Analysis The Ashes 2025/26

[Docker82]

Is Weatherald a long term opener for us? Need more time to tell?

You give the bloke the whole series unless it's an absolute disaster IMO.

Think he looked alright in the second innings.

Certainly wouldn't be replacing him for another opener who's only been performing at shield level for five minutes or someone who isn't an opener at all.

 

[Docker82]

Ideally you'd have Head at 6 but unfortunately, since Warner's retirement, not a single opener in Australia (bar Bancroft who had his card marked years ago) has put their hand up.

Head's not an opener but he's done better at it than anyone we've tried since Warner's retirement.

Next test I would keep Head opening and bat Webster at 6.

Bancroft was recalled the first series he was available and was rubbish. He was rightly dropped. He's looked test standard in maybe two innings at test level.

To say he had his cards marked without recognising that his previous failures are as bad as Harris, Renshaw etc is just pure WA bias.

 

[poshman]

I'm not convinced Head opening long term is better than Travis at 5/6.

When it works it's great but when it doesn't it exposes our fragility earlier plus takes away one of our players who can maintain an innings with the tail. There's questions on that for Beau and Josh.

I'm not tied to Khawaja but I think a specialist opener is important. If he is not injured I'm fine with another couple of tests of Usman and Jake. If Jake looks capable then making a change becomes more palatable.

I wanted our batsmen to make England and Wales bowl 180+ overs in Perth. If they can do that is Brisbane their bowlers will breakdown. That sets us up for the remainder. If Usman can fill that role (I understand the questions of if he is capable) then I think that is more valuable than Travball.

Fair enough and I agree about the need to bat long innings at times.

He should have been dropped a year ago. One great innings against a poor and slow attack. Apart from that he has been a net negative. And he has never been much chop in the field.

 

[Nothing]

Fair enough and I agree about the need to bat long innings at times.

He should have been dropped a year ago. One great innings against a poor and slow attack. Apart from that he has been a net negative. And he has never been much chop in the field.

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Yes it is a lean run, on some tough pitches, but he has often soaked up a lot of balls to get there - kind of what I'm asking for. I CBF doing it, but it would be interesting to see what percentage of the teams' runs Khawaja scored in those tests. I suspect in most of them, he's still scored ~10% of our runs.

With Warner retiring, I don't think it was feasible to replace both openers at the same time (we've had enough trouble finding one replacement). If we had 3 openers at Shield level banging it down, I'd have been all for him being forced to retire last year.

I want a Pujara opener (for this series) not a Warner opener. I think an aging, out of touch Khawaja can do that better than a shield player who's been found out in the past (this doesn't discount Head opening, but as I said I think he is more valuable lower).

 

[Paracleet]

I actually don't like Weatherald / Head as an opening partnership as its two goers*. The lesson from this test is not that fire should be fought with fire but that you play to the coniditons and the match position. If the poms had done that after lunch on day two they would have won by fifity bajillion runs. The Australian lineup with a blend of goers and more traditional bats, preferably spaced out in the order, is the approach more likely to succeed on average imv.

For this series I'm leaning towards maintaining the tactical flexibiliy of Head at five to begin with and being moved to open when appropriate, rather than pushing Inglis or Slug into the side at 6, who I don't think are good enought to be put under that amount of pressure. I'd want Khawaja to actually prove his fitness before being selected though, not just say 'I'm all good'. He's a libility in the condition he was in the last match. Note I would absolutely drop Khawaja now if I thought the next option was ready.

*I'd really like to see what the stats were for movement in the last session because forget Heads ton; Jake looked really comfortable after the first 3 or 4 over live at the ground and I reckon it was the pitch flattening. Not enough is being made of that I. Poms folded like deck chairs when they saw it wasn't going to keep decking.

 

[Paracleet]

I reckon there will be a doco on Ollie Pope in 10 years and it'll be framed like he was an escapee from a cult. "How I survived Bazball's Jonestown moment".

 

[Purple Suit]

Yes it is a lean run, on some tough pitches, but he has often soaked up a lot of balls to get there - kind of what I'm asking for. I CBF doing it, but it would be interesting to see what percentage of the teams' runs Khawaja scored in those tests. I suspect in most of them, he's still scored ~10% of our runs.

