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I think this could be a competitive downunder Ashes and end up 2-2 or 3-1. As always, England's biggest challenge is to avoid going down to defeat at the Gabba. It's possible the weather might help them out as Brisbane prone to storms.
Aus have better bowling, but prone to injury, while England's batting line better IMO.
Markets have Aus at evens for the first match, which seems pretty generous to me, given their history at the Gabba. Been 40 years since Eng won here. Although they have managed a couple of draws since.
Aus have better bowling, but prone to injury, while England's batting line better IMO.
Markets have Aus at evens for the first match, which seems pretty generous to me, given their history at the Gabba. Been 40 years since Eng won here. Although they have managed a couple of draws since.
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Strongly fancy England. Deep batting and more match winners. Gabba is obv concern but get a weather assisted draw there and we are on the way.
Anyone know who is showing highlights as ckearly not gonna see too much live. |
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Possibly the hardest Ashes to call for many years.
England consistently flawed in their batting despite looking great on paper with unrivalled depth. Starc very dangerous IF fit. Not sure about Hazlewood yet. Eng heavily reliant on Jimmy who doesn't get the swing in Oz. In 2010-11 it was Bresnan and Tremlett who made big impacts. Who could it be this time? Wood or Woakes perhaps. Two 5-0 drubbings in the last 3 trips down there. Wretched record at Brissy and Perth. Beaten up badly for 3 days at the Gabba then saved by Trott and Cook's heroics. Butchered at Perth but still won 3-1. There's no doubt when Eng lose there they capitulate on and off the pitch. Oz look decidedly average to me and should be there for the taking but all of the above means I haven't a scooby what will happen. |
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Wade needs to be CHOPPED.........got to be someone better than him down under.
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I think England would have to be significantly better than Australia to beat them on their own patch, they aren't and will struggle - 3-1 to Aus for me. Can't see Anderson being particularly effective, and Wood might get the nod at the back end of the series
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gotta manage wood properly even if he is fit. he just cannot play back to back tests
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5-0
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Hard one to call this pxb
Both sides have brittle batting and look vunerable. I think a fit Aussie bowling line up is stronger than Englands. I think if Root does not have to bat against a new ball then they have a chance. Much will depend on Cook to defend Root. If we don't get blown away early we could make some decent scores and if it comes down to attrition we can spread the bowling load wider. It could be an evenly balanced series but Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood could cause serious damage if fit. |
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It is for you.
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I don't see these 2 teams drawing without a fair amount of rain.
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Stokes hasn't done me any favours in the series market. Aus now 1.46 to win the Ashes.
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The Stokes situation is a big blow to England and much as I would like to see them win I think Aussies must be favs.England teams tend to unravel quickly in Aus and many careers have ended quickly.Last tour Swann, Trott and Peterson all met the exit door.Aussies batting is fragile but so is Englands and I think the Aussie quicks will be the difference. Hope its a tight tense 5 game battle but a first game defeat for England could see an England tour collapse.
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I think it could be a bit up and down rosebowl. On a flat wicket this England tean can score runs if they don't lose more than 4 wickets to the new ball. As long as 2, 3 and 5 are the ones out early we are still in the game as we will have only lost one batsman!
 !If there is nothing in the pitches out attack looks a little powder puff particularly without a 4th decent seamer to keep the pressure and attrition going. The choice of Crane looks even more ridiculous now. Moen will be facing chin music and if he gets injured things are going to get beyond Monty Python and more like Keystone Cops. Then we will have the selectors saying how could we have forseen this eventuality  ?Foresight not hindsight! No chance! Lock them up and free the Bristol 2! |
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I can't see any situation where Crane would come in for Moeen. Pretty sure he's there for experience and possibly to play at Sydney.
If Mo got injured they would get someone from the Lions squad. Crane can't bat so we would lose a batter as well if he plays. Why no Plunkers in the squad? We MUST have pace and a bit of fire. Tremlett the gentle giant shook them up in 2010. |
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Pattinson out of Aus team
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foakes is a ludicrous selection as well. if they really wanted him in the squad surely he should have played some sort of cricket for england this summer. buttler had to be there if bairstow goes down the day before/morning of the match
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they're banking a lot on starc, hazelwood and cummins who has only played 5 tests 2 of which were against bangladesh. hardly concrete form in the book
england have 3 or 4 holes in the side but it's very ordinary australian team |
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I think if the decent quicks stay fit they’ve got enough to cover for some slightly dodgy batting and still be at least a notch or two better than England but I do agree that it’s not like Hazelwood, Starc and especially Cummins have exactly proven themselves as consistently top class test performers just yet. More importantly, all of them are made out of balsa wood and we could easily see a rather makeshift looking attack out there.
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How many of their team get into ours?
Starc, Warner and Smith are the only 3 I can come up with. |
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bit harsh that, injera. i would go cook, warner, smith, root, khawaja, handscomb, stokes, bairstow, moeen, starc, anderson
handscomb has made a very decent start to his test career albeit from a small sample of games. khawaja has done well recently in australia. that said i wouldn't fancy either of them to get a run if it was in england but it isn't. lyon's not so superior as a spinner that you can leave moeen out. in any event he's one of england's top 3 players in my book |
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4 bowlers?
