Maidens Review: Ashes Test 2-England v Australia

England have totally destroyed Australia to take a 2-0 lead in the Ashes series by 347 runs, in a test dominated by a newcomer Joe Root, who made 180 runs in the second innings. Australia used to be a dominant force back in the day when team lineups included the likes of Steve and Mark Waugh, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and the list goes on. Back in 2007 Australia thrashed England in that years Ashes series. How times have changed.

First innings by England at the start looked shaky, but thanks to Ian Bells spell, he produced a stunning tally which England made 234 runs. Slightly comfortable but Australia had a chance to make use of a good pitch. However, the tourists made 128 in the first innings, and 235 in the second innings but could not match Englands unpresidented 234 then 349-7 declared.

Graeme Swann and Jimmy Anderson each created important dismisals, but the young Joe Root also contributed hugely to Englands successful Ashes series so far. I must say Australia were unlucky at times regarding decisions made against some dismisals, there were several reviews which were wrong but having that being said, it was highly unlikely that the Ausies would catch the overall target of 583. Michael Clarke said his sides batting wasn't to par and will use the extra weeks break before the next test at Old Trafford, Manchester; to improve the batting quality-"We must improve". Indeed so, England has a strong experience squad-Ian Bell, Graeme Swann, Kevin Pieterson, Matt Prior, Johnathon Trott, Jimmy Anderson and Alastair cook has has a few good years test experience and have won past Ashes tests before the current series. Australia has a very young squad, with Michael Clarke (Captain) being around for years with the likes of Shane Watson and Peter Siddle, the most experienced in the team. They will come back strong if they play their cards right, it isn't over yet and they could fight back.

More blog posts to come, keep an eye out.

HS2's costs spiralling out of control.

High Speed Rail 2 was originally predicted to cost over £30 billion, including the spur towards the North of England towards Manchester and Leeds. But the London to Birmingham/Macnhester and Leeds route is now predicted to reach £50 billion, and according to Newsnight when they did a feature on HS2 (17th July 2013), the eventual cost could even hit £70 billion.

The whole purpose of the high speed rail route is to easy capacity on lines such as the West Coast Main Line, and provide a faster journey between London and three major cities. The trains could reach 250mph, almost as fast as a Bugatti Veyron, but the overall flaws of the route are overweighing the postitives. As mentioned in a previous blogpost, the line would require to use tunnels under the countryside, cut throughs peoples homes and other land, which is causing a lot of controversy.

The first stage of the route would go from London to Birmingham, seving Birmingham Airport and Heathrow. However, peoples viewpoints are that the route would need to see more stations installed along the route, in order to generate customer and overall return in investment, as well as ease congestion on the West Coast Main Line. According to HS2 board members, the UK could not do without HS2, so they are maintaing a strong case for the line.

Most people are sceptics; the line is too expensive and with increasing predicted costs, it is unlikely to see an a return or break even. For every pound spent on the route, apparently more will be gained through ticket sales, which means that for every pound, there will be some profit. But this may not be the case; for every pound spent, the total spendage could like be half of that, meaning that HS2 could be proved useless. This will be a contunuing debate for many years running, some people are on the fence with this project, meaning they have no idea whether to back the scheme or not. We will see in the next couple of years about the developments. More to come regarding this big project, keep an eye out.

German Grand Prix: Can lessons be learnt from Silverstone?

 

The upcoming German Grand Prix could be a crucial one for all drivers; after safety concerns at the British Grand Prix, it is hoped that Pirelli's new tyre design is much safer with Kevlar replacing metal inside the tyres. After four incidents last weekend, the race at the Nurburgring will prove whether the tyres can last a race distance. Pirelli insist that the kerbs are not to blame for the explosions of tyres.

Originally, Pirelli were initially tasked to make races more interesting by making sure that teams and drivers conduct more pitstops, and this has certainly been achieved but to much criticism from drivers for providing too many pitstops. Michael Schumacher has described driving with the Pirelli tyres like driving on Raw Eggshells last season. It is a bad criticism on Pirelli, one of the worlds most famous tyre manufacturer. The German Grand Prix this weekend should be an interesting one, the tyres will be heavily talked about during coverage and commentry, and it will be intersting if any of the drivers can catch Sebastian Vettel up in the drivers championship standings.

In response to the safety issues, FIA has permitted teams to conuct 2 3-day tests, which would in breech of rules regarding in-season testing, which recently Mercedes were cleared of all but a slap on the wrist. It was reported that Bernie Ecclestone, the F1 ring leader asked FIA boss Jean Todt if it is possible to conduct tests which Todt gave permission to. With the Mercedes tyre storm over, it turns out Ferrari performed similar tests but obviously no investigation has been carried out regarding Ferraris involvement in any Pirelli tests.

The race will occur this Sunday (7th July) and Alonso who is second in the standings will hope that he can catch Vettel up in the drivers standings; there is a 21 point gap, and Vettel will hope he does not suffer with a gearbox failure at his home grand prix. Mercedes are looking strong this season thanks to Nico Rosbergs almost faultless driving, and Hamilton as a good supporting act-who could of won in Britain but tyre failure ended any chances of a victory. Tune in on Sunday for the race.