2019 Ashes, England (etc.) versus Australia

[redebreck]

First day, first test.
Australia 284 all out (Steve Smith 100+)
England 10 - 0
England's bowlers struggled on the first day.

[Kev0909]

You say that but if it wasn't for that pesky smith... was 35-3 at one point.

Shame anderson had to go off injured too.

Need the batting to carry us here

[Kev0909]

I've never seen that roy stay in that long at all, he's shite

[redebreck]

Decent reply from England today 267-4.
Steve Smith dragged Aus to that total (284) yesterday, otherwise we'd be well on top.
Opportunity for England to take a 1-0 lead, methinks.
Shame Jimmy Anderson hasn't put in an appearance yet.

[Nineteenx]

Decent reply from England today 267-4.
Steve Smith dragged Aus to that total (284) yesterday, otherwise we'd be well on top.
Opportunity for England to take a 1-0 lead, methinks.
Shame Jimmy Anderson hasn't put in an appearance yet.

Australia got lucky with the ball change today too, they only managed to reach their total because the ball went flat and was doing very little for the English bowlers on a decent batting pitch for numerous overs. That had just started for Australia and they managed to get the ball changed and it behaved like a new ball, doing quite a lot, which is where they got the wickets in those overs

[redebreck]

Australia got lucky with the ball change today too, they only managed to reach their total because the ball went flat and was doing very little for the English bowlers on a decent batting pitch for numerous overs. That had just started for Australia and they managed to get the ball changed and it behaved like a new ball, doing quite a lot, which is where they got the wickets in those overs

how did they get the ball changed? cheating ba....

[redebreck]

Another England collapse in progress.

[redebreck]

Australia digging in. 182 for 3.
Smith 74, Head 46, Australia lead by 96

[redebreck]

Australia 231 for 4 at lunch, day four.
Smith 98 not out, Wade 15 not out.
England bowlers and fielders floundering.
Australia lead by 141.
Woakes hasn't bowled today - injured?

[Kev0909]

Play for the draw tomorrow probably i'd say

[Nineteenx]

Think Australia will put England in to bat for the last 10 overs of today and hope to get a couple of wickets, pitch hasn't been doing much, but Ali's been a massive MASSIVE disappointment as he always seems to be, and Lyon will likely be much better

Try and stay in and bat the day out especially with weather interruptions expected, a draw's the best England can hope for now, NOT going to score 400 full stop, never mind in a day's cricket

[Nineteenx]

Come on Aussies, declare, we all know you're going to put England in for at least 8 overs tonight

[Kev0909]

Wonder if roy will make it past 5 mins this time

surprised they ain't declared

[redebreck]

What a shit day.
1 Marquez wins the MotoGP in Czech Republic
2 Man City win Community Shield on penalties
3 England Cricket team

[redebreck]

Fifth day.
England 85 for 4, at lunch.
What a shambles.

[Kev0909]

all I've got to say is

Loooooool

[Kev0909]

Woakes showing the rest how to bat...

[Nineteenx]

Disaster for England, hopefully Archer's fit to come in for Jimmy. Really need to find a spinner who can relied on, Ali has shown time and time again he blows hot and cold far too often and more cold than hot and he should be thoroughly embarrassed at the vast disparity between Lyon's figures and his own with the pitch in similar conditions.

Everyone's lauding Australia today, but in truth it was made easy for them, England were their top strike bowler down which contributed to Australia's huge second innings total together and mostly with Ali's complete ineptitude. Credit to Australia, but, when you have a target that's practically unasailable and are able to play with so many fielders around the bat for every delivery it's going to be a hell of a lot easier to get wickets, could Lyon deliver what he did today with a total that was easily in reach? Absolutely not, completely different game, the openers can go after him, scoring heavily and quickly and he can't have 6 fielders around the bat, same goes for Australia's seamers today, they can't just constantly bang in short balls without 6 fielders around the bat and now Broad's pace has dropped 5 or 6 and with Archer unavailable England didn't have an option to bang in those short balls with fielders around the bat looking for anything nicked with the variable bounce. Having Lyon's rotating with a seamer also kept the ball fresher and doing something for longer

[Balinkay]

I must say, I know nothing about cricket, but this thread is entertaining as hell.

[redebreck]

I must say, I know nothing about cricket, but this thread is entertaining as hell.

couldn't find the "sarcasm" emoji, then?