I'd go Cook Warner Root Smith Jonny Stokes Mo Woakes Starc Broad Jimmy |
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Injera you are a moron and your post about who would get in the english side proves that beyond doubt.
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I would have Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins in front of any England bowler in Aus/
I hope someone comes to their senses and Stokes flys out. At least someone in the Police should have the intelligence to sort this out for the greater good of the nation. A thug got beat up BFD! Let the games go on FFS! I do think this series could be hard to predict and will swing back and forth within matches. |
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While I initially thought this would be quite an even ashes, without Stokes it's definitely advantage Aus.
I watched Starc play in a domestic one dayer. He was good, but not the Starc of old. |
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Well Starc is the real spearhead for me. If he is not at his best England have a chance of getting runs and attritionalising the Aus attack. Bird and Coulter-Nile are playable.
The fourth seamer for both teams is a problem. The workload for three fast bowlers I suggest will be too much even against two batting units with huge holes! Personally I think the England batting is long enough to accomodate Finn or I would rather hope Wood by dropping 2,3 or 5. Finn or Wood will probably score as many runs as the dropped batsman! |
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Starc in Australia:
17 Matches. 74 wickets at 29. Economy 3.46. Hazlewood in Austraila: 15 Matches. 65 wickets at 25. Economy 2.71. Cummins has played 5 Tests, all away. 21 wickets at 25. |
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this fearsome aussie pace attack definitely being overrated. done nothing recently to suggest they are a particularly formidable proposition even on home soil. got outbowled by philander, rabada and kyle abbott
only last winterwith home advantage they've still gotta be favourites but not by so much. england are clearly the better side |
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Aus down to 1.81 for the 1st Test. It's still not clear if Stokes will tour or not.
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I’m not wild about England’s prospects this Ashes but 1.8 or so seems a rather tight price for an Aus side with its own weaknesses. I’d back Aus happily at that price with Stokes missing (which now looks very highly likely)and all of Hazelwood, Starc and Cummins fit but based on their injury histories, that’s not especially likely. The drop off in quality to Bird or NCN would be quite significant I think, especially in a four man attack, where the weakest link is still pretty critical. I really rate Hazelwood but his miserly style works better if the other bowlers are hard to attack.
Anyway, have got an early lay in at 1.8 and will look to trade the draw in due course. |
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I wish the cops would decide one way or the other on charging Stokes. Whether he goes or not will move the markets significantly.
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already moved more than 10 ticks since the news broke. pretty much assumed already he won't be travelling
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Interesting.
http://www.cricket.com.au/news/mitchell-starc-australia-england-pink-ball-reverse-swing-day-night-test-kookaburra-sheffield-shield/2017-10-29 |
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If Moen Ali really is injured then we are are deep in the doo doo!
It also shows the folly and stupidy of the selectors and the make up of the squad. No offence to Crane who I have not seen but will we play him if Ali is injured? Can't blame the selectors for the Stokes situation but we can blame the ECB. Get him on a plane or even a banana boat FFS! I don't know what the answe is to the slow bowler problem btw seriously England..if you can keep your head while others around you are losing theirs then I don't think you understand the seriousness of the situation It is time to PANIC! |
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Ali a big loss if indeed he doesn't play.
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Finn out injured. Tom Curran his replacement.
So they're telling us that Overton, Ball, Finn and now TC are a better bet than Plunkett and Porter?? Porter took 75 wickets this season!!! TC took 24, Plunkett only played 2 games due to injury but excelled for England in the ODIs. Sorry but this could get ugly. I thnk the selectors have been making so many wrong decisions for so long, the whitewash could happen...again. |
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injera, are you an essex man ? might be doing him a huge disservice but isn't porter a medium pace trundler ? can't say i'd ever heard of him before last summer
not sure what they've got against plunkett. you'd think he'd more than useful in australian conditions. overton is very raw. huge ask to expect much of him as 4th seamer |
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Sussex mafe. Astonished by Porter's achievement. He's as quick as Ball and Curran.
Think you're somerset. What's Leach done wrong? Still not forgiven your CEO for his treatment of my NZ lad....Cooper tore up the contract and somehow winged it with his youngsters (fair play actually). |
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correct zum is my team. appears despite england having 3 all rounders in the side there's still an unwritten rule a spinner has to be able to bat. that said sure if he played for yorkshire or surrey he'd been at least in and around the squad long before now. comfortably the best spinner in the country
nonsense taking crane. he's not gonna play as a 2nd spinner and they'll be reluctant to pick him even if moeen's injury doesn't clear up before brisbane |
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I think from a betting perspective Australia are free money in the to win series market. No Stokes, Ali not 100%, Anderson never been great in Aus (has played in 2 5-0 losing sides), Broad is hit and miss but cant rely on just him, no real spin option for those wickets, all of them selected leak runs, we have a soft top order to boot, and with no Stokes to bail us out at 6 we look right in the weeds. Finn wasnt great but did have pace.
Australia comfortable winners imo |