England all-rounder Stuart Broad has revealed that he has no concerns over what was said between England and Australia players on the field during the first test but he was critical of some of the off-the field talk from the Australians.

England suffered a humiliating defeat by 381 runs in the first Ashes test at Brisbane with their batsmen failing miserably to cope with the short bowling of Mitchell Johnson in particular.

As well as the aggressive short pitched bowling there was also a torrent of sledging which clearly unsettled some of the England players but, for Broad, the on the field verbals are all part of the game.

“I think the on-field stuff has been fine,” the 27 year old said. “You’re playing in an Ashes Test match – you expect it to be tough. I grew up hearing all sorts of stories about ‘sledging’, and on the field I don’t think a line’s been crossed.”

In the aftermath of the first test defeat England’s Jonathan Trott has left the tour citing a stress related illness but before his departure was announced, Australia batsman David Warner was critical of his performance.

For Broad, taking criticism of individual opposition players off the field is a step too far and he would certainly not expect that from his England side.

“Off the field, there have been some mistakes made,” Broad said. “As an England side, we pride ourselves on how we conduct ourselves when talking about the opposition, because you never know what’s going on in their changing rooms and lives,” he added.

Australia will certainly go into the second test buoyed by their dominance at Brisbane but fans know that England still have the quality to turn the series round.

If Broad and his teammates can use the Australians’ on and off the field comments as motivation to lift their game ahead of the second test at Adelaide on 5th December then they could upset the Ashes betting odds and breathe life into the series.

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Graeme Swann (Eng)

14

64

25.96

54.0

64.29

2

3

Dale Steyn (SA)

11

60

21.41

39.0

45.45

4

2

James Anderson (Eng)

12

57

22.96

48.7

58.33

2

3

Morne Morkel (SA)

11

49

24.06

47.4

45.45

4

2

Zaheer Khan (India)

09

47

21.97

39.8

66.67

1

2

Steven Finn (Eng)

11

46

26.23

39.7

66.67

1

Harbhajan Singh (India)

12

43

40.69

85.3

50.00

3

3

Mitchell Johnson (Aus)

11

40

34.17

57.1

54.55

1

4

Mohammad Amir (Pak)

07

33

22.33

45.7

28.57

0

5

Mohammad Asif (Pak)

08

33

27.36

55.1

25.00

0

6

Glossary:
Win % = Percentage of the team winning when the player took 4 or more wickets
D = No. of matches drawn when the player took 4 or more wickets
L =  No. of matches lost when the player took 4 or more wickets
SR (Strike rate) = Balls per wicket. For e.g., if a bowler took 10 wickets and bowled 50 deliveries, his strike rate would be 5. The lower the strike rate, the better it is. Not to be confused with batting strike rate.

Shakib Al Hasan (Ban)

27

46

26.00

32.4

Ryan Harris (Aus)

16

40

15.17

19.6

Shafiul Islam (Ban)

23

32

31.56

30.1

Stuart Broad (Eng)

16

30

24.86

28.6

Abdur Razzak (Ban)

22

29

32.00

42.4

Doug Bollinger (Aus)

19

28

23.39

32.1

Ashish Nehra (India)

20

28

31.96

33.2

Graeme Swann (Eng)

14

28

18.67

26.3

Clint McKay (Aus)

13

27

19.59

24.4

Kevin O'Brien (Ire)

17

25

21.68

30.4

England vs Australia 2nd Ashes Test: 3-7 December
Day 1
I woke up when England had already taken 5 Australian wickets. Though later, I did see the wickets. Their celebration made me as jubilant as the score did. Actually, more. They were running all across the ground. The wonderful thing was taking 3 Australian wickets for just 2 runs. How often do you see any team at 2/3? And that too, Kangaroos at home? Can it get any better?

The Australians brought Harris and Bollinger in place of Johnson and Hilfenhaus. I would have kept Hilfenhaus, by dropping Doherty. It's not a rule to have a spinner, is it? So, when your faster men are way better than your spinner, why keep him?

