The Ashes: (England tour of Australia)

[LiveLoveABD]

I have been saying the same thing. Smith and Kohli are class apart from Root. Root scores a lot of 40-90s. Root does not get big scores and when needed fails first.

Although Ali, Bairstow and Broad are remaining I have very little hope. This spell, the afternoon first session is really important. If these two survive, evening session will be good

Kohli is only comparable to AB in LOI. In tests, Smith and Williamson are > Kohli and Root but the gap isn't that big.

 

[CremerCurrans]

Tom Curran is 77 not out! Get him in the team quick!

EDIT: They didn't give him a chance to score a century.

 

[Bigby Wolf]

Tom Curran is 77 not out! Get him in the team quick!

EDIT: They didn't give him a chance to score a century.

And he got the first breakthrough as well.

 

[CerealKiller]

Tom Curran is 77 not out! Get him in the team quick!

EDIT: They didn't give him a chance to score a century.

They'll get him in to replace Woakes only after losing at Perth. Woakes doesn't look like a wicket taker when it's not moving around.

 

[CremerCurrans]

They'll get him in to replace Woakes only after losing at Perth. Woakes doesn't look like a wicket taker when it's not moving around.

That sounds good - just in time for the boxing day test in Melbourne.

 

[CerealKiller]

England need him for the WACA

 

[Aislabie]

Well, I know they weren't up against profound opposition (although the CAXI side was certainly talented) but Liam Livingstone, Joe Clarke, Tom Curran and Mark Wood all looked a cut above what most of the England side has been serving up so far this tour. They could do worse than naming this side for the WACA Test:

Alastair Cook
Mark Stoneman
Liam Livingstone
Joe Root
Joe Clarke
Jonny Bairstow
Moeen Ali
Tom Curran
Mark Wood / Chris Woakes (neither of them look completely fit tbh)
Stuart Broad
James Anderson

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Well, I know they weren't up against profound opposition (although the CAXI side was certainly talented) but Liam Livingstone, Joe Clarke, Tom Curran and Mark Wood all looked a cut above what most of the England side has been serving up so far this tour. They could do worse than naming this side for the WACA Test:

Alastair Cook
Mark Stoneman
Liam Livingstone
Joe Root
Joe Clarke
Jonny Bairstow
Moeen Ali
Tom Curran
Mark Wood / Chris Woakes (neither of them look completely fit tbh)
Stuart Broad
James Anderson

I wouldn't play Ali at the WACA. Australia will attack any spinner England pick. They should play an all seam attack.

 

[Aislabie]

I wouldn't play Ali at the WACA. Australia will attack any spinner England pick. They should play an all seam attack.

There's never a situation you don't want a spinner in your side, even if it's just to bowl at the tail-enders.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

There's never a situation you don't want a spinner in your side, even if it's just to bowl at the tail-enders.

Joe Root. I'm a firm believer in playing the conditions. Moeen Ali with his injury is just not good enough.

 

[Aislabie]

Joe Root. I'm a firm believer in playing the conditions. Moeen Ali with his injury is just not good enough.

Root and Livingstone are possibly good enough to get the tail, but is there anyone in the squad you'd pick above Moeen as a batsman anyway? You're not going to get any more runs from Vince, Malan or Ballance than you are from Moeen.

Plus, Root sadly can't bowl much as his back is made of glass.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Root and Livingstone are possibly good enough to get the tail, but is there anyone in the squad you'd pick above Moeen as a batsman anyway? You're not going to get any more runs from Vince, Malan or Ballance than you are from Moeen.

Plus, Root sadly can't bowl much as his back is made of glass.

