Thought you would be cheering for the poms Mr Prime Minister...

Are you ever gonna wash, pommie?

Tune: Rock DJ, Robbie Williams

How come you never wash pommie?
Is there a shower in your hostel?
When's it gonna stop, pommie?
We're so sick of that bloody smell.
How come you never wash pommie?

Is there a shower in your hostel?
When's it gonna stop, pommie?
We're so sick of that bloody smell.

Australia have won the toss and elected to Bat.

DB5 that's the real Tony Blair this is just a tarnished Proudly Aussie version. Down with the Poms.

won the toss and elected to bat ....Ricky Ricky what were you thinking of...first day at the Gabba and you bat

Langer caught off a wide on the first ball....

ha ha Tony...
They haven't looked too convincing in putting 20 on the board, but hopefully will settle after the first hour..

Last time we played the poms there they sent us in and we made 380 odd on day 1. Why wouldn't you bat 1st, give Warney last use on a turning pitch..

Good call Punter.

DB i guess so, with warney however we traditionally play teams in Brisbane to scare the hell out of them on a our fast bouncy wickets.

The pitch is giving something, hence the hit and miss that is going on now.

I'd have rathered seen us whip thru their line up and have them on the back foot.

IMO if they get the early wickets they get the upper 'mental' hand.

We have reached 50 without loss. 0/51 from 10 overs.

Whoever won the toss was ALWAYS going to bat on day 1 of the Ashes at the Gabba.
Tony, I am interested to know how you can be caught off a wide? Very interesting theory that

1/82
Hayden caught Collingwood bowled Freddie.

Langer 53 not out.

incidentally he wasn't caught off a wide, the ball was so wide it went to second slip

1/109 at lunch... Langer smacking shots all around the ground... could be a long summer for the Balmy Army if Ponting and Langer wreak havoc with the bat, and Lee, McGrath and Warnie do the same with the ball.

lockstock you can be caught off a wide delivery if you are stupid enough to play it.

I got excited, i'm trying to listen to the radio whilst attempting to look like i'm doing some work.

however, the phone and people coming in the door are putting paid to that! dammit they are interfereng with my cricket.

1/109 but by all accounts on the radio and i believe everything the ABC cricket commentators tell me it hasn't been a confident start.

tony, you say you love cricket more than basketball, but you sure as hell don't know more about cricket than basketball (and your bball posts I find quite insightful at times) if you think you can get caught off a wide.
A ball that is hit cannot be a wide.

Langer c Pieterson b Freddie 82

Ponting not out 28 from 31 balls with 5 fours

Aus 2/141 off 28.5 overs..

aw lockstock semantics...and I do know my basketball rules...backwards at times.

cricket is a passion forgive me if my passion runs away with my common sense.

both marto and pointing look in good shape, especially ponting.

Lockstock you can be caught of a wide when it is called a no ball. you however can not be given out.

or at least that is my understanding of my beloved games rules.

you can only be given out run out on a no ball.

Langer therefore could have gone for a wallop, the ball could be called a no ball (wide) and he could be caught behind or in slips but not given out.

If the batsman choses to chase a ball that is wide it is their problem if they hit/knick it and get caught if the umpire doesn't call the ball wide.

However my understanding if the ball is called wide (no ball) the player can hit it and be caught but not given out.

or am i being to literal in my interp.

TB,

You can't be given out caught (or in any fashion other than run out) off of a no ball (IE - if the bowler over-steps his mark).

However, if a batsman actually *hits* the ball, it is considered *not* to be a wide, threfore, if he is caught, he's out.

So even if they bowl 6 feet wide of the stumps, if the batsman gets bat on ball, it will not be called a wide.

Hoop Addict sums it up for me.

You can't have a no ball and a wide in the same delivery. And either way HA stares that situation squarely in the face and says F*%k off (not to you Tony, to the situation).

