2017 Ashes chitchat

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.

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.

Wade needs to be CHOPPED.........got to be someone better than him down under.

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

gotta manage wood properly even if he is fit. he just cannot play back to back tests

5-0

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.

It is for you.

I don't see these 2 teams drawing without a fair amount of rain.

Stokes hasn't done me any favours in the series market. Aus now 1.46 to win the Ashes.

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.

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!

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.

Pattinson out of Aus team

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

Oct 4, 2017 -- 6:20PM, mafeking wrote:

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

I'd say that Foakes is likely to be a far better test batsman than Buttler, with a rather strong FC record, as opposed to Buttler, who barely plays any longer form cricket. I agree that it's a bit of a punt taking him in the context of no international experience though. 

Pattinson out injured for the foreseeable is quite a loss for Australia, in that while it's still a very fine pace attack if they can play Starc, Hazelwood and Cummins, all three of them are at least somewhat injury prone and it promotes Coulter-Nile, who's fine but hardly great, to first reserve and I'm not even sure who goes to second reserve. Bird?

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

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.

How many of their team get into ours?

Starc, Warner and Smith are the only 3 I can come up with.

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

4 bowlers?

I'd go

Cook
Warner
Root
Smith
Jonny
Stokes
Mo
Woakes
Starc
Broad
Jimmy

Injera you are a moron and your post about who would get in the english side proves that beyond doubt.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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 winter

with home advantage they've still gotta be favourites but not by so much. england are clearly the better side

Aus down to 1.81 for the 1st Test. It's still not clear if Stokes will tour or not.

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.

I wish the cops would decide one way or the other on charging Stokes. Whether he goes or not will move the markets significantly.

already moved more than 10 ticks since the news broke. pretty much assumed already he won't be travelling

Interesting.

http://www.cricket.com.au/news/mitchell-starc-australia-england-pink-ball-reverse-swing-day-night-test-kookaburra-sheffield-shield/2017-10-29

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!

Ali a big loss if indeed he doesn't play.

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.

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

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).

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

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

Saffers went over there last year without AB and turned over Aus comfortably, we have turned over Saffers home and away.......Eng winning the ashes is doable.

england have problems but it's a very average australian side. they have no idea who to pick at 6 and 7 for a kick off. wicket keeper is a real problem position for them

40 years since Eng have won at the Gabba or WACA. A better record at Adelaide, but that was in the pre-day/night era.

I rather think we will arrive at the MCG with Eng 3 down, unless Eng get lucky with the toss and conditions at Adelaide.

I am with you pxb although I do think Aussies are also vunerable and an injury to Starc will shift the balance.

England could still win but history is against them. Slaughter at the Gabbatoir and I think the Ashes are lost.

I retain hope for England but only a little more than Bob Hope and Slim. I would like to see a bold move and Wood added to the Squad immediately, absolutely no chance of that whatsoever!

I would rather use Saffers last year as a yardstick than Eng tours to Aus in the far distant past.   

It's all exciting for we cricket traders.............I'll be doing the night shift throughout!

I think you could be right Cardinal. Maybe us harbingers of doom may have got this wrong. Despite England being 3 batsmen down and no Stokes the Aussies look like they have similar batting problems albeit alleviated somewhat by being on their own soil with their own ball. Their rapier is better than ours but does he have the durability?

In the Game of Thrones vernacular I see foreshadowing of slaughter at the Gabba followed by carnage at Perth and Adelaide, game over and then Wood gets drafted in and we win one convincingly and get a winning draw on the other and a sigh of what could have been!

Ashley I think this could be close and good for gambling if you put your national loyalties behind you and look at the cricket. This is Australia, I am not sure I can do that. Proceed with caution!

Ball went off crook today leaving specualtion that Overton may be in the frame. I would dearly love to see Wood given that job. Finn may have been useful at the Gabba. I have not seen much of Overton and I don't think Ball will be too good in Aussie. We have a problem with the 4th seamer and also possibly the spinner if Ali is really injured.

