Life is a Rollercoaster - England Story

[Chasjs]

Cook and Strauss bat out 18 overs before being offered the light. They take it and hope their day is done. The umpires, however, decide there is room for one over late in the day. Cook hits the first for 4, then takes a single. Strauss defends the third but it caught at short leg on the fourth, out for 19.

Vaughan survives the final 2 balls. Cook edges one to gully early the next day. Vaughan is out for 6 and Trott is bowled by Johnson for 12. Pietersen is also bowled by Johnson, out for 25 as England level the scores but with only 5 wickets remaining. Ambrose is bowled for 1 next ball by Cockley. Flintoff and Bresnan survive until lunch with England losing 5 wickets in the session and Australia firmly in control. Bresnan makes 37 before edging Siddle to the slips. Flintoff and Swann bat until tea with Flintoff passing 50 and Australia taking the new ball. The pair put together 107 runs until Flintoff is finally out, bowled on 98.

Swann doesn't last much longer, out for 32. The final pair put together just 18 until Broad is out for 18 leaving England 288 all out and Australia 198 runs from taking a 1-0 series lead.
England run out to field hoping to take a few quick wickets in the last 20 minutes before the end of day 4. Anderson strikes early removing Hughes for 1 in his opening over. Broad also takes a wicket in his first over getting Katich, also for 1. Ponting and Clarke bat out the final few overs with Australia requiring 183 runs on the final day with 8 wicket in hand.

Ponting and Clarke put on 88. Clarke reaches 50 but edges Swann to the keeper but is Englands only wicket before lunch. Flintoff gets Ponting for 53 just after the restart with Australia 64 runs from victory. Swann takes the next wicket. Jaques for 13. Hussey makes 53 but becomes Swans third wicket of the innings with Australia 9 runs from victory. Johnson and Haddin have no trouble getting these runs as Australia take a 4 wicket win in the first Test.

England Man of the Match - Flintoff, a big score, shame it wasn't a hundred, and 5 wickets in the first innings is an impressive performance from an all-rounder.
Other Notable Mentions - Cook, Ambrose
Poor Game - Vaughan, Pietersen

[IndiaWarrior]

Ian bell is missing from that lineup.He is a cool test player.

[TheDevil666]

Good luck in The Ashes. When I played Ashes 2010 as England I battered them for all 5 tests. Honestly 3-0 wouldn't have flattered us. We won 1-0.

[ollieconnolly]

the feelings mutual about anderson my friend i like the inclusion of wokes int he squad, although he didnt make the first test, good look i hope you smash the aussies

[Chasjs]

Part 2 is up - http://childishthings.co.uk/forum/sh...&postcount=195

Slightly different set-up this time as I've gone into a bit much detail again... but heh... it's the Ashes. Therefore you'll have to check back to see the different parts of the Test match. I decided it was better than spreading them about with other posts inbetween.

Ian bell is missing from that lineup.He is a cool test player.

Like Bopara, out of form. Bopara nearly missed the squad.

Good luck in The Ashes. When I played Ashes 2010 as England I battered them for all 5 tests. Honestly 3-0 wouldn't have flattered us. We won 1-0. I'll post results in a bit.

Thanks, I have the feeling I'll have a tougher time down under though.

the feelings mutual about anderson my friend i like the inclusion of wokes int he squad, although he didnt make the first test, good look i hope you smash the aussies

Woakes is defiantly one for the future and I have found a spare coaching session to develop his technique. I've also got a few working on Rashid, Cook (aggression) and Cobb (aggression). I'm not a big fan of very defensively minded player and would prefer to only have one defensive.

EDIT: Part 3 is also up - http://childishthings.co.uk/forum/sh...&postcount=196

[Chasjs]

Second Test

After much consideration the same side was picked for the second Test. The main concern with the side in the last game was the lack of runs in the top 5. The same 5 were given the responsibility again. Australia make a change with Stuart Clark coming in for Burt Cockley.

England again win the toss and elect to bat.
Strauss reaches 12 before he edges Siddle to the keeper.

Vaughan again disappoints making just 5 runs, becoming Siddles second victim. Cook and Pietersen bat till lunch with England reaching 92. Cook reaches 50 but doesn't last much longer, Siddle striking again. Pietersen goes on to well past his 50 but the wickets of Trott(18) and Flintoff(13) fall at the other end before tea. Ambrose makes 14 but becomes Siddles 4th wicket of the innings. Pietersen reaches his century soon after.

