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jhong said:
Paine doesn't strike me as a very attacking Capt , or a very good one .
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We've got a close-in fielder on the legside and Lyon is now bowling a leggish stump line to a tail ender. It nearly paid off then, but it still seems a weird plan. Close in fielder on the off, flight it up there and encourage the bloke to have a swing.
 
Cannon82 said:
We've got a close-in fielder on the legside and Lyon is now bowling a leggish stump line to a tail ender. It nearly paid off then, but it still seems a weird plan. Close in fielder on the off, flight it up there and encourage the bloke to have a swing.
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Lyon not really tossing them up , seems to be content spearing them in .
 
jhong said:
Lyon not really tossing them up , seems to be content spearing them in .
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Yeah, not liking it. Got Burns with a pearler and now he's just trying to dart them through. Should be giving them even more air.

He just got pumped for 6, but that's okay, let the tail enders chance their arm.

Edit: 53/54 mph is about 85 kph. Slow it down.
 

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Blade Runner 2049 on 53. No Country for Old Men on 30. No need to watch the lunch break boobery.
 
Cannon82 said:
Johnny Bairstow a handy bloke to bring in at 7. No idea why Denly is at 4. He may as well bat at 7 or 8.
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Bairstow been averaging 27 for the last 12 months. Old grey mare ain't what she used to be.

Stokes is the one should probably be promoted up the order but probably don't want to overstress him with the bowling load he has.
 
That could be it, there. We'll see what Wade can do, but I'm not overly optimistic.

Would like to see Smith using the bat less against Denly. Bloke is pitching them a foot outside leg - if you're not planning on scoring off the delivery, just stick the pad out.
 
Cannon82 said:
That could be it, there. We'll see what Wade can do, but I'm not overly optimistic.

Would like to see Smith using the bat less against Denly. Bloke is pitching them a foot outside leg - if you're not planning on scoring off the delivery, just stick the pad out.
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In Smith we trust.
 

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Matthew Wade is the greatest cricketer alive. Looking forward to watching the great man over the next 3 or 4 years as Australia's number 6. Cunning ploy from the Poms.
 
That was nearly missing a second set of stumps. Can see off stump, hits Root on outside leg of front pad... given out.
 
Cannon82 said:
Matthew Wade is the greatest cricketer alive. Looking forward to watching the great man over the next 3 or 4 years as Australia's number 6. Cunning ploy from the Poms.
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I'm really hopeful that Wade's year isn't a flash in the pan, for our sake. He wouldn't be the first bloke for the penny to drop later in his career. If he can be a 40-45 average middle order batsman for us, that would do.
 
Wonder if that's the best we'll see from the Poms. Letting that first innings effort from us build up to 280 instead of all out 140 and then failing to apply any sort of pressure once our second dig got going... that'll sting a bit. Obviously the one-day flavour to their middle order (and half their opening pair) isn't going to do them a lot of favours on wickets that move around a bit.

Smith and the Lyon the key difference though. Doubt Wade has the confidence to punch them to all corners if a tail ender is at the other end, and Lyon was able to use the conditions to his advantage, unlike Ali.
 
losing Anderson was a big blow to them. they couldn't land the knockout punch when they had us on the ropes early. a likely replacement, Mark Wood, also got injured as well. not sure about the rest of their bowling depth. Ali was rubbish.
Roy, Denly and Buttler looked a bit out of their depth. Bairstow out of form. it will be interesting to see what changes they make. possibly a couple of batsmen.

for us, the openers remain a problem. doubt they'll make a change yet there though. and i'm still unsure about Wade also. the conditions suited him in the 2nd innings, but I still think he might be in trouble on wickets with something in them for the bowlers, the way he keeps falling over.
 
Yeah, so many questions to come out of the first test.

How are England going to make enough runs? Their top order consists of an unconvincing Burns, Jason Roy whose decision to try and blast Lyon out of the park when they needed to bat all day was probably the greatest howler of a decision for the whole test and Denly who is 33 years old and averages 36 at first class level. They tried to hide him behind Root but that's not a sustainable solution. Jos Buttler has been averaging only 23 this year, Bairstow and Ali have been in steep decline over the past 18 months.

