3rd Test: Australia v England at The WACA, Perth, 13-17 Dec

[SpitfiresKent]

Great fielding from Anderson

 

[ste_mc_efc]

bed for me i think, only down hill from here.

 

[SpitfiresKent]

Yes! Another one. You can hear Watson go ''oh no'' as soon as he's played the shot lol

 

[T.J.Hooker]

They're bombing along at 5 an over though, and Warner and Clarke probably aren't going to slow up if they hang around.

There's an opening here but England need another one soonish.

 

[SpitfiresKent]

Yeah I agree. I'm just happy to see some early wickets though.

 

[T.J.Hooker]

Don't get me wrong. They're doing ok. It's a quick scoring ground.

Eng have been in a similar position in every match so far, though. Doing ok in the early exchanges and then gradually losing ground, then fluffing a couple of chances, and never quite getting back in the game from there.

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And batting like clowns in their first innings. Let's not forget that bit.

 

[T.J.Hooker]

Bang, Swann gets Clarke.

There have been a few times this series where the Aussies, including Clarke, have tried to take on Swann and got away with a few messy shots. Didn't get away with it this time.

This is fantastic because Steve Smith has a few technical issues and he's in poor form. England have a guy they can really try to keep on strike and attack.

 

[mrzdt]

BBC Sport - Ashes 2013-14: Dropping Graeme Swann may help England in Perth

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Well that is the hope. But an argument can be strongly made to counter, that "very bad" Johnson is a thing of the past. And, even if he is not 100% on his game, his new found consistently will mean he won't leak runs at an alarming rate.

Not sure if Johnson can perform that well under pressure. If Australia gets bowled out for a low score and England start well, it gets to him quickly if he is losing.

 

[Owzat]

We have to see how England bat, and of course England celebrated way too early after a decent day one of the 1st Test and lost miserably

The aussies have recovered a bit from 143/5 to 220/5, could easily reach 270-300 or more and then it might be game on or the England collapse show part IV.

After all the team that got hammered last two outings has only made some minor alterations, the batting changed from top seven including Trott to top seven including Stoke, and the bowling went from Tremlett to Panesar to Bresnan so the other NINE unchanged.

And again five bowler theory shows its "worth", 34 off nine overs are reasonably tidy but you need wicket threat to take wickets and Cook is just rotating like there's little difference who bowls. At one point not much earlier Swann had only bowled five overs and taken two wickets, although he's come back and been hit a little bit he was still a wicket threat.

Could be a real test of the mettle of the likes of Carberry and Stokes, England also need other more experienced batsmen to take charge. England have four batsman who've scored 100+ runs in the series, none more than 130 (Root) and 87 of those came in the throes of death at Adelaide where England were never likely to avoid defeat

Cook has only 82 runs to his name, 65 of those in one innings, Prior only 73 runs of which 69 came in the last innings of the last Test. Trott and his replacement Stokes boast 48 runs between them in four innings, while Stokes has 10 more to his name than Trott that still needs work.

When it comes to Stokes, I can't help but think of Ben Hollioake. He scored 28 in one of his four Test innings, averaged 11.00, and took four wickets at 49.75. Stokes may well get more chances, but I think sometimes England throw players in on a theoretical type and well before they're ready. I much prefer players to play ODIs first, then go into the Test scene with that experience in their locker

 

[dancingmongoose]

This is fantastic because Steve Smith has a few technical issues and he's in poor form. England have a guy they can really try to keep on strike and attack.

It is fantastic cause he's now on 58.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

I think it's fairly safe to say the only major difference between the sides has been Johnson. He has been on scintillating form, the other Australian bowlers have been doing ok and plugging away but without Johnson we would have been making decent totals with the bat. Johnson needs to have a bad Test in Perth if we are going to get back into this.

I'm sorry, you're watching a completely different Ashes series then. Johnson, is a match winner. But, that term is very misused sometimes. The difference between Australia and England has been as vast as an ocean.

1) Warner at the top has been churning out runs and he's been doing it at a rapid pace. England's best attacking batsmen has been getting himself out.

2) Australia's support bowlers are doing a remarkable job. Harris and Siddle in particular are very under-rated and do an amazing holding/attacking job.

3) I never thought a day would come where Lyon would out bowl Swann. He's done that two tests running.

4) Haddin has been far superior to Prior in all departments. Keeping, batting and as a vice captain.

5) England's fielding has been dismal if I were to be mild. Australia haven't dropped a catch.

Lastly, and I give a lot of importance to this : While England have been chopping and changing like no one's business since the last Ashes series, Australia have tried to form a nucleus and assign roles to each individual. There's a lot of talk about balance of sides and the turf that they play on and conditions, but while all that is important the most important this is to do well with whoever you have. England have simply had too many cooks spoiling the broth in various positions. Those that are steady and stable in the side, look tired and worn out.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

It is fantastic cause he's now on 58.

He's a 100* now.

 

[Umair7]

You thought Smith would fail again Haddin did a great job too

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Anderson blowling steady, but like I've said often before, the NIP is missing.

 

[Umair7]

That shot by Johnson RIP ENGLAND