Ashes 2006 / 2007

[Shaggy]

KP's four off the 2nd ball - the ego, and rightly so

Ian Bell had been struggling with Lee's short stuff for two and half hours. In struts KP and he does that with a throat high 2nd ball!

He is ****ing awesome. There's no better batsman to watch in world cricket than Pietersen when he's on-song. He picks them so early. BOOM! Love it.

Really hope he makes his century. Same goes for Colly. Collingwood usually struggles early on, tentatively prodding all over the shop, so I fear for him again.

[animal magic]

kp is so good i like bell he reminds me of mike atherton he is the sort of player we need to complement kp and freddie so how much did you watch shaggy

[Shaggy]

kp is so good i like bell he reminds me of mike atherton he is the sort of player we need to complement kp and freddie so how much did you watch shaggy

Watched the morning session before nodding off and waking up during lunch. Went to bed then. I was pretty fed up. The pitch was offering absolutely ZILCH and we found ourselves 45 for ****ing 2. I despaired.

I could barely open my eyes this morning, but the first thing I did when I awoke was check the score on my phone. Soon woke me up that did. I was well chuffed, not to mention pleasantly surprised. I charged downstairs to watch the last 40 minutes.

Just seen the highlights of everything I missed.

Gonna have a right good crack at it tonight though. How much did you see mate?

[animal magic]

all of it which surprised me i was like a zombie at work, i know when the 2nd wicket went down i thought here we go again but credit to the batsmen, how long has strauss got before he gets dropped another poor shot last night

[Shaggy]

Strauss is doing my ****ing nut in. It seems an age since he made runs. If he doesn't make a score in the 2nd innings (if we're required to bat, of course ) his place might be in danger.

Unbelievable effort staying up all night mate. I cannot grasp how you got through the day. I fell asleep at my desk two or three times and had a nightmare 2 hour spell after lunch when I couldn't stop my eyes from closing. Hellish. And I got four and a half hours kip.

[Red Chilli]

Collingwood has made me eat my words with his last 2 innings, I'm reallly happy for him. I still have my doubts about his ability but you can't fault his mental toughness.

Fair play to him

KP was essential last night, he came in and completely changed the innings and the tempo.

We need to bat for a minimum of another 2 sessions, the pitch is too good to let the Aussies anywhere near it yet.

[Shaggy]

Dead right Chilli mate.

Our incredulously slow scoring rate did my head in last night too. Thank God for KP!

As for Collingwood...I rate the guy. He's a different type of player at Test level than he is in the County game. For Durham he scores runs at a helluva rate...he can be pretty brutal. He looks a lot more solid now though, at this level.

[Red Chilli]

Anyone who can score a bucket load o' runs in India and australia at Test level deserves a pat on the back. I won't be slating the lad anymore. coming up to his 6th Test century, you can't argue with that.


I just hope we don't use him as a bowler too much, he's a superb fielder but his bowling is not up to Test standard. I hope he concentrates on his batting.

Today hinges on the first hour. We need to survive the new ball, already half a dozen overs old or something. If KP and Colly are still there then the Aussies will lose confidence. So much of this game is mental, when you're a little bit older (McGrath warne, Lee) it's even harder to maintain your confidence and lets not forget about McGrath's sore heel. Hayden and Langer, no spring chickens, will not want another day in the field watching England, their confidence and concentration will dip.
England need to post some centuries, it's SO important to see your batsmen with a hundred, not just for them but for all our players, to show the aussies are vulnerable and beatable. They have 2 centuries, we have none, 2 in this innings would be very nice.
KP, Colly or Freddie have got to be there at the end. Gilo and Hoggie can block up an end whilst the batsmen score. Harmisson and anderson won't hang about though.
More important than all this though, I want to see England field and bowl to a plan for each batsman. Every ball should be seen as a wicket taking ball, the batsmen should be constantly made to think about every ball.

Come on ENGLAND!

[animal magic]

well said today could be a big day regarding the whole series got to bat all day

[Red Chilli]

Got my stats all feck up arse over tit though. Think i started quoting pieterson's stats in colly's praise

Anyway, lovely stuff so far

[Red Chilli]

327/3

Centuries for KP and Colly

[Red Chilli]

347/3 at lunch

These 2 have nearly put on 200 now, 81 this session.
4 sessions gone, one more and the pitch will start to respond. Looking good for when Freddie gets in and jones still to come. This position is made for those 2. One of this pair to bat through the innings and it's GAME ON!

[Shaggy]

Great stuff so far. The Aussie lads on here have been notable by their absence!

Gotta be up for 9am....dilemma - do I watch play after lunch?!

[thesilverfoxlfc]

Watch the first over and then SkyPlus from 7:30-8.50 and get the shortened highlights and post day analysis, that what i do

[shadow]

great stuff from Colly & KP - need to push on to 550 ish and then try and sneak out a couple of the convicts in the last half hour or first thing tomorrow to turn the heat up