With Warner retiring, I don't think it was feasible to replace both openers at the same time (we've had enough trouble finding one replacement). If we had 3 openers at Shield level banging it down, I'd have been all for him being forced to retire last year.

I want a Pujara opener (for this series) not a Warner opener. I think an aging, out of touch Khawaja can do that better than a shield player who's been found out in the past (this doesn't discount Head opening, but as I said I think he is more valuable lower).

This argument would have been fine before the 1st test but he was a massive liability in the last one, some of which was self inflicted with his day before activities. 12 days for a back injury isn't long enough, not when they can just go pop at any moment. It seems that was what occurred anyway from fielding in the slips.

The Ashes is the biggest series and we just saw the poms torn apart, I'd been keen to replicate that by not playing Khawaja and bringing in a replacement for head at 5-7.

 

[Piggy Smalls]

Ideally you'd have Head at 6 but unfortunately, since Warner's retirement, not a single opener in Australia (bar Bancroft who had his card marked years ago) has put their hand up.

Head's not an opener but he's done better at it than anyone we've tried since Warner's retirement.

Next test I would keep Head opening and bat Webster at 6.

With the 5 quicks and the pink ball we'd be able to manage our bowlers, not that they'd probably need it bowling against Bazball anyway.

 

[Nothing]

This argument would have been fine before the 1st test but he was a massive liability in the last one, some of which was self inflicted with his day before activities. 12 days for a back injury isn't long enough, not when they can just go pop at any moment. It seems that was what occurred anyway from fielding in the slips.

The Ashes is the biggest series and we just saw the poms torn apart, I'd been keen to replicate that by not playing Khawaja and bringing in a replacement for head at 5-7.

All of my comments are predicated on Khawaja being fit. If he is not fit, then I think what you (and others) are suggesting is spot on.

Keep in mind Head has opened before and not with that amount of success. Earlier this year, he scored 57, 20 and 21 opening (against SL). Reference Usman's scores (above) for the same games.

 

[Piggy Smalls]

I'm surprised people are even backing Usman at all TBH.

Am I crazy in thinking that playing 54 holes of golf in the week leading up to the biggest Test series in 3 years, as an almost 40 year old elite athlete, and then blowing both batting shifts due to a sore back, is in no way, shape, or form remotely acceptable?

 

[poshman]

All of my comments are predicated on Khawaja being fit. If he is not fit, then I think what you (and others) are suggesting is spot on.

Keep in mind Head has opened before and not with that amount of success. Earlier this year, he scored 57, 20 and 21 opening (against SL). Reference Usman's scores (above) for the same games.

And now do Usman opening against pace... oh barely a double digit score.

You are cherry picking a little there.

 

[poshman]

I'm surprised people are even backing Usman at all TBH.

Am I crazy in thinking that playing 54 holes of golf in the week leading up to the biggest Test series in 3 years, as an almost 40 year old elite athlete, and then blowing both batting shifts due to a sore back, is in no way, shape, or form remotely acceptable?

And while being in poor form for 2 years.

 

[Piggy Smalls]

And while being in poor form for 2 years.

He's basically swinging his Johnson at George Bailey while saying 'I dare you to drop me'.

I'll say it til I'm blue in the face. The tail wags the dog in this setup.

 

[Nothing]

And now do Usman opening against pace... oh barely a double digit score.

You are cherry picking a little there.

Yes, I was but they are the tests they opened together.

And while being in poor form for 2 years.

Like most of the top 5 (whoever is filling those spots).

Am I crazy in thinking that playing 54 holes of golf in the week leading up to the biggest Test series in 3 years, as an almost 40 year old elite athlete, and then blowing both batting shifts due to a sore back, is in no way, shape, or form remotely acceptable?

He was playing golf, not doing Ironman triathlons. Is the 54 holes an unusual number for him? How much golf do they normally play? Is golf considered maintaining fitness? Did the physios tell him not to play golf?

Plenty of famous sports people play golf before and during their sports peaks. Jordan quite famously did it during the playoffs - regularly.

 

[poshman]

Yes, I was but they are the tests they opened together.


