Ashes 2021-22
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The Ashes is just like the Bledisloe. Massively overrated despite one side being almost eternally shit bar a couple of out of character spikes in performance.
Neither are top draw sporting competitions.
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@mariner4life said in Ashes 2021-22:
The Ashes is just like the Bledisloe. Massively overrated despite one side being almost eternally shit bar a couple of out of character spikes in performance.
Neither are top draw sporting competitions.
You’re kinda right but every now and again it’s awesome. A player can have a relatively ho hum career and do some amazing stuff in the Ashes and be considered better than he is. Andrew Flintoff is a prime example.
The only thing that stopped a 5-0 drubbing was the weather and even then England barely held on. They need a massive overhaul if they’re to compete at the highest level again. Beefy, Boycs, Gooch, Gower and all those other players from yesteryear must tear their hair out when they pick up the newspaper each morning.
But then again ( I think it was you who said it ) England have never been a cricketing powerhouse in our lifetimes.
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@mariner4life said in Ashes 2021-22:
The Ashes is just like the Bledisloe. Massively overrated despite one side being almost eternally shit bar a couple of out of character spikes in performance.
Neither are top draw sporting competitions.
I was thinking about this a lot last week.
The comparison works on so many levels. Cricket in England is a private school game, whereas in Australia it's part of the culture at all levels. So despite the larger population they are drawing from a very narrow talent pool.
If each country could set the conditions for a game and have distinct geographical field identities then the Bledisloe would be much closer when played over here. Maybe we grow the grass to 60cm and learn to play in that. Or just play on gravel. But either way we play ALL our rugby on long grass/gravel from now on, at all levels.
The ABs would still win plenty of games on our weird fields, but there would be times where Beauden just gets stuck in the long grass and our guys smash him.
THEN we can truly get the rugby equivalent of the Ashes.
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@mariner4life said in Ashes 2021-22:
The Ashes is just like the Bledisloe. Massively overrated despite one side being almost eternally shit bar a couple of out of character spikes in performance.
Neither are top draw sporting competitions.
Disagree.
The Ashes is one of the few series left in sport that are played with real stakes. Careers end, players/coaches are dropped, genuine psychological scars seem to inflicted (often on your own team mates). There is a huge gap between the typical post-series interview with "they were the better side in the series" like you get with the Bledisloe and "we need to overhaul the entire domestic structure of our game" or "we need to ex-communicate our best batsman" or "we need to sack our captain".
That combined with cricket being a sport that lends itself to nostalgia makes it a great series.
So less like the Bledisloe and more like a prize fight where there is serious trash talk in the lead up and the result guaranteed to either going to be a 12 round classic or a first round knockout and whatever happens the loser is going to go into a two-year long spiral.
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@rotated said in Ashes 2021-22:
@mariner4life said in Ashes 2021-22:
The Ashes is just like the Bledisloe. Massively overrated despite one side being almost eternally shit bar a couple of out of character spikes in performance.
Neither are top draw sporting competitions.
Disagree.
The Ashes is one of the few series left in sport that are played with real stakes. Careers end, players/coaches are dropped, genuine psychological scars seem to inflicted (often on your own team mates). There is a huge gap between the typical post-series interview with "they were the better side in the series" like you get with the Bledisloe and "we need to overhaul the entire domestic structure of our game" or "we need to ex-communicate our best batsman" or "we need to sack our captain".
That combined with cricket being a sport that lends itself to nostalgia makes it a great series.
So less like the Bledisloe and more like a prize fight where there is serious trash talk in the lead up and the result guaranteed to either going to be a 12 round classic or a first round knockout and whatever happens the loser is going to go into a two-year long spiral.
Harnessing your inner Gould there.
I enjoy the Ashes but it’s a long long way down my list of sport watching. One of the few series left with real stakes … that’s just taking the piss!
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@majorrage said in Ashes 2021-22:
@rotated said in Ashes 2021-22:
@mariner4life said in Ashes 2021-22:
The Ashes is just like the Bledisloe. Massively overrated despite one side being almost eternally shit bar a couple of out of character spikes in performance.
Neither are top draw sporting competitions.
Disagree.
The Ashes is one of the few series left in sport that are played with real stakes. Careers end, players/coaches are dropped, genuine psychological scars seem to inflicted (often on your own team mates). There is a huge gap between the typical post-series interview with "they were the better side in the series" like you get with the Bledisloe and "we need to overhaul the entire domestic structure of our game" or "we need to ex-communicate our best batsman" or "we need to sack our captain".