I think the week batting cancels itself out on both sides. I just feel Aus have more penetration although their atack is brittle. A good 4th seamer would have allowed Engerland to play attrional cricket.

Bored! I just want the phoney war to end and battle to commence!

'New' pink ball producing wickets in the current warmup match.

previous pink ball games in adelaide haven't lasted very long and with distinctly ropey batting line ups on both sides don't expect this one to go much beyond 3 days especially if starc and anderson get the new nut in the twilight zone

Adelaide could be a toss up. Long range weather for the Gaba all over the place. I'm thinking a draw at the Gabba and Eng win at Adelaide isn't out of the question.

Pxb

Do you have a clue to your batting lineup and wicketkeeper?

I think we are over dooming England at the moment although not without some good reason.

Apparently Bayliss does want Wood but he is not match fit? He is bowling in the nets and should be at the Gabba. Personally I would take a chance on him in a 4 seamer attack. He will be of no use to England if we have lost the Ashes after Perth!

Selectors will gather on Wednesday to decide on their squad for the Gabba.

think they'll either stick with wade or go back to nevill. neither is much good with the bat

number 6 need to decide whether they can manage with just 3 seamers and lyon and pick a proper batsman or pick an all rounder who can't really bat or bowl

As ever Warner and Smudge will be the big wickets if both go early with the new ball I suggest England are contenders. Handscombe is a decent propect for me but will not want to be in too early. Aussie also have a problem at 2 and two middle order berths and 6. I ashley think our nbatting may end up stronger but we are on Aussie pitches for the first two of three Test's and the Ashes contest may be over by the end of them!

I like the sound of this Overton, anger management issues, a complete bell end! I like  the that in a 6ft 5in young fast bowler! The 4th seamer needs to be accurate and he may get wickets on 4th innings pitches with his height. His batting needs to be aggressive if not lengthy.

I am feeling btter for England, particularly if the Aussie team is announced tomorrow. Reality will no doubt set in once the game starts!

As ever I'm concerned that getting things horribly wrong off the pitch will lead to a disaster on it (whichever sport).

You mention Bayliss Whispering. Does he have ANY authority?? If he wants Wood he should have him and if he wants Root to bat 3 (which he does), the captain should bat 3.

Vince & Ballance are huge gambles, especially as one of them will bat 3.

Great shame about the injuries to TRJ, Finn, Wood last Summer and now Ball and Moeen. They appear not to rate Plunkett or trust his body. He was our best ODI quickie this year with good economy and plenty of wickets.

Can't chuck in Overton or Curran. I can see a Rankin situation with either or both of those 2.

Thankfully Ball should be fit but undercooked.

I dont rate Ball for Test Match cricket. I haven't seen Overton to be fair but I like the sound of a 6ft 5in Fast Bowler. They will not know much about him. I think he is inked in for the Test at the Gabba. Let us see.

They'll go after him. A few boundaries and he'll be sent down to fine leg for a couple of hours.

Woakes is my biggest hope. Wouldn't have said that 2 years ago! The improvement he's made has been impressive.

I am starting to think Stoneman might do well as the pitches suit his game and he has played here before. Even Malan might do well ig he isn't in too early but IU am not sure he will be in the side unless he comes in at 7 a place I would leave for Moen as he has done well there although maybe he will also do well with the extra responsibility and he does see himself as a batsman first and foremost.

I am getting really excited. I wonder how many balls will be bowled before that confidence is pricked!

england still gonna have bairstow, moeen and woakes at 6, 7 and 8 which is miles better than any combination australia can field in those positions. starc is a decent number 8 but he'll be followed by 3 rabbits. england should fancy their chances of having australia 5 out all out

home advantage will probably be enough for australia but let's not pretend they are a particularly formidable side. i wouldn't give them a prayer if we were playing in england

Eng out to 4s for 1st Test. Can't see any news.

