5th Test: Australia v England at the SCG - 3-7 Jan

[bigred]

This session is going to be carnage. Could be 7 or 8 down at lunch.

 

[ste_mc_efc]

Umpires should stop the fight, really.

 

[PackenHols]

Ballance has been given a real hard situation fir his debut hasn't he?

 

[cricket_online]

So Bell was supposed to be the messiah at 3 Got a life on 0 and pottered around for ages to score 2

I can't figure out why English batsmen go into shell and refuse to even look for runs once they come under a bit of pressure. I am not asking them to slog or play like Haddin and Smith did for Aussies but surely international batsmen should at least manage to rotate the strike and hit an odd boundary surely. Blocking ball after ball only means you will get out for a low score after spening time at the crease. Surely they should have learnt something from Carberry's struggles on the tour.

 

[T.J.Hooker]

I don't think I'm going to enjoy watching Ballance bat very much. Bit of back and across, short backlift shoveller. Looks organised though, hopefully he's a good counterpuncher.

Stokes is one of the nicest strikers of the ball I've seen in ages though, although he looks a bit vulnerable around that front pad sometimes. Lovely technique otherwise. Can't believe anyone wouldn't pick him as the more talented bat of the two.

 

[QuickSingle]

How deeply depressing

if Anderson's figures winning/losing suggests a strong correlation to whether or not eng win/lose, and anderson is a conditions bowler, could it be concluded that eng are a conditions team?

 

[T.J.Hooker]

I say that and then Stokes plays a horrible shot, gets away with it.

 

[cricket_online]

I don't think I'm going to enjoy watching Ballance bat very much. Bit of back and across, short backlift shoveller. Looks organised though, hopefully he's a good counterpuncher.

Stokes is one of the nicest strikers of the ball I've seen in ages though, although he looks a bit vulnerable around that front pad sometimes. Lovely technique otherwise. Can't believe anyone wouldn't pick him as the more talented bat of the two.

Disagree. Based on what I've seen so far Ballance has looked much more assured and composed at the crease, and has a tighter technique than Stokes. Stokes is loose outside off and has a tendency to play away from the body. As for Stokes being one of the nicest strikers of the ball in ages, I've yet to see much evidence of the same.

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Ballance trying his best to get to lunch without England having to face another ball

 

[T.J.Hooker]

He is a bit loose outside off stump but I think that's more of a shot selection issue rather than a stroke production issue. I haven't seen him play that much off the back foot outside off though, maybe he's got issues there.

Ballance does look composed - that's what I mean by well organised - but fundamentally he looks like a counterpuncher rather than a strokeplayer. Doesn't really get his weight into the shot or generate a full arc of the bat, looks like his scoring areas are somewhat limited. Nothing wrong with that, just not somebody I think I'm going to really enjoy watching.

As for ball striking, Stokes hits those straight drives really sweetly. Times it nicely, lovely full swing of the bat, really biffs it, keeps his shape, proper cricket shots. What more do you want?

 

[cricket_online]

He is a bit loose outside off stump but I think that's more of a shot selection issue rather than a stroke production issue. I haven't seen him play that much off the back foot outside off though, maybe he's got issues there.

Ballance does look composed - that's what I mean by well organised - but fundamentally he looks like a counterpuncher rather than a strokeplayer. Doesn't really get his weight into the shot or generate a full arc of the bat, looks like his scoring areas are somewhat limited. Nothing wrong with that, just not somebody I think I'm going to really enjoy watching.

As for ball striking, Stokes hits those straight drives really sweetly. Times it nicely, lovely full swing of the bat, really biffs it, keeps his shape, proper cricket shots. What more do you want?

Ballance's List A record is pretty impressive - averaging 56 with a SR of 90+ - so we might see something more from him.

Regarding Stokes, what I meant to say was that calling him "nicest strikers of the ball I've seen in ages" was a bit of an exaggeration. He's no Gilchrist but seems a decent no. 7 who can average around 30 with the bat.

 

[T.J.Hooker]

Regarding Stokes, what I meant to say was that calling him "nicest strikers of the ball I've seen in ages" was a bit of an exaggeration. He's no Gilchrist but seems a decent no. 7 who can average around 30 with the bat.

Well I was talking about guys who'd turned up in the England scene, but I'm fairly happy to stick to my guns and say he's one of the nicest strikers of the ball I've seen break into international cricket in the last few years.

That's not just about how fast the ball goes off the bat. I'm talking about stroke production, arc of the bat, weight transference into the shot. Joss Butler absolutely biffs the ball but not very often with a really sweetly executed cricket shot, in the traditional sense.

So basically I think you're underestimating his level of strokeplay talent. Smacking a 95mph bowler off the front foot dead straight with a classically executed drive is one of the most difficult things to do in the game - so much so that an awful lot of test batsmen don't even attempt it. He can do it and looks like he's got time to spare.

I don't know whether he'll focus that talent and occupy the crease for long enough to make a lot of runs - as I've said, he looks like he's vulnerable around that front pad, potential lbw candidate - but that's a bit of a different issue.

But hey, you think Ballance looks like the more talented player? Fair enough. Let's see what happens.

 

[angryangy]

So again Stokes came in with too little too late, long after the game has already been won; really he should have just curled up and died.

 

[ste_mc_efc]

No idea what that Stokes dismissal was then. He was playing well, too.

still most likely outcome from here seems to be that he top scores with twice as many runs as anyone else this innings. Lots of positives to take from his few appearances this series.

Still think Bairstow belongs in a bin, though.

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So again Stokes came in with too little too late, long after the game has already been won; really he should have just curled up and died.

He got a start and didn't cash in. That's actually 17% worse than getting out for single figures!

 

[T.J.Hooker]

Watching Bairstow on the drive is kind of like watching Jimmy White play snooker. You just feel something is going to go wrong any minute, and you're not quite sure what.

What a great field placing by Clarke, though.

1 run to save the follow on. Good grief.

 

[ste_mc_efc]

Wouldn't have minded following on, actually. the top order should be chomping at the bit to put it right. going in 4 sessions later chasing 600 to win is entirely hopeless.

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Just about sums up the tour when I'm disappointed we made the follow on. Burn the tapes please.