Yahoo!7 Answers Australia

Brett Lee is on Answers! He wants to know: Do you think Australia will win the fifth Ashes test? Why or why not?

After a fairly disastrous, rain soaked start to the Ashes this year, we’re finally in an optimistic place. The scores are level going into the fifth test and Australia’s chances of winning the series are looking good.

The rivalry between Australia & England goes way back and funnily enough, it was an English loss that was pivotal to the history of the Ashes. Apparently in 1882 during a test at The Oval, England won by a devastating 7 runs which the British press coined the death of English cricket. The subsequent tour to Australia in 1882-83 was dubbed as the quest to regain ‘The Ashes of the Dead’. The actual urn was presented to the England Captain Ivo Bligh by a group of Melbourne women during this tour.

The urn isn’t actually the trophy presented to the winning team. Whilst replicas have often been displayed, vakayil k explains that: ‘the actual urn has never been presented or displayed as a trophy in this way. Whichever side holds the Ashes, the urn normally remains in the Marylebone Cricket Club Museum at Lord’s since being bequeathed to the MCC by Ivo Bligh’s widow upon his death.’

We’ve got a very active cricket community at Yahoo!7 Answers from the four corners of the globe who like to discuss all areas of the game. Will England rush back Flintoff? Probably, according to Shiny Metal Ass, and his injury fears are easing as reported by Yahoo!7 Sport.  What do you think was the reason for England’s defeat in the fourth test? Good bowling or poor batting? Roger Ford says: “A combination of both but mostly good bowling I would say. The pitch helped a bit but Siddle and Clarke were right on the money yesterday making short work of the English batting lineup.”

How about Ponting? There has been a lot of discussion about him being booed by the English crowd and many are critiquing his ability as a captain. Julia L says: “He’s our most successful captain as far the win percentages are concerned.! He has led his team from the front through thick and thin! And never lost faith in team. Many will call rate him an average or lucky captain. But whenever he had faced a crisis he was able to pull off miraculous wins for his team. Any captain who had to face a mass exodus of great players will do worse than him.”

Currently there is no rain forecast for the fifth test, starting on Thursday 20^th August. Tell Brett Lee – Do you think Australia will win the fifth Ashes test? Will Australia manage to secure victory or do you think England will be back on form? Or is a draw the more likely proposition?

Caitlin
Community Manager