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The Ashes!

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gkmacca said:
Yes. They should never have got into such a bad position, but credit to them for fighting back. Cook, though, looks a shadow of his former self, and has done for quite a while now. Hameed looks the natural successor, but Cook's decline is happening at a faster rate than Hammed's progress.
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I agree it is time for Cook to go. He has always been very limited in his repertoire of shots, but made up for it with his powers of concentration that enabled him to stick around and make big scores. It seems that he has lost that stickability so that there is not much point to him any more.
 
Portly said:
I agree it is time for Cook to go. He has always been very limited in his repertoire of shots, but made up for it with his powers of concentration that enabled him to stick around and make big scores. It seems that he has lost that stickability so that there is not much point to him any more.
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Yes. He's been such a fine opener that one hesitates to be too severe, but his catching has declined, too, which does seem to suggest, as you say, that his concentration just isn't what it was. I think he's scored three centuries in his last 56 Test innings, and six hundreds in 107, or something like that, which is really sobering stuff. To be kind, some of his struggles could be down to the absence during this period of a genuinely reliable and consistent number 2 in the side - it can't be easy to immerse yourself in that Boycottian zone when you see one, two and even three batsmen come and go in quick succession at the other end - but that can't be too big an excuse. He's played some horrible shots, too, and got himself out more often than the bowler's got him out.
 
Australia 1/2 to win, England 2/1 and draw 190/1..................at one stage England were 80/1.
 
Close of play; 178 runs needed with 6 wickets left..................1/3 Aussies, 7/2 England. Who knows, this could be like Botham/Willis at Edgbaston. If Root can stay there and Bairstow, Woakes, Ali, Broad etc can perform as they have done in the past then who knows.
 
Wow - tomorrow is set up very nicely. I would have been more confident with Malan going in at the start of play tomorrow but this game is winnable. Another 50-75 from Root tomorrow and I would expect Woakes, Bairstow & Ali to be able to add the other 120 between them.

Tomorrow's alarm will be set early!
 
Pesam said:
Close of play; 178 runs needed with 6 wickets left..................1/3 Aussies, 7/2 England. Who knows, this could be like Botham/Willis at Edgbaston. If Root can stay there and Bairstow, Woakes, Ali, Broad etc can perform as they have done in the past then who knows.
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I have a feeling it could hinge on which Moeen Ali comes out to bat. When Ali plays well, the tail looks strong, but when he doesn't, there's a huge Stokes-sized hole there for all to see. If it's the Ali who really clicks, concentrates and plays his strokes, England could win. If it's the Ali who just wafts away at balls he should leave well on, I fear too much pressure will be on Bairstow.
 
Brizzle said:
Tomorrow's alarm will be set early!
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My radio alarm is currently set to Test Match Special on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra.

I woke up this morning to the sound of Geoff Boycott yattering on about his Philosophy of Batting. I had to switch the TV on to find out what was actually happening!
 
gkmacca said:
I have a feeling it could hinge on which Moeen Ali comes out to bat. When Ali plays well, the tail looks strong, but when he doesn't, there's a huge Stokes-sized hole there for all to see. If it's the Ali who really clicks, concentrates and plays his strokes, England could win. If it's the Ali who just wafts away at balls he should leave well on, I fear too much pressure will be on Bairstow.
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For me the Bairstow/ Root partnership has the chance of winning the game. I love Ali, but I'm not sure he knows how to play a conservative innings. If Root and Bairstow see off the new ball then things could get really interesting. I'd love to see the Aussies get beat here. I'd also love to bury Lyons up to his neck in a field, and be allowed to take a running boot at his Adam's apple whilst he makes that sound he makes when he appeals.
 
Portly said:
My radio alarm is currently set to Test Match Special on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra.

I woke up this morning to the sound of Geoff Boycott yattering on about his Philosophy of Batting. I had to switch the TV on to find out what was actually happening!
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I've got to be quite chummy with Geoffrey recently. He's a really sweet-natured bloke!
 
Came across him as an undergraduate back in the mid-70s. A group of us were walking along by a one-way stretch of road when Boycs came driving down it (the wrong way), stopped and asked us the way to the nearest steak bar. (It was a Henekey's, in case you ever mention it to him.;))
 
Well now we've got a Test match.

Thank God too, this is what Ashes cricket is about. This all hinges on Root really. I know Ali can be troublesome and Bairstow's reckless play could eat into the chase, but if Australia get Root early-ish then England are done.