Jamie Porter has a stress fracture in his back, which is why he's playing no cricket anywhere this winter.

Liam Plunkett has hamstring problems, which is why he's limited to T20 in Bangladesh.

Mark Wood has a long-term heel injury, which is why he's lost his central contract.

Craig Overton will be lethal once he gets a fast, bouncy pitch. The only time he's had one in recent times was at Scarborough this summer, where he almost decapitated a few Yorkshire batsmen. He's nowhere near the speed of his twin brother, but from that height you don't need to be on a pitch with bounce. What he does have is real accuracy.

You can see what he did at Scarborough at the 0:44 to 1:00 mark on this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taSB3oQIf4Y

I was hoping some of you guys might suggest I stop being stupid. I really feel like an England punt. If they get lucky with the toss and conditions anything can happen as the two teams I suggest are evenly matched. May well go ahead with an Aussie lay to play it safe on the weather.

Anyway. interesting to see Overton in those clips. he did not seem anywhere near express but one thing struck me was that he was bowling full and most of the batsmen were on the back foot or in the crease. On first sight it looked like he was bowling to 9.10, Jack. I think he will be more useful than Ball and harder to get away. if they try and go after him like they will go after Moen he might get a wicket or two.

Still really excited. I think Aussie are way too short when they have not demonstrated any dominance yet. Rain reports suggested pitch may be slower and less bouncy than usual.

I'll have to think about laying Aus ...too short now but where is the bottom?

I'd consider an England punt at Adelaide. Match could go either way IMO.

Currently, It looks like not enough rain at the Gabba to prevent a result, but could easily change.

You're not being stoopid at all Whispering. These are 2 dodgy teams. With Stokes I'd make us strong favourites.

Worth remembering that in 2010/11 Anderson took 24 wickets. The leading wicket taker on either side.

As mafe said earlier, if this series was in England, it would be a comfortable home win. We write off Broad and Jimmy too readily when abroad. Bit of cloud and rain Down Under and we're very much in this.

From a betting perspective, like always, the focus must shirley be to lay the draw on the dips.

jimmy is getting better with age too. not as fast these days obviously but his skill is unmatched. alright been some helpful conditions against poor batting sides last summer but his average coming down all the time. last couple of years he's been taking his wickets at around 21

I'll have a scotch with my delusion!

Come on guys. The game is at The Gabbatoir!

Have we got a statto? Is the toss important here? Think about putting the oppostion in, think again then bat?

Yes Whispers played at the Gabattoir but have you forgotten the last test match played here less than a year ago?  Look at how well Pakistan played. they nearly caused a sensation and they lost the toss.

england's problem has nearly always been lack of 1st inns runs in brisbane and perth. can't remember the last time we made 300 first up at either venue

the warm games as per this tour are always on slow pitches and we get caught out by the shock of the extra pace and bounce every time

seems like the aussie selectors have put all the names in a hat and had a lucky dip to pick the side for the gabba

cameron bancroft replacing matt renshaw who'd done nothing wrong, 34 year old shaun marsh at number 6 and tim paine with the gloves after a 7 year absence

warner, bancroft, smith, kawaja, handscomb, marsh s, paine, starc, cummins, lyon, hazelwood

If that doesn't give England a lift nothing will.

Handscomb looks a weak link too. If Cummins breaks down like he so often does they're screwed.

will be a minor miracle if cummins plays more than 2 of the 5 matches with his fitness record

I am too bullish on England for my own good. I will back them but for a relatively small percentage. It is ashley quite hard to know what is going on out there. They are being spoon fed friendly opposition and placid pitches. My main concern is the shock of life at the Gabba.

On the plus side a number of batsmen may be suited to Australian pitches and Stoneman has some experience playing here. I think an attacking batting strategy will help on these pitches unlike in England or India where all out attack has been exposed as folly.

