Aw c'mon Doc, cricket isn't that bad, though I suppose people who don't understand the game and all its intricasies wouldn't share the same passion as those who grew up with and love the game.  What can seem slow and boring to the non-fan is gripping and edge of the seat stuff to the dedicated follower.... the on-field tactics and mind games ensure that it is always interesting.

Yup, Warnie has bowled over a few maidens in his time!  Didn't like that side of him (cheating on his wife like that) but he was/is a great bowler who could.. can still take a game by the scruff of the neck.  He will go down in cricketing history as the greatest ever leg spinner. 

As for Glenn McGrath, not only was he a fierce but fair competitior on-field, he is a decent bloke and gentleman off-field... a man who commands one's respect for his life's passion and charitable works, particularly after he sadly lost his wife to breast cancer at far too young an age.  Goodonya Glenn.

McGrath had the skill to stick every ball in exactly the same place...and lull batsmen into a false sense of security...

Warne had the skill to stick every ball anywhere BUT the same place...totally confusing batsmen...

Lee just hurts people...if you can't hit his ball...his ball will hit you...and it will hurt....

Brett Lee might be quicker than Glenn McGrath ever was, but he is nowhere near Glenn's level, skill-wise or tactically.  Still a good bowler, though the poor bugger keeps getting hit with injury and we may not get to see whether or not he can eclipse/surpass Glenn's test/ODI scalps.

I like the look of Peter Siddle as a bowler... he's more tactical than express, but his test career started later than most and his opportunities to emulate/rival the best may be somewhat limited.  Still, I wish him the best... he's a handy player to have in a crisis situation, and hopefully the opportunities will come his way.

There was a young chap called Ricky
Whose batting was terribly dicky
He spat out his dummy
And ran to his mummy
Claiming the wicket was sticky

Fuzzy....it's all a new ploy....false sense of security and all that.

We let you win a bit....

then....

  very cute...

Bollocks!!! They had to wait 4 hours for the tears to stop before they could interview Ponting on TV... apparently he was that distressed at being the first Oz captain to lose a Lords test in 75 years. Oh well, I'm sure the antidepressants and sedatives will have him standing in better stead for the Edgbaston test.

Seriously, the Poms played a pretty good brand of cricket in the Lords test, and that's a good thing to see... competitive games are much better to watch than when one side capitulates and it's a whitewash.

I'm starting my own team. This is the team captain.  We need more players.  Unfortunately, I know very little about cricket. What does she maen when she says she wants to show me her Googly?

Now that'd make cricket more 'entertaining'..

sounds to me like you want to bowl a maiden over and check out her slip....

...or stand in the slips with your legs apart waiting for a tickle...

Poor Punter, he really is a tormented soul.

He thinks it's unfair to be given out caught when he didn't hit the ball, failing to mention if he didn't hit the ball with the bat, it hit his pad on the full right in front of middle. That being not out apparently is fair...

I look forward to his retirement after this series

Same here, it'll be party time!

England Win 'The Ashes"

Feel Better now, Fuzzy? 

That little urn...

... is back where it belongs

Ol' Punter has a split lip... it's wobbling a bit now too

Come on England.......

Great win GUYS.....

Actually, the genuine, real, bona fide original one never leaves England and remains at Lords... even when Oz wins the Ahes.   It's just that when Oz wins, "that little urn" don't get dusted or polished as religously.  I'll bet, though, half way through the 5th Test it got a good ol' spit n' polish for the new owners.

Yeah, that quivery lip of his.... thought he was going to trip over it while walking off after being given out 'run out'

Seriously, Ponting was gracious in defeat and quite humble in his speech during the presentations.  Good on him!

I can't help wondering how the series would have fared if all the dodgey umpire decisions hadn't happened.

Both England and Oz had several 'clunkers' go the wrong way....it has to affect the rest of the innings....probably more so than any side would have liked.

Still, it's the nature of the beast.

At least when I'm 'judge of fact' in Formula One I don't 'get it wrong'.... - maybe I've been doing it longer than these Umpires have...

Congrats to the English .... better side won.

NEXT time...................................

En....ger........land........En....ger....... land

Flying home back to the UK next week for a couple of weeks rest after three years away in the US and it will be good to celebrate the Ashes win with a few friends............I miss the cricket and european soccer

True, but umpires are only human... thus prone to mistakes/errors of judgement... but at the end of the day it pretty much evens out... a poor decision is offset by one that goes your way.

Been doing it longer orright... that was you on the first bend during Ben Hur's renowned chariot race, wasn't it??