Cricket
There is currently 1 person viewing this thread.
These 153 comments are related to the topic:
THE ASHES OZ V ENGLAND 5 TEST SERIES
THE ASHES OZ V ENGLAND 5 TEST SERIES
sort by:
Show
per page
Replies: 153
|
By:
well done west indies , 4 down going into last day , batted superbly to get the draw , greaves made 202 not out,
|
|
By:
Remarkably quiet on here considering the Ashes is going on !
Stokes and Jacks showed today how it was possible to bat for some time on this wicket, just don't play rash shots, it's not rocket science is it ? It took a superb catch by Smith to end their partnership just when the Aussies would have been getting a bit twitchy about being set a nervy target. Shame the rest of the batsmen left their brain cells in the dressing room. Not sure what the heck McCullum is on about with his "we probably trained too hard" claim. If that's the case why not lay off doing that kind off stuff and give the woefully out of form batsmen practice in the 2 day pink ball game that they shunned ? Lots of questions for the management and their approach but no doubt the bunker mentality will remain. Stokes at least seems to get it now, but the things he was saying today would have been better addressed before the tour, not halfway through. Nonetheless it's good to see some kind of realism. Carey had a superb game behind the stumps for Australia, obviously he is a decent bat too but it was a good advert for playing your best keeper and if he can get runs too, all the better. The contrast between him and Jamie Smith was stark. Foakes is the best English keeper and a decent bat ,but he has been left out in the cold as he is not a "dasher". We could have done with somebody like him in the middle order to shore things up. too late now though. The last time a team came back from 2-0 down to win the Ashes was the Aussies in 1936/37, when in the first two tests they had been hammered by England, so maybe there is hope yet. For those who believe in miracles 25/1 is generally available. |
|
By:
Smith's record prior to this tour justifies his selection, his keeping had largely been 7/8 out of 10..his batting average way beyond Foakes..
obviously not so here and like anyone should be under some pressure for place but not as early as this bar a return to the 90's. |
|
By:
Looking forward to having a catch up with WD
 |
|
By:
lol TMB..happy days for you mate..
Starc stepped up big time in a way I didn't have him capable of (my bad) and plenty of others giving creditable efforts.. |
|
By:
What side would you put out for the third test as its make or break for you?
|
|
By:
I'd pick a proper spinner (Bashir I guess - though would have taken Leach originally personally seeing as he's Somerset's first choice)..
I'd imagine Cricket Australia will want to get at least 4 days again to make up the Perth short fall.. Beyond that the options are quite limited within the squad and unlikely to improve much..think they can still get the better of Oz in any given game but recurring theme of losing the big moments not just in the ashes but against top sides tells the truth of them.. post this tour I think Pope should be seriously looked at (could promote Bethel - though don't really see a case bar rolling the dice as he has no credibility in red/pink ball stuff) ...Zak's probably done enough to merit staying in, some of the others just not playing to potential maybe through prep, application or maybe just not good enough in Australia ...Archer, Atkinson only have one good outing to date.. Brooke, Stokes, Duckett, Smith not making enough runs.. |
|
By:
Pomms more than capable of winning in Adelaide and I'm not ruling them out at this stage. More than enough talent in the side but they are playing well below their capabilities atm and that is not a good recipe when you are playing against any Aussie side. Pomms selection will be interesting. Would also be nice if we could win a toss now and then.
|
|
By:
I would always take my best keeper on an Ashes tour and that's Foakes who is perfectly capable with the bat.
Smith could have gone as a specialist batsman (and back up keeper) rather than picking Bethell who has done little to justify selection, not particularly his fault of course as he is undercooked because he should have been playing 4 day cricket in the Championship rather than fannying around in (at times) meaningless white ball cricket instead. Bashir can't get a game for his county but will presumably play in the third test as he is the only specialist spinner in the squad, you couldn't make it up. How many other internationals in any sport can you say that about ? Zak looked much better this week and would be unlikely to be dropped anyway, Pope would be under pressure for his place if there was a decent alternative , Carse needs to sort his radar out or Tongue should play next week. |
|
By:
No change to the England batting line up for the 3rd test which is hardly surprising given the lack of alternatives.
Bashir left out  what was the point of taking him on this tour if they won't play him ?Tongue deserves a go and replaces Atkinson rather than the errant Carse, not sure about that. Surely England cannot play as badly again, but 5/2 is not tempting enough for me to get involved. |
|
By:
foakes has two test centuries as well as being the best keeper.
i struggle to think of anymore hubris in sport i have ever watched than 'bazball' - imo, all it is is one day tactics in a test match. we have failed to win series we should have won because of it. bring back the block or the forward defensive shot. sack the coach, dial it down a few notches and we wouldnt be too bad, we would still probably lose in aus though. |
|
By:
Bazball was lauded by the media when England were often winning jolly, the more sensible commentators pointed out the true test of it would come when things didn't work out too well.
