As the Ashes crawls ever nearer and the blogosphere finds itself awash with pre-ashes speculation and intrigue, I thought "what the hell?" - why not join in? So I thought I'd identify and break down some of the key rivalries, old and new, that are bound to flare up this Australian summer. Tell me what you think:
Ponting vs. Strauss - the battle of the toss returns. If only Ponting can win one this time.
Hauritz vs. Strauss - My Lord has a habit of taking the England captain's wicket. If it's the only wicket he takes this summer (and it probably will be) I'll still be happy ... ish.
Hauritz vs. Doherty - the new young gun and the guy nobody wanted (except me); then they liked him for a bit and now they want him gone again.
Smith vs. Oblivion - the last "new young gun" that everyone seems to have forgotten.
Hilfenhaus vs. injury - could be an important man for us, let's hope he can stay in one piece.
Watson vs. Clarke - nothing new here. These two generally fight each other for prat of the team. Watson is currently winning.
Watson vs. Katich - Simon is a bit of a brain box, Watson is a complete airhead. You do the maths.
Watson vs. none of the England batsmen - because he can't bowl.
Watson vs. the Aussie fans - we don't like him.
Hell, Watson vs. everyone - enough said.
North vs. Ferguson - the West Aussie captain will know The Ferg is just waiting for him to mess up. Voodoo dolls have been sighted.
North vs. the critics - he has plenty of them. Memories of the last Ashes series have long since evaporated, he needs to do well.
Ferguson vs. expectation - if (when) either North or Hussey cock up, Ferguson will be drafted in. The fans have put so much hope in him, nothing less than a double century and 9 wickets will save him now.
White vs. the selection panel - they aren't sure if he is real or just a figment of their wildest dreams.
Australia vs. England - you still need help there?
12 thoughts on this post:
I can't be the only one looking forward to Broad v Mitch.
http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/s29Z-NM-Vgg/UK+Sports+Pictures+Week+2009+August+3/_UyffoyyJ8V/Stuart+Broad
You can't really leave out Stuart Broad vs. his estrogen levels honestly.
I considered Broad vs. his nail technician, but really wanted to illustrate the divisions in the Aussie team so he got left out.
Howe Zat - don't send me pictures of Stuart Broad. Do you hate me that much?
Everyone hates you.
Oh, well that's fair enough then. Send as many as you like :-)
Ha ha! I do agree with all points listed here except Smith v oblivion. Everybody talks about him but he would go into the "v expectation" category ultimately. He has played well for Aus and he will continue to do so.
<3 Legsmith
Just saw that the majority of your readers thinks that England will win the Ashes??? Do something o_O
Somehow, I knew you wouldn't agree with the Smith one. The thing is, I haven't noticed anyone mentioning him of late. It's all been Doherty and O'Keefe and get rid of Hauritz, of course.
And that's not my poll, it was set up by the guys over at world cricket watch. They asked different sites to put it up so they could get as much response as possible. It's close, but I also don't know how many Aussie sites put the poll up so it might not be representative of every supporter.
You could vote for us and tip the scales a little ...
Oi... I think you mean 'Watson vs everyone except Jane.' Even jrod acknowledges that only 95% of people hate him.
Sorry, I'll make the necessary adjustments:
People, it should say:
Hell, Watson vs. Everyone (except Jane)
Jane vs. Everyone on the subject of Watson
Is that better?
Johnson v his ticker?
I bet he wins. His ticker rarely does.
Johnson vs. his mummy?
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