Back to the cricket.. cmon you Aussies. If Ponting finds form, the English are in for a long series. That would be Ponting, Martyn, Hussey all in top form, and my money is on Clarke making runs also. The openers will generally do their jobs. And then they've got to get Gilly, and then Warney (who can forget his antics with the bat last Ashes).

Aussies looking good early. But that's what it is.. early. Long series ahead

HA isn't that what I said
or am i just clear in my mind but not making it clear. here


3 for at tea isn't the start we should have had...langer gave a century away

don't know why i have to work whilst the cricket is on..unfair bosses believe me...oh i'm a cricket tragic.

TB,

I think this quote is incorrect :

"Lockstock you can be caught of a wide when it is called a no ball. you however can not be given out."

It's incorrect because if you hit the ball, it cannot be called a wide. So there's no way you can be caught off of a delivery that's been judged a wide.

Anyhow - despite losing a couple of wickets in that session, the Aussies are still cruising along.

If Hussey & Ponting manage to get through the 3rd session this evening and we end the day 3 down we'll be in fantastic shape to take the game away from the Pommies tomorrow.

However, if the Poms get a breakthrough early in the final session, it'd bring an inconsistent Clarke to the crease & could change the direction of the game.

3/293 off 70 overs.

Ponting 109 not out
Hussey 38 not out

20 or so overs to go..

Good desicion to bat hey Tony?
he he....

i'll grant you that DB5 I guess i just rather see us bowl.

no radio! no kerry o'keefe manical laughter!

that is just not cricket!
the bosses should just close the doors and turn off the phones and let me concentrate on my cricket.

Kezza O'keefe is the funniest man i have ever heard speak!!! hahaha cricket isnt cricket without him. He makes a fairly boring game interesting!!

TB, I think the problem in your interpretation lies with the fact a wide is not a no ball, they are two seperate things, so when you refer to a "wide (no ball)" your application of the no ball laws are applied in the wrong context.

But who cares, we're pumping them after day 1. Ashes are huge over here in the UK, I'm curious to see if media coverage will slowly diminish once we get on top. I was up at 6am this morning to catch the final 90 minutes of play, it's not ideal when all action is between 12:30am and 7:30am though. TB, you might not be able to watch it due to work but at least you can lock in a couple of days on the weekend, I'll have to wait till the Perth test before I can realistically see a good chunk of the action!!

billo I feel for you. I know last year my sleep patterns were disturbed watching the tests overthere.

I've never known test matches to be sold out for all five days in all venues before.

lets hope the cricket stands up to it.

with the no ball etc i'll bow to pressure here. I need to be correct in my basketball rule knowledge.

I just want to enjoy the cricket
Lets hope Ponting gives the double then triple ton a shake today.

And listening to Kerry O'Keefe is something to be experienced some of the jokes are funny, even funnier because of his laughter and the lenghth of time in telling between balls bowled.

Someone (#108038) has already posted about the CricInfo site, and I'd like to second that, if only because of the running humour in the ball-by-ball commentary.

Worth checking out, particularly for those folks (like me) who aren't within cooee of a radio or telly.

the aussies have fallen in a bit of hole.

poor Pointing 196 arghh Harmison I'm sure wishes he could dig a hole in the ground and disappear but Hoggard and Flintoff are hitting back.

Bo, agreed. Never have time to follow the cricket now, but used to love the text commentary. Would be a happy chap if the same could ever be done with the NBL - so much potential there.

The commentators on Cricinfo have a hilarious sense of humour. Dry and to-the-point. One of my favourites from yesterday..

"31.2 Anderson to Ponting, no run, jagged back into Ponting at 88mph and it cuts him in half. Will Luke screams "ball of the day" but he's missed half of them as he keeps sneaking out for a fag"

I saw Kerry O'Keefe at a gentleman's evening last year, and he is easily the funniest man I've heard speak. The man is an enigma.

thedoctor, I swear Steve Harmison is your twin.

Aussies win!!!

The only ashes the Englanders are going to get are from there own cigarettes!