[Balinkay]

couldn't find the "sarcasm" emoji, then?

No sarcasm here - it's genuinely fun to hear comments like "England have bottled it again", which can so easily be applied to footie.

[redebreck]

No sarcasm here - it's genuinely fun to hear comments like "England have bottled it again", which can so easily be applied to footie.

glad you're enjoying it - England cricket supporters don't!

[Nineteenx]

No sarcasm here - it's genuinely fun to hear comments like "England have bottled it again", which can so easily be applied to footie.

Lol wasn't a case of bottling it, main strike bowler injured and only bowled 4 overs, Ali didn't bottle it, he's always blown hot and cold and his performance against the Aussies in their second innings was woeful, England need to find a spinner who can be relied on to always be at least a 7 out of 10, if any of the seamers or fast bowlers were as inconsistent as Ali, they wouldn't be in the team.

There's also a hell of a lot of luck involved in cricket, Australia massively benefitted from the ball going 'dead' for 30-40 overs of their first and second innings, it's where and why they amassed most of their runs, when the ball reached that stage in England's first innings, it went a bit out of shape, so the Aussies managed to get it changed by the umpire. When this happens the umpire brings a box of old balls that have been used for the same number of overs in other tests for them to pick one, I actually think the rule should be changed on this and it should be the umpire who selects the ball, IE, selecting a ball that is in the same or similar condition but not mishapen. As the ball the Aussies selected looked a lot newer and in better condition than the others and it behaved like a new ball and got them crucial wickets at a time England would have been piling the runs on with little risk of getting out otherwise, which would have made it a VERY different game.

The thing with the box of balls that have been used for the same amount of overs in previous tests is really stupid imo, as the condition of the ball depends on the conditions it has been used in and how it has been used, so just having a ball of balls previously used in a test for the same number of overs is massively inconsistent. For example, had rain come today and rained play off, with today's ball having been used for say 40 overs, and that ball had gone into a box, it would have been in very good condition, because Australia were consistently bowling spin with it at one end, and because of the circumstances they could have 6 men around the bat, making scoring more difficult, so wouldn't have been bashed about a lot by the bat either

[reddownunder]

Have to say I thoroughly enjoyed watching Lyon rip through England. Its a big bonus for the Australian batsmen to not have to face Anderson for the next couple of tests too

[Martyboy]

England folded like a pack of cards in the end.....Have to agree with Michael Vaughan's post match assessment on Channel 5...'I fear for this England team this summer'...'The Aussies look to have the better bowlers AND Steve Smith'....:(

[Nineteenx]

England folded like a pack of cards in the end.....Have to agree with Michael Vaughan's post match assessment on Channel 5...'I fear for this England team this summer'...'The Aussies look to have the better bowlers AND Steve Smith'....:(

Don't agree they have the better bowlers, they've got a more consistent spinner, they just benefitted from having the ball changed in England's first innings and despite having been previously used for the same number of overs in a test, the ball they picked was in far better condition than the one replaced and behaved like a new ball and that changed the game as England would have piled on A LOT more runs in that period otherwise, it was that period when the ball 'went dead' after 35-40 overs in which Australia got the vast majority of their runs in both innings. The ball change was the biggest game changer for Australia in that first test, had that not happened, England pile on 450 plus, Aussies under the cosh second innings, England can have 5 or 6 around the bat on every delivery, completely different game

Not hard bowling a team out when you have an lead you know is unassailable and can put 5 or 6 men around the bat for every delivery, it wasn't the bowlers that were the difference, that was the situation, if any test team found themselves in a position like that and could have 5 or 6 men around the bat for every delivery their bowlers would have a field day

[Kev0909]

WHY DOES ROY KEEP STARTING!!!!!!!

out for 0 this time, normally lasts at least 10 mins

[redebreck]

WHY DOES ROY KEEP STARTING!!!!!!!

out for 0 this time, normally lasts at least 10 mins

oh dear, took me back to Roy Hodgson's spell here at Anfield

[Balinkay]

oh dear, took me back to Roy Hodgson's spell here at Anfield

Ditto.

[Nineteenx]

Lol Aussies enjoying the British weather in the second test, think the Aussies are going to win the series, lady luck isn't just smiling on them throughout so far, she's giving them a golden shower

[redebreck]

Lol Aussies enjoying the British weather in the second test, think the Aussies are going to win the series, lady luck isn't just smiling on them throughout so far, she's giving them a golden shower

Hehehehehe.....

