Shouting from the Hop

The second Ashes test starts tonight at The Adelaide Oval, and England captain Freddie Flintoff will be hoping for a change of fortune.

The omens are better for England, but they stilll have to compete with the Aussies for much more of the match than they did in Brisbane.

The signs are that Monty Panesar will play, but this will be pointless if England's batsmen fail to put enough runs on the board during their first innings. It needs to be noted that during the last series, England's fortunes changed on the morning of the second test, when McGrath stepped on a ball, and twisted his ankle. Now we hear McGrath is doubtful with an ankle injury (blistered heel - ahhhh!). As the Aussies tend to play just four bowlers, he cannot be risked if not 100% fit, a good sign for Flintoff's team.

If England can win the toss, a McGrath-less Australia could struggle to dispose of England if they bat as they did in the second innings at the Gabba. Cook, Pieterson, Bell, and Collingwood all got runs in that match, and Flintoff and Strauss got in before getting out to poor shots - they cannot afford to do that again.

I have very fond memories of Adelaide and it's Oval. It is a beautiful ground, with the spires of the local Cathedral visible across the road. My first visit saw a truly great game, as England were set over 400 to win, and clawed there way slowly toward a victory, only to be denied in the last session, with the match finishing in a draw. Gooch and Atherton put on almost 200 in that match - happy days! It was also Mark Waugh's debut and he got 100 typically.

Four years later, England went one better and did win. This tme, us Poms had to bowl the Aussies out and a fantastic catch by Phil Tuffnell set the team up and it was umpire Darryl Hair who gave the final wicket out LBW to Devon Malcolm. Oh we partied that night! This was also the game in which the Barmy Army first came to prominence, sporting Mitsubishi sponsorship! T-shirt sales in South Australia have never been so high!

In 1998, Alex Tudor bowled well, but England lost, and four years ago, after Michael Vaughan hit 180 England succumbed to Warne's spin.

This year I forecast a draw, with England batting well first up, but being overtaken by the Aussie score, then still getting enough to ensure a draw. The short square boundaries should suit Pieterson, and hopefully Harmison will bowl straighter than he did when Bundy fuelled in Brisbane!

Any failure to get enough runs would really show England up, and this is the only hope of not getting a thorough beating in the series.

It ddn't take too long for England to lose today, about 90 minutes apparently. Kevin Pieterson (left) went to the fourth ball of the morning, and with it any forlorn hope that England could salvage a draw.

Jones and Giles hung around a while, but eventually they were all out for 370, and lost by 277 runs.

The result could have been worse; the first three days were pretty appalling from England's perspective, and a massive loss was avoided. In fact, the defeat is by less than the team lost by four years ago (384 runs).

Brisbane does seem to have massive wins to one team or the other - three of the biggest eleven winning margins by runs have been at the Gabba, with England holding the record win when defeating Australia by 675 runs back in the days of Larwood and Bowes. And last year, the West Indies got whipped by a lot more than Engand did this year at Brisbane! And one of the biggest innings victories on record was also in Brisbane.

So on to the next match - the second test starts on Friday at The Adelaide Oval. I forecast a draw here, as the pitch tends to be a little slower for both pacemen and spinners. Hopefully, the confidence that the batters gained in the second innings will allow England to compete, and with Monty Panesar back in the team (a must!), at least the threat of taking wickets will improve. England need to have confidence, as without that, they will just be anihilated by the Aussie pressure machine.

A much better day for England, but probably not good enough to save the first test of this Ashes series. When Australia declared at 202-1, after Langer reached his century, England were set over 650 to win the match, with around 170 overs left to bowl. They reached 293-5 at the close.

The plus points from this innings were Paul Collingwood's 96, and Kevin Pieterson's 92 not out. Collingwood was stumped trying to reach his century sadly, and may live to rue his hot-headedness.

Pieterson (above) batted aggressively and had a run in with Shane Warne (who took four of the five wickets to fall), after Warne hurled the ball back toward the stumps and KP swatted it away. There followed one of those wonderful lip-reading moments that we all love, and which the TV has to blur out, as it is so obvious what name KP called Warney! And they are friends apparently!