That combined with cricket being a sport that lends itself to nostalgia makes it a great series.
So less like the Bledisloe and more like a prize fight where there is serious trash talk in the lead up and the result guaranteed to either going to be a 12 round classic or a first round knockout and whatever happens the loser is going to go into a two-year long spiral.
Harnessing your inner Gould there.
I enjoy the Ashes but it’s a long long way down my list of sport watching. One of the few series left with real stakes … that’s just taking the piss!
I'm the opposite. It is my favourite sporting event outside Rugby WC. I love it and tend to agree with @rotated
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@hooroo said in Ashes 2021-22:
@majorrage said in Ashes 2021-22:
@rotated said in Ashes 2021-22:
@mariner4life said in Ashes 2021-22:
The Ashes is just like the Bledisloe. Massively overrated despite one side being almost eternally shit bar a couple of out of character spikes in performance.
Neither are top draw sporting competitions.
Disagree.
The Ashes is one of the few series left in sport that are played with real stakes. Careers end, players/coaches are dropped, genuine psychological scars seem to inflicted (often on your own team mates). There is a huge gap between the typical post-series interview with "they were the better side in the series" like you get with the Bledisloe and "we need to overhaul the entire domestic structure of our game" or "we need to ex-communicate our best batsman" or "we need to sack our captain".
That combined with cricket being a sport that lends itself to nostalgia makes it a great series.
So less like the Bledisloe and more like a prize fight where there is serious trash talk in the lead up and the result guaranteed to either going to be a 12 round classic or a first round knockout and whatever happens the loser is going to go into a two-year long spiral.
Harnessing your inner Gould there.
I enjoy the Ashes but it’s a long long way down my list of sport watching. One of the few series left with real stakes … that’s just taking the piss!
I'm the opposite. It is my favourite sporting event outside Rugby WC. I love it and tend to agree with @rotated
it's good fun - but India Australia makes for more compelling viewing these days. Partly because it's the clash of $$$ (India) vs Quality (Australia). And India have just got better and better.
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@nzzp said in Ashes 2021-22:
@hooroo said in Ashes 2021-22:
@majorrage said in Ashes 2021-22:
@rotated said in Ashes 2021-22:
@mariner4life said in Ashes 2021-22:
The Ashes is just like the Bledisloe. Massively overrated despite one side being almost eternally shit bar a couple of out of character spikes in performance.
Neither are top draw sporting competitions.
Disagree.
The Ashes is one of the few series left in sport that are played with real stakes. Careers end, players/coaches are dropped, genuine psychological scars seem to inflicted (often on your own team mates). There is a huge gap between the typical post-series interview with "they were the better side in the series" like you get with the Bledisloe and "we need to overhaul the entire domestic structure of our game" or "we need to ex-communicate our best batsman" or "we need to sack our captain".
That combined with cricket being a sport that lends itself to nostalgia makes it a great series.
So less like the Bledisloe and more like a prize fight where there is serious trash talk in the lead up and the result guaranteed to either going to be a 12 round classic or a first round knockout and whatever happens the loser is going to go into a two-year long spiral.
Harnessing your inner Gould there.
I enjoy the Ashes but it’s a long long way down my list of sport watching. One of the few series left with real stakes … that’s just taking the piss!
I'm the opposite. It is my favourite sporting event outside Rugby WC. I love it and tend to agree with @rotated
it's good fun - but India Australia makes for more compelling viewing these days. Partly because it's the clash of $$$ (India) vs Quality (Australia). And India have just got better and better.
I can think of many more classic ashes series than I can Ind/Aus series. Most of the time it's only worth watching when India tour rather than the other way round where the ashes is good in both Aussie and England
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@hooroo said in Ashes 2021-22:
@nzzp said in Ashes 2021-22:
@hooroo said in Ashes 2021-22:
@majorrage said in Ashes 2021-22:
@rotated said in Ashes 2021-22:
@mariner4life said in Ashes 2021-22:
The Ashes is just like the Bledisloe. Massively overrated despite one side being almost eternally shit bar a couple of out of character spikes in performance.
Neither are top draw sporting competitions.
Disagree.
The Ashes is one of the few series left in sport that are played with real stakes. Careers end, players/coaches are dropped, genuine psychological scars seem to inflicted (often on your own team mates). There is a huge gap between the typical post-series interview with "they were the better side in the series" like you get with the Bledisloe and "we need to overhaul the entire domestic structure of our game" or "we need to ex-communicate our best batsman" or "we need to sack our captain".
