Re: SUPER ENGLAND ASHES TOUR : Sat Nov 27, 2010 6:08 pm
I'm not sure why people are calling this a freak partnership between Hussey and Haddin. One enduring characteristic of all Australian sides, whether they have been great ones or just good ones, is that when they are in trouble, somebody usually comes to the party and digs in. Usually it is one of the specialist batsmen, plus somebody from lower down the order supporting them. Back when I started watching cricket it would be Border with Healy or a bowler like Lawson or Hughes digging in in support, then in the later era it would be Steve Waugh and Gilchrist or Warne / Gillespie. This happened when we won at Lords last year when Clarke got in and Haddin supported him and what should have been an easy victory turned into a nervous final day because they put on about 200. In fact even in the last Test which won us the Ashes I remember Hussey and Haddin doing this to make us sweat a bit.
I am sure we will see some more of these partnerships through the series, that said I wouldn't be surprised if you get something like this from England at some point as well, when the Aussies think they have got us on the ropes and then Broad, Swann and Anderson put on 120 or so between them.
I think these sides are fairly evenly matched and there will be times when the Aussies are on top (like now) and times when we are on top, to win the Ashes we have to make sure the times the Aussies are on top we frustrate them and get away with a draw, we got out of tight spots in Pretoria and Cape Town last year and escaped with draws which really should have been defeats, and we did it at Cardiff against the Aussies which ultimately was crucial. We need to try and bat through tomorrow for the loss of only 4 or 5 wickets, if we finish tomorrow on say 350/5 then that will mean the Aussies are going to start the final day under pressure because we can take the game away from them in a session or so.
) thats knows they will lose, so he doesn`t care ( 
