Here we go again - Aus v Eng

[Leothebear]

Were England's batsmen inept? Or are the Aussies simply much better? I don't know.
All I do know is that the 1st test is following a depressingly familiar pattern. It's like they've lost before the first ball is bowled.

[didds]

on the one hand.... Aus covid rules (as is their prepogative as a sovreign nation etc) mean that apparently no warm up games could be scheduled. So no time to practise any red ball.

a reshuffle of the top order (again!) following the India ... issues.... has led to little prep for the eventual Ashes openers/top three.

oprotefction of the aging warriors that are Anderson and broad has left them rested for the pink ball (ie expeceted swinging conditions) test at Adelaide next up.

on the other hand

its nothing new wrt top order since Strauss retired nine years ago.
selection was interesting wrt bowling - as day 2 has illustrated. Stokes clearly was never fit enough to carry his share of the bowling, leaving three blokes to bowl all day, and a spinner on a non conducive pitch

didds

[didds]

its nothing new wrt top order since Strauss retired nine years ago.

didds

actually - maybe with the small exception of Joe Denly at #3 for a while. He never set the world alight, but did provide a buffer with his obdurate approach ("Dentury") at least leaving Root at 4, and Stokes at 5 to come in when the ball was getting old, instead of just a few overs and still hard and shiny.

But a 100 ball 30 wasnt seen as good enough, so he has given way to those who can score 5 really quickly and last an over or so...

didds

[Hallucigenia]

on the one hand.... Aus covid rules (as is their prepogative as a sovreign nation etc) mean that apparently no warm up games could be scheduled. So no time to practise any red ball.

It's just a travesty - if that's the best the Aussies can do, then the ICC should move it to a neutral venue. Of England's choosing, like Dublin or Amsterdam or somewhere.

I see that they can't even have the full DRS, as the technician who sets it up can't get entry to Queensland.

[didds]

I see that they can't even have the full DRS, as the technician who sets it up can't get entry to Queensland.

was that the reason?

F-F-S !

[Hallucigenia]

I see that they can't even have the full DRS, as the technician who sets it up can't get entry to Queensland.

was that the reason?

F-F-S !

It was mentioned in passing last night, apparently Snicko broke and needed an emergency fix, but the repairman couldn't get into Queensland. At least it's the Aussies who are really upset about it because of Malan's alleged edge on 16. The lack of no ball monitoring is separate it seems.

https://7news.com.au/sport/cricket/more ... -c-4899312
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/aus- ... st-1292960

[Leothebear]

All rather irrelevant.

It seems that for most of my life, when it comes to England, the word "batting" is invariably followed by "collapse".

[Leothebear]

Aussies reeling on 221 - 2. Victory looks assured, which would be great if it was for England.

Prediction:- Aussies 450+
England 202 all out.

Anyone care to predict differently?

[CryptoPlankton]

Aussies reeling on 221 - 2. Victory looks assured, which would be great if it was for England.

Prediction:- Aussies 450+
England 202 all out.

Anyone care to predict differently?

Yes: I predict England's total won't be 202.

[Hallucigenia]

Lots of sports teams are having trouble with omicron infections at the moment.

We can but hope...

[Leothebear]

17-2 in reply to 473-9dec.

All going to plan.

[didds]

Its desperate isnt it?

We can point to a lack of preperation (due AIUI to Aus covid laws/regs etc), lack of red ball action (but same is true of Aus' squad innit?)... but when push comes to shove this is yet another squad in which it may have been better for one's long term test career to have been left at home, or at least as a drinks carrier (Zak Crawley, Im thinking of you here).

have any of the Aus players played any Sheffield shield cricket prior to the 1st test as has been suuggested to me elsewhere? TMS in the 1st test seemed to think not, pointing at April as the last red ball cricket any of the Aus players played.

Ah.,... Labuschagne played for Glamorgan in the County Championship of course...

[moorfield]

Aussies reeling on 221 - 2. Victory looks assured, which would be great if it was for England.

Prediction:- Aussies 450+
England 202 all out.

Anyone care to predict differently?

It's just a question now of how many runs or wickets they lose by. First target 250+ to avoid the follow on. They may scrape through with some heroics to avoid an innings defeat, so I'll optimistically go Australia by 9 wickets on Day 5. (generous!)

17-2 in reply to 473-9dec.

All going to plan.

The plan being 0-5, presumably?

[Leothebear]

Burns is not a test quality bat. Crawley can be. It won't change the result but Burns has to go. When he got his 100 he'd been dropped more than once and was lucky.

[moorfield]

Burns is not a test quality bat. Crawley can be. It won't change the result but Burns has to go. When he got his 100 he'd been dropped more than once and was lucky.

Agreed. He's faced 1 ball as no.1 batsman before dropping to no.2. That looks frit, and in Australia of all places that is not a good look.

And is it time to start discussing Joe Root's post tour resignation and successor yet? He cannot explain away a 2- or 3-0 series defeat surely.

[Leothebear]

Aussies reeling on 221 - 2. Victory looks assured, which would be great if it was for England.

Prediction:- Aussies 450+
England 202 all out.

Anyone care to predict differently?

Hooray! England pass my pessimistic prediction by 34 runs! Things aren't so bad after all.

[didds]

and by tea time on day 5 it is apparently really positive that england had reached 180/8....

[cinelli]

The following appears on cricinfo about Chris Silverwood. 'Asked by the BBC if he would pick the same teams again with the benefit of hindsight, Silverwood - England's chief selector after the sacking of Ed Smith earlier this year - opted to double down. "To be honest, I would," he said.'

It seems he is incapable of admitting he has made mistakes.

Cinelli

[Leothebear]

Ashes 2021

It'd be like Groundhog day, if the day was in fact 5 days.
Mind you will this one go to 5 days?

The English batting is abysmal, leaving the bowlers nothing to defend.

I can't recall a worse shambles than this in an Ashes series.

[Newroad]

Hi LeoTheBear.

My take

1. Insufficiently skilled batsmen
2. Inexplicable bowling selections on a per test basis
3. Two non-test-standard keepers in the touring squad on a series basis
4. Relatively poor fielding skills for a test team (though this is arguably the most subjective)

One can debate the reasons

(1) seems to be a function of County Cricket. Also, Malan should open and Root should bat 3 (a criticism which could also have been levelled at Smith before Labuschagne fortuitously turned up). You could then figure out how to sort a middle order problem out, rather than an opening problem.

I can't fathom the reason(s) for (2). One can argue the toss about which quicks to play in a given match, but to play Leach in Brisbane but not Adelaide was sheer madness - in fact, I can't recall any team ever not playing a front line spinner in Adelaide! For me, Wood, Robinson, Woakes and Broad would have been a reasonable Brisbane choice (in essence, Broad for Leach) and then Wood, Robinson, Anderson and Leach for Adelaide (though obviously, this would have been in part based on what happened in Brisbane on the counter-factual path). If fit though, I would probably always play Wood (absent Archer) - if only that he (and to some extent, Stokes) give some variety to the attack.

On (3), I judge neither Buttler nor Bairstow are test quality keepers. You can get away with this in the short forms of the game, where a mistake is likely, on average, to cost less, but not in tests. I've never seen him play, but I understand Foulkes is the best keeper (and an acceptable batsman) so I would have brought him - might be a bit late now though.

On (4), I'm not sure how much this perception is based on reality, or is more an amplificaiton of the keeping issues. It does seem to me that fielding is often worked upon (too) late in the development of many English test cricketers.

However, in the interests of full disclosure, my loyalties sit with Australia, so you can take the above for what it's worth.

Regards, Newroad