The Ashes. Fifth Test Australia v England @ Blundstone Arena, Hobart, 14-18 January 2022

[Stax on the mill]

No point pottering around on this pitch. Sooner or later (probably sooner), you’re going to get an unplayable one with your name on it. Best to hit out hard if presented with anything loose at all. At this stage 150 will be a good score.

 

[freo_leo29]

Marnus bout to get out with Wood on

 

[Xtreme]

England visualising the wicket as Novak Djokovics head!

 

[CakeEater]

Imagine Terry Alderman on this pitch

Gooch would probably still be out LBW Alderman.

 

[Santana]

It's seaming. There should be movement on day 1

I also prefer test cricket when the bowler has the advantage. I don't think this is too far in that direction, the batsmen will just need to be patient

Some people love to go on about how batsmen make "easy" runs on flatter decks but shouldn't bowlers be made to work harder for their wickets too?

 

[Marshland]

Far out just turned the match on. Hard to tell the pitch from the rest of the wicket square. Or even from the outfield!

And what a refreshing thing that is.

 

[FRUMPY]

Type of pitch where a 50 will be as good as a century. Wonder if and when it will be better for batting?

It's good watching and good to see bowlers getting the better of it for a change. They bowl on so many roads these days it's nice to see them get a good average improver.

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[Manbearpig77]

It's seaming. There should be movement on day 1

I also prefer test cricket when the bowler has the advantage. I don't think this is too far in that direction, the batsmen will just need to be patient

Fair enough. I suppose we can frame it as good practice for foreign conditions.

But we shouldn't be producing pitches like these in our own backyard. Considering we're notoriously poor at playing on them.

 

[Tugga27]

It's seaming. There should be movement on day 1

I also prefer test cricket when the bowler has the advantage. I don't think this is too far in that direction, the batsmen will just need to be patient

Not this much movement.
Australia should be 4/15.

 

[Westend]

Starc will swing the ball, but I think someone like Neser (assuming Richardson wasn't fully fit) would be more likely to do more damage, because Starc is inconsistent whereas you can pretty much rely on Neser to put the ball on the spot and let the pitch/conditions do the rest. It's like an English country cricket pitch, only possibly more exaggerated.

Richo is fit didn't get picked due to the boys club

 

[ABAB]

“Roads are so boring, put some life in the pitch” is all we ever hear now people are complaining it’s probably a bit over the the top, especially for a night test - this would be awesome as a red ball test. But fu** just enjoy it, any runs made today are worth their weight in gold. Gonna be brilliant to watch. Let’s go aussies dig in and bat it out, runs will come.

"Some" life in the pitch.

 

[Achy Blakey Heart]

This deck is custom made for Josh Hazelwood.

 

[ams4crows]

Great opportunity for Head, had an okay enough series but a score here in these conditions could be the making of him. Step up when we are really down and it’s will be worth more than any of his other innings so far.

What's a score though On this pitch? Anything above 35?

 

[greatwhiteshark]

What’s with the complaining about the pitch? For the last 15 years we have had to put up with roads as pitches.
It is doing what it should do on the first day of a test, favour the quicks.
Batsman need to tough it out and they will enjoy their time as the game goes on.
Is it actually too much to ask for batsman to guys it out these days? The bowlers have had to guts it out all over the world for years and years trying to bowl on roads. Where were the complaints for the poor old bowlers then?
Good test match pitch, let’s find out who the real good players are now.

 

[ScrappyCoCo]

England visualising the wicket as Novak Djokovics head!

Harsh on the wicket.

 

[outabounds]

On pitches like this, any advantage of bowling last is lost because England will be chasing a small target on day 2 or 3 when the batting will be at its best

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[10571z]

“Roads are so boring, put some life in the pitch” is all we ever hear now people are complaining it’s probably a bit over the the top, especially for a night test - this would be awesome as a red ball test. But fu** just enjoy it, any runs made today are worth their weight in gold. Gonna be brilliant to watch. Let’s go aussies dig in and bat it out, runs will come.

Couldn’t agree more. Couldn’t imagine anything worse than batting on a road and the test match being over in day 1. If Aussies are struggling Poms will as well

 

[BarneyBent]

This pitch is no more extreme than the roads we used to see that you could waltz your way to 5/650 and declare, ending in a draw, just the other direction.

Yes, it's more extreme than you would want, but if you want a variety of pitches that overall strike a balance between bat and ball, then you're going to occasionally get an anomaly like this, in either direction.

 

[Burtonsgottago]

Looks a very slow outfield too. Will be interesting to see how Green approaches this.

Also if Head can make a score on this pitch then any doubts I've had will be just about gone.

He will always have doubters no matter what he does

 

[TubbsFarquhar]

Fair enough. I suppose we can frame it as good practice for foreign conditions.

But we shouldn't be producing pitches like these in our own backyard. Considering we're notoriously poor at playing on them.

If anything, we need more green pitches. This one might be a bit much for a D/N test (would be great if it was a red ball test) but the one in Melbourne was fine, and we did it well enough (not counting for a diabolical English side). If we're going to win a series in England, these are the pitches we need to perform on.

 

[Stig O'Hara]

Shot.

 

[Around the Wicket]

This is like a Sydney Grade pitch, Smith averages in the 40s in Sydney Grade cricket.

 

[Westend]

shot !!

 

[Dazza the Viking]

Harris would have been perfect for this pitch. No way he would have gotten bat on any of those wicket balls. Fair to say the selectors got it wrong.

At least he was staying out there for a while in he’s last 4 innings, Warner was dismissed 3 times before Harris, At least Harris was seeing off the new ball

 

[Tugga27]

What’s with the complaining about the pitch? For the last 15 years we have had to put up with roads as pitches.
It is doing what it should do on the first day of a test, favour the quicks.
Batsman need to tough it out and they will enjoy their time as the game goes on.
Is it actually too much to ask for batsman to guys it out these days? The bowlers have had to guts it out all over the world for years and years trying to bowl on roads. Where were the complaints for the poor old bowlers then?
Good test match pitch, let’s find out who the real good players are now.

Doing way too much for a pitch.
Australia could be 5 or 6 down already.
The Poms would be in the same boat if they were batting.