Like most of the top 5 (whoever is filling those spots).


He was playing golf, not doing Ironman triathlons. Is the 54 holes an unusual number for him? How much golf do they normally play? Is golf considered maintaining fitness? Did the physios tell him not to play golf?

Plenty of famous sports people play golf before and during their sports peaks. Jordan quite famously did it during the playoffs - regularly.

As you are still cherry picking - how has his form stacked up against the others?

There has been a damning lack of preparation and planning for Warner and Usman leaving the team.

He has been rubbish for two years. Not out of form, absolutely rubbish. He is a walking wicket against anything 135kmh +

Do we need a balance with our openers? Ideally.

We are only trying to replace 10 runs an innings at his current output. I think we can find that.

 

[Piggy Smalls]

Yes, I was but they are the tests they opened together.


Like most of the top 5 (whoever is filling those spots).


He was playing golf, not doing Ironman triathlons. Is the 54 holes an unusual number for him? How much golf do they normally play? Is golf considered maintaining fitness? Did the physios tell him not to play golf?

Plenty of famous sports people play golf before and during their sports peaks. Jordan quite famously did it during the playoffs - regularly.

It's self indulgent AF. Usman is an elite athlete and should know his limitations at his age. It reeks of hubris to me.

Jordan was a shit bloke and a shit team mate in a lot of regards, but he could walk the walk. Usman is not even remotely in the same conversation.

 

[fnerd]

Ussman khawaja and Micheal Jordan in the same sentence ……..

 

[Paracleet]

Lol people people seriously complaining about Usman playing golf. It's golf ffs. Would you prefer he spend his time in-between games in some specially designed traction like pod??
Also given mom Starc also played the same round should we mark him down?

 

[Purple Suit]

Lol people people seriously complaining about Usman playing golf. It's golf ffs. Would you prefer he spend his time in-between games in some specially designed traction like pod??
Also given mom Starc also played the same round should we mark him down?

He played 18 holes the day before the test and for the 2 days prior. He also sat out the last shield game due to an abductor injury. He's 38 so really should be thinking about potential injures and getting his body right for his job.

He's his own man and can do what he wants but when he can't do his actual job twice which is opening the batting, then he deserves to lose it.

We've had a tennis ball cost us the Ashes when Glen McGrath rolled his ankle on one. If we had of lost the Test, imagine the backlash Usi would be getting. He was the main blame for the deficit we got in the first innings, fortunately it is rare for Australia teams to capitulate twice in a row on home soil.

 

[poshman]

Lol people people seriously complaining about Usman playing golf. It's golf ffs. Would you prefer he spend his time in-between games in some specially designed traction like pod??
Also given mom Starc also played the same round should we mark him down?

If Starc had come of a fitness issue, then played 3 days off golf and turned up with a sore back. Then only managed to bowl three overs for the test… yes he would cop criticism.

Usman came into the test in very poor form. And was even more of a liability than he has been for the last 24 months. He has lost his reflexes and now his core is going.

To get his output we need a below average fielder and someone who can score ten runs and face 30 deliveries. Hardly a high bar.

 

[Chris25]

If Usman is scoring runs, he can play golf every day. He can come out to bat in his golf gear if he really wants.

But he’s not. And he’s almost 39. He’s that rare selection who offers nothing for the present day or for the future.

 

[BStaff17]

I heard Mark Wood wanted to drive from Perth to Brisbane

Should we tell him its not like going from Plymouth (South West of UK) to Newcastle (North East of UK) which is 7 and half hours.

Or let him do the 46hr drive.

 

[go_the_dockers]

Lol people people seriously complaining about Usman playing golf. It's golf ffs. Would you prefer he spend his time in-between games in some specially designed traction like pod??
Also given mom Starc also played the same round should we mark him down?

If he played the previous test with no issues, then I would have no issues.

The fact he missed a large chunk of the game, and could barely bat then it becomes an issue.

 

[Paracleet]

It's golf. It's not even a sport. Would it be news if he had gone on pleasant 2 hour riverside walk before the game? Maybe having a beer whilst doing so?

 

[Spirit Level]

Yeah Usman needs to be put out to pasture