Down to you Nathan Lyon.
 
So it turns out you need more than 1 good day in a 5-day test match to win.

Ignore the 24 hour fanfare, England have been battered again.

I hope to fuck they put up a show in Perth.
 
Australia are simply too professional, too disciplined and, frankly, too sensible compared to England. For all of England's package of special field settings and game plans for certain opponents - which for all their quirkiness was at least a sign of thoughtfulness that usually isn't there - it's still gobsmackingly frustrating that the bowlers, at their pace, bowl way too short for whole sessions, and, indeed, days, when it's patently clear that it isn't working. I assumed that getting an Australian coach would have brought, at least, greater clarity of thought and speed of response to the team, but it hasn't. Root's the one player who actually seems to analyse his problems and learn from them pretty quickly, but the others - such as Vince - just go on and on doing the same silly things. Anyway, at least there was a moment of resistance this time, and now both captains go forward with a jittery sense about their own judgement. Hopefully we'll get a more even contest next time.
 
I think the difference between the teams is that their fast bowlers are around 5 mph quicker than ours, which in Australian conditions is difficult to counter.
 
Portly said:
I think the difference between the teams is that their fast bowlers are around 5 mph quicker than ours, which in Australian conditions is difficult to counter.
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Absolutely this. Why can’t we breed bowlers that can nudge 150kph? It would make us unplayable at home and able to compete on tracks such as Brisbane and Perth
 
TheFasterBlade said:
Absolutely this. Why can’t we breed bowlers that can nudge 150kph? It would make us unplayable at home and able to compete on tracks such as Brisbane and Perth
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Conditions have something to do with it. Australians tend to lose 5mph or so when they come over here and bowl on these pitches.

I guess the common argument would allude to the impact of one day and 20/20 forms of the game, where fast bowlers are nudged towards because of the short and sharp spells they can bowl (e.g. Chris Jordan), but that wouldn't explain how some other countries still managed to find and foster fast bowlers for Test cricket.

I've always felt that part of it is down to fatalism in the English game. If a fast bowler suddenly emerges, they'll try him out, but they won't do much with him. Look at some of the ones we've had in the past - the likes of Devon Malcolm never really progressed. Finn has bowled 100mph but still looks like a player who doesn't understand himself most of the time. Same goes to some extent for Plunkett.

Look at Broad. Not a real quickie, but quite decent at his best, but if Australian coaches had got him earlier in his career I'm sure they would have worked to make him more consistent and incisive. Here we just say, 'Ah, he's one of those bowlers who blows hot and cold' and leave him pretty much to remain inconsistent.

Most of the fast bowlers around now seem to have been hindered by recurring injuries that suggest inadequate expertise in terms of fitness and sports science. We do produce fast bowlers but they're almost immediately chronically crocked fast bowlers. Tymal Mills, of course, simply had a congenital problem. But Meaker showed promise at Surrey until he developed nagging injuries, as did Matt Dunn at Surrey.

Then there's the fact that county cricket doesn't exactly encourage fast bowlers to stretch themselves. Mark Footitt was regularly bowling at 85-90 mph for a brief period a few years ago but then seemed to just get bored and drifted away.

Jamie Overton looks like he could become a really dangerous fast bowler if coached well and challenged, but will he get that push? I rather doubt it. The selectors will just watch him trundle through some so-so county games and leave it at that.
 
gkmacca said:
Most of the fast bowlers around now seem to have been hindered by recurring injuries that suggest inadequate expertise in terms of fitness and sports science. We do produce fast bowlers but they're almost immediately chronically crocked fast bowlers. Tymal Mills, of course, simply had a congenital problem. But Meaker showed promise at Surrey until he developed nagging injuries, as did Matt Dunn at Surrey.
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Mark Wood of Durham is typical of that. He seems to be the quickest and skiddiest fast bowler in England, but there are constant doubts about his fitness which is why he isn't currently in Australia.
 
Yes. And look who now oversees the fitness of the Australian team - our old head of sports science Peter Brukner, a genuinely innovative and forward-thinking specialist. England don't have anything like the sophisticated set up that Brukner has established.
 
England win the toss again, 3rd time in a row, and have had a great first day. Malan and Bairstow with a huge 5th wicket stand.

Dropped catches killing Australia today.
 
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