Test The Ashes Third Test December 17-21 1000hrs @ The Adelaide Oval

[LukeParkerno1]

Jeez he needs some runs. But our strength is keeping the relentless bowling pressure up. He's got his bowling back up to scratch and is the only genuine 5th bowler who can keep challenging batsmen.

Don’t underestimate how important that Brook wicket was. He’ll be playing in Melb

 

[passmark]

Next test has got to be Corey Rocchiccioli good spinner, better name.

 

[to1994]

Saw this on the BBC website.
Unbelievable really.

"Darren Lehmann gave an interview after play yesterday (day 4), and as coach of Northamptonshire he has never seen or spoken to a selector.

That is unfathomable. Here in Australia, selectors are in contact with the state squads and watch plenty of shield games. How can selectors make an informed decision without doing their job?"

Steve Harmison said he interviewed for the selectors job under this regime and learned that a condition of the role is not being allowed to question the captain or coach.

It sounds like it's basically a figurehead role and Baz and Stokes have always gotten their way.

 

[Kappa]

As a spectator i want to see the fireworks of Head/Weatherald opening Day 1 Boxing Day, but if were coach I'd be picking Head/Ussie. A better dynamic. Experienced opener seeing off the new ball all while the scoreboard keeps ticking over.

(With that said, cant go wrong playing Khawaja in the middle order for reasons you've said -- and think ultimately the selectors will bat him 5)

But my team would be

Head
Khawaja
Labuschagne
Smith
Green
Carey
Webster
Starc
Neser
Boland
Murphy

No way is Green batting well enough to only have 4 specialist bats... If Webster is playing then we need a batsmen in Greens spot

 

[Stottzy]

 

[Cleavy]

Saw this on the BBC website.
Unbelievable really.

"Darren Lehmann gave an interview after play yesterday (day 4), and as coach of Northamptonshire he has never seen or spoken to a selector.

That is unfathomable. Here in Australia, selectors are in contact with the state squads and watch plenty of shield games. How can selectors make an informed decision without doing their job?"

some of the previous selectors watched bugger all Shield games...

 

[Bucking Beads]

England are actually delusional at this point. Poor losers and pretty much all round shit blokes..it's a bummer we've got so many injuries because I'd love to bury the pricks 5-0.

 

[western royboy]

some of the previous selectors watched bugger all Shield games...

I regularly ran into T Hohns

 

[Cleavy]

I regularly ran into T Hohns

probably the exception

 

[Bedi]

No way is Green batting well enough to only have 4 specialist bats... If Webster is playing then we need a batsmen in Greens spot

Why not? Webster and Green both played in our 3-0 rout over the Windies

 

[Pistol Night]

View attachment 2499845

Absolute gold.

 

[TigerCraig]

I see St Baz has admitted that they didn't get their preparation right. Great insight champ.

Overprepared

 

[Sonny Hayes]

Webster hasn't been banging to door down has he? IIRC he's dropped off quiet a bit in recent matches.
Green's in terrible form but he only goes out if there's a better option to replace him.

Weatherold had to tear the door off it's hinges to get his current opportunity and it looks like a masterstroke.

His poor form is really overstated, we are talking literally a few games

 

[Sonny Hayes]

Don’t underestimate how important that Brook wicket was. He’ll be playing in Melb

He was picked over Webster for his batting, now it’s proven to be poor at this stage we are going to pick him for a singular (important) wicket?

 

[big_e]

Green and Webster have both played 12 test innings in 2025 - Webster has scored 381 at 34.63, and Green 264 at 22.0.

Webster has taken 8 wickets and Green 2.

The only reason Green keeps getting picked ahead of Webster is because he is the shiny toy.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

He was picked over Webster for his batting, now it’s proven to be poor at this stage we are going to pick him for a singular (important) wicket?

He’s more likely to put it together with the bat did get 45 one test ago in Brisbane

 

[troybe]

My Boxing Day Test team:

Head
Weatherald
Lab
Smith
Khawaja
Carey
Webster
Neser
Starc
Murphy
Boland

 

[hugecannon]

Is Jack Edwards batting strong enough to see him picked at 7 as the A/R?

Something like :-

Head
Weatherald
Labuschange
Smith
Kwahja
Carey
Edwards
Neser
Starc
Boland
Murphy

Otherwise swap him for Webster or give Green some more time to recover some form.

 

[Stax on the mill]

He was picked over Webster for his batting, now it’s proven to be poor at this stage we are going to pick him for a singular (important) wicket?