[Kev0909]

Lol Aussies enjoying the British weather in the second test, think the Aussies are going to win the series, lady luck isn't just smiling on them throughout so far, she's giving them a golden shower

this one will be a draw i'm guessing

[redebreck]

The game has become slightly interesting.
Steve Smith, Aussie captain and their best batsman, has retired hurt after being hit, supposedly on the head, by Jofra Archer.
It was a short bowl, following another earlier short ball which hit Smith on the forearm.
Archer has been bowling at 90+ MPH.
I hope we might eventually, at some point this series, see Jofra Archer and Jimmy Anderson as our main strike bowl pairing.

[Nineteenx]

WHY DOES ROY KEEP STARTING!!!!!!!

out for 0 this time, normally lasts at least 10 mins

Out for 2 in his second innings with a woeful dismissal, then Root out fo a duck next ball, England 9-2

With Roy in this situation they should have just told him to go after the bowler and play it like it was a 50 over game, might at least get some runs on the board that way

[justme]

I have given up on England. they are simply dreadful

[redebreck]

Dear Lord, another shambles from England's batsmen.

[Kev0909]

for christ sake

[Kev0909]

Out for 2 in his second innings with a woeful dismissal, then Root out fo a duck next ball, England 9-2

With Roy in this situation they should have just told him to go after the bowler and play it like it was a 50 over game, might at least get some runs on the board that way

I honestly don't know how roy keeps starting?

the top order collapses every fucking time

Enoughs enough #royout anyone replaces him can't be much worse

at least play for the draw if we lose more wickets today, tomorrow..

[Kev0909]

Eng 39-2

What are you doing?!

Rory Burns goes for a huge, gallumphing sweep to Nathan Lyon's final ball, and he just places it between the two fielders that were there for that shot.

at it again..

[redebreck]

FFS, Parry

[Kev0909]

Oh dear oh dear, replace all the fucking "good" batters.

[reddownunder]

Archer has livened up Englands attack. Smith could have died from being hit in that area like Phil Hughes so I'm very relieved that he's ok. Barring something spectacular this one should peter out into a dull conclusion

[Kev0909]

would be incredible if we could get them all out, like a one day game today.

[Kev0909]

Roy made 9 this time!! GO ROY

[reddownunder]

Oh my England all out for 67. Shove your boos up your arse barmy twats

[Kev0909]

batting shambles as per usual, on a incredible level today.

[redebreck]

batting shambles as per usual, on a incredible level today.

I can't decide if they should sack all of the selectors or the players..

[reddownunder]

I can't decide if they should sack all of the selectors or the players..

There are some really poor decisions being made in the English camp. Roy as an opener doesn't work, Root at number 3 doesn't work, they're bowling Archer into the ground etc. I think the Aussies have done the better homework this time around but what is up with Englands batting? The Aussies aren't much better but is that the 3rd time in 2019 they've been dismissed for less than 100? Looks like they're all in 50 over / T20 mode

[redebreck]

England now batting again after lunch on the third day. Need 359 to win third test. Currently 13 for none.

[Kev0909]

Isn't this the longest parternship between these 2?

Lolz

(Currently 13)

Edit they made it to 15 before losing a wicket, wooooow

[Kev0909]

Jason Roy's average as a Test opener is 8.85 runs per dismissal, only one player in the history of Test cricket to have opened as many times as Roy (7 times) has a lower average: New Zealand's Ken Rutherford who averaged 4.60 from ten innings as opener.

FUCK HIM OFF ffs

[Nineteenx]

Well, much much better from England today after an absolutely dismal batting display yesterday, FINALLY remembering how to play test match cricket and that they're not playing a 50 over game, remembering what to leave and what not to leave and staying in and not wafting at silly stuff even if they've only got a couple of runs in 3 or 4 overs.

I think too much 50 over cricket has fucked them up a bit on the batting side to be honest, like yesterdays display, when a player got out, each next one treated it as though it were a one day game, playing silly shots at things like they HAD to immediately get runs on the board instead of the required 'toughing it out' and patience. They need to look at Labuschagne, he plays like a true old school test cricket player, leaves it on line and length, he scores really slowly, but he stays in and accumulates slowly and makes England have to play as less attacking field the longer he occupies the crease, although I don't think Root is attacking enough with his field settings in a lot of situations, like the Aussies second innings, as soon as Kawaja was out he should have been all over them but was too conservative.

