ASHES 2005 - 2nd test
 

here are the prices as listed by cricketbet

England Draw Australia 5.75 3.35 1.81 102.5% Draw Not a Draw 3.35 1.39 Does anyone give England chance, having seen Michael Vaughan on news , he couldnt possibly play with that elbow injury... could possibly be a blessing as he is not in any form. The big question is whether after the hype, if england are just going to chuck it in after one bad effort or bounce back.....

Apparently, the pitch is likely to be a bowler's dream, so if England wins the toss, it will give them a chance. If there's no further rain (which in England you can't be sure of), I'd say there's almost no chance of a draw.

sportz, heard this morning the pitch is still very wet and the curator said if he had sunshine and drying wind for the next 2 days the pitch still wouldnt be up to where he wanted it, also forecast for some rain

Glenn McGrath is out of the game. Injured himself in the warmup when he stepped on a ball!!! :eek:

You watch Kaspa clean em up ...well im hopin he does

just watchin the coverage the pitch looks very slow maybe itll be a warne type pitch

the pitch is made for Kaspa ..this is his chance ..

Backed England at $4.00. Wish I had backed them yesterday at $5.75 as I was thinking of doing. Damn! Anyway, the plan is to back Australia later on at $2+ if England gets on top today. I think we'll REALLY miss McGrath.

Slow, dead track

Possibility of rain

What chance a draw fellas

Yeah, certainly a possibility, which is why I haven't outlayed a lot on the game.

We've dropped a catch already. I don't think we dropped one at Lords.

Unlike at Lords, where we basically never lose, Australia has a poor record at Edgebaston only winning 3 from 11.

theyre droppin em in short of a length and the poms are still gettin on the front foot great pitch

Yep. I bet Ponting wishes he could have that toss decision all over again.

Well, how silly that prediction has turned out to be. Perhaps all of that talk about the bowler friendly pitch in England was simply to get Ponting to send them in.

Not to bad a result all things considered.
If the poms can score 407 on this wicket what score is reasonable for the Aussie batsmen? 600 doesn't seem too unlikely assuming no collapse.
Sportz's suggestion of letting the Aussies get out to close to $2 seems to be spot on.

Yep. Backed England at $4 and then got Australia at $3 at lunch time. As I said, I haven't outlayed a huge amount though, because I don't trust the English weather. Those that couldn't bet last night could still get $2 now about Australia.

This is the method I use for almost every Australian test. I back the opposition prior to the test at big odds. Then I wait for Australia to get into trouble (which they almost always do) and back Australia at over $2. I usually rule out the draw altogether, because Australia just don't tend to play draws. However, if I'm worried about the weather, I bet lower amounts. That's what I've done here.

I backed aust to win the ashes 3-1 as i thought THIS test could be the one they have trouble winning , Ponting is not HALF the captain as Steve Waugh was,sitting there and nearly fell off my chair when he said we'll have a bowl ,only result is ENGALND win or a DRAW.

Nah Aussies will win or it will be a draw. I watched the entire days play and i tell you that pitch is a batting paradise. Aussies will make 500-600 in 2days and warne will bowl england out. Warne was turning the ball 2ft on the first day so lookout lol.

Yep, i'm with you racingnovice.

Aussies can make 600 by lunchtime Saturday and take a healthy lead into 2nd innings - 200 or so. Have another crack at the Poms, all out by end of play Sunday. Leaving Monday to win at their leisure. At least thats the plan.

Updated forecast has heavy rain over there at the moment expected to clear by 10 am, in time for the start of play. Good weather then expected for the remainder of the test. Moisture levels and the related effects on the pitch might be the only concern.

I give england a real chance.... they have runs on board. All depends on Hayden and Langer , if they go out and play like they did on day one first test, they can leave too much work for middle/lower order.

No doubt that arrogance , not england are biggest worry, and ricky ponting is he tactically bankrupt??

600 is looking a little less likely after that first session.

Martyn should be getting to the opposite end any time now!

Reminds me of the Nag i backed in the fifth last weekend.

Same here.

$6.50 the draw on IAS, tempting...

$7.50 now on Sportingbet, not over yet but you'll work hard for it.

So much for 600, guys. Right from the first morning when McGrath went out, I've had a bad feeling about this game from Australia's point of view. Going to require some great bowling to get back in the game now.

What the hell was Warne doing last night. That's got to be one of the worst, most irresponsible innings ever!!!

Yep, 600 now looks very silly prediction.

They should and could have done it but as discipline said arrogance was their downfall. With the third test following so close to this one they could find themselves in a lot of trouble. Maybe the Poms will fall over tonight - here's hoping anyway.

Do you think that we get a little ahead of ourselves with the Aussie test team... I know that they are number 1 in world by long way, but england made 400 + on day 1 after being sent in to bat on a wicket which was expected to be under prepared the day before and everyone expects aus to make 600 !! Just maybe we dont respect opposition enough.


I was watching last night and aussie were into 1.80 to win test and they had scored 1/75 odd, still 330 behind at that stage... unbelievable . They may still win but dont think they are any value

I certainly didn't. I thought they'd do pretty well to get up to the England score.

As I said, I had a bad feeling about Australia's chances in this game as soon as I heard about McGrath before the first day. I knew how much that would lift the poms. Also, you must remember we have a poor record at this ground!!!

It's going to take a huge effort from Warne today for Australia to have any chance I think.

Should make a good nights viewing

Didnt watch the last session this morning, but saw a replay of warnies wicket, incredible, dumb pommies, when will they ever learn not to pad him away, i think if they get 200+ or 220+ its good night irene for australia, hope not,i want to see more of warnies magic.

Great start today for the aussies :). Poms 3-29 all batsman out.

4-31 :). Lee is on fire taken all 3 wickets sofar today. If england lose another wicket or 2 before lunch the game is over.

5-73 :). Pietersen is out unlucky but should of been out 1st ball. Going to be hard for england to win from here unless flintoff makes a big hundread.

Don't think so. They're already 173 in front. The highest 4th innings score to win at Edgebaston is only 211, I think.

Yes maybe sportz but your going on 5days tests lol. It could be over in the 3rd day.

A bit carried away in hindsight perhaps.

M.Slater reckons they held a team meeting immediately after the game yesterday to address some problems - good.

If they can restrict the Poms to 200 - 250, they could perform worse than they did in the first innings and crawl over the line.

Whether this turns out to be the case, well we'll have to wait and see. If they don't i think some players may need a short sideline spell to allow them to re-organise their priorities.

Poms all out 182

Aust need 282 to win in 2 days + 1.25 sessions.

Very do-able !!!!

Ever the optimist, Jack.

As I said, nobody's got much more than 200 in the 4th innings to win at this ground and I didn't think it would happen here either.

You guys will have to face it. This England team aren't the easybeats of the past, and we're not unbeatable champions any more. As much as I can't stand the thought of it, England are a definite chance of winning the Ashes this year. No McGrath for the next game either.

Australia finished off day 3 at 175/8. Needing 107 to win.

Winning looks pretty unlikely now. :(

Warne is on 20 with only Lee and Kasprowicz to come, I think the Aussies are done for.

Only 'pretty unlikely'??? Geez, you sure ARE optimistic!!!

Ok so the Ashes series is leveled at 1-1. :(

The refusal of Billy Bowden to raise the finger and award that LBW decision to Brett Lee is the worst umpiring decision EVER. :mad:

Not that it will have any real bearing on the outcome of the match. Australia's poor batting in both innings is what's letting us down.