You have to have a Plan B and this is what the pig headed management would not take on board with their "this is how we play" mantra. It seems as though they may have belatedly realised that when playing the better test teams that they have to learn to adapt. It may be too late for this series but you never know. Today was a proper day of test cricket with both teams on top at some point, the Aussies scored at a healthy four an over without going mad and England's bowlers stuck to their task well although Carse was expensive again as was Tongue. The odds are pretty much the same as they were at the toss which shows neither side has the upper hand at the moment, it should be a good contest. |
|
By:
Australia retain. Brilliant effort really by England in their second innings but still no match here. Aussie fielding excellent.
Please, no “click of god” stuff. Has any nation ever won a series with four test wins? |
|
By:
Honcho, the last three Ashes series down under have ended in crushing Aussie wins by 5-0 4-0 4-0 !!!
This series is following suit at the moment, the last time England even won a test down there was in the 2010/11 series when we won the Ashes 3-1 and the Aussies were soundly thrashed , all 3 England wins were by an innings ! Of course they won by playing proper test cricket, current management should take note. |
|
By:
All of the criticism of England in the media seems to centre on management, preparation etc. on tour but surely the only conclusion to be drawn from those 3 tests is that England are no where near as good as Australia in their conditions. If Arsenal beat Forest Green Rovers in an FA Cup match they don't blame the Forest Green management, they accept that there is a big gulf in class and ability. Australia take sports very seriously and are good at most of them. In England only a few keen youngsters get the chance to play any sport at all these days. Long gone are the Wednesday afternoons playing Football, Cricket, Tennis etc. for 2-3 hours and all pupils had to participate when I was at school unless they had a doctors certificate. And that was a small state comprehensive, not a private school.
|
|
By:
Sage, it's fairly obvious that the Aussies have played better than England and they are indeed hard to beat at home but the fact is that they are an ageing squad and have been missing crucial players in Cummins, Hazelwood and Smith for all or part of the series so far. They were there for the taking if England had prepared properly and adjusted their mindset to adapt to match situations. The Aussies have relied on Travis Head and Alex Carey a lot for their runs. Green, Wetherald and Inglis have not contributed much and as such England really had the chance here to silence their critics but have failed dismally to do so.
It was madness to go in to the First Test without proper match practice. Your Arsenal v Forest Green comparison is not really a fair comparison. I would say it is more like Arsenal going in to their first match of the EPL season without playing any pre-season games beforehand. they were completely undercooked and it showed. The management and their arrogance are very much to blame. They were warned by commentators and ex players about this but snubbed the advice. A golden chance to win the Ashes down under has been chucked away. |
|
By:
The only stage where they looked in with a chance was in Perth first innings when they looked evenly matched but Head soon put them in their place. If anything it was the Ausies who looked under cooked. I'm sure there are 10 more Australian players in the wings who would still beat England. We have lost Anderson and Broad and don't have a spinner.
|
|
By:
England are just an unprofessional **** show.
|
|
By:
england have clearly regressed since 2022 and 2023 when they hardly lost a game. since scoring 800 against pakistan they've won as many as they've lost. the 2-2 draw with india is looking poorer by the day. if england were any good they should have comfortably beaten a transitional indian side minus rohit and kohli at home. india going through a real poor spell since as well
|
|
By:
Sage, all of the Aussie team members played at least one Sheffield Shield match( 4 day competition) prior to that first test. Yes England were in the ascendancy after the first day and a bit but it has been pretty much one way traffic since.
Passing up the chance of some match practice before the second test was baffling and unforgiveable, both the management and players should hang their heads over that. And now we are hearing more tales of drinking shenanigans on their trip to Noosa before the Third test, totally gobsmacking that professional sportsmen in this day and age could carry on in such a manner, especially with the Ashes on the line. The trip has been a disaster and heads should roll. |
|
By:
Yet more dreadful batting (on both sides) today. Amusing to hear both McGrath and Vaughan saying it wasn't a suitable pitch for Day 1 of a test just because it favoured the bowlers.