The star again was Jimmy Anderson. He did not take as many wickets as Finn in the 1st Test but he was equally good. Today, he must have been tremendous. Stuart Broad has struggled for wickets in the Ashes so far. This is not something new, I expected this to happen until he took wickets against Pakistan and in the warm-ups. Broad and Finn picked up one wicket each today. Graeme Swann is going to take some wickets, as he is a spinner, bowls a lot of overs and he's good, especially against  left handers. But I don't expect him to do what he has been doing since he debuted - rip off the opposition. The UDRS brought controversies today as well. It may fail to serve justice but it sure brings the drama. The man at stake was Ryan Harris and he kept referring from the dressing room after been given out.

I was unsure about writing this post, not having watched most of the day's play so I kept it nice and short rather than stretching it out. Hope you are enjoying the Ashes as much as me. Until next time, take care. Goodbye from jimmymycrushie.

Brief scores:

• Aus 245 (Hussey 93, Haddin 56, Watson 51, Anderson 4/51, Swann 2/70)
• Eng 1/0

Related posts:

• England fights back on Day 2: The game is on! 
• Aleem Dar and Hussey leave England wrecked
• Centurians Cook, Strauss and flat pitch get England out of trouble
• England vs Australia 2nd Ashes Test: The Preview

Kevin Pietersen is furious at the pitch curator of Adelaide Oval, Damian Hough. He expressed it in person and then on twitter. England were forced to practice indoors due to rain which frustrated KP. He tweeted when it was about 4pm in Adelaide (5:30 am GMT):

What should a groundsmen make sure he does 2days out from a test match????

Cover the nets when it rains maybe???

PATHETIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To which, Cricket Australia replied,

SACA has put out a statement re rain 2day, 1st priority was to protect Test track, practice wix [wickets] then covered, normal practice 2moro.

Guess where they replied? Twitter of course. Soon, it will replace media conferences too.That time is not far away when team will be announced via twitter.

The England team will probably be unchanged unless there are last minute injuries. The Australian media suggests it's almost finalised that Johnson will miss the 2nd Test. It doesn't come as a surprise, since he got for duck, didn't take any wicket and dropped a catch too, at the Gabba. Reports say that Johnson missed Australia's practice session following a brawl with Aussie selectors who told him he wouldn't be playing at Adelaide. Though no wonder Michael Clarke denied it. Bollinger is likely to replace him. And Ryan Harris, notched his pace up during the practice session to impress the keen-eyed selectors.

Although Johnson was the highest wicket-taker in both Tests and ODIs last year, has a good record in Australia, I personally don't believe in him. His bowling is many times wayward and either he gets 5 or none. Johnson averages 27.61 in Australia, with a strike rate of 52.7. The only places he fares up better in, are New Zealand and South Africa. His worst average is against England, 41.05 while his career average is 30.08. That is an enough reason to drop him. During the 1st Test, we could see how sunken his body language can get.

I received a tweet from Adrian Duell (@RedL1on), an Australian, which said:

@shadds_criclova @Jimmymycrushie only England would be happy and upbeat because they didn't loose.

To which I'd like to say that the one who comes out of a hole is victorious. Sometimes, a draw is like a win. Obviously, this wasn't as much of a triumph as the Cardiff Test (Ashes '09) was but it proved to be quite a thumping for the Aussies. Most of the Aussie side and fans looked mashed. Aussie fans were a rare sight on Day 5 and the Australian team was down in the dumps in the field. Except, a few, like Ponting.

An English journalist, reports from down under, how the Austrlian media and fans are keeping up and it's a must read, Interview with the man down under: 1st Test

Cheers.

Related posts:

• England fights back on Day 2: The game is on! 
• Aleem Dar and Hussey leave England wrecked
• Centurians Cook, Strauss and flat pitch get England out of trouble
• England cricketers on twitter!