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Test The Ashes First Test November 21-25 1300hrs @ Perth Stadium

Who will win?


  • Total voters
    64
  • Poll closed .

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In fairness, that's not just an England thing.

Australia in England 2023: WTC Final, five Ashes Tests and that was it. Even if one wanted to argue that the WTC final was the lead in match for the Ashes, where were the preparation matches for the WTC final?
Australia in India 2023: Four B-G Tests, followed by 3 ODIs. Again, that was it. No preparation matches.

There seem to be two reasons for the lack of lead-in matches. Obviously, the crowded schedule doesn't allow for tours of any length any more. Also, the authorities seem reluctant to schedule them (I am sure I recall there was a bit of a clamour for lead in matches to India 2023 and CA said no).
I guess the coaching staff feel they have "been burned" in the past by the opposition boards preparing pitches that bare little resemblance to the conditions they would experience from the Test pitch(es), hence the training camps these days rather than lead-in games. might also be the quality of opposition due to scheduling.
 
Weatherald gets another go but don’t think he’s the best long term option. Depending on the result in Brisbane we should be looking to get a kid in at 6 or 7

He reminds me of the kind of player who would make his debut against Australia and by the time Australia played that team again in 2-3 years he has been replaced.

Having said that I think they should back him in for the rest of the series like they did with George Bailey.
 
In Warne's defence, he didn't get to play on that nightmare Mumbai pitch where Clarke took 6/9!

(In a weird way, Clarke's bowling suited IND pitches well - he used to just fire the ball in and let the pitch do the work, much like Kumble used to)

And in one series he was coming back from a shoulder injury, much the same story as when he got dropped in the West Indies.

Warne in India is not worth a deep dive, He was well below his best but I wouldn't say he was pathetic.

People carry on like India has only been a challenging place to play cricket for the last 10 years.
 

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Root's had a lot more matches/chances to bring that average up covering a 13 year period. Twice as many opportunities by the time the MCG Test is done. And those Tests in Australia will have taken twice as heavy a proportion of his career. In reality Warne just had 2 underwhelming series covering 6 matches in India in '98 and '01. So we're not talking about a long time or many Tests. '04 he sorted himself out.

Warne of course did end up with a big contribution in a series win in India: 14 wickets from 3 matches @30 average in 2004; unluckily he didn't get to play on the 4th Test minefield where both sides struggled to score (series was already won, however).

If Root does similar, including a memorable match winning 150 I'm sure the blemish won't be focussed on as much.

Better eco rate than Kumble as well...
 
Poster in question is on a streak of about 200. Not sure if serious or trolling. Wnats to leave out Darcy Moore and Darcy Cameron whenever there is rain. Will probably call for Head to be rested to make sure he's cherry ripe for Boxing Day.
Yet the old boys ran out of gas in the prelim so ultimately sadly was proven correct.
Resting needs to be done in context.
You rest when teams on top/not going to be beaten or in cricket coming off gruelling tests.
Perth was 3rd shortest.
No resting changes on form/conditions
Kahwja out for renshaw
Green out for Webster
Lyon out for Cummins.
Actually seems a popular view except for Green who everyone thinks is the next Bradman for some reason.
In fact people are suggesting stupid stuff like playing 3 bowlers so.webster is included
 
Yet the old boys ran out of gas in the prelim so ultimately sadly was proven correct.
Resting needs to be done in context.
You rest when teams on top/not going to be beaten or in cricket coming off gruelling tests.
Perth was 3rd shortest.
No resting changes on form/conditions
Kahwja out for renshaw
Green out for Webster
Lyon out for Cummins.
Actually seems a popular view except for Green who everyone thinks is the next Bradman for some reason.
In fact people are suggesting stupid stuff like playing 3 bowlers so.webster is included

I'm a card carrying member of his fan club, I don't think he's the next Bradman but should be able to average 40+ with the bat and 30+ with the ball which makes him valuable, esp since I think he should lock down number 4 when Smith retires.

Longevity is his only case at this point

I really wonder how his longevity has been achieved too, usually sportspeople can't maintain their level of performance into their late 30s, well without "assistance" that is.
 
I'm a card carrying member of his fan club, I don't think he's the next Bradman but should be able to average 40+ with the bat and 30+ with the ball which makes him valuable, esp since I think he should lock down number 4 when Smith retires.
He's a special talent. He can grind. He can thrash. He can bowl at good speed with dangerous bounce and in the field he's like having one and half top gullies. If he gets a good run at it, he's likely to become our most valuable player.
 
Anyone actually surprised by this ranking - surely this was common sense

The quickest Ashes Test in 137 years saw Australia take a 1-0 series lead inside two days, with 19 wickets falling on day one


The Perth Stadium pitch, where the first Ashes Test finished inside two days, has officially been rated as 'very good' by the International Cricket Council.

Under the ICC's four-tier rating system, 'very good' is the highest ranking possible, awarded to pitches with "good carry, limited seam movement, and consistent bounce early in the match, allowing for a balanced contest between batters and bowlers".

 

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Anyone actually surprised by this ranking - surely this was common sense




Not surprised at all. Lets call a spade a spade both sides batted awful for a day and a half. Yes there was some good bowling but it wasn't moving two feet or anything or spinning sideways.

Literally was shaping up as the perfect pitch

Day 1: Bit in it the first 3/4 hours but would have calmed down when the ball got soft (England didn't bat well enough for this to occur). We managed to bat worse!
Day 2: Looked to be settling down before Aus went to an attrition bowling strategy and England kept nicking or playing on the up in Perth. Flattened right out when we batted as it does in Perth

Day 3: Would have been the best to bat on , both teams useless enough to not get there, we were just slightly less worse
Days 4-5: Would have started to break up and turn

That's a perfect pitch. Blame the players not the curator. It was a sporting wicket.
 
Not surprised at all. Lets call a spade a spade both sides batted awful for a day and a half. Yes there was some good bowling but it wasn't moving two feet or anything or spinning sideways.

Literally was shaping up as the perfect pitch

Day 1: Bit in it the first 3/4 hours but would have calmed down when the ball got soft (England didn't bat well enough for this to occur). We managed to bat worse!
Day 2: Looked to be settling down before Aus went to an attrition bowling strategy and England kept nicking or playing on the up in Perth. Flattened right out when we batted as it does in Perth

Day 3: Would have been the best to bat on , both teams useless enough to not get there, we were just slightly less worse
Days 4-5: Would have started to break up and turn

That's a perfect pitch. Blame the players not the curator. It was a sporting wicket.
 
He's a special talent. He can grind. He can thrash. He can bowl at good speed with dangerous bounce and in the field he's like having one and half top gullies. If he gets a good run at it, he's likely to become our most valuable player.

My word, batsmen often look uncomfortable against him, he's quick enough too (at the moment that is).
 

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Are you suggesting there may some corruption around cricket when India are involved? Blasphemy
They’re just creating a new rating of “perfect, the greatest pitch ever maybe? Definitely top ten, maybe top 2, who knows, they say it’s the best they’ve ever seen, these guys are smart guys, they’ve seen a lot of pitches”
 

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Test The Ashes First Test November 21-25 1300hrs @ Perth Stadium

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