You don’t say? We look at Ashes predictions – after the fact
26-Aug-2009″Hughes appears set to make Hayden look like an old frump. Where do they get them from?”•Getty Images”A team who keep being hammered by the West Indies are not a team that will give the Aussies too many sleepless nights.”
“On Sunday it will be exactly 100 days to go until the first Test against Australia, and the concept that England will regain the Ashes appears to be beyond rational hope.”
“A fluent, confident, well-judged innings such as Bopara’s in the first Test against West Indies gives real cause for optimism that he is the man for the [No. 3] position.”
“Hughes is enough to make a God-fearing Englishman think the world is against him. When Matthew Hayden quit, he created a small chasm at the top of Australia’s order… But Hughes appears set to make Hayden look like an old frump. Where do they get them from?”
<!–"We don't have a Phillip Hughes coming through, or a Mitchell Johnson to step up with ball and bat when Brett Lee goes down. We have an improving team replete with superior triers who are able to compete in the highest class only when its front-line warriors are tooled to the hilt and ready to go."
–>”England should know that [Mitchell] Johnson is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, the likeliest Ashes-winner on either side.”
“Australia’s only specialist spinner, Hauritz is an offie who has had less impact over the past two weeks than England’s women in the singles at Wimbledon.”
“The performances of Strauss and the weather will have a major bearing on England’s chances of hanging on in a Test [Cardiff] which has completely bolted away from them. The match has been a major embarrassment for England and raised questions about whether Strauss is a powerful enough personality to take his team with him.”
“The injury to Andrew Flintoff is not necessarily bad news for England… there is now a general realisation that the talismanic allrounder of four years ago is not as central to England’s success as before.”
<!–"This may just be the summer he [James Anderson] was made for."
–>”A fancy declaration [at Lord’s] has unnecessarily jeopardised England’s series. It could yet lead to a defeat that would knock the stuffing out of any team.”
<!–"Pace will have a psychological impact on the rest of this series too. When Flintoff plays, Australia's batsmen will view him as virtually unplayable."
–>”In Pietersen’s absence England would be hard-pressed to hang on to their lead, never mind increase it.”
“If there was any player on either side you would have backed to seize the moment, it’s the one who’s just bowed to the demands of his overworked body. Certainly there is no other candidate to take over Pietersen’s role…”
<!–"No one can replace Pietersen. [Ian] Bell doesn't like the ball coming back into him – he is bowled and leg-before a lot – and Siddle will show up the flaws in his technique."
–>”Andrew Strauss’s side cannot be pictured lining up at Buckingham Palace or stopping the traffic at Trafalgar Square in a few days’ time.”•Getty Images”My lovely home ground [Headingley] isn’t quite the bowlers’ paradise it used to be 10 years ago. This season the wicket has got flatter and flatter, and deader and deader, and claiming 20 wickets in Yorkshire’s matches has become a real chore.”
“The 1-0 advantage established by England at Lord’s looks all the more intimidating after the rain-affected draw at Edgbaston.”
“Australia have made a mockery of Andrew Strauss’s men [at Headingley], who now need a miracle if they are to win back the Ashes.”
“The overall impression is that England are all too content to wallow in mediocrity.”
“The batting may or may not be perked up by the inclusion of Jonathan Trott for the most high pressure Test debut of recent years, but England are already on course for one of their most miserable Ashes performances ever.”
“Throwing a new man into these rapids, whatever his current first-class average, still looks like folly.”
“The hosts have lacked the focus needed to subdue a mighty foe. Andrew Strauss’s side cannot be pictured lining up at Buckingham Palace or stopping the traffic at Trafalgar Square in a few days’ time.”
“The first thing England have to be positive with is their final XI. I am therefore dropping Stuart Broad – and it’s tough on him because he was the pick of the bowlers in Leeds, having a plan which he stuck to – Graham Onions and Harmison – but this is a time for boldness.”
“It’s hard to see England winning from here [after day one at The Oval]. And if you find it too soon to make so gloomy a prediction, I have only one thing to say. Sorry.”
