HSSB
Cancelled
- Banned
- #1
The 3rd Ashes Test – Australia vs England – The WACA
The Third Ashes Test will be hosted by Perth, being played at the WACA, which is one of Australia’s most beautiful grounds, the 22,000 capacity, the different time zone and the flat pitch are all things that make the ground great, with many in the Eastern states loving the time zone difference, it means they can get up late and not miss any action, and then have a few beers later on as the sun sets were they are but the action is still well and truly alive in Perth.Last Ashes series, the first innings was average, with Australia making 244 and then England only making 215, the second innings though was a lot more entertaining, with Australia making 512 declared, and Hussey, Clarke and Gilchrist making hundreds. Australia went on to only let England make 350 which meant Australia went 3-0 up in the series and won by 206 runs, unfortunately those days are over, a draw in Brisbane and being dominated in Adelaide means Australian Cricket is at its worst stage in a very long time, many have called for the spin king Shane Warne to make a comeback, but that was shot down by Cricket Australia, although a website has been set up which encourages Australians to donate money to Warnie for him to make a comeback, over $5000 has been donated.
Australia have bought in Ben Hilfenhaus, Mitchell Johnson, Phillip Hughes, Steven Smith and Michael Beer into the squad, while Marcus North, Doug Bollinger, Simon Katich and Xavier Doherty. The nation has been in shock with the inclusion of Michael Beer and some have even said that Beer is making the Australian attack more attractive. Smith and Hughes are both young guns who need to be playing in this series, and Hilfenhaus and Johnson have come back in with the selectors trying to find at least one player who can take a few wickets.
The English have lost Stuart Broad for the rest of the series, which may be a loss for them, and Tremlett being the likely inclusion to the side. England did lose some of their momentum in the recent tour match against Victoria though, in the second innings, Cook was out for 10, Collingwood for 8, and Bell making 17, it was only a tour match but they would have expected a lot more from themselves.
This test match looks to be a cracker with Australia probably having their best side of the series and gunning to equal the series, and England with a lot to play for and if they win this, they will keep the Ashes in England.
Teams:
Australia:
Shane Watson
Phillip Hughes
Ricky Ponting (capt)
Michael Clarke
Michael Hussey
Brad Haddin (wk)
Steven Smith
Mitchell Johnson
Ryan Harris
Peter Siddle
Michael Beer
Ben Hilfenhaus
In:
Hilfenhaus
Beer
Johnson
Smith
Hughes
Out:
Bollinger
Katich
Doherty
North
England:
Andrew Strauss (c)
Alastair Cook
Jonathon Trott
Kevin Pietersen
Paul Collingwood
Ian Bell
Matthew Prior
Chris Tremlett/Tim Bresnan
Graeme Swann
Steven Finn
James Anderson
In: Chris Tremlett/Tim Bresnan
Out: Stuart Broad
ESPN Cricinfo Live Scores
Cricket Australia
Weather according to OzWeather:
Thursday
17° 32°
Partly cloudy.
Friday
16 °31°
Sunny.
Saturday
15° 31°
Sunny.
Sunday
16° 32°
Partly cloudy.
(No weather for Monday yet)
BetFair Odds:
Australia $2.78
England $2.74
Draw $3.60
. If they can hold off the bowling attack, England will do well (on reflection it may come down to how Australia bats today).