The new ball accounts for Bresnan, Swann and Broad as England finish day one 227/9. The next morning Pietersen looks to take the fight to the Aussies but runs out of partners when Anderson edges Siddle to the keeper. Siddle finishes with figures of 6-83. England 294 all out with Pietersen stranded on 136.
Australia's openers make a good start batting until lunch. Bresnan bowls Katich soon after the break for 27. Ambrose stumps Ponting for 51 off the bowling of Swann but Hughes is still going strong at the other end. That is until he edges Swann to slip for 82 on the last ball before tea.

England take the new ball in the last session of the day but Hussey and Clarke bat till the end of play. The pair pass Englands first innings total with ease. Hussey eventually goes for 87 when he edges a ball form Flintoff to the keeper. Clarke becomes the third Australian out in the eighties, out to Swann for 88. Bresnan gets Jaques next over. Broad removes Haddin for 18 soon after lunch on the third day but Australia have already built up a 100 run lead. Broad and Swann wrap up the innings with Swann taking 5-85. Austalia 444 all out with a lead of 150.

[Chasjs]

Strauss again went early. Vaughan, playing for his place in the side came out and hit 17 but edged Johnson to the slips after tea on the third day.

Cook stumbled to 4 off 45 before being clean bowled by a Siddle yorker. Trott stuck around a little but was eventually out for just 1 run in 29 balls. Haddin then drops Flintoff on 13. It makes little difference with Jaques picking up his wicket next over.

Ambrose makes just 4 leaving England 87-6 overnight. Bresnan only lasts 3 balls the next day, out for a duck. Swann makes 13 and becomes Johnsons 5th wicket of the innings as Pietersen again looks to be running out of partners fast.

Broad fails to get off the mark. Anderson is out four two as Pietersen runs out of partners for the second time in the match on 54 not out. England crumbling to 123 all out and an innings and 27 run defeat.

England Man of the Match - Pietersen, he looked in good form with the bat but was let down twice by his team.
Other Notable Mentions - Swann
Poor Game - Strauss, Vaughan, Trott

[Chasjs]

Nobody say the 'W' word.

[Imager36]

Nobody say the 'W' word.

Don't worry, you won't get w**********. Although it isn't looking promising for a win after all this build up

[Chasjs]

Third Test

In the lead up to the third Test the England side came under heavy fire from the media. The batting lineup was again called into question. After two poor Tests Vaughan and Trott were the focus of the media attention. Many called for Vaughan to be dropped and Bell or Bopara to be given a chance.

There was a rumour, though that Cobb could be in line to start his second Test. When the teamsheets were revealed at the start of the third Test many were suprised. Not by the inclusion of Cobb in place of Vaughan, but Bresnan being dropped in favour of Woakes.

However, this should not be suprising with England needing to win two ouut of three Tests, minimum to retain the Ashes and Bresnan not fufilling his role of taking wickets or batting particularly well the selectors turned to Woakes. The batting order has also changed with Trott batting at 3 and Cobb at 5. The Aussies make one change, the fast bowler Tait coming in for Butterworth.

With Australia requiring a win to reclaim the Ashes the captain walk out to the middle. Australia win the toss and choose to bat.

[Chasjs]

England look to take early wickets but the first departure is Katich, retired hurt by a Broad bouncer on 15. Despite that early slice of bad luck the Australians progress strongly until the cusp of lunch when Woakes picks up his first Test wicket bowling Ponting for 36. Broad proves expensive in the afternoon session as Hughes accelerates to 3 figures.

However, he picks up the wicket of Clarke for 41 before tea, caught on the boundary going for another big shot. Hughes makes 125 but edges Swann to Flintoff at short leg after tea. Swann then gets Jaques for 11 before the new ball is taken. But England fail to take wickets with the new ball as Australia finish the day 355/4 with Hussey on 91. He reaches his century in no time at all the next day as Australia cruise to a big total.

Haddin is the next wicket to fall, bowled for 57 by Broad. Hussey is eventually out, trapped lbw by Swann, but only after he ammassed 209 runs off 259 balls. Anderson picks up the wicket of Johnson next over for 48. He then continues to wrap up the tail giving Australia a total of 579.
England don't get off to the best of starts losing their top three in the last session of day 2. The next morning doesn't go much better and England lose the wickets of Pietersen, Cobb and Flintoff.

Swann departs early after lunch but Ambrose and Broad manage to bat out the session. The pair bat well seeing out most of the last session of the day before Tait traps Ambrose lbw for a battling 58 that took him 221 balls to get. Broad reaches his 50 off 152 balls as he and Woakes bat out the final overs of the day with England still 112 runs away from avoiding the follow-on with 8 wickets down. Woakes edges to the slips early on day 4 but is dropped. Two balls later he does the same again, this time held. Broad is out soon after for 65.