I am ashley concerned about the lack of penetration of our attack once the Kookaburra goes soft. Again on the plus side I think we have accurate bowlers who know how to do their job. We really need to wear down the Aussie fast bowlers and attack Lyon.

Their batting looks as brittle as hell and I think they have got serious problems. A lot is being asked of Bancroft and he will be targeted. The good thing is their two best batsmen are in the top 3 and if we get one of those early there will be pressure on their middle. I know some people think they are not very good but all the batsmen can score runs and fast, ok Handscombe is stodgy but he is solid. If we get amongst them we can impose ourselves in this series. Their batsmen must score runs because they have a long tail.

The big question is how we handle their attack and that is still to be seen but at 4's England have to be worth a speculative punt! I'm going in!


I hope to God we go all out for a win and do not take a backward step.

I'd much prefer we get stuck in and let a lot of balls pass.

Last time Down Under we took on the short ball. Lost so many wickets to air shots. Cook and Carberry caught deep square. Trott twice. KP caught mid wicket at least twice.

All the ex pros say you have to flat bat it on harder pitches. Square batted cuts and pulls. Fine but we could also leave it and make the bowlers adjust their lenghts to suit out style.

Grind the bastards into the dust.

apparently paine hasn't made a first class hundred for 11 years and has only kept in 3 shield games in the last 2 years. he's behind wade for tasmania

seems the aussie selectors were desperate to outdo england for mindboggling picks

They're in a mess with their keepers. Neither Wade nor Neville have passed 50 this season. Both average 20 I think in Tests. There are one or two youngsters but that's it. Paine has had 2 fifties this season and that gets him in!!

Maybe they should have batted Bancroft at 7 and given him the gloves. Leave Renshaw in.

Anyway, advantage England.

renshaw hadn't got a run this season either but surely a solid start to his test career should have overriden a handful of failures in the shield. at the moment england would kill for a new batsman to come into the side and average mid 30s

plenty of wailing and gnashing of teeth in the aussie media and general incredulity

Renshaw was a weak link. Showed some initial promise and may still come good but he his confidence must be low right now and Bancroft high so I think that is a fair swap but still tough for bancroft but what else do they do? Early wickets are a problem for both sides.

You lot think vince will start the first test?

absolute certainty to bat at 3 i'm afraid. cos of bayliss's weak management and joe root's utter refusal to move up to 3 if we're gonna win we're gonna have to do it the hard way from 30/2 more often than not

Can't Malan bat at 3 ?

Talk of Stokes playing, perhaps as early as Adelaide.

malan's gonna bat at 5

as i understand even if it was announced tomorrow that he wouldn't be facing any charges he's still gotta go through an ecb disciplinary board. severely doubt he'd be on the first plane to oz

leaving aside the brawling in the street don't think you can just gloss over being out to 2.30 in the middle of a series and by all accounts it's not the first time either recently

f'k me i can post at last.........just using a different comp to see if it work,seems i can post on this one!...hope all is well for all on the cricket forum,just a brief check its working...cu all for a hopefully competitive ashes

as if the ashes wasn't exciting enough, Terry is back!

tom u old GOAT!...all works on this comp so will steal it of my bro,hope all is well and you winning plenty with ayts super tipping service
cant wait for the ashes to get going..plenty off beer in the fridge is essential..
im off out for a jar tonight so will catch u over the next few days.
say hello to grant if your still fleecing him on the poker tables
BRING IT ON

Just clear your history and/or delete your cookies if you can't post. That's the reason a different computer works and the old one didn't.

cheers for the help screaming,i had tried everything and even had a computer working mate look at it for me with no joy....i seethed at betfair during the IPL and they just said it was something to do with my apple laptop and iphone...i seethed at them so much they threatened to ban me,weird eh

that seems harsh, comms think it was clear but how much boot has to be behind the line?
i sensed a sliver was outside the back line
it's confusing when some sports want it over the line, others on the line.
we need line consistency