As Fork n Hell mentioned, Anderson is a big blow to them. A calf injury for a 37 year old raises significant doubt about him for the rest of the series. Can Archer adjust to test cricket and fill Anderson's shoes? Can Broad lead the attack? Can Ali rediscover any semblance of form? Will he even be given the chance?

And let's not gloss over Australia's frailties. We were 8 for 122. The openers failed in both innings. Khawaja looked in reasonable touch but it didn't count for runs. Can Head and Wade carry the middle order in the event Smith fails? (I'm semi-confident with Head's form and Wade given that was his role for Tasmania).

I think Smith and the depth of our bowling unit as a whole tip the scales in our favour but it's certainly not a sure thing. Dis ain't over.
 
Three times the Poms were poised to land a killer punch and they missed. 8-122 on the first day and then Smith and the tail wagged. 284 wasn’t disastrous but with Anderson gone they needed to probably score 550 to completely shut the gate. On the third morning they had spent a day stretching and frustrating Australia’s attack and were 4-282, then Stokes nicked off out of nowhere and they have a mini collapse to 8-300 which gives Australia a sniff. Then on the third evening they get both openers cheaply and stop Khawaja before parity meaning Australia still trail by 15 with 7 wickets left and plenty of time to get another before stumps. They don’t, Smith and co break them again and put Australia ahead in the game for the first time in the middle of day 4.

I love test cricket.

There’s a tour match for the Aussies starting tomorrow. I expect Starc will come in for Lord’s probably for Pattinson, possibly for Siddle (Hazlewood a dark horse).

The Poms will probably replace Anderson with Archer. They should jettison Ali for Leach. Denly is pretty crap so I reckon they’ll either replace him with a county batsman or rejig the middle order, bat Woakes at 7 and add Sam Curran.

Australia’s batsmen need to be more consistent because it’s unsustainable for Smith to continue scoring big hundreds, especially as the Poms will try and doctor pitches to green seamers to nullify he and Lyon’s influence.
 
Klyntonius said:
So Burns thick edges his way to a ton and England all but have a 1-0 lead in the books. All my optimism has evaporated.
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This hasn't aged well.
Cannon82 said:
Poms could collapse just as quickly, and I'll wait to see how we bat in the second dig. Lyon is going to be a difficult proposition to handle on this wicket in the 4th innings. We need to skittle them out for less than a hundred ahead and put at least a couple of hundred lead on ourselves. Variable bounce is already cropping up on the second day, so it'll be interesting to see how each batting lineup handles it.
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However, this certainly did age well.

I love the flows of test cricket.
 
I am more concerned about our openers and first drop in the batting line up than rotating a quick here or there. I don't think Starc or Hazelwood can be selected on the basis of a rained out tour match against unknown quality ,but the selectors appear to have a plan to make sure the quicks get through the series.
Seems a bit silly to me as a bowler is no guarantee to not break down anyway ,rested or not. i don't understand why Warner batted so far out of his crease in the first test , Bancroft didn't impress , and Khawaja doesn't strike me as really being suited to English conditions . Unfortunately its not like there is anyone demanding selection to replace them. I think the weather might have a bigger say than either team hope for.
 
jhong said:
I am more concerned about our openers and first drop in the batting line up than rotating a quick here or there. I don't think Starc or Hazelwood can be selected on the basis of a rained out tour match against unknown quality ,but the selectors appear to have a plan to make sure the quicks get through the series.
Seems a bit silly to me as a bowler is no guarantee to not break down anyway ,rested or not. i don't understand why Warner batted so far out of his crease in the first test , Bancroft didn't impress , and Khawaja doesn't strike me as really being suited to English conditions . Unfortunately its not like there is anyone demanding selection to replace them. I think the weather might have a bigger say than either team hope for.
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Agree, but as you said with the batting it’s not as though there are better alternatives. It’s the opposite to the halcyon days when there were a dozen or so international quality batsmen to pick a side from. Now the batting lineup is pretty much the who’s who of who’s that.
 
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