Cricket

[Shaggy]

Absolutely loved Tino Best taking leave of his senses on Twitter the other day. The red mist well and truly descended ....looks especially great after all that God rubbish

[Sarb]

[RichC]

I see we beat the Aussie XI by 7 wickets.

It'll be interesting to see who gets the last bowling spot Rankin, Finn or Tremlett who Clarke seems to think will be starting.

Weird interview with him here, names the England starting XI http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/24932195

[Alex]

Anyone watching Tendulkar? He's such a nice bloke.

[Alex]

His retirement speech went on for half an hour

[Alex]

There is about 300 people around him for his lap of honour. It's mental

[captainfog]

Finally some sense from an Australian (Ian Chappell):

I've reached an age where memory lapses become a concern, and I'm wondering if I only imagined Australia's recent heavy Test losses to India and then England. Didn't those 4-0 and 3-0 losses occur?

I only ask because ever since England landed in Australia, it's all been about the problems facing the tourists and how the home side is settled and in good shape for the upcoming Ashes series.

Sure, England have a few queries. There's Matt Prior's injury, the late change to Michael Carberry as an opening batsman, and also settling on a third fast bowler. Chris Tremlett appears to be down on pace, Steven Finn is inconsistent - fast and bouncy one minute and distinctly unthreatening the next - and Boyd Rankin is both unproven and a liability in the field. Nevertheless, that still leaves the bulk of the England side settled and successful.

Australia, on the other hand, with no recent success stories to fall back on, should have concerns. The two biggest headaches for them are the fitness of Shane Watson and the form of Mitchell Johnson. What if Johnson reverts to type and is profligate in an Ashes series? That will put an unbearably heavy load on the two critical fast bowlers, Peter Siddle and Ryan Harris, who both need to be at their best for Australia to remain competitive. And that doesn't even address the matter of the huge confidence boost it'll be for Alastair Cook if Johnson keeps angling deliveries on to his pads like he did at Lord's in 2009.

Watson is just as critical to the batting effort and his latest injury means he has had no time in the centre for a month leading into the first Test. That gives the England bowlers a distinct advantage, and a slow start for Watson with the bat could have serious implications for Michael Clarke and the middle order.

Despite some encouraging signs, Steve Smith still needs to prove he can consistently make big scores against top-quality bowling. He'll be further challenged if Australia don't get good contributions from the top-order players. Following Smith will either be an unknown quantity in debutant George Bailey, or Brad Haddin, who is showing signs that age is starting to win the battle when he's batting.

This is where the selectors face a real dilemma. Do they sacrifice a batsman to fit James Faulkner into the side to provide cover for any Johnson profligacy, or do they forgo variety and leave Nathan Lyon out and play the allrounder in an all-pace attack?

Lyon is a good bowler but too often the quality of his deliveries isn't matched by the results in the wicket column. Nevertheless it's a huge gamble to play a five-day game at the Gabba without a spinner.

Either way, the Australian line-up is desperately short of good catching men and it'll be a blessing for Clarke if Watson can't bowl, because they'll struggle to fill three slip positions adequately without him in the cordon.

There's potential for improvement in the Australian batting line-up and it'll be especially encouraging for the future if both Warner and Smith have a good series. The bowling is a pretty well-known quantity, unless Johnson does rediscover his best form. Then there's a real edge to the attack.

England, meanwhile, are tried and tested and what you see is what you get. The success of the batting will revolve around Cook and Jonathan Trott scoring heavily so Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell can take advantage of a good start to elevate the scoring rate. The bowling will live or die on the form of Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann.

If Joe Root continues to improve and Finn finds consistency at Test level, it would augur well for England's future.

There's always a lot of bluff and bluster in the lead-up to an Ashes series and the reality is there are generally more ifs and buts than certainties. On this occasion Australia have more ifs, while England are superior in the number of proven performers. And unless my memory's playing tricks, that means the tourists will start as favourites.

[captainfog]

It's amazing how many people (journalists and fans) in England have been sucked in by the narrative that the Auastralian camp have created. England full of uncertainty and lacking in form compared to a resurgent Australian team that's settled and full of confidence.

It's a load of old cobblers.

[RichC]

We're without a doubt favourites for this Ashes series, the Aussies I'm sure will be up for this but I'm not sure what will have changed since the Summer. Ok different ball being used and the conditions will be slightly different but making out we're in disarray !!

I think they're forgetting we've only lost 2 series since 2009 - Pakistan and SA

[Shaggy]

Just had a look at the prices - they're favourites!

England are over 2/1 underdogs with most bookies for the first test. Insane. Only thing I'd say is we are **** starters and habitually lose the first test of a tour. Otherwise, there are no grounds for making them favourites.

[RichC]

What's the odds for a draw first test? Looks like the weather is dreadful

[Shaggy]

6/4 for the draw.

[RichC]

Might be worth a punt on the first test with England for the series

[Chazza]

How can they be favourites on the back of a thumping over here?

Prior netted yesterday so hopefully he will be fit.

[captainfog]

To be fair to the bookies the Aussies haven't lost in Brisbane since the 1980's.