Think with the bowlers we have and the bounce they can get out of nowhere we need to work on that bouncer nipping back into the body, just coming up into the ribs, need them to work on that ball for Smith and Labuschagne in particular as well as our plans to the right handers. The Aussies have had really good success with that ball and when it's right, because it's that extra bounce that comes out of nowhere, there really isn't a lot the batsmen can do about it, really really difficult to get hands and bat out of the way quickly enough, that'd be my plan for Smith and Labuschagne, close catcher right up there

[Kev0909]

This is very interesting need 73 more with 3 wickets

Oh fuck off, 73 with 1 wicket now

fucking openers fucked up this series, wankers

[justme]

England are just not gonna win a 5 match series with their batting. You cant be bowled for 67 and win a game.

[Kev0909]

Ben stokes is incredible, at least they've made a game of it justme

[justme]

No we are losing the ashes..

[Kev0909]

No we are losing the ashes..

?????????????????

I know but after the first innings disaster, done better than what I thought.

Never know miracles can happen but stokes is fucked

Another 6 40 to go

Guessing you'd be fun at partys god have some hope

[Kev0909]

THIS IS UNREAL

Stokes hits a 4 to make it to 100 runs not out,

Then he hits SIX

TWENTY-SEVEN runs to go.

HE'S JUST HIT ANOTHER 6 TWENTY-ONE

[toneata]

This is unbearable to watch.

[Kev0909]

This is unbearable to watch.

Stokes deserves this now, it'll be utterly destroying if leach gets out or stokes for that matter

(leach actually defending better than the openers lol)

[toneata]

The closer we get the harder it'll be to take.

Like the Aussies in 2005.

[Kev0909]

They drop a stokes shot get in

4 more afterwards, 13 to go.

[Kev0909]

Nine to go

[Kev0909]

HITS A SIX

TWO TO GO!!!!!!!

STOKES YOU BEAUTY he does it again like the world cup!!!!!!! what a player

2 more mind

LYONS HAD DROPPED THE BALL LOL!! could have been a run-out unreal

[toneata]

OMFG Aussie bottled it!!!!

[toneata]

Ha HA HA and they don't have a review!!

[Kev0909]

Ha HA HA and they don't have a review!!

incredible luck that was out just like in the world cup final with that 4!!

[southernboy]

Squeaky bum time

[Kev0909]

Leach gets a run stokes back on strike

WE NEED ONE

[Kev0909]

hes fucking done it

FINISHES IT WITH A FOUR

[toneata]

WOW fucking Knight him now, that's the best innings ever, surely.

Take a fucking bow son.

[justme]

fucking hell I cant believe this!!

[southernboy]

Fantastic final innings. Stokes bringing back memories of Botham. Great stuff.

[Kev0909]

Who said test cricket was boring !!!

fair play to leach too, lasted longer than our openers..

[toneata]

99 times out of a 100 Australia win that when Leach walks in to bat.

That was ridiculous.

[Nineteenx]

That was incredible, it was like the second leg v Barcelona at Anfield, the cricket world cup super over all over again, edge of the seat, heart thumping out of your chest action, awe inspiring, a brilliant come back together with some incredible play.

Leach not getting nearly enough credit for his role, not scoring except for the crucial 1, but coming in as last man and showing our top and middle order how to defend and hold down an end and leave the ball really well when it's tough to score, which is what all our one day players need to learn to do early in each innings instead of trying to come out blasting wafting the bat at things as soon as they're in like they have to start scoring instantly, it's test match cricket, not a 50 over game.

Stokes was simply awe inspiring, and on the flip side, in that situation his one day play and shots were absolutely necessary and exactly the time to turn it on and use it. He needed to be though, because his woeful call to Butler is what got him run out and had he not done that, there wouldn't have been so much onus on him.

England still have a lot of problems to solve, it should be pretty straight forward to drill the one day players in the art of leaving and when and when not to play and occupying the crease and letting the bowlers wear themselves down until their accuracy starts to wain. Roy's a problem, what to do with him? I think for a start, given how he's got out most of the time, trying to have him take a starting position slightly further forward, just on the edge/outside of his crease like Warner does for Australia should stop the Aussies bowling the length to him he constantly gets out from and potentially make it easier for him to score.

