Does anyone really TRULY believe that England will wrench away The Ashes from Australia? For all the people who don’t know what I’m on about, The Ashes is a best of 5 test match series of cricket that is played between Australia and England every two years. Very prestigious, to these two countries at least. Also, does anyone know where and when cricket was first played?
The Ashes return to the Old Dart?
Having sat through far too many miserable nights in the late 80’s, the thought is too horrible to contemplate. None the less, I know that London_Calling is all gung ho and might even spot me some acceptably generous odds.
I’ve heard the Poms think that pace is their best hope and we could be looking at a series on greentops, which might make for a series where the toss plays critical part with low scores and 3 day Tests if McGrath, Gillespie and Lee are all fit and in form. 
This post probably makes no sense to 90% of dopers, but having sat through umpteen threads on baseball, gridiron and ice hockey, I ain’t apologising. 
The Ashes will almost certainly will return to Lords as the odds on it are higher, so more money can be made by the gamblers. 
I’m not really too gung-ho, just dabbling in a little mild baiting before the battle commences. I imagine the inventors of sledging can understand where I’m coming from
However, I do think it’s going to be a very, very interesting and close Series. And the even better news is (in theory… :eek: ) the weather might even behave itself.
Bring it on, guys. Bring it on.
The Poms think that pace is their best hope? There’s only one batsman in the world that can barely cope with Brett Lee’s 160km/h rockets, and he plays for india
From here
Personally, I can’t stand watching test matches. But Alan Mullaly … mmmmm … [insert drooly smiley]
England have improved dramatically over the last year so it will be interesting to see what progress has been made.
They have claimed a couple of notable wins, the latest being Pakistan, and at Lords where they haven’t beaten them for many years.
The bowling has clicked just nicely, Caddick and Gough look very similar in their actions and can bowl similar delveries but Caddick gets the ball to swing very late and Gough looks just like the same type of ball but intead it skids and moves before coming up at the batsman.
This makes sneaking singles awkward, having to face bowlers that operate so similarly but with such differant results.
Mats K, please note the forum descriptions. I have just moved one of your threads to IMHO, as it was basically a survey. The only reason I didn’t move this thread is because of your last question. General Questions is for questions with factual answers, not surveys…so please take care to put your threads in the right forum in the future.
Lynn
Administrator
For the Straight Dope
I do hope that the series does not hinge on which Far-Eastern bookmaker has the deepest pockets !!.
As a show of Antipodean solidarity and with due deference to “She who must be obeyed” I’ll try to answer the GQ posed in the OP.
From David Frith’s Pageant of Cricket (1987)
The earliest known (English) county cricket match was Kent v Surrey in June 1709.
The first known reference to cricket being played outside Great Britain was in 1679 @ Aleppo in Syria
A John Derrick appears in Guilford, Surrey court records in 1598 as testifying to having played cricket when he was a pupil. Derrick was 59 at the time.
The earliest known use of the word “cricket” was a 1478 record in the French Archives, in a discussion of English activities.
There is a record of Edward I (Longshanks of Braveheart notoriety) and the Prince of Wales playing an ancestral form of the game “creag” in 1300.
Continuing the GQ answer in deference to Lynn’s request [does that make Cecil Horace Rumpole I wonder woolly?], try this link from CricInfo.
[sub]And of course we’ll win. Don’t count Damien Fleming out of the bowling equation either. In English conditions he’ll be a real handful.[/sub]