Yes the pitch was green and offered movement for the seamers but it was far from as unplayable as twenty wickets falling would imply. How many of those wickets that fell today were really down to the pitch ? Just a handful - there were a plethora of poor shots and several strangled down the leg side to nothing deliveries. Test players of the past would have battled it out, leaving the ball is not a crime ! The fact is that the modern day batsmen's technique is simply not up to dealing with the moving ball. Too many of them are playing white ball cricket most of the time they are not playing Tests, when in days gone by they would have played for their counties in red ball 3 or 4 day contests in between. Giving the England players lucrative central contracts and barring them playing for their counties most of the time is counter productive, they SHOULD be playing proper county cricket to get vital red ball practice. |
|
By:
What a terrible bunch of pundits covering this series on Sky. Swanny is an absolute biased joke. Thought the Poms could get 450 on that wicket. Please Lord spare us from him. Just goes to show the chasm and class that Warnie showed not only on the pitch but in his assessment of the players performance and the game in general. Swanny a pub player compared to the great one.
|
|
By:
Bazball is not dead.
A small footnote on the ashes. The boxing day test ended on boxing day in some parts of the world. |
|
By:
Given the ludicrous media coverage today and the players celebrations one could be forgiven for thinking the last month had never happened and our brave cricketers had won the Ashes rather than simply making the series score 1-3 !
The way this game panned out does indeed suit the bazball approach but if the England management are fooled in to thinking they should carry on with it then we will have learnt nothing. There is a place for it, but assess the match situation first. Truth is that the pitch was not as bad as the scores would seem to signify. Nobody even made a half century in the match which is pathetic for a test. So many wickets were thrown away (mainly by the Aussies). Preparing a bowler friendly pitch was a bit strange given the home team's severely weakened attack and the fact the series was already won. And the lost revenue thanks to the match finishing in two days doesn't bear thinking about. |
|
By:
Thanks Dixie. 16.21. I clearly wasn’t aware of that.
I’ve liked cricket since watching test after test on the Beeb during the seven weeks of school hols but can’t say I’m a student of it. |
|
By:
England in danger of spoiling a good overnight score.
2 early wickets, Brook & Stokes. 229/5. |
|
By:
183 behind on first innings. Only 2 results can happen, Aussie win or draw. England need 400.
Just cannot see it. Just hope we don't fold today. |
|
By:
Crawley gone after just 5 balls.
Trapped in his crease like a rabbit in the headlights. |
|
By:
Obviously the Aussies should win from here but setting them 170 or more could be a tester for them if our bowlers actually stop spraying it around.
We have at least been competitive in this game but are still prone to the odd brain fade - Smith's two dismissals rather sum his series up and Jacks' holing out off his second ball was inexcusable. Root in the first innings and now Bethell have shown how to play an innings in test cricket. If only their team mates would follow their example eh ? As well as Bethell has played it has to be remembered this is largely an Aussie second string attack and it is a decent wicket for batting. That doesn't detract from his excellent effort in scoring his first ton but just puts it in to perspective, unlike the numpties on the BBC website who are now hailing him as the second coming after just one superb performance. Hopefully he will mature in to a mainstay in the side and we certainly need a reliable number 3, but let's not build him up too much only to knock him down again if things get tougher for him. |
|
By:
Correct. Bethell has to back it up in 2026 with several 50s and centuries to nail down the No 3 spot. I hope they don't rush him into opening although he might as well have opened yesterday. Plunkett, Crawley. Pope and Brook all have a few good innings behind them but they also have far too many single figures. As for bowling, only Tongue who did well and Potts who didn't were still fully fit on day 5. Stokes failed with the bat and his bowling had to be limited to avoid a total breakdown so is he really worth keeping on? Finally Joe Root is an adequate spin bowler but was hardly used. Why?
|
|
By:
Tongue should really have been playing from the start of the series but they were hell bent on having sheer pace throughout. He has enhanced his reputation and is a shoo in for the team from now on. Root is more of a fill in spinner but could have done a job in tandem with Bashir had he played. It was a major error not to have a front line spinner in the side for this game, especially seeing some of the turn extracted by Webster and Jacks on days 4/5. I'm far from convinced that the lad is a bone fide test match spinner but as the management had put such faith in him then why the heck did he not play in a single test ? Madness. Yet another bizarre decision by those in charge.
|
|
By:
so it end up 4-1 and a total embarassment.
lets hope that is the end of bazball and mcullock who shd get theboot. i think stokes shd go also great guy great cricketer but time for a change . his batting on this tour has been poor and once again injuries get in te way. we need a total rethink at the top and fresh leadership from a team that understands and has played test cricket at the highest level |
|
By:
Just watching Anderson bowling out West Indies at Lords. Losing him and Broad is why England now look very poor. It will take many years to find anyone even close to them. It is easy to blame the batters and they were poor too but you can't win without accurate bowlers who hit the stumps.
|
|
By:
have to agree the bowling is a much bigger concern than the batting. after all we have the number 1 and number 2 in the world rankings. says it all that stokes on one knee these days is the only bowler you can rely on to bowl a steady spell at the moment
really the first innings scores we posted in brisbane and sydney should have led to wins but for utterly hopeless displays with the ball |