They need to develop better plans for getting the Aussies right handers out, Smith and Labuschagne in particular and Root needs to be a lot more aggressive with the field at times, especially when they're just in with a couple of wickets down early. Archer has a great bouncer that the batsmen can't see coming because his action doesn't change, but he gets it too high, it is nice to see the Aussies get battered around the head and imagining it's Rupert Murdoch granted, but when Smith and Labuschagne are just in he should get Archer on, get men around the bat and catchers close in either side and get him to bowl that inswinging bouncer that follows them, but around sternum so they can't get out of the way, it's too low to duck and they struggle to get their hands out of the way and it could well nick off the gloves or the shoulder of the bat. Couple of outswingers or balls bowled just outside of the stumps, them BANG inswinging bouncer right in there

[Nineteenx]

Need to be looking favourites to win throughout to get the crowd behind them at Old Trafford in the next test, we all know what these fair weather glory hunting Mancs are like, get behind the team that's winning, I've heard given their fickle nature there's even talk of the sale of a special reversible shirt ahead of the next test, with England on one side and the Aussies on the other, so the locals can quickly switch their allegiances depending on who's winning, just as so many swapped red for blue ;)

[redebreck]

Tremendous win for England. I hope they can move on from this - middle order and tail-enders showing the openers how to handle test cricket.
Jofra Archer could be our ace IF the batsmen have learned how to play test cricket.

[miller0863]

Thank you Sky for changing the 10pm highlights programme to an hour of Willis and Stewart talking bollocks.
Arseholes.

[Nineteenx]

Tremendous win for England. I hope they can move on from this - middle order and tail-enders showing the openers how to handle test cricket.
Jofra Archer could be our ace IF the batsmen have learned how to play test cricket.

I hope so too, there's been a huge lack of test match savvy from England's players, I think due to all the emphasis England have put into the one day game. A lot of them really don't know what to leave, when to leave or especially how to defend really well for sustained periods, they've been playing test match cricket like it's one day, the balls completely different and gives all sorts of movement you don't get in the white ball game.

I'd like to see the players 'get in' when they first arrive at the crease, you really need to do that in test match cricket, you can't just come in and start trying to blast away and waft your bat at every ball, really need to cut out playing ridiculous shots, they've got out so many times all series playing at stupid things that they should be leaving all day long

Look at Labuschagne for the Aussies, he's not spectacular, he scores really slowly, but he is a very good disciplined and organised test match player, very disciplined, the amount of balls outside the stumps he leaves and the high stuff that England's batsmen keep getting out wafting a bat at is unreal and a good example for them to follow, Stop playing at shit outside the line, stop playing at stuff up around your head, unless you are very good at playing those sort of deliveries and are already very well in and set

[Nineteenx]

In fact, just stop hooking altogether, leave the short stuff and practice getting out of the way of it, even Smith, when he's well in and the ball's dead doesn't attempt to hook anymore, the quality and speed of deliveries in test match cricket are just too good now, all our players should be banned from hooking in test match cricket, it's rapidly disappearing from the test match game for a reason

AND somewhat embarrassingly, we're in England for fucks sake, our bowling in the last test was pretty awful, it's Headingley! Every single test we play at Headingley we always bowl a little too short, it's a pitch where you have to bowl a bit fuller and it gets the results, it's all the Aussies did, bit fuller, bit of seam making the batsmen play, and yes, we need to make them play more too.

I don't know what the pitch does at OT, what the right length is, but we're in England, the coaches and players should bloody well know and have the bowlers practicing what the perfect length and line is ahead of the next test

[Nineteenx]

Personally I'd move Denly up to open with Burns and let Roy bat in the middle order or bring in someone more capable of playing test match cricket in the middle order. I'm pretty up for giving Roy more time to adapt

If England can strike the right balance between test match play and switching to one day mode when the ball's old and has gone dead they could yet become a truly awesome test side. Imagine, the required sensible 'grinding' batting in the early overs against the new ball when it's moving a fair bit and then having seen that off, quickly taking the game away from the opposition in the 30-40 overs when the ball's gone dead and really isn't doing much at all

[Kev0909]

needing to last final day, ausy's got chance to bowl at us today for 30 mins

already 0-2 lmao

[Nineteenx]

Well, the Aussies deservedly retain the Ashes outstanding bowling and Smith outstanding and with Jimmy missing through injury England sorely lacked any sort of plan to get Australia's right handers out throughout the series.

