Those poor Australians have been dumped out of the T20 by Sri Lanka, so a record of Played 2 Lost 2 is not enough to get them thru.

This gives them a month to prepare for the Ashes, with no competitve cricket, how sad, my word, what a pity:-)

Well Puds just in case it becomes all to much for you or anyone else on BN1 .... ...the Good Samaritans are on standby....!
K.R.O

Is it a good thing or a bad thing though Pudders?

I'm sure they wanted to win and are humiliated by going out but it gives them longer to prepare, stay injury free etc.
Plus, I don't really see the T20 as competitive cricket that would relate to the Ashes.

You may be right but one thing I was thinking when we would have been out if we lost to Pakistan was that at least it means we can rest KP etc for the Ashes. We shall see.

p.s.
Anyone going to Edgbaston? We are, on the Saturday and Sunday I think it is.

Also going to the one dayer at the Rosebowl

Longer to prepare? Maybe, but to be on 'form' you need to be playing out in the middle, no amount of practice is a substitute for actually playing, ask any batsmen, the only place to get form is in the middle, not nets. As for staying injury free.........you can get injured practising as easily as you can playing, remember McGrath
at Edgbaston in 2005, trod on the ball during warm up, out for the game?
KP is his own worst enemy, as is Flintoff, neither of them were 100% yet they still chased the almighty buck in the IPL rather than resting and/or regaining fitness.

This will be the first time in the last 4 Ashes series that I will not be at Edgbaston for at least 1 of the 5 days, favorite being the year we had them 80 odd for 8 at lunch on the first day (1997 l think), then Nassar and Thorpe put them to the sword on the Friday. I did both of those days and still wonder how I got home on the evenings

Must have taken him hours to type all these profound thoughts!