Test The Ashes Second Test December 4-8 1430hrs @ The Gabba

[Around the Wicket]

Two international batsmen play well for awhile.. IT'S A ROAD!!

I was just thinking that

 

[Around the Wicket]

Bringing in Nesser before Webster is funny. This isn’t 2019.

Nesser hasn’t ever looked good when given a chance to be fair

 

[matty lloyd the champ]

Root to break his 100 drought today. Looks ominous.

 

[DaRick]

Nesser hasn’t ever looked good when given a chance to be fair

He was OK in 2021/22 and reasonably good (against very weak opponents) in 2022/23.

But he's been real disappointing here.

I hope that Lyon's not fully fit, otherwise leaving him out looks like the blunder of the century.

 

[Around the Wicket]

Anyone know how the list ended for commentators?

Richie
Kerry O’Keefe

???

The article is locked for subscribers

 

[Borisdog]

The mindset of simpletons for mine. You want to see Travis Head bowling straight breaks instead of Mitchell Starc for the sake of reaching an arbitrary 90 over target? Look at the quality of the overs bowled.

No.

I want to see sides bowl 90 overs.

There's a dozen ways they can speed things up.

I'll leave it to your vast intellect to work out a couple of the ways that can be done.

 

[Jack Lord]

All things considered things are pretty even. Possibly England have their noses in front.

 

[Kapow!!!]

Just a note on the Barmy Army: Perth must have done a REAL number on them because they were dull and lifeless in that first session. Expecting proper rowdiness if these 2 are still in past drinks in the next session.

 

[RookiePick]

All things considered things are pretty even. Possibly England have their noses in front.

yep. 52:48 to England. Well done to steady the ship when another early collapse was looking imminent.

Australia will be pretty disappointed with their bowling outside of Starc. I am expecting a better session from the other quicks after the break.

 

[Peter Bixley]

I thought we might go all-seam if Cummins was parachuted in, but selecting Neser AND Doggett is poor on the part of the selectors.

That said, Lyon might have bowled only one or two overs by this point anyway.

 

[Borisdog]

Might be a problem if they go into it at 2/200.

And not likely to get a new ball until a long way into the last session given the rate.

If they have to bowl Trav to get through the overs they might be a bit better than 200 also.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

All things considered things are pretty even. Possibly England have their noses in front.

They'd happily take being two down at the dinner break, especially after being two down with only five runs on the board. I think they're comfortably in front, but the complexion of the game might change once night falls.

 

[mouncey2franklin]

24 overs in two hours is an abysmal effort.

This pop-gun bowling attack looks like it will be exposed by Bazball bigtime in Brisbane.

The TNT coverage of the innings break is amusing, they have Matt Prior just standing there with a microphone.

He doesn't say anything and nobody asks him any questions, he is just standing there in the hot sun.

 

[Around the Wicket]

That journalist just highlighted Australia is woke

 

[Borisdog]

All things considered things are pretty even. Possibly England have their noses in front.

I reckon EVERY Australian fan would've taken 2/98 at lunch in 24 overs if we were batting.

 

[norway blue]

Tuned in. Reasonable start by England.

 

[Plugger35]

Surprising how short Wood looks in this interview on Ch7, I know Broad is tall but he looks even shorter than Ponting and Mel.

I think they might be standing on something behind the desk though, surely Ponting isn't actually taller than him.

 

[western royboy]

Road?

Looks to have a lot of plates on it which would suggest it will crack hard later in the game if it gets that far…a real spinner might be a handful

 

[Around the Wicket]

What Robin Smith die of? Heart attack?

 

[Jim Prideaux]

C’mon Jim. It’s been tennis ball since ball 1.

It actually looks like it’s starting to bounce a bit quicker now though.

Tomorrow will be a lot livelier, and the ball will soften faster as the pitch dries.

The pink ball, similar to the white ball tends to pick up that bounce as it softens. The Gabba being a hard pitch (3mm of grass) is not helping that. I only played one pink ball match, but it happened quite quickly

 

[JimmyBC]

Surprising how short Wood looks in this interview on Ch7, I know Broad is tall but he looks even shorter than Ponting and Mel.

I think they might be standing on something behind the desk though, surely Ponting isn't actually taller than him.

Maybe punter's hair hat is adding an inch or two

 

[Gough]

Maybe punter's hair hat is adding an inch or two

He must have had it topped up recently.

 

[cats_09]

What Robin Smith die of? Heart attack?

Pretty sure it hasn't been revealed at this stage

 

[troybe]

A couple of quick wickets boys let’s go

 

[Borisdog]

The pink ball, similar to the white ball tends to pick up that bounce as it softens. The Gabba being a hard pitch (3mm of grass) is not helping that. I only played one pink ball match, but it happened quite quickly

The amount of grass on a pitch doesn't correlate to hardness.

A ball softening won't trampoline - the just tend to bounce a bit less. You've gotta bang it in a bit more, all things being equal, as the ball gets a bit older.

Amount of runs, etc etc, all those things matter. But this ball will be the "best" of the game in terms of keeping it's hardness.