Dr Gloom

looks like my predictions were spot on

can't see him working well with either owen or martins, plus £10m is far too much.

well we needed harmeson to get into a rhythm to stand a chance but he was all over the shop - that first delivery was woeful. still a lot of cricket to be played but the signs aren't good. we looked a nervous side that hasn't played a lot of cricket recently.

That's not depression that's called common sense. please don't swear in this thread

leazmag is a sad old wanker with dodgy views on most matters, but every board needs its trolls. where would the fun be without them? i wonder what blaydon is up to these days

cafe 21 is alreet

she's fit in the old picture. absolutely rank in the later one. it's all about women with curves tbh. fuck the skanky herion chic look

he must have meant competing to stay up. does anyone know anything about belgravia? was there wany truth in the rumour that their bid was on behalf of some oil rich arab?

i'm sick of roeder and luque

there's nowt better than getting the train home from london for christmas. coming over the tyne, clocking the bridges and st james gets the hairs on the back of the neck going every time.

the player is genius tbh

Watson... what a loss Bell, too much wanking? his replacment isn't much better tbh. michael clarke is piss poor. your number six is your weak link, just as wicket keeper is ours. i think you need a decent allrounder just as much as we need a wicket keeper that can bat and hold catches. Michael Clarke the weak link? He averaged just under 40 against England last Ashes series, which was terrible for us. I dont see how he is a weak link when he is more then handy with the bat and his fielding is superb. Can be handy with the ball (has an average of under 10 with the ball), so i dont know how he is a weak link... Besides that Hussey can bowl, he can do everything else. The bloke is a legend Considering the only Aussie batsman to average over 40 was Langer I think he did pretty well! By that i mean that Australia had the terrible series. So for him to averaged just under 40 was good, hence my point that i dont see how he could be the weak link. his test average is in the mid 30s. he looks vulnerable outside off stump. imo, clarke is definitely australia's weakest batsman hussey on the other hand could be man of the series. an average of 75 after 11 tests is pretty unbelievable.

i'm not so sure about ed joyce as a potential replacement either.

Watson... what a loss Bell, too much wanking? his replacment isn't much better tbh. michael clarke is piss poor. your number six is your weak link, just as wicket keeper is ours. i think you need a decent allrounder just as much as we need a wicket keeper that can bat and hold catches.

to be fair to ramage he has looked half decent at centre back. certainly not as likely to make a mistake as bramble. i feel a bit sorry for him being asked to play at left back. he's slow, can't cross or pass with his left foot and doesn't pose much of an attacking threat so he's always going to look shite as long as we keep using him there.

quite an achivement when you consider what they got up to on their nights out

maradona for me, but i'm biased because pele was before my time. there's no doubt that pele played in better brazil sided than the 86 argentina side that won the world cup. maradona pretty much single-handedly guided an average argentina to the 90 final too

we're better than that man. hayden, gilchrist and martyn are shitting themselves at the prospect of facing super fred coming around the wicket. Hope you're right and I'm wrong. me too. i'm sure our ozzie friends will bump this thread up for me if i've got it all wrong. i just can't help but think we might have the psychological edge over them. i can't remember ever seeing world class destructive batsmen like gilchrist and harden ever looking so ordinary. what was gilchrist's average for the last series - was it even over 25? i can't remember him making one score the entire series, crazy for a man who averages in the high 50s. hayden would have averaged 20 odd too if it wasn't for his century in the final test.

harper is an excellent second string keeper. i can't think of too many better in the top flight. cudicini at liverpool perhaps.

Correct and the fact people always miss when taking pleasure at one of our players being injured is our wafer thin squad. Any more injuries and suddenly you need the player you were delighting in getting hurt, or players needing a rest and you have no replacement. In our situation, with our resources its frightening that there are fans who actually think these injuries are good or even just not a problem. It also shows what a mess of the tranfer market we made leaving us in this situation...perhaps we should have had some sort of plan and it wouldn't have turned out so bad! Cue Leazes clubs can't plan, didn't you know?

we're better than that man. hayden, gilchrist and martyn are shitting themselves at the prospect of facing super fred coming around the wicket.

not a problem. n'zogbia for duff at left wing, taylor for moore at centre back. nobby for taylor at right back. milner for nobby at right wing. the rest as you were

why do you say that? the ozzies are an aging and unbalanced outfit - take warne out of the equation and they're perfectly beatable. a lot will depend on whether a 36 year old mcgrath has the stamina. all our batsmen are in good knick and we've finally got a spinner than can turn the ball. i fancy our chances. We will be fine without Warney, Stewie will still be around for a couple of more years after Warne retires and from there we will have a few of the younger lads coming through again. Aaron Heal from the Warriors has already taken 15 wickets this season at the WACA ground out of all grounds! Culls is on the fringe there aswell so we shall be fine. ...don't forget he's a year older now too and he's hardly played any cricket in a year. is his aging body up to a 5 test series? take mcgrath and warne out of their side and they're ordinary. if mcgrath isn't on song or misses a couple of tests through injury, they're beatable. McGrath is easily fit for the 5 test series, there is no doubts. So there is no need to worry about him in that department. Take both Warne and McGrath out and yes we will be starved of two very good bowlers however we have the cover coming through to take their positions albeit it not as economical as them nor as consistant but we will still take the wickets we need and score the runs we need. England are struggling with injuries, Aussies 4-0 you really think it will be that easy? lords aside, we outplayed you in every test of the last series and were unlucky not to win by more than 2-1. we should have beaten you at old trafford and probably would have won at the oval if a day wasn't lost to rain. now that watson is injured i think you'll miss a trick if you go with a shorter tail but sacrifice a bowler. you struggled to bowl us out last time with just the three seamers. warne is a genius but he can't do it all on his own we're going to miss simon jones and vaughn. a mentally fit trescothick would have helped the top order but it's better that he's gone because his forms been shite since the ashes. our number six could win us the series. michael clarke and shane watson aren't in the same league as super fred tbh. i'd still say your slight favourites to win but i can't see it being a whitewash. i'll say 2-1 to the convicts, but i expect us to reclaim the ashes next time we play in england if warne and mcgrath aren't around.