You have to remember that Jimmy has had the same devastating bowling and performance to right handers that Archer and Broad have enjoyed to the left handers. Jimmy does what all the Aussie bowlers do so well, put it's on the same spot with the right line and length aiming for the top of off stump off the seam and going the other way extremely consistently and England really missed that, with their inability to trouble and get the right handers out ultimately ending in defeat to Australia.

Poor bowling and fielding by England in Australia's first innings, very sloppy, missed and dropped chances and really should have had Australia out for no more than 350

I think England need a change of captain, for me Root simply isn't attacking enough, every test was the same, England got 2 or 3 very early wickets and instead of getting short leg and silly point in and 3 slips bowling at the wickets or short to nip up into the batsmans body rather than over their heads when they can easily duck and really applying the pressure and going after the new batsman Root relaxed the field and let them get a start and get settled every single time, whereas the Aussies and Paine kept the pressure right on.

Moving forward it has to be a worry for England on the bowling front, I don't really know about who's good or up and coming in county cricket who can do the job or something near it that Jimmy did and judging by the players tried in Jimmy's absence it would appear there isn't anyone.

Archer's still young so maybe the option is to develop and practice that line and length bowling inswingers at the top of off stump to right handers with the odd ball nipping the other way or vice versa as I'm sure it's well within his capabilities to develop that, I also really want to see him work on that bouncer to be nipping the odd one back in to the batsman's ribs at pace where they can't duck it and struggle to get bat and gloves out of the way of it, I think Archer doing that would be absolutely devastating, although you'd need a captain other than Root who actually has balls for that to work

[redebreck]

One issue for England is, how much longer can James Anderson continue to bowl effectively?

James Anderson and Jofra Archer as opening bowlers could be devastating.

Let's hope Jimmy has a few more years in him.

[Martyboy]

Pretty predictable 4th test result with Smith back in the Aussies' line-up....Despite the Stokes heroics in the last test England were pretty much 2nd best all series,it'll probably continue in the same vein at the Oval.....:eek:

[reddownunder]

2-1 job done. The difference has been Smith's batting and the collective bowling attack of Australia.

Losing Anderson was a huge blow for England as a pace attack of him, Broad and Archer would be quite daunting.

One wonders if Anderson has played his last ashes test...

[Kev0909]

2-1 job done. The difference has been Smith's batting and the collective bowling attack of Australia.

Losing Anderson was a huge blow for England as a pace attack of him, Broad and Archer would be quite daunting.

One wonders if Anderson has played his last ashes test...

One wonder if roy has played his last ashes test, lols.

Root 3 ducks is unacceptable, a great show of leadership, time for someone else to take the reigns.

[redebreck]

One wonder if roy has played his last ashes test, lols.

Root 3 ducks is unacceptable, a great show of leadership, time for someone else to take the reigns.

"Ashes 2019: England unchanged for final Test against Australia"

link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/49634736

oh dear, oh dear, oh dear

[RedNoodle]

It's almost as if cricket was a sport dominated by the middle-upper classes and as a result who you know/who you are'in' with matters more than how you actually perform when it matters. Colour me shocked!!! :rolleyes:

[Clungeman]

Pretty predictable 4th test result with Smith back in the Aussies' line-up....Despite the Stokes heroics in the last test England were pretty much 2nd best all series,it'll probably continue in the same vein at the Oval.....:eek:

I dunno, the 2nd test would have probably gone England's way if it hadn't been interrupted by the weather!

[reddownunder]

In good news for England Mitch Marsh will play the 5th test

[Kev0909]

Said on skysports Roy has been dropped?

no changes is wrong

https://www.skysports.com/cricket/news/12123/11806828/england-drop-jason-roy-for-final-ashes-test-ben-stokes-plays-as-specialist-batsman

[reddownunder]

Australia win the toss and bowl which is a strange decision. Think England will win this one and square the series

[redebreck]

Australia win the toss and bowl which is a strange decision. Think England will win this one and square the series

"Australia on top in final Ashes test despite Buttler's battling half-century"

[redebreck]

Australia win the toss and bowl which is a strange decision. Think England will win this one and square the series


"Australia on top in final Ashes test despite Buttler's battling half-century"

BBC Sport 14/09/19 15:45 "Stokes' half-century puts England in control"
"Tea - England lead Australia by 262 runs with 8 wickets remaining"

Wow, England could win this.
Pull their fingers out and get a lead of 400+.
Declare with a 400+ lead and have a day to day and a half to bowl Australia out.

