The Ashes, Third Test Australia v England @ The MCG 26-30 December

[Pollywaffle]

Just quickly, one thing that has annoyed me over the years is watching Jimmy Anderson trying to bat. You'd think a 20 year professional, a player with obvious natural sporting ability, would have at some time learned a forward and backward defence.

What about Broad? His transition from useful ‘almost‘ all rounder to bunny has been tragic. I think in his and Anderson’s case they have just got so sick of picking up the pieces after batting collapses. Childish I know, but must be frustrating when they bowl their hearts out only to see fragile batsmen piss it all away.

 

[Allezjuel]

George Bailey 2.0.

They remind me a bit of us after Sandpapergate except their two most experienced batsmen aren't suddenly unavailable.

This is our team from the 4th test in RSA:

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How do you pick leadership from that? Mitch Marsh was supposed to be the great white hope but his test batting isn't up to scratch.

Looking at England's team now it's only Root and Stokes that inspire any confidence. Root is 33 and Stokes 32 off the top of my head which isn't old, but they aren't young players coming through. Flintoff was 28 in 2005 and didn't do a whole lot after that, you can't just expect players to stay at their peak well into their 30s even though some do.

Obviously sandpapergate happened but it's still quite remarkeable that the entire top 7 has been replaced from a test that happened less than 4 years ago. Back then I thought Renshaw and Handscomb were the hopes for the future, that turned out to be pretty off the mark.
This series I think a couple of players under pressure like Starc, Lyon and Head have performed very well and secured their spot in the side for the immediate future. The only question mark in this side is Harris, who I would replace with Pucovski if fit.
Aus team for the next 2-3 years: Warner, Pucovski/Harris, Labuschagne, Smith, Head, Green, Carey, Cummins, Starc, Lyon, Hazlewood.

 

[Voice of the G]

Obviously sandpapergate happened but it's still quite remarkeable that the entire top 7 has been replaced from a test that happened less than 4 years ago. Back then I thought Renshaw and Handscomb were the hopes for the future, that turned out to be pretty off the mark.
This series I think a couple of players under pressure like Starc, Lyon and Head have performed very well and secured their spot in the side for the immediate future. The only question mark in this side is Harris, who I would replace with Pucovski if fit.
Aus team for the next 2-3 years: Warner, Pucovski/Harris, Labuschagne, Smith, Head, Green, Carey, Cummins, Starc, Lyon, Hazlewood.

A lot might change with that side you have named on the tour to Pakistan,India and Sri Lanka,exciting times ahead.Still question marks over that batting line up other then Smith and Labs and important to remember we are playing a England side that is really struggling at the moment.

 

[western royboy]

To be fair to Anderson he is 40 , his batting has steadily got worse post 30 which isnt a total suprise.

No excuse for the rest .
Couldn't believe how poorly Pope played Lyon. It actually looked like he had never faced a decent spinner before .
The rest basically give slips catching practice.

It sounds like there is literally nothing else coming through either.
You would think coming up on seaming swinging county conditions you would have some form of technique or gameplan.

It’s how you learn the game that is the key - I’ve been banging on about it for years and now listening to all the uk cricket podcasts I feel absolutely vindicated.

we need not get carried away we’ve only got 3 Test bats, problem is England had only 1

 

[Gethelred]

Malan is an away specialist. Watch him disappear once they get home..Shame though I like him as a player

I look at Malan the same way I look at Shaun Marsh; both players who can look classic when driving, but both players who do not know where their off stump is, don't differentiate with their feet or bat position between a square cut and a back foot drive, and who both love a waft or a fend at the ball with that strange hybrid shot.

It's not like Travis Head, who tries to cut on length anything wider than over the top of off stump; they both get caught between playing a vertical bat and a horizontal bat when they shouldn't be playing, and it winds up getting them out caught in the cordon an awful lot.

The method works here where it doesn't in England, too.

 

[The hands of stone]

It’s how you learn the game that is the key - I’ve been banging on about it for years and now listening to all the uk cricket podcasts I feel absolutely vindicated.

we need not get carried away we’ve only got 3 Test bats, problem is England had only 1

We arent flushed for batsman any means , its a false economy against the English if we think we are

 

[Santana]

We arent flushed for batsman any means , its a false economy against the English if we think we are

I don't really think many people think we are.

 

[Grand Uncle Horace]

I don't really think many people think we are.

Let us face it, The Poms are shyte and we are just ordinary.

 

[Voice of the G]

Let us face it, The Poms are sh*te and we are just ordinary.

A bit harsh,one of the best bowling attacks in the world but the batting is still a worry.

 

[troybe]

Get down all you Sydneysiders, all for a good cause


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[Santana]

Let us face it, The Poms are sh*te and we are just ordinary.

We are not just ordinary. We have too many great players to be an ordinary side.

We are a good team that is missing 2 or 3 very good bats from being a great side.

 

[troybe]

A poor team playing an average team making them look like a good team. Let’s see how we go in Asia over the next year before making a conclusive assessment.


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[bh90210fan]

Let us face it, The Poms are sh*te and we are just ordinary.

Must be a lot of ordinary sides going round at the moment then considering we flogged the crap out of the kiwis too

 

[Santana]

A poor team playing an average team making them look like a good team. Let’s see how we go in Asia over the next year before making a conclusive assessment.


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Depends on what you consider "see how we go". Considering it's not like the other western teams are killing it over there of late, or ever.

 

[Mockcockpit]

Any interest in taking Kuhnemann to the sub-continent? Leading wicket taker in the Shield this year and only 25.

 

[Santana]

Any interest in taking Kuhnemann to the sub-continent? Leading wicket taker in the Shield this year and only 25.

Probably not ready. Wouldn't mind him being in the squad perhaps.

 

[philreich]

Must be a lot of ordinary sides going round at the moment then considering we flogged the crap out of the kiwis too

And we were ultra competitive against India last summer.

 

[Mockcockpit]

Probably not ready. Wouldn't mind him being in the squad perhaps.

Probably not, but it'll be interesting to see how he goes in the 2nd half of the season.

 

[Scotland]

We're a decent team, but close to the same team lost 2-1 to India this time last year. Hazlewood and Starc combined for 1/150 as we couldn't bowl out India's tail on a 5th day pitch.

A lot of question marks over our team. I'm confident in Smith, Labuschagne and Cummins in varying conditions and Hazlewood most of the time. The latter has his moments but can be rigid and predictable when batsmen go after him (see Stokes 2019, just about lost my voice yelling 'stop bowling short, stop bowling in the slot' at the TV). Warner is what he is. 7,500 runs @ 48 is great but he does average 26 in England and 24 in India from a combined 21 tests. I'm not picking Warner for an Ashes or Border-Gavaskar tour expecting the Adelaide Oval version to turn up. Lyon is pretty consistent but he's never going to be the guy you are confident will bowl you to victory on the last day.

Starc has had a great series, but our #6 batting all rounder has 7 wickets @ 11 and a debutant took 6/7. England are presenting opportunities aplenty for quick wickets. Starc is always going to be a Forrest Gump prospect for what you get on a given day. Cummins on a flat deck in India is going to bust his hump to give you 20 overs and find a way to take wickets and keep the run rate under control. Starc might get you 3/20 in a 5 over burst and be might go 0/100 for the day.

Green is well, green, but has promise. Harris isn't test standard and Head probably isn't either. But Head is more of a Warner/Starc type who has the ability to play a match winning role. Carey is fine, over time we'll see if his batting holds up. Just needs some encouragement from the coaching staff to be confident to go for all catches. Keeper going for a catch that probably would've gone to first slip is fine, but a ball going between keeper and first slip that the keeper leaves isn't.

But it's question marks, not panic stations. Plenty of bowling depth just need to unearth some more quality batsmen. Smith was picked as a lower order all rounder and turned into the best batsman in the world. Marnus fell into the team when Smith was hit on the bonce by Archer, made a couple of scores and hasn't looked back. Pucovski looked good but who knows if/when he'll be back and the pressure on him is huge.

 

[deanc]

Bailey re selection of bowlers for the Sydney test: "It's a great headache - obviously some hard conversations to be had at some point. We'd love nothing more than a full squad to be able to pick from."
List of incumbents and prospects:
Cummins
Starc
Lyon
Boland
Hazelwood
Richardson
Neser
Swepson

With Neser perhaps the exception, conditions pending, I could state a case for all the above to play, but 7 doesn't go into 4 - and in most situations it's hard to believe changes are even required in a team who have just won a test by an innings and bowled out the opposition for 68..?

George Bailey says 'hard conversations' will be had ahead of SCG Test as Scott Boland fights to keep his spot

Australian selector George Bailey reveals MCG hero Scott Boland may yet miss out on the SCG Test, as another bowler is ready for his debut.

www.abc.net.au

 

[PhatBoy]

We are not just ordinary. We have too many great players to be an ordinary side.

We are a good team that is missing 2 or 3 very good bats from being a great side.

I think the truth is probably somewhere in between. The bowling attack is fantastic.

I think the team has 3 great players overall: Hazlewood, Cummins and smith. I think it has a 4th that has been great so far in Marnus but he still has a bit to prove. And it has a 5th who is great at home. Warner.
It has two more who are very good in Starc and Lyon. It has another who has so far held his own in Head. Green is very promising, no question. He has development to do yet. Carey and Harris haven’t really proven anything. I think they are clearly well below India until they beat or draw with them and while they demolished New Zealand and they deserve credit for that, overall their results haven’t been as good as New Zealand’s over the last two years. I think they sit with Pakistan and I’m looking forward to seeing how they go IF they play over there

 

[frankrizzo]

We don't have to wait long to see if we are on the up or not, three away tours in less than a year, honestly SL seems our best shot at a win as pakistan and india are both playing well right now and are simply better sides than us in those conditions.

 

[The Passenger]

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Get down all you Sydneysiders, all for a good cause


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One of Sydney's most picturesque grounds.

 

[Marshland]

And we were ultra competitive against India last summer.

You mean India E by the end of the series.

 

[philreich]

Steve Smith stuck in a lift for 55 minutes last night. Someone tweeted, "If Smith had been an English batter, he would have been out sooner."