England all out for 287. Australia force the follow-on. Englands only hope being the forecast of a washout on day 5 but that would still leave them 4 hours and 21 minutes left to bat in the day.

[Chasjs]

England start badly, Strauss out second ball. Siddle picks up his second not long later, Trott caught and bowled. Pietersen plays his normal way, feeling the best form of defense is a very good offense. He hits his 50 off 50 balls as England survive until lunch.

Cook is clearly not of that thinking, making just 9 runs off the 62 balls he faced in the morning session. Pietersen goes onto three figures with ease. His second 50 coming a little slower needing 68 balls. Cook, meanwhile, acts as the tortoise to Pietersen's hare with 37 off 169 balls. He out out bowled thrid ball after tea though with Siddle striking again. Cobb makes just 16. Pietersen bats out most of the session but is trapped lbw by Tait on 148 with 4 overs left in the day. Ambrose is run out in the penultimate over of the day leaving the Aussies 4 wickets from victory. Some play is lost the next morning through rain. England lose Flintoff, Swann and Woakes before lunch leaving the Aussies 1 wicket from clinching the Ashes and England 18 runs behind.

Most of the afternoon session is washed out cutting it to 25 minutes. England reach tea for no further loss with now an 8 run deficit. Only 49 minutes lost in the final session leaving England over an hour to bat out. Anderson becomes the last England wicket to fall with 13 overs left in the day as Australia win by an innings and 4 runs to reclaim the Ashes.

England all out for 288, only 1 run more than they got in the first innings, after collapsing from 175-2.

England Man of the Match - Pietersen, great second innings knock, if only he could've carried it on a bit longer.
Other Notable Mentions - Broad, Ambrose
Poor Game - Flintoff, Strauss, Trott

[Tom Guntrip]

Unlucky mate, good thing Woakes and Cobb are young.

Freddie retires in 2014 for me.

[Chasjs]

Fourth Test

With the series lost England choose to give Davies a game. His form hasn't been to bad and could be England's man behind the stumps for the World Cup if he impresses in these Tests.

Rashid also gets his chance in place of Swann. After 3 poor Tests Trott was dropped. Bell and Collingwood were considered but in the end Bopara was picked to come in at 3. Australia make one change, the injured Katich dropping out and being replaced by Rogers with Jaques moving to the top of the order.

England win the toss and choose to bat.
England lose Cook in the first hour but reach lunch for no further loss. Bopara and Strauss both reach 50 soon after the break. The pair score quickly in the afternoon with Bopara reaching his century.

Strauss joins him on 3 figures as the partnership passes 200. It reaches 255 before it is broken with Strauss out for 135. Pietersen makes 16 but loses his wicket before the close leaving England 328/3 and Bopara still there on 156. Bopara goes on to make his first Test double century before lunch. Cobb goes on to make his first Test century.

Bopara makes 295 but chips the ball up back to the bowler in the final session of day 2. Cobb makes 153 before edging to the keeper on the morning of day 3. Flintoff falls in the 90s, out for 95. England start to lose wickets, Rashid makes 1 and Davies plays well for his 41. Englands tail add a few more runs pushing the total up to 821.

[Chasjs]

Australia lose just one wicket before the end of day 3, Hughes for 11. The next wicket to fall is Jaques but only after he notched up 118. Rashid gets Ponting for 78 the very next over. Rashid picks up a further 2 wickets before the new ball is taken, both the form men, Clarke and Hussey for 23 and 10 respectively. Broad picks up his second, Haddin for 81. He goes one to take a further 2 wickets in the last over of day 4. Rogers reaches his cenutry at the start of the last day. He doesn't last much longer, though, Flintoff picking up his wicket for 104.That leaves Broad to clear up and take his 5th wicket of the innings.

England enforce the follow-on but only have two and a half sessions to bowl the Aussies out. The Australian openers last until lunch. Flintoff gets Hughes(34) first over after the restart.

Rashid traps the other opener lbw for 36. He picks up Clarkes wicket for the second time in the match. Australian wickets continue to fall in the afternoon session with Flintoff accounting for Ponting and Rashid for Rogers and Hussey. Johnson becomes Rashids 5th victim just before tea on the last day with Australia 7 down and still 200 runs behind. Rashid continues after lunch when he traps his 5th batsman of the innings lbw, Clark for 15.

Flintoff comes back and it's not long before Haddin edges him to the keeper for 41. This leaves Australia with 1 wicket left and 31 minutes to bat out for the draw. Siddle and Tait get there as Australia finish their innings 216/9.

England Man of the Match - Bopara, a stunning innings with a strike rate of 65.26.
Other Notable Mentions - Strauss, Cobb, Broad, Flintoff, Rashid
Poor Game - Cook, Pietersen, Anderson