[Nineteenx]

England comfortably win the final test, in truth the Aussies were marginally better over the series, but they had the pick of all their bowlers and were able to rotate, England sorely missed Anderson, but England's bowlers were equally as good as it was only Smith and later Labuschagne they couldn't get out cheaply, FINALLY worked out very good plans for both that worked well in the final test, too late though. Despite Australia being marginally better in 3 of the tests, England likely would have won the ashes had it not been for the rain delays at Lords enabling Australia to hang on for a draw when England had been much the better side.

England still have problems to solve, they belatedly worked out Labuschagne and got Smith with a well exectued plan, but they need better plans for Smith when they next contest the Ashes, having a fit Jimmy Anderson who does to right handers whats Broad does to left handers would be massive.

Personally I think they weren't anything like aggressive enough in trying to remove Smith when he first came to the crease, he settles relatively quickly, but he is very twitchy in his first few overs, he has all these superstitions and his spotting and watching the ball so brilliantly is massive for him, so when he's first in they really need to have a padded up catcher either side of him to distract him and make it harder for him to settle and spot the deliveries, a man where Stokes caught him today and for Archer and Broad to attack him with balls coming up into his ribs going across him that he can only try and defend, hook or turn around the corner, just don't let him get settled and get his eye in or ever get comfortable, he is vulnerable in those first few overs

Curran bowled well, but isn't suitable for Aussie pitches and I didn't rate him with the bat at all, he lashed at far too many that were leaves and got out way too cheaply twice flashing hit bat at anything and everything, I think they should bring Pope in as an opener and move Denly back to four

My main complaint about England in the field throughout the series is they took far too many innings to make good plans for Smith and Labuschagne, didn't try what in my opinion is a decent plan to try to Smith once and in general were nowhere near aggressive enough with their field settings and plans to 3 and 4 when they got 2 very early wickets in every innings and the Ausiies were under pressure

[Kev0909]

Curran was brilliant considering he's only 21, give the lad a chance.

He's going to be amazing if he keeps it up, with the ball at least.

Not sure if he's any worse than archer with the bat, lol.

[Nineteenx]

Curran was brilliant considering he's only 21, give the lad a chance.

He's going to be amazing if he keeps it up, with the ball at least.

Not sure if he's any worse than archer with the bat, lol.

He will be suitable for a lot of test match cricket, his bowling won't suit or be effective on Aussie pitches though (or South African or New Zealand ones), they're very hard and flat as a rule and you don't get a lot of movement for the out and out seamers. Needs to learn very quickly not to waft his bat at every ball wherever it is, was very disappointed the senior batsman Butler didn't hard a word with him when he first came in both times, particularly as one of England's key problems in the first 4 test was getting out cheaply playing like it was one day cricket when they should have been leaving a lot more.

Took them to the last test of a 5 match series to learn not to take on the hook against the Aussie attack because of the accuracy of their bowlers and the ball always being too close to their bodies and never really being there for the hook and as soon as they did that and started ducking them all and making sure they got their hands out of the way the Aussies attack found it far more difficult to get them out

England really could and should have won the Ashes on home turf even without Anderson if they'd started out not doing any of the silly things above AND actually won the toss a few more times as that was key

[Nineteenx]

I think for any relatively new young batsman the opposition don't have very much experience of Labuschagne is the perfecgt example of how they should set out, very solid defence, really good at leaving on line and length, let the ball come on to you, and when it is loose and well there to be hit capitalise. Starting out like that and not trying to let rip with or reveal your full repetoire of shots and preferred shots means it takes the opposition a lot longer to figure you out

[jozza800]

I havent followed the county game for a long time but there must be a couple of batsmen out there.

Think we're ok for a year or two more in the bowling dept.

Roy could still play a part but it needs to be way down the order. His hands are too hard for red ball cricket.

Root back at 4.

Bairstow looks like he cant be arsed half the time. If there aren't any decent wicketkeepers around, they shoiuld just give it to Buttler.

Burns
NEW OPENER
Denly
Root
NEW BATSMAN
Stokes
Buttler (wk)

8,9,10,11

To be made up of Curran, Archer, Leach, Broad, Woakes and Anderson.