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Bowlers ease Aussie pain

Sun Sep 06 07:16PM

Lee

Australia are riding high in the one day international series with England following a crushing victory at Lord's, and a convincing showing in the 50-over format may well ease some sore wounds following the Ashes defeat.

Mitchell Johnson took the man of the match award for his superb knock with the bat, while he also weighed in with two wickets, but it was the performances of two other bowlers that caught the eye and left Cow Corner to reflect on what might have been in the Ashes decider.

Brett Lee charged in and sent the ball down at 94mph, looking for all the world like a bowler with a point to prove.

Lee was left to carry the drinks as Australia tumbled to defeat in the Ashes decider, with the Aussies deciding not to gamble following his injury earlier in the summer.

Australians love a gamble, their captain goes by the moniker of punter, and it came as a huge surprise that Lee was left out.

Many have chosen to focus on the omission of Nathan Hauritz at the Oval, given the wicket resembled a dust bowl, and he too looked good at Lord's on Sunday.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but Cow wonders how many overs into the Ashes decider it took Ricky Ponting to mull over his selection policy.

Ponting is resting up at home ahead of his return for the final four games of the ODI series, but you can be sure that he will still be tossing ideas around in his sleep.

The one that will stick in the memory is the make up of his bowling attack for that final, crucial, Test at the Oval.

Australia stuck with the formula that brought them victory at Headingley, the all-pace attack of Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus, Stuart Clark and Mitchell Johnson.

The decision to stay with the same four was a defensive move and a very un-Australian move. Over the years Australia have been believers in horses for courses and it was clear at the Oval a specialist spinner was required, while the extra pace of Lee would have been beneficial.

Australia did something you would expect England to do, play safe and keep faith with a winning side.

The Australians brought in Stuart Clark at Headingley, aware that conditions would suit his style, and his early burst in the first innings laid the foundations for victory.

The Oval wicket was never likely to suit Clark, and so it proved, while one of Peter Siddle or Ben Hilfenhaus could have been sacrificed for Hauritz.

Australia may want to bury the memories of Ashes defeat, but the performances of Lee and Hauritz will not let that happen.

  • Comments1 - 9 of 9

  1. england were rubbish but you stiil are gloating about the ashes. why not artcle abot how bad england are in one day internatonals

    bellslea18From bellslea18 on Sun Sep 06 09:48PM

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  2. #1, I think "a crushing defeat at Lord's" is pretty clear about how bad England were and the rest of the article asks what would have happened if Ponting's selection policy had been different - hardly "gloating about the ashes". This seems an unusually restrained offering from the Cow, so I'm not sure what you're on about.

    jiveman5From jiveman5 on Sun Sep 06 10:29PM

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  3. rubbish, but still won! hahahahahahahaha

    rstopfordFrom rstopford on Sun Sep 06 10:31PM

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  4. bellslea18 is obviously an Aussie and you're right jiveman, Cowers obviously took a serious pill today...

    smiling.phasesFrom smiling.phases on Sun Sep 06 10:34PM

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  5. How many times do we have to lose for the same reason­ (no one can hit a boundary) before something changes­ and no Rashid - the man that almost won the game at the­ Oval for us - what?! have the selectors got their­ collective heads up each others arses?

    Team for me­ would be (in Batting order) Strauss(C), Wright, Bell­ (last chance), Denley, Prior, Napier, Mascaranas,­ Rashid, Broad, Swann, Sidebottom.

    Shah - not up to­ international level and his running is­ woeful
    Collingwood - scores far too slowly, selfish­ liability.
    Morgan - hasn't scored runs all season,­ why pick him now?
    Bopara - Go back to your county­ refind your form

    Thoughts?

    lakeview868From lakeview868 on Sun Sep 06 11:59PM

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  6. Love the way the Aussies crawl out from under their stones on these boards when things go their way. Didn't hear a peep out of most of them when they were LOSING the Ashes. And pot calling kettle as well - read some of the utter one-eyed dirge that that bitter old 'has been' Dean Jones serves up in his columns - never once praised England, it was all about everything from the pitches to the tea ladies being "A disgrace!"

    berkshiredeanFrom berkshiredean on Mon Sep 07 12:16AM

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  7. Is this an article on the ODI or The Ashes? Confused.com. Badly written @#$%.

    amsaltmarshFrom amsaltmarsh on Mon Sep 07 12:26AM

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  8. berkshiredean - I don't know if you've noticed, but this is a UK blog, many Aussies wouldn't even be reading the cow.

    "Didn't hear a peep when they were losing the Ashes" - interesting, my recollection was that it went down to the final test, not a one sided affair like 06-07, so how was anyone losing the ashes until the Oval test?

    PS. I don't think we were under our stones, probably enjoying our 25+ degree winter days at the beach instead of reading the drivel many sun-starved poms put on these "boards".

    lachieb3From lachieb3 on Mon Sep 07 01:31AM

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  9. I am a bit confused as to why Morgan is in the side. Trott should surely play. When fit, I would get KP to open with Strauss. in the meantime, stick with Bopara. colly is nearing the end of the road, I suspect. Bell always did OK in one dayers and maybe, if he does lose his test place again, we could keep him in the one dayers so he is still in the mix and being forced to play positively. Prior could bat at 4 and loading the team with allrounders from 5 to 10 (Bopara, Wright, Broad, Mascaranus, Rashid/Bresnan, Swan) with Sidebottom or Anderson at 11 might make some sense. spinners are often a good option in limited overs cricket. we seem utterly incapable of producing proper 1 day batsmen so we might as well get the allrounders in. side/squad therefore is Strauss, KP/Bopara/Denley, Trott, Prior, Bopara/Bell, Wright, Mascaranus, Broad, Rashid/Bresnan, Swan, Sidebottom/Anderson

    miseryguts77755From miseryguts77755 on Mon Sep 07 09:24AM

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