That combined with cricket being a sport that lends itself to nostalgia makes it a great series.
So less like the Bledisloe and more like a prize fight where there is serious trash talk in the lead up and the result guaranteed to either going to be a 12 round classic or a first round knockout and whatever happens the loser is going to go into a two-year long spiral.
Harnessing your inner Gould there.
I enjoy the Ashes but it’s a long long way down my list of sport watching. One of the few series left with real stakes … that’s just taking the piss!
I'm the opposite. It is my favourite sporting event outside Rugby WC. I love it and tend to agree with @rotated
it's good fun - but India Australia makes for more compelling viewing these days. Partly because it's the clash of $$$ (India) vs Quality (Australia). And India have just got better and better.
I can think of many more classic ashes series than I can Ind/Aus series. Most of the time it's only worth watching when India tour rather than the other way round where the ashes is good in both Aussie and England
definitely on the history and classic nature - hence my 'these days'. But England are weak at the moment, and even with the Duke ball don't look competitive.
India hosting Australia will be fun. India are very much the new kids on teh block, and it's great to see them stepping up and playing quality cricket
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@nzzp said in Ashes 2021-22:
@hooroo said in Ashes 2021-22:
@nzzp said in Ashes 2021-22:
@hooroo said in Ashes 2021-22:
@majorrage said in Ashes 2021-22:
@rotated said in Ashes 2021-22:
@mariner4life said in Ashes 2021-22:
The Ashes is just like the Bledisloe. Massively overrated despite one side being almost eternally shit bar a couple of out of character spikes in performance.
Neither are top draw sporting competitions.
Disagree.
The Ashes is one of the few series left in sport that are played with real stakes. Careers end, players/coaches are dropped, genuine psychological scars seem to inflicted (often on your own team mates). There is a huge gap between the typical post-series interview with "they were the better side in the series" like you get with the Bledisloe and "we need to overhaul the entire domestic structure of our game" or "we need to ex-communicate our best batsman" or "we need to sack our captain".
That combined with cricket being a sport that lends itself to nostalgia makes it a great series.
So less like the Bledisloe and more like a prize fight where there is serious trash talk in the lead up and the result guaranteed to either going to be a 12 round classic or a first round knockout and whatever happens the loser is going to go into a two-year long spiral.
Harnessing your inner Gould there.
I enjoy the Ashes but it’s a long long way down my list of sport watching. One of the few series left with real stakes … that’s just taking the piss!
I'm the opposite. It is my favourite sporting event outside Rugby WC. I love it and tend to agree with @rotated
it's good fun - but India Australia makes for more compelling viewing these days. Partly because it's the clash of $$$ (India) vs Quality (Australia). And India have just got better and better.
I can think of many more classic ashes series than I can Ind/Aus series. Most of the time it's only worth watching when India tour rather than the other way round where the ashes is good in both Aussie and England
definitely on the history and classic nature - hence my 'these days'. But England are weak at the moment, and even with the Duke ball don't look competitive.
India hosting Australia will be fun. India are very much the new kids on teh block, and it's great to see them stepping up and playing quality cricket
Yet the last entertaining test between those two in India was over 20 years ago. If India need a result they will throw up a dog of a track and someone like Joe Root or Michael Clarke will take six wickets, or if they fear a result it will be a road.
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@rotated said in Ashes 2021-22:
@nzzp said in Ashes 2021-22:
@hooroo said in Ashes 2021-22:
@nzzp said in Ashes 2021-22:
@hooroo said in Ashes 2021-22:
@majorrage said in Ashes 2021-22:
@rotated said in Ashes 2021-22:
@mariner4life said in Ashes 2021-22:
The Ashes is just like the Bledisloe. Massively overrated despite one side being almost eternally shit bar a couple of out of character spikes in performance.
Neither are top draw sporting competitions.
Disagree.
The Ashes is one of the few series left in sport that are played with real stakes. Careers end, players/coaches are dropped, genuine psychological scars seem to inflicted (often on your own team mates). There is a huge gap between the typical post-series interview with "they were the better side in the series" like you get with the Bledisloe and "we need to overhaul the entire domestic structure of our game" or "we need to ex-communicate our best batsman" or "we need to sack our captain".
That combined with cricket being a sport that lends itself to nostalgia makes it a great series.
So less like the Bledisloe and more like a prize fight where there is serious trash talk in the lead up and the result guaranteed to either going to be a 12 round classic or a first round knockout and whatever happens the loser is going to go into a two-year long spiral.
Harnessing your inner Gould there.