The final day will be tough on England, and I doubt they can get a draw (or the even more unliklely win) from the last 90 overs due. Warne is getting plenty of turn, but the first hour or so will be the toughest as the new ball is due immediately and I suspect that Ponting will take it straight away. If KP and Jones can survive till lunch, Warne will have plenty around the bat and may be way too much to handle, so it would take a monumental effort from these two to restore English pride.

Personally, I doubt that the game will continue past lunch...but we all live in hope. Maybe, just maybe, the forecast late afternoon rain will come to England's rescue, but I doubt it, as they don't really deserve anything but to go 1-0 down in the series.

England's Ashes dreams seem to have crumbled overnight - chasing over 400 to save the follow-on target, they were all out for a measly 157, with only Ian Bell offering any sort of resistance. Kevin Pieterson was the first to go (left), and skipper Andrew Flintoff fell just three bals later (below) for a duck. Ricky Ponting then surprised the media, but not me, but not enforcing the follow-on, and once again England's wayward attack failed to trouble the Aussie batsmen.They reached 181-1 with the only loss the run out of Matthew Haydn.

The supporters were understandably sour at such a predicament, with one on the radio claiming that after he had saved up for 12 months, the spineless (or is that spinlesss?) team should be ashamed. Well, we've all been there mate. I was at Gatwick the night before flying out to the West Indies when England were reduced to 40-8 by the bowling of Walsh and Ambrose, eventually reaching just 46 all out when needing less than 200 to win. I've flown to Australia when 2-0 down, and three to play, twice! Eventually I switched tactics and went for the second test so all was not lost by the time of my arrival.

As I blogged yesterday, this team is nowhere near good enough in terms of taking on and beating Australia, yet the media have built them up and raised expectations. They will have good days, but more often bad ones. Unless KP, Strauss, Bell, Panesar (please stick him back in Duncan!), Harmy and Freddie all fire together, we are not going to get anything from the series.

When we lost the Lords test, the first of the series last summer, at least we showed we could compete - Ricky Ponting still bears a scar on his face as evidence of that, courtesy of Harmison. Now it's a little more powder puff and very painful for us Brits to take.

As expected, the Aussies got past 600 in the first innings of this first Ashes test (Hussey bowled by Flintoff left), and have England in trouble at 53-3 in reply. It will take very good knocks from Pieterson, Bell, Flintoff, and Jones if England are to secure enough runs to prevent the follow-on. Of course, if they fail miserably, Ricky Ponting may not ask them to follow on, but bat until the game is well out of reach, and set England an impossible target on a wearing pitch (obviously suited to Shane Warne!).

It's all a bit deprssing for the English media, who had built up an England side into something that they are not - world beaters! The pessimists are recalling that England won the Ashes last summer after falling behind in the first test, so that's alright then! I am not so confident, and think England will lose this match sometime late on Sunday, and with it any hope of making a decent series of this tour.

But what do I know?!? Come on KP - stick it back up them! Let's get a thousand, and make them lose by an innings!!!

Four years ago, after Nasser Hussein won the toss and put the Australians in, the first ball of the Ashes series was crashed to the boundary by Justin Langer for four runs. This time round, Steve Harmison made sure that Langer couldn't score any runs off the first ball - he bowled it so wide it went straight to Freddie Flinotff at second (yes, second) slip! Message sent; tone set. Australia finished day one of the first test at 346-3, with skipper Ricky Ponting scoring an unbeaten ton.

England picked Giles instead of Panesar - a very negative move in my opinion - and though he bowled reasonably well, picking up one wicket (Martyn), he just does not look very dangerous on a turning pitch.

In fact, the pitch started to turn quite sharply later in the day, but it wasn't the left-armer who found this, but Kevin Pieterson, with his occasional off-spin. He beat the bat (Ponting and Husssey, unbeaten and past 50) several times late in the day, and could easily have claimed his second test wicket with more luck. By then though, Ricky Ponting (left) was well past a hundred and the game was slipping away from England.

Both openers had earlier been prised out by Flintoff - Haydn for 21 and Langer for a breezy 82.

