I figured it might be an idea to give the cricket its own thread so as not to disturb the patrons in The Bar :lol:

Unsurprisingly, England are going into the third test at Old Trafford with an unchanged team.

The Aussies are still saying that McGrath is unlikely to be fit. Could be a smokescreen of course. All-rounder Shane Watson could be called up to the squad.

:)

Nice one Steve.

We definitely need the big guns putting the scores in - we simply can't rely on performances from Flintoff...

Yep, we need Strauss, Vaughn and Bell to start scoring some runs.

Harmison and Hoggard both seem a bit out of sorts to me, too. I'm kind of worried, with back-to-back tests, how their fitness is going to hold up as well :ermm:

Flintoff's performance was top notch but it's about time he did something with the bat. He's bowling been really good (apart from shocking deliveries yesterday), his battting of late had been more miss than hit though.

I'm not sure if there would have been any team changes but the win gave everyone a reprieve and a chance to prove that they should be in the team - G. Jones, S. Jones and unfortunately Bell.

Doesn't it seem as though Thorpe's retirement was premature???

Bell for all his promise looks as good as Ramprakash

Oh dear :)

:lmao: @: James :lol:

C'mon, if we're going to kick their arses we want to beat their best team... don't we? :shifty: :lol:

Re what you said, Nick, when's Mark Butcher back from injury? :unsure:

:shrug:
anyone?

Mmm, I hope that was a joke.

However I saw him on Sky last week and he suggested it wasn't too far away.

No, not a joke :lol:

Apparently the Aussies are now saying that both Lee and McGrath might play tomorrow :rolleyes:

I can't belive i'm saying this but i actually feel sorry for lee - hospital is no fun.

that said, hope he doesn't play :whistling:

Lee's out of hospital and it looks as if he'll play.

mcgrath back in training.... :(

Just seen Lee and McGrath on the news both bowling and looking rather fit. :fear:

Do you mean fit in the traditional sense of the word or fit in the naff modern sense? ;)

The fact that the Aussies have rushed them both back into the side is a back-handed compliment in my book. Clearly we've got them rattled :thumbsup:

Besides, when we beat them at OT what excuses are they going to come up with this time ?? McGrath and Lee not fully fit ?? Then why the f*ck pick them :lol:

have you read the article about the women's cricket: a teenager turned up to the nets session the day before the 1st test to watch her heroes and ended up getting picked for the side. Her name is Holly something or other (!) and to top it all the next day the 15 year old took 2 wickets in 2 balls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :o :thumbsup: :o :yahoo:

My thoughts exactly, let's beat their best team and laugh in their faces :lmao:

COME ON ENGLAND!!! :yahoo:





I brought my mini tv to the office today :shifty: :whistling:

My dad is at Old Trafford today, I believe there's some sort of cricket match on :shrug: :ph43r:

really? cricket? Old trafford? Isn't it a football stadium :ph43r:

I think it's a baseball ground these days :shrug: :lol:

Some damn good bowling by the Aussies early on, Trescothick was lucky on two or three occasions and that ball that hit Strauss, ouch!

The batteries on my tv lasted long enough for me to see Strauss get bowled by a stunner of a slower ball from Lee <_<

Back to internet updates now :cry: :lol:

TV's up and running again :thumbsup:

Oh the joy of seeing McGrath clean bowl Vaughn - only to find out it was a no ball :lmao:

Yeah, that was great and after a dropped catch as well. :)

Trescothick's out - Warne has got his 600th test match wicket :o

Damn lucky it was as well though Trescothick can't complain with the luck he had earlier.

Vaugn and Bell are both playing well and hopefully Bell will get a decent score, at least 50. It's not easy though.

Vaughn's got his century :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo:

:yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo:

Quite fitting, I think, that the England captain should get the first century of the series :snooty: :lol:

I keep forgetting about the cricket. :rolleyes: I just checked the beeb to see the good score! :thumbsup:

Forget about the cricket! You should be ashamed of yourself, Michelle. ;)

Er, I blame my busyness at w**k. :shifty: :D

:no: I don't know how anoyone can have a job where you can't watch the cricket all day. ;)

first time where i can say that Pietersen batted like a dickhead :no:

Really ? Despite how well he batted in the first test he didn't play very well with the tail imo, he kept taking singles of the first ball and exposing them to McGrath and Warne.

I was really glad for Vaughn. :thumbsup: He's captained the side really well and when he gets going he's great to watch. :)

That's just inexperience though, I'm still not sure he realises how utterly different test cricket is to the county championship. The only way he'll learn is through playing more matches. For what it's worth, he'd made a solid start and he's an accomplished hooker of the ball - if the ball had been 10 overs older, then he'd probably have cleared the rope. Again it's just inexperience, I doubt he's had too many occasions when he's had to see off the new ball against a 90 mph bowler. He'll learn, and I think he'll be very disappointed to have missed out on a big hundred today.

I was very pleased for Bell to get some runs at last. I still believe we'd be better off with Thorpe in his place, but he showed a lot of patience and good technique today, hopefully he'll go on to 3 figures tomorrow.

Totally agree with all of that. Pietersen's inexperience meant he fell into the trap. It was perfectly set up by Lee.

I'm still hopeful we might make it to 400 before we lose the last 5 wickets :ponder: :lol:

We're fortunate in that we've got a number of plasma screens around the office at w**k. Suddenly over the past few weeks they're permanently tuned to the cricket :thumbsup: