England's Summer Of Cricket against New Zealand and AUSTRALIA!

[Shaggy]

Bairstow is unconvincing for sure. Can look very good - big strong ****er he is - but he hasn't convinced.

I do agree with Root going up to open though. He is an opener after all.

[Chazza]

Get Ravi in

[Sarb]

Bairstow is unconvincing for sure. Can look very good - big strong ****er he is - but he hasn't convinced.

I do agree with Root going up to open though. He is an opener after all.

Yeah I guess so. I think it's just the manner in which they've done it. Root is a class act. But there was no point telling Compton to go away and get some runs then when he gets them against Aus, not picking him anyway.

[Shaggy]

The world's greatest duck machine - Chris Martin - has retired. A sad day. His Cricinfo profile is great.

Hardworking with the ball and outrageously feeble with the bat, Chris Martin was the most consistent thing about the New Zealand pace attack in the first decade of the 2000s. A tall, angular fast-medium bowler with a high leap as he approached the crease, Martin relied more on accuracy and gentle seam movement than pace or prodigious swing.

He would have been an ideal second lead in the armoury of captains Stephen Fleming and Daniel Vettori, but Shane Bond's frequent injuries meant Martin was often thrust into the role of No. 1 fast man. The 11 wickets he took against South Africa in Auckland in March 2004, in his first Test for nearly two years, showed that he could bowl New Zealand to victories, but tearing through batting line-ups was not his usual modus operandi and he has often had to bowl long spells à la Ewen Chatfield.

By the end of the decade Martin was New Zealand's fourth-highest Test wicket-taker of all time but he was equally well known for his comically inept batting. Getting Martin out was as difficult as making a cup of tea and often took less time. No New Zealand player has made more Test ducks than Martin, who did not make a double-figure score until his 36th Test, against Bangladesh. His inability to put bat on ball has cost him the chance to play more one-day and Twenty20 cricket.

With New Zealand finding a new crop of fast bowlers, Martin announced his retirement from all forms in cricket in July 2013, at the age of 38.

[ChesterDave]

The world's greatest duck machine - Chris Martin - has retired.

He has sunk in the Albert Dock too?

[RichC]

[Shaggy]

Luckyyyyyyyyy ****errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

[RichC]

Got a ticket for day 1 next Wednesday as well but it's not here yet

[Chazza]

Corporate Casemore.

[Neil Young]

Rhyming slang.

[RichC]

In this instance I have no shame with getting corporate tickets to this!

[Chazza]

You've changed man!

[RichC]

Has the camel surfaced ?

[RichC]

I'm not sure that targeting Root is going to work for them.

Ashes 2013: England's Joe Root under pressure - James Pattinson

Australia fast bowler James Pattinson has hinted England batsman Joe Root will be a target for Ashes sledging.

Root, 22, will open for the first time in a Test match when the series gets under way at Trent Bridge on 10 July.

And Pattinson said: "There is an art to sledging these days. You have to pick the ones you sledge to.
"Obviously there is going to be pressure on Root. He has done well at six but [moving up the order] will be a new challenge for him."

Pattinson, who is poised to share the new ball with Mitchell Starc, added: "I read the other day he is quite nervous about it but looking forward to the challenge as he should be. It's going to be a tough challenge for both teams."

Root, who was punched by Australia batsman David Warner in a Birmingham bar in June, averages 42.40 from 11 Test innings since making his debut against India in December 2012.

He was promoted to open the batting for England's warm-up match against Essex at Nick Compton's expense and responded with scores of 41 and 26.

Sledging, which involves trying to verbally unsettle an opponent, has been a favourite tactic of the great Australian sides of the past and was termed "mental disintegration" by former captain Steve Waugh.

While Root may be a prime candidate for a few choice words, Pattinson conceded that aiming barbs at more established players like Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen could be counter-productive.

"Cook has been around quite a bit and he will probably not give you much back if you say anything to him," he said. "He will brush it off so let the ball do the talking to him.
"Pietersen is someone who would thrive on sledging. He is quite an aggressive person and he is, I suppose, an ego of their team.

"As a bowling group it is about being consistent against players like that. You know he will hit your good balls for four.

"But it is all about not letting him dictate because as a batsman that is what he wants to do. He wants to get on top of you."

Pattinson has 40 wickets in 10 Test matches and the 23-year-old impressed with match figures of 7-117 in Australia's first warm-up match against Somerset last week.

Born in Australia to English parents, he is the younger brother of Darren, who played a single Test for England at Headingley in 2008.

James has dual passports and even turned down an approach from England bowling coach David Saker before opting to play for Australia.

"When David Saker moved over to be the coach of England I hadn't played for Australia," said Pattinson.

"I was picked in two Twenty20s to play just after the Ashes but I was 12th man in both of them and he got Andy Flower to say 'come on, it's not too late, you can come over here.'

"But I owe a lot to Australian cricket, I wouldn't be where I am now if it wasn't for them."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/23162890

[Alex]

Summer starts at 11am tommorow

I ****ing love an Ashes summer. Makes everything seem better.