Stranger things have happened, but I don't think England can find anyway back from this first day beating. The Aussies will bat well into tomorrow, and should post a score well above 600. It will then be Englands turn to try to use the pitch while it stays reasonably good, and get as far past the follow on target as possible (if they can). Whoever has to bat last on this pitch will find it hard - at the moment it wil probably be England, as they will either lose by an innings, or have to try to bat to save a draw and this may be beyond them if Warne is in any sort of form.

Four years ago, batting last, they mustered only 79 runs; I don't think they will be that bad this time round, but another Brisbane defeat does look on the cards.

The hours are counting down, and two nations on different sides of the world are preparing for sporting battle. The Ashes, the little urn that represents the cricket power swing between England and Australia, is once more up for grabs. England, captained by Andrew Flintoff (left), are about to play a five-test series in Australia. Not since the late 1970's have England travelled down under as holders of the urn.

A lot will rest on how well various England players perform; plans have already been disrupted due to illnes (to Marcus Trescothink, who has returned home) and injury (niggles to Bell, Harmison, etc). The media are building up certain names, and hopefully they will perform well, but the pressure will be intense.

It must be noted that Australia are, and have been for many years, ranked as the best test playing nation at cricket. England have risen to second or third in recent times, mainly on the back of successful home series and victories aginst poor West Indian and South African sides on winter tours. Last year, England lost winter tours in Pakistan, and drew in India.

Where will the game be won? On the pitch obviously, but also in the minds. I have been on every Ashes tour to Australia since 1990/1 - I'm not going this time due to other commitments. I have seen England well and truly stuffed on many occasions (every time I watched them in Perth for instance...), but also victorious in Adelaide and Melbourne. On the last tour, I had returned home by the time the team won in Sydney. The pressure to perform is intense, and so much can rest on how England start the series. Last time, England captain Nasser Hussein won the toss on the morning of the first test and decided, stupidly, to field, thereby handing the advantage immediately to Australia. England never got a look in and lost badly. That situation cannot be allowed to happen again.

A lot will rest on how the batters perform. Without Trescothick, Andrew Strauss will be crucial to a good solid start, and youngster Alistair Cook will be immune to poor previous experiences down under. Ian Bell is in form, and should go well on Aussie pitches. Crucially, Kevin Pieterson (left) will bat at four, and he just has to come good. The big man has enormous, erm, potential, but tends to play too loosely at times. He needs to turn quickfire scores into big hundreds, and bat for time as well as the runs. I am not convinced that Paul Collingwood will contribute too many runs, and ultimately Ed Joyce may be a better bet later in the series.

On the bowling front, much talk is of the spinner choice between Ashley Giles, a veteran Ashes tourist who has been injured for 18 months or so, or Monty Panesar (left), the young prodigy. Do England go with the potential of a few more runs coming from Giles bat but the less wicket taking option, or plump for Monty to actually control the game and maybe even get the team in sight of a win? I hope the latter, but wouldn't be surprised to see Giles play in Brisbane. Note to management - saftey first didn't work four years ago either! The quicks will be hoping to fire, but doubts remain about the form of Steve Harmison, the full fitness of skipper Flintoff, and Matthew Hoggard's penetration on Aussie pitches and using the Kookaburra ball.

I hate to say this, but the tour fills me with dread - the Aussies are back to their confident best, and although they too have some questions in the bowling department (are Warne and McGrath past it yet?), they have too much wicket taking and run scoring potential for England to cope with in my opinion. I predict a 3-0 defeat.

My only hope is that England do actually make a game/series of it, and although they may lose, regularly taking games into the fifth day would be a good achievement in my eyes.

I also hope that media expectation is not too disappointed when matches are lost; we get enough of that in football, and I'd rather that the team is welcomed home as gallant losers than a useless side, as the papers tend to over-react.

My friend called me on Friday to say he was about to fly off to Brisbane for ten weeks, and I have to say I am extremely jealous of him. I just hope he can plan what to do on the few days when games finish early...

But what do I know - come on England! Stick it up 'em and bring that urn back home with you!