12:02 PM me: young lady
will you be watching the cricket tonight?
12:03 PM Astrid: young man i cannot believe you just asked me that :P
me: heh :)
okay, so I'm about to write a blog entry
I want to do it as a conversation
about the Aussies' chances and what I (and you) think of them
12:04 PM Astrid: excellent
I think we're screwed.
me: sweet!
Astrid: bahaha
do you thinkwe're screwed?
me: I... I think we're a bit screwed
Mainly due to the bowling
Astrid: yeah. i saw on the ABC news headlines that apparently Hughes might be dropped. but that's not the answer!
we need Stuart Clark! right?
me: I agreee
12:05 PM
me: Totally. In place of Johnson? Or Siddle? Or even North or Hauritz?
12:06 PM I'm assuming Hilfy is not going to be dropped in England now
12:09 PM Astrid: hmmm
everyone's saying Johnson but i'm not sure. none of them are that convincing really. i guess the biggest problem is his poor economy, it's just shocking. that tour match said it all.
12:10 PM me: He seems to have lost a lot of confidence
and he doesn't have the typical Australian Test player arrogance yet
I mean, Matty Hayden was crap for two years, but listening to him, he was the best batsmen in the world
Ponting came out and supported Johnson pretty strongly this week
said he's not doing much different
12:11 PM But the thing that gets me is it's not as if he's bowling really well and getting no luck
like Brett Lee was earlier in the year
he's bowling badly AND not getting close to being lucky
12:12 PM Astrid: yeah you're right. i wondered if it was a tactic, not to make it look like we were concerned by talking about changing the line up. i get that it might work but a) if the line up really isn't working then just talking it up won't make it work. and b) Stuart Clark really deserves a go. i don't understand what they've got against him, because it really does seem almost like it's personal.
12:13 PM me: I was skeptical of his ability to come back at 33 after elbow surgery
but he's only been playing at the highest level for three years or so
so his body hasn't had the years of pounding some of the others have
and he's done really well in every Test he's played
12:14 PM with him at one end and Hilfy at the other, they can provide a lot of pressure
I think the selectors believe if they drop Johnson they will ruin his confidence
and thereby maybe ruin one of the best bowling prospects we've had in a decade
12:15 PM Astrid: See I have a lot of time for Mitchell Johnson, I think he seems a top bloke and a good thing for Australian cricket, but now isn't the time to be giving someone a chance and being concerned about denting confidences. if we can't win this we may as well not bother. nothing's more important.
12:17 PM me: You're right - people's egos aren't more important than winning or losing an Ashes series. In 20 years time, no one will say "oh we could have won that, but it was important that Mitchell Johnson didn't get unhappy". They'll only remember who won and lost
I also have a lot of time for Johnson. Any bowler who breaks South African hands is fine by me
What about the batting?
I think we persist with Hughes
12:18 PM but do we give Watson a chance, given that he will almost certainly break down in the middle of the Test?
12:30 PM
Astrid: I vote a big NO to Shane Watson. Too much of a liability. And I don't see why Hughes shouldn't stay. Ponting hasn't doné brilliantly either. If anyone should be dropped it's Hussey.
12:31 PM me: Punter got that century in the first Test, but didn't do the biz in the second Test
Huss... Mr Cricket just hasn't done enough
Clarke is looking good
Haddin is looking good
But Hussey...
Astrid: Yeah as much as I hate to admit it, Clarke is carrying the batsmen at the moment.
12:32 PM me: Who else could come in if they drop Hussey though? If not Watson?
12:33 PM Astrid: I think if they drop Hughes it will be because of his relative inexperience, and I don't think that's fair.
me: Good call.
12:35 PM He shouldn't be made the scapegoat for poor batting just due to his age and the fact he hasn't played many Tests
12:37 PM Astrid: You're dead right. It's like when they refused to get rid of Hayden, I mean really, he should have been dropped long before he quit. Egos before winning forumae is not conducive to Ashes success. Maybe they don't realise how much this affects us plebs. My dad was going on about how they'd all be traitors if they didn't drop Mitch hahaha.
12:39 PM me: What about KP not being there for England? And the Flintoff factor?
I'm going to be a bit controversial here
and say that Flintoff got five wickets...
12:40 PM Astrid: I think they will be pretty bouyant after winning the last game... hmm
me: ...but that included three tail enders, Katich off a no ball, and one good batsman
12:42 PM I reckon the lack of KP will hurt England, and I also think Flintoff will not be able to bowl as well as he did at Lords
The Aussies will do their best to see him off, and then make hay while Anderson and pretty boy Broad bowl
12:44 PM Astrid: That is true. And if they pick Ian Bell as his replacement, I can't imagine him having much impact by comparison.
So that's it! Hope you got something out of that - and let's go Aussies! Do the biz!
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