What I’m saying is: I wasn’t on about Tall Poppies but merely about bad analysis.

From the stats, the only relevant prediction is that when England puts Australia batting under pressure they stand a good chance to come away with their relatively mediocre bowling (taking 5 wickets from a team under pressure to score is maybe more exciting, but, on analysis, less of an achievement than taking more than one on a side that starts batting). It’s kind of sad really to attack in one thread a batting performance and praise in the second a bolwing performance when it should have been the other way around.

Capiche ;-)

As for Flintoff, he may well be looking at Vaughan and thinking that knackered Test players no longer have to eke out the remainder of their careers in county cricket, thanks to the IPL and/or Sky.

It’s funny, really, in a very sad kind of way.

Oh Jeebus, the Tall Poppy thingie again. I think everyone on this thread is happy that we won. We’ve done that bit. Now we’re doing the analysis bit, where people comment on what the strengths and weaknesses are on both sides and we make predictions about how the rest of the series will pan out, capiche? We won this Test because we played better by far, the umpiring decisions probably wouldn’t have changed the result, but they were worth noting for being appalling. And yes, Flintoff playing to the standard he was last at back in 2005 made a big difference. And in that Cardiff draw, we did in fact play poorly.

dsquared @9 – yep, undoubtedly – and announcing his retirement was a commitment to giving his left leg for a second ashes win. At that moment (cue corny freeze-frame) he became not just selectable but undroppable. Then the IPL calls, if he still manage 4 over spells by then (and perhaps even if not?). I can’t see him playing much of the 50 over stuff.

Incidentally, someone on TMS yesterday suggested something similar to an idea I’ve occasionally propounded – the 1 day game moving to 25/25/25/25 format, though I came at it from the pov of 20/20 being doubled up to reduce the luck and dead-innings components. I think T20 is going to become pretty old pretty quickly once a formula is settled on, so maybe both reforms would meet in the middle. Of course that would mean longer games which reduces the newfound appeal – though coming along for the second innings alone might still be a draw? Matches could even be split over two days/evenings.

And BTW Swann bowled some real corkers, eh, even off the flat.

It’s funny, really, in a very sad kind of way.

I don’t think the umpiring decisions were that bad, really. Ponting was out – Anderson was appealing for lbw, not caught behind. Out off a no ball is unlucky, but hardly the most eggregious umpiring error – I’m amazed on field umpires are still asked to try and spot no balls. The Strauss catch looked good to the on field umpires, so you have to go with that, it was out – TV slow mo’s add nothing to close catching decisons. Hussey was very unlucky, but 99 umpires in 100 would have given it out. As with the last series, the good and bad decisions will even themselves out over the series.