The Ashes: (England tour of Australia)

[zimrahil]

And that thumping of the grass with hus bat: such a stupid thing to do everytime. What a throw away

I saw his dismissal and the shot wasn't that bad - plus if all our top six could play/score like Root we would be world beaters. Oh yes..hang on..... I am ignoring fact our bowling is shite but we would be world beaters at batting at least

 

[blockerdave]

Root or Bairstow? Not a lot of alternatives for either tbh..

Cummins looks more and more impressive with every passing day. With Starc not at 100% (hell, he's hardly at 75%), Pat stood up exceptionally well. Hazlewood has been alright without being at his best too. Wish Pattinson was available to replace Starc, he'd provide a completely new dimension to the pace attack.

we were stuck with that clueless mong Cook for 4 years because "there's nobody else". don't want that again.

he has actually been a poor captain tactically - aside from a few funky fields. i think it was at adelaide we had the aussies in dangerous position and he bowled Ali and Woakes after lunch or tea.

getting out repeatedly and not learning is just not good enough. what he did today was simply a disgrace. yes it was a good catch but it was all so unneccessary. he isn't getting out to jaffers he's giving it away. he is showing zero leadership or sense of responsibility.

 

[blockerdave]

I saw his dismissal and the shot wasn't that bad - plus if all our top six could play/score like Root we would be world beaters. Oh yes..hang on..... I am ignoring fact our bowling is shite but we would be world beaters at batting at least

it was a bad shot, because it was so unneccessary and the timing was appalling.

3 overs left in the day, a new ball just taken, a long tail. 2 fours already in the over and the previous ball he'd nearly chopped on so just had an escape and should have refocussed.

 

[A55MAN]

Both Bird and Sayers provide control but not express pace. On dull pitches, 5 km/h can make a big difference. Boland is an interesting shout, looked a bit out of his depth last he played for the national team but has improved a lot since then. Don't think NCL's body is made for test cricket, he's nearly 30 and has played just 37 first-class games in over seven seasons. Massive shame because he could've been an extremely good bowler.

As you say, injuries are the biggest issues. When 5 out of the top 8 fast bowlers are injury-prone, it can lead to big trouble in the future. Imagine a crunch series where all the big bowlers pull out.

Boland didn't impress me much but seems to be doing alright now. I really thought Coulter-Nile would be a decent player, but like you said, think injuries are going to ruin his career. Looking that way with Pattinson too.

 

[A55MAN]

My team to tour South Africa.
Renshaw, Warner, Khawaja, Smith, SMarsh, Handscomb, Maxwell, MMarsh, Paine, Starc, Cummins, Hazlewood, Bird, Sayers, Lyon, Swepson/Holland.
But can almost guarantee it'll be Agar ahead of those 2 spinners. Even though the 2nd spinner should be exactly that .... Our 2nd best spinner.
Renshaws technique looks a lot better to handle South Africas attack then what Bancrofts does.

 

[ParkedTheBus]

Khawaja seems to have a mental block this series which is affecting his fluidity. Seems uncharacteristically scratchy. Someone needs to calm him down and make him play with freedom, he's not really suited for playing slow-but-long innings.

 

[Ahmad94]

Khawaja seems to have a mental block this series which is affecting his fluidity. Seems uncharacteristically scratchy. Someone needs to calm him down and make him play with freedom, he's not really suited for playing slow-but-long innings.

I think he just listened to you, seems to look a different player when he is proactive on the crease.

 

[Ahmad94]

Am I missing something or is Mason Crane painfully mediocre?

I don't understand his selection from his First-Class statistics. How is someone who averages 2.5 FC wickets a game being used as a prime seamer for England?

 

[ParkedTheBus]

Am I missing something or is Mason Crane painfully mediocre?

I don't understand his selection from his First-Class statistics. How is someone who averages 2.5 FC wickets a game being used as a prime seamer for England?

Leg-spinners always carry an X-factor so the thinking is definitely understandable. Hasn't looked out of depth so far either, has held his own competently although certain other spinners *cough* like Leach *cough* should've be on the plane.

 

[blockerdave]

Am I missing something or is Mason Crane painfully mediocre?

I don't understand his selection from his First-Class statistics. How is someone who averages 2.5 FC wickets a game being used as a prime seamer for England?

in any functional organisation the tour spinners would have been Rashid and Leach. unfortunately the EBC is not functional

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

Lol Swann is losing his mind

 

[James Halliday]

How the he'll has the worst batsman in Australian history got a century? Kawaja?

 

[James Halliday]

I am Scottish and absolutely love cricket, especially test. I find myself wanting England to win when they play the Aussies. Love watching India and South Africa the most. IMO Kholi is the no1 in the world.
England knew what the conditions would be like and have not (or cannot) produce the type of bowler for Aussie conditions without stokes they had no chance. Why is there no Steve harmisons? Big FAST bowlers? Do they only come around so often like the windies pace like fire or guys like Brett Lee or do England just not produce genuine fast bowlers?

 

[James Halliday]

in any functional organisation the tour spinners would have been Rashid and Leach. unfortunately the EBC is not functional

Cause Shane Warne said he liked him

 

[James Halliday]

Khawaja seems to have a mental block this series which is affecting his fluidity. Seems uncharacteristically scratchy. Someone needs to calm him down and make him play with freedom, he's not really suited for playing slow-but-long innings.

Always thought he was terrible his record against England is shocking one good innings against a medioce attack (in australia) won't change my mind, gets dropped when Australia go away from home says more about the English attack than the Aussie batting take out Warner and Smith and this is the worst Aussie batting line-up i've ever seen, Vaughns and Strauss's teams would have beat this Aussie team IMO. England can bat forever on paper whatever side they put out but have not delivered. They just don't have the bowlers for Aussie conditions. All the pundits were saying it before the series started it was blatantly obvious even for me a novice from Scotland never played the game to see England lacked variety, pace and bounce in attack, it was the exact same scenario when they were whitewashed last time down under! Why having they learned? Even with an Aussie in charge it was obvious! Where's Chris wood, Tremlette, even willey!
With the batting ability the English have they should be at least drawing every test match in Australia. Root needs to up his game to challenge Smith and kholi