Ashes 2015 - Australia tour of England July/September 2015

[PokerAce]

I think its great that Bumble clarified to the whole world once and for all that Ballance is not a "hooker". ;P

 

[PokerAce]

3 down, rather quickly, England would do well to see out today, never mind the whole of tomorrow.

 

[richowebbo]

Whilst giving full credit to the Australian batsmen and bowlers, this as poor an all round display as I've seen from England since the last Ashes. Hopefully they can sort it out for the next match.

 

[ParkedTheBus]

Johnson has bowled better than he did in 13/14, with the only difference being he has been extremely unlucky. Could've easily had a five-wicket haul or two.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Ian Bell! Sigh! You can actually see that he's fearful of getting on the front foot to MJ. If he can't shake some of the cobwebs off this innings, I don't see him getting runs this series with such a bad frame of mind.

Not bad from Gary Ballance. He still averages 42.4 in tests after this one and he's still ahead of IB on the run count this series. Just want to point out some numbers-

Gary Ballance's highest score in tests against a bowling attack with at least one bowler in the top X in the world is 61. His average against these attacks are 9 (in 2 tests against NZ) and 20 (in 4 tests against AUS) with a best of 61 and one half century. Hmm.

 

[blockerdave]

Gary Ballance's highest score in tests against a bowling attack with at least one bowler in the top X in the world is 61. His average against these attacks are 9 (in 2 tests against NZ) and 20 (in 4 tests against AUS) with a best of 61 and one half century. Hmm.

Comfortably out scoring Bell.[DOUBLEPOST=1437316266][/DOUBLEPOST]Another innings of character from Bell.

 

[PokerAce]

Bell has had a torrid run ... nothing seems to work for him.[DOUBLEPOST=1437316462][/DOUBLEPOST]Ben Stokes, what a schoolboy error ... one has to feel for England, this is waht happens when nothing is going your way.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Australia perfectly placed at the end of day 3. Tomorrow's plan must be batting at 4 rpo for 40 overs and trying to nick a few wickets.


Nothing wrong with Ballance's technique; it has got him runs wherever he has played, so why should he change? Sure, he's had a rough time this series, but every player goes this. Katich and Chanders had the worst-looking technique, but it still got them runs. ECB shouldn't do a Compton(drop a young player after one poor series) with Ballance. On the other hand, Bell should be dropped for Bairstow if he doesn't perform in the second innings. Could any England follower explain what happened to Bell? Didn't he have an average ≈50 in 2012? How has it declined to 43? Has he got some off-the-field issues?

Why should Ballance change? Because, he's terrible. There's a vast difference in being 'unorthodox' and being 'poor.' Ian Bell deserves to be dropped but so does Ballance. I can show you a lot of innings where Chanderpaul and Katich have scored equally off front and back foot. It's not like the guy can score well one side of the wicket and not score on another side. Batting is a bit more than that. He simply has one attacking shot at the moment and even though that's alright, he's absolutely got no defense. In short, he can't block and he can't counter attack because of his limitations as a batsman. I'm not saying the guy can't make a career, I'm just saying that right now he's too flawed to function against a good attack.

 

[blockerdave]

Oh Stokes!! Goodness.

 

[Dutch]

Pathetic

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Comfortably out scoring Bell.[DOUBLEPOST=1437316266][/DOUBLEPOST]Another innings of character from Bell.

You are so boring and monotonous. Aren't you tired of yourself? Or are you a genuine case of OCD? What on earth has Ian Bell and his failures got to do with Gary Ballance and his performance?

If you're retorting to my post, I've already expressed my opinion on Ian Bell and where he stands. At the end of it all, I've repeatedly tried to emphasize that whatever is best for English cricket must be done. Do you genuinely believe you're funny with these outbursts? Or is it an attempt to attract attention? I understand your opinion about him. Yeah? So, why can't you actually post one post that lacks the words Ian and Bell.

 

[richowebbo]

Oops.

Ballance sucks. Bell sucks. You two can have at it now, but that doesn't change the fact they've both been awful!

What is Stokes up to? Plonker!

MJ was so poor in Cardiff, surely the England lads had to know this was coming?

 

[cooks1st100]

You got to hand to England, it takes something special to fail so miserably on a track like this this! That Stokes dismissal is just the icing on the cake!

What the hell are they going to do about our top order? Bell and Ballance are shocking and Lyth's looking decidedly dodgy.

 

[Dutch]

We are facked

 

[blockerdave]

It's a real problem. Lyth is getting out in the same way consistently, doesn't seem to have a tight enough technique to open.

Ballance's average is falling by the game... He's been in poor form since the WC and it's exacerbating the technical issues. I believe he'll come good long term but needs to back that up now.

Bell is just awful; mentally weak. That was as poor an innings as I've seen. Nearly out first ball, lucky to be dropped at first slip to one the keeper should have taken, a tame dismissal to the off spinner...

So that's 3 of our top 4 with huge question marks over them - Bell has been out of form for 2 years, Ballance 6 months. What do we do? I can't seeing us dropping all 3...