I enjoy the Ashes but it’s a long long way down my list of sport watching. One of the few series left with real stakes … that’s just taking the piss!
I'm the opposite. It is my favourite sporting event outside Rugby WC. I love it and tend to agree with @rotated
it's good fun - but India Australia makes for more compelling viewing these days. Partly because it's the clash of $$$ (India) vs Quality (Australia). And India have just got better and better.
I can think of many more classic ashes series than I can Ind/Aus series. Most of the time it's only worth watching when India tour rather than the other way round where the ashes is good in both Aussie and England
definitely on the history and classic nature - hence my 'these days'. But England are weak at the moment, and even with the Duke ball don't look competitive.
India hosting Australia will be fun. India are very much the new kids on teh block, and it's great to see them stepping up and playing quality cricket
Yet the last entertaining test between those two in India was over 20 years ago. If India need a result they will throw up a dog of a track and someone like Joe Root or Michael Clarke will take six wickets, or if they fear a result it will be a road.
Really? The last series in India was a cracker. Can't wait for the Pakistan series. Roads and dog tracks appear frequently, but often it makes for very watchable cricket. Well the dog tracks do. Not the roads.
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@hooroo said in Ashes 2021-22:
@majorrage said in Ashes 2021-22:
@rotated said in Ashes 2021-22:
@mariner4life said in Ashes 2021-22:
The Ashes is just like the Bledisloe. Massively overrated despite one side being almost eternally shit bar a couple of out of character spikes in performance.
Neither are top draw sporting competitions.
Disagree.
The Ashes is one of the few series left in sport that are played with real stakes. Careers end, players/coaches are dropped, genuine psychological scars seem to inflicted (often on your own team mates). There is a huge gap between the typical post-series interview with "they were the better side in the series" like you get with the Bledisloe and "we need to overhaul the entire domestic structure of our game" or "we need to ex-communicate our best batsman" or "we need to sack our captain".
That combined with cricket being a sport that lends itself to nostalgia makes it a great series.
So less like the Bledisloe and more like a prize fight where there is serious trash talk in the lead up and the result guaranteed to either going to be a 12 round classic or a first round knockout and whatever happens the loser is going to go into a two-year long spiral.
Harnessing your inner Gould there.
I enjoy the Ashes but it’s a long long way down my list of sport watching. One of the few series left with real stakes … that’s just taking the piss!
I'm the opposite. It is my favourite sporting event outside Rugby WC. I love it and tend to agree with @rotated
Not sure we are opposite - comment was really that @rotated piece sounded like a Gould pre-origin spiel! Origin wicket! Origin 6!
The only thing I really disagreed with was it being the last series left in sport played with real stakes. IT's arguably not even the biggest thing in cricket, with India / Pakistan perhaps meaning more things to more people. I'd take the Ashes over that myself though.
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@majorrage said in Ashes 2021-22:
@hooroo said in Ashes 2021-22:
@majorrage said in Ashes 2021-22:
@rotated said in Ashes 2021-22:
@mariner4life said in Ashes 2021-22:
The Ashes is just like the Bledisloe. Massively overrated despite one side being almost eternally shit bar a couple of out of character spikes in performance.
Neither are top draw sporting competitions.
Disagree.
The Ashes is one of the few series left in sport that are played with real stakes. Careers end, players/coaches are dropped, genuine psychological scars seem to inflicted (often on your own team mates). There is a huge gap between the typical post-series interview with "they were the better side in the series" like you get with the Bledisloe and "we need to overhaul the entire domestic structure of our game" or "we need to ex-communicate our best batsman" or "we need to sack our captain".
That combined with cricket being a sport that lends itself to nostalgia makes it a great series.
So less like the Bledisloe and more like a prize fight where there is serious trash talk in the lead up and the result guaranteed to either going to be a 12 round classic or a first round knockout and whatever happens the loser is going to go into a two-year long spiral.
Harnessing your inner Gould there.
I enjoy the Ashes but it’s a long long way down my list of sport watching. One of the few series left with real stakes … that’s just taking the piss!
I'm the opposite. It is my favourite sporting event outside Rugby WC. I love it and tend to agree with @rotated
Not sure we are opposite - comment was really that @rotated piece sounded like a Gould pre-origin spiel! Origin wicket! Origin 6!
The only thing I really disagreed with was it being the last series left in sport played with real stakes. IT's arguably not even the biggest thing in cricket, with India / Pakistan perhaps meaning more things to more people. I'd take the Ashes over that myself though.
OPPOSITE!!
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