Such excuses don't exist in such a high profile series. If he gets injured trying to defend the Ashes then so be it. Why do the English fans crib so much? Have you seen the DEPTH of talent you have as a nation? I'm Indian and envy the sheer depth and talent that's there in the English ranks at the moment. I think Ben Foakes is a superb cricketer and Bairstow is in his absolute pomp. People will berate me for this but Bairstow is as good as Root given the opportunity and repsonsibility. For the love of god put him at 4.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

The media is making an enormously big deal about some of England's issues at bars/pubs and the management is eating all of it up. They are not issues to be honest, the latter two ie and their coaching staff needs to support their players instead of giving them a dressing down in public.

 

[Aislabie]

Such excuses don't exist in such a high profile series. If he gets injured trying to defend the Ashes then so be it. Why do the English fans crib so much? Have you seen the DEPTH of talent you have as a nation? I'm Indian and envy the sheer depth and talent that's there in the English ranks at the moment. I think Ben Foakes is a superb cricketer and Bairstow is in his absolute pomp. People will berate me for this but Bairstow is as good as Root given the opportunity and repsonsibility. For the love of god put him at 4.

For the record, I'm not actually an England fan (check the userbar) I just have an interest at all times in seeing cricket being played as well as it can be.

As for your point about depth of talent, that's all well and good when it's being selected, but one of probably the three best batsmen in the country isn't even in the Test squad - though he did at least get a gig in the Perth game. That man is Liam Livingstone.

And that's without going on to the bowling stocks. Bowling talent has been mismanaged in England since I was very young, and I know that at least partly from having been a bowler mismanaged in England. To illustrate my point, two of the bowlers used in this Ashes series are Jake Ball and Craig Overton; now if you can spot any differences in their bowling (besides Overton being marginally more accurate) then you've got a better eye than I have.

For me, the Ball and Overton situation points to mismanagement on two levels: firstly, they're both in the side ahead of Tom Curran. Now, I'm not saying that he's going to single-handedly win the Ashes for you, but his ability to bowl a ball that comes back into the batsman, coupled with his skiddy trajectory, mean that he offers something none of the other right arm fast-medium bowlers in the England side do. The second level is a more personal one: Craig Overton is a 6' 5" seamer who bowls at roughly 82 mph, and doesn't move the ball much. Now, I'm 6' 5" tall, and at seventeen years of age could touch 80 mph if I really put my back into it. I also used to hoop the ball around corners. Now I'm not saying that I should have made it to where Craig Overton is today - I didn't want it enough - I'm just saying that it's alarming that nobody really made an effort to work with the obvious potential I had.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

For the record, I'm not actually an England fan (check the userbar) I just have an interest at all times in seeing cricket being played as well as it can be.

As for your point about depth of talent, that's all well and good when it's being selected, but one of probably the three best batsmen in the country isn't even in the Test squad - though he did at least get a gig in the Perth game. That man is Liam Livingstone.

And that's without going on to the bowling stocks. Bowling talent has been mismanaged in England since I was very young, and I know that at least partly from having been a bowler mismanaged in England. To illustrate my point, two of the bowlers used in this Ashes series are Jake Ball and Craig Overton; now if you can spot any differences in their bowling (besides Overton being marginally more accurate) then you've got a better eye than I have.

For me, the Ball and Overton situation points to mismanagement on two levels: firstly, they're both in the side ahead of Tom Curran. Now, I'm not saying that he's going to single-handedly win the Ashes for you, but his ability to bowl a ball that comes back into the batsman, coupled with his skiddy trajectory, mean that he offers something none of the other right arm fast-medium bowlers in the England side do. The second level is a more personal one: Craig Overton is a 6' 5" seamer who bowls at roughly 82 mph, and doesn't move the ball much. Now, I'm 6' 5" tall, and at seventeen years of age could touch 80 mph if I really put my back into it. I also used to hoop the ball around corners. Now I'm not saying that I should have made it to where Craig Overton is today - I didn't want it enough - I'm just saying that it's alarming that nobody really made an effort to work with the obvious potential I had.

You're 17? Jeez mate I feel old. I'm 31. I'd love to face you myself. Never faced someone from 6'5 at 80 clicks.