1st 3 Ashes Test - Gabba

[mal]

1-0 up vindicates the current Australian captains decision,with out a doubt.Regardless of what the paying public say.

Crap BOONEY it was always gunna be 1-0 up irresective of a follow on or not.
Many comentators on TV inculding ex captains said they would have followed on.
Ponting did not enforce the follow on, and was not scared England might make 600
and bowl us out , he didnt follow on because we have a dads army attack and
there is only 4 of them as well.
For goodness sake they made 150 in half a day not 257 in 100 + overs !
If he had 5th bowler he could have enforced the follow on and the game finished
on day 4 and got the EXTRA days rest he was looking for.
Instead we bowled all those overs on the 5th day and got 1 days less break.

And REB yes Ponting rubbed it in and demoralised England by batting again.
BUT 2 things happened after that.
Harmison got some much needed bowling.[as afforded the opportunity for a few bowlers to take wickets and get some momentum up for the 2nd test, even though it did not eventuate]
The poms made about the 5th highest losing score in history of ashes game and
did we give them a bit of confidence for the 2nd test ?

BOONEY/REB you boys learnt a lot about cricket when I used to captain against
you guys in the past, now learn from my posts

[mal]

Correct Booney... It was good professional cricket. Ponting was never setting a target by getting 650-ahead. Instead, he was setting the tone for the series by saying "we aren't going to give you winging Poms anything. There is no way you will win this test. And, you will need to bat out of your skins to save it". It should be interpreted as a very aggresive move. In addition, it gave our bowlers a break, and inflicted more damage to the confidence of the English bowlers...

If it rained as was forecast and it was a draw what then ?

Yes agree he set a demoralising tone, but has it backfired, the
poms made nearly made an unprecedented 400 batting last in a test match.

[Max]

The runs were irrelevant. It's a bit like second innings runs in grade and/or turf cricket. Only good for batting trophies. At the end of the day only one English batsman made more than 50 when the game was still up for grabs (just). On the balance of things is was a great declaration...

As for the weather - well, Punter made the right call. That's his job.

Can't wait to see how scathing you guys are if we actually LOSE a test!

[Booney]

Just for one moment mal,entertain the thought that not all was going to go Australia's way during day 3 and 4 of the test.Ponting has been bitten before,and as Steve Waugh would say,make sure you are in a position to not lose,make sure of that.

We get 602,they get 157.450 odd difference at lunch on day 3.We send them back in,they bat until lunch day 5,make 552 and we are on the wrong end of it.100 or so to get and 40 overs to do it,sounds easy huh? ( This is worst case scenario with the Poms playing out of their collective shells on day 3 and 4).Ponting was making sure this did not happen.Now,in your illustrious playing career,surely,surely you made sure you were in a position to not lose,first and foremost.

[Rik E Boy]

Yes, 2 Things did happen after that mal.

Harmison bowled 12 overs for at nearly four and a half an over without taking a wicket and England made 370, partly because the bloke who took 6/50 in the first dig had a blister on his heel because he hasn't had much bowling. So you're suggesting we should have enforced the follow on and give the English bowlers the best bowling conditions of the match and at the same time give an underdone and blistered McGrath a back to back bowling effort when the second test is a mere four days away??

Sorry mate, Punter got this one right as the history books show.

regards,

REB

[am Bays]

and we need a certain Qld blonde allrounder to assist.

Greg Norman?

ROTFLMAO

[mal]

My point lads 4 bowlers dont enforce the follow on ACCEPTED.
If we had a 5th bowler then I would have been disapointed.

Australia have lost tests by enforcing follow ons with leads of 200/300 runs
with 4 man bowling attacks n the past.
This time they led by 450 runs !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IF IT WAS 300 OR LESS LEAD, I WOULD BE 100% IN AGREEANCE.

It was all about protecting the 4 elderly bowlers doubling up 2 innings in a row
I dont think getting a lead of 600 to a 1,000,000,000 was the main agenda.

[am Bays]

If it rained as was forecast and it was a draw what then ?

Yes agree he set a demoralising tone, but has it backfired, the
poms made nearly made an unprecedented 400 batting last in a test match.

IF my Aunty had balls she'd by my Uncle

Mal, as Ponting alluded to in his press conference he took into consideration the state of the pitch (when it will be best to bat on for the last 2 & 1/2 days), the weather and the fact his bowlers have to play another 4 test matches in 5 weeks in hindsight given the result the decision has been vindicated to be a no-brainer.

Don't forget four years ago we made England follow on at Melbourne, our bowlers (2 of them played at the Gabba) ended up bowling three days straight, we won the test but at Sydney we got our arses kicked becasue out attack were flatter than Lavinia Nixon's chest!!!

This is a five match test series, need to be mindfull of allowing our bowlers to not get faitgued and age is no issue here it is the work all our bowlers have to do playing five tests in six weeks

[mal]

If it rained as was forecast and it was a draw what then ?

Yes agree he set a demoralising tone, but has it backfired, the
poms made nearly made an unprecedented 400 batting last in a test match.

IF my Aunty had balls she'd by my Uncle

Mal, as Ponting alluded to in his press conference he took into consideration the state of the pitch (when it will be best to bat on for the last 2 & 1/2 days), the weather and the fact his bowlers have to play another 4 test matches in 5 weeks in hindsight given the result the decision has been vindicated to be a no-brainer.

Don't forget four years ago we made England follow on at Melbourne, our bowlers (2 of them played at the Gabba) ended up bowling three days straight, we won the test but at Sydney we got our arses kicked becasue out attack were flatter than Lavinia Nixon's chest!!!

This is a five match test series, need to be mindfull of allowing our bowlers to not get faitgued and age is no issue here it is the work all our bowlers have to do playing five tests in six weeks

The non follow on was a maintenance proceedure not a rub it in etc exercise....

[sydney-dog]

my simple answer

it proved to be the correct decision, we won

Mal, I agree, I think the key driver not to enforce the following, was to look after the bowlers