Thursday, December 16, 2010

Third ASHES Test: new bowler replaces Broad

The biggest question for England going into the third Ashes Test against Australia was who to replaced injured bowler (actually, all-rounder) Stuart Broad. Australia has lots of questions, and according to the stuff I'm reading, the chance of England winning Down Under is very rare indeed. So they'd really like to win this next one, which would (I think) allow them to retain the cup. I'm guessing that if they won this one, even if the Aussies won the next two for a 2-2 match record, England would retain the Ashes urn because they are defending it. Not sure, but I think so. I should check on that.

Anyway, so England chose the tall Chris Tremlett to take over for Broad. He's returning to Test cricket -- I guess he was a little flaky. And then on the first day, England won the coin toss, which is unusual in itself, and proceeded to take the field rather than bat first, which is risky, especially if the opposition takes a big early lead. The English captain was putting a lot of pressure on his bowlers, including Tremlett, to shut down the Aussies, but they aren't as tough as they used to be.

So far, it appears that the strategy is working. Australia only scored 268 in their first innings (the first at bat), which is rather low. So now England is up for their first innings. One question is Kevin Pietersen, the Man of the Match last time, who reportedly tweaked a hamstring on the
first day.

Well, we'll see.

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