Exactly. Pretty low bar Green has to reach to keep getting a game. Plays a woeful shot to get out in Brisbane, and fails twice in Adelaide. Gets one wicket in the first innings in Adelaide, and his admirers demand to know “where are the Green haters now?”. FFS, anyone would think he’d tonned up and got a 5 for. Been getting a game on (unfulfilled) potential for 6 years now.

 

[Ford Fairlane]

I faced Thommo and Hogg at separate times as a teenager. Both insanely scary neither of them gave a shit that I was a kid, a leg spinner and treated the bat as a device used to wave at the ball.

Where Thomson was concerned it wasn't even in a game or even in the nets. It was for charity. You donated a few bucks to see of you could last an over against him. And all I kept thinking while facing him was his statement "I like to see the batsman's blood on the pitch." (I am a f**king imbecile)

I remember reading an Australian annual cricket review from the early 70s when Thommo was playing grade cricket before he stormed Test cricket. In one game it was reported the opposition team had to declare at 5 down because the other bats had retired hurt. He put the opposition captain in hospital.

 

[jb04]

Now for the best part of all this, checking the English Cricket forums:

"Key's out the door, give Anderson his job and let him shoot Baz out of a cannon back to NZ."

"Stokes need to be relieved of the captaincy and sent to a clinic to sleep for the next two months to try and remove the enormous pits from his eyes. Also sent to drama school so he can put his dramatic, brooding, world-on-my-shoulders routine to proper use. I think he’ll win a BAFTA."

"Whoever is responsible for this deluded mindset of constant positivity and vibes, zero self reflection, seriousness and common sense needs to go. I have never been as pissed off by an England test team as much as these guys, and have seen absolute dross over the years."

Loved this one which adds some extra insight I wasn't aware of - "Stop this. Key and McCullum have enabled each other. Baz has ****ed us by sacking off half the coaching team and making the most idiotic selections I’ve ever seen. He sacked the fielding coach and does fielding drills himself now, did you know that? Guess which team has dropped 8 catches in two tests. You’re not serious about this team if you want McCullum to stay"

What gets me the most, at least from what I've seen, is the numerous ways these guys are able to misspell McCullum.

It's bizarre.

 

[threenewpadlocks]

Genuine question but is Weatherald's place under threat if he has two more low scores in Melbourne?

Inglis might not come back into the team again but Carey being good enough to bat 6 as opposed to 7 (and the decision to bat Inglis two Tests at 7 and not 6) opens up lots of different configurations for the team. And therefore, Khawaja can potentially move back up to open with Head for Sydney, and then you don't necessarily have to pick a specialist bat to bat at 7 - you can pick any version of an all-rounder there, whether it's Green, Connolly or whatever, because the expectations of being a good bat at 7 are obviously lower than in the top 6, and the importance of the skillset other than batting is important at 7.

 

[gtrxuone]

Question
Whats the differnce between English batsman and Cinderella.
Answer
Cinderella knows when to leave the ball.

 

[icyflakes]

Genuine question but is Weatherald's place under threat if he has two more low scores in Melbourne?

Inglis might not come back into the team again but Carey being good enough to bat 6 as opposed to 7 (and the decision to bat Inglis two Tests at 7 and not 6) opens up lots of different configurations for the team. And therefore, Khawaja can potentially move back up to open with Head for Sydney, and then you don't necessarily have to pick a specialist bat to bat at 7 - you can pick any version of an all-rounder there, whether it's Green, Connolly or whatever, because the expectations of being a good bat at 7 are obviously lower than in the top 6, and the importance of the skillset other than batting is important at 7.

Given we're we are at, and we don't play again til Bangladesh, I'd say there's no need to try another opener. Let him stick around for a bit, he isn't going to decide the game for us if he fails. Even with Renshaw looking awesome, you only give him 4 innings and then if he doesn't score in 3 of them, people will be calling him a failure again and how we shouldn't have tinkered so much.

He's looking a bit of a donkey against Archer but I don't see the harm in keeping this going. He gets a massive confidence boost from playing with Head up the other end, lets utilise that while we can and see if it works. The rest of our team are (barring the Lyon replacement) mostly established players who have been waiting in line. We've found an opener that looks just about there, let's keep trying.

 

[bigblueboy]

Head
Weatherald
Labuschagne
Smith
Khawaja
Carey
Green
Webster
Neser
Starc
Boland