Ashes - Countdown: Jones on decisive toss

Eurosport - Mon, 06 Jul 12:46:00 2009

Australia legend Yahoo!-Eurosport blogger Dean Jones thinks the first Ashes Test at Cardiff could come down to the toss of a coin.

CRICKET England South Africa Cardiff Fifth One Day International ODI rain calls off play - 0

Cardiff has a crusty surface and there is no doubt the ball will turn. I am told that the surface may not last five days, so the toss will be crucial. Nobody will fancy batting fourth on that surface, so I think it is England's best chance of a win.

They will go in with two spinners. I would go for Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar. Based on Adil Rashid's recent outings, I don't think the boys would mind facing him, although Shane Warne rates him and he knows a bit about spinners.

When Steve Harmison is on song, he is England's best bowler by miles, and yet he won't be picked for the first Test.

In the warm-up game for England Lions, he got Phil Hughes with an absolute beauty that came right at his throat. There isn't another English bowler who can do that.

Matthew Hayden recently said how much he respected Harmison, and I think it is a huge loss that he will not be playing. The problem is he has got to be in the right mood, so he is inconsistent. Having said that, he has done it before, and if he is ever going to be motivated it is for a home Ashes series.

If England want to get Hughes, Ricky Ponting (pictured) and Mike Hussey cheaply, he has to play, because I don't think the other quicks are up to it.

Captain Andrew Strauss's biggest job will be giving his team belief that they can beat the Aussies, and Andrew Flintoff's latest indiscretion, missing the team bus, will not have helped him.

If England want to win they have to play with freedom, but to have freedom they also need discipline. If I want to go to the pub I still have to stay on the right side of the road. There are rules you need to abide by.

I'm starting to sound like Geoff Boycott, but if there is no discipline in the side they cannot play with freedom.

I think the Australians will certainly go with Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle and Stuart Clark as their strike bowlers, and then it will be either Brett Lee or Nathan Hauritz. As Cardiff takes spin, I imagine they will go with Hauritz.

Lee is a popular guy but I think people have become infatuated with the fact he has taken 300 Test wickers. Apart from Sri Lanka and New Zealand he hasn't really hurt anyone, and his average in England is up around 50.

He is a great guy to have around and can be a mentor to the younger bowlers. There are 25 Test days and two first-class matches ahead of the tourists so there is plenty of work to do and he will definitely be used at some stage.

Prediction: It will all come down to the toss. Whoever wins that will win the match with the wicket deteriorating as the game progresses.

Dean Jones / Eurosport

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  1. If Warne says we should play Rashid, play Monty. If­ Jones says play Harmison, don't even put him in the­ squad. This is an old Aussie trick. Years ago in the­ Fifties we had a spinner who regularly took 1-100. The­ Aussies were forever bigging him up, saying how unlucky­ he was and then flogging him all around the ground. Why­ should Warne and Dean Jones have our best interests at­ heart. DON'T LISTEN TO THEM. Snakes in the grass!

    From ALAN G, on Tue 7 Jul 10:18AM

  2. Very well said Pompstarr. Couldn't agree more.

    From nocohere, on Tue 7 Jul 8:17AM

  3. Bejesus! I think I'll become a cricket­ "blogger" judging by some of the pish­ I've read here and on Collingwoods. Are you sure­ your Australian mate? Theres no way on planet earth­ Monty should be playing based on this seasons efforts­ with the ball. Rashid should be in, even if his last­ couple of outings have been rank. (he does offer with­ the bat, and can field), assuming that England even go­ in with two spinners. When any bowler is "on­ song" they can run through teams, including me. If­ I were on song I could bowl out Australia, but there in­ lies the problem for me and to a lesser degree­ Harmison, who doesn't (like me) have the mental­ attributes to be consistent both home and away, and at­ the highest level. For England to be accepted­ Internationally as a great team and one to be­ universally feared, they need to win the Ashes, keep­ wining, then retain the the urn in Australia, and for­ that they need consistency, which is the opposite of­ what Harmison has become, unless he's on native­ soil being "nursed", mollycoddled and bottle­ fed Englands milk. BTW Freddy, and the other bowlers­ who are all knocking about the 90mph mark can all bowl­ bouncers. The only thing thats happened is that Hughes­ has been worked out, something, like with all players­ at some stage, would of happened anyway. If there is a­ problem with Englands pace attack its probably that its­ too samey, and the addition of an ideally in form­ Sidebottum would have been great. But lets see how the­ above mentioned trio of batsmen handle a finally­ "blooming" Anderson, who is becoming (is) the­ "king of swing", and bowling maturely even­ when the conditions are not in his favor, and is­ somewhat of forgotten figure, when speaking of winning­ the Ashes. He is about to have his day...

    From bruce, on Tue 7 Jul 7:40AM

  4. Typical single minded arsetralian rubbish.
    Not sure­ whether you are a "legend" Dean....
    Or a leg­ end.....

    From nocohere, on Mon 6 Jul 3:12PM

  5. Wow, I wish I were paid to say 'It's­ anyone's guess really'... just joking, should­ be an exciting game, looking forward to watching the­ Ashes on my SkyPlayer.

    From Chris R, on Mon 6 Jul 12:54PM
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