If Australia can hit him out of the attack then the rest of the bowlers have too much workload. Unfortunately, whilst being quite handy at one-dayers, Colly's dibby-dobby seamers haven't proven to be that effective in the test arena. An alternative to come in is Dalrymple who can bat at 7 in this order and had shown excellent control in the one-dayers but is not a wicket taking spinner. Trescothick is a big loss. Not only is he an aggressive opening bat, but also England's most reliable slip-fielder, eating up catches almost as fast as he does Sausages. While Colly is probably the best fielder in world cricket at the moment, a number of the rest of the team are suspect and prone to dropping more than they should. Pietersen will be phased by nothing and will relish the chance to go afte rthe Aussies and will take it to them. Expect at least one or two brilliant counter-attacking gems from him this series, and if he gets hot it will be spectacular - you can't set fields for reverse-swept sixes!! Ultimately, it will depend on the colossus that is Sir Frederick of Flintoff. Whether they admit it or not, the Aussies are scared of him and the fact that at any moment he can do anything with bat, ball or in the field. As captain he will lead by example and could inspire the team to walk in his shoes (and hopefully this will wake Harmison up - when Grievous (bodily-harm) is in form, he is the most destructive quick in the world today. Unfortunately his rhythm and radar have a habit of deserting him too often for our liking!). Still since Fred is Botham reincarnate (and there are more than a few Aussies who still wake up in a cold sweat when they hear that name) he will whip the Barmy Army into full cry (and they will outnumber the Aussie fans at least 2 to 1 despite the absurd ticketing policies) so that each test match will almost be a home from home match!! Score? 2-2 and absolutely thrilling!!

Now we have got that Mickey Mouse event out of the way - its almost time for the main event. Score predictions please for Ashes 2006/7

No. Next case. Ok, well how about going to war because God told him to?

Isn't Bush using his Christian faith to form his judgement a violation of the US constitution which calls for separation of church and state? Oh, and on the question of is he delusional - yes. No need any other comment.

If I recall correctly, the Coventry Hilton is just off the M6 motorway and in fact a good deal outside Coventry itself - it having been used for EBU events any times in the past. It is a pleasant enough hotel in a very easy to reach place. Seems ideal for the purpose in mind.

Oh really? I get the impression that men think that women talk about which guy has the most money and the biggest reproductive organ. But that's not true. Our evaluation criteria are much more subtle than that. Thats true, you are also impressed by his car, general dress sense and ability with small children. (Alan now wonders why he is still single)

Regardless of what low opinion I have of the Bush regime, having flown in and out of Reagan National Airport on several occasions, I can tell you that that it is next door to the Pentagon. There will always be commercial aircraft in its airspace. If one veered off and crashed you would have about 15 seconds to scramble the fighters and intercept it before it did - not really practical.

Sri Lanka are definitely worth a punt. The top order is in great form, they have quality spinners - ideal for the sub-continental conditions, and a decent opening seam pair too. Add in bags of experience in the side, and they are definitely in with a shout.

Completely - the sharpest satire on TV. Cartman is my hero.

DId you confuse this with the cricket thread? :) Nope. If it was cricket it would be a serious matter. As it is religion, I can't take it seriously at all.

To sum up all this nonsense: My imaginary friend is better than your imaginary friend. No mine is better than yours. Or Say we are peaceful or we will kill you. Now you begin to understand why all of this is completely pointless and irrational.