Test The Ashes Fifth Test January 4-8 1000hrs @ The SCG

[caveman72]

England 'considering' extraordinary ban on Aussie cricketers in response to Ashes defeat — Yahoo Sport Australia

It could involve a stunning ban placed on Australian players. Read more here.

apple.news

They’re getting desperate!

Nah should have done it years ago

 

[Peter Bixley]

Absolutely, we are lucky they went troppo in Perth.
That one game papered over a lot of our cracks.
We'll win this series at worst 3-1, but we have a lot of issues going forward.

At worst it'll be 3-2, surely?

 

[Peter Bixley]

England 'considering' extraordinary ban on Aussie cricketers in response to Ashes defeat — Yahoo Sport Australia

It could involve a stunning ban placed on Australian players. Read more here.

apple.news

They’re getting desperate!

So it's a case of "we can't be arsed preparing properly when we come to you, so you we won't let you prepare properly when you come to us".

How about both sides preparing properly for every series to give the public the highest standard of cricket possible?

 

[Bucking Beads]

The SCG test has been shit for a while now. They can't get the pitch right and it usually rains..

 

[Peter Bixley]

Kerry Okeefe must be on the grog saying if England batted like this in the first 3 test they could have won the ashes

Well, yes, that might well be true but it's an inane comment because history is littered with hypotheticals.

If Billy Bowden sees Kasprowicz's hand off the bat and if Warne holds Pietersen at The Oval in 2005 then we take the urn home.

If Mitchell Johnson just bowled a bit better at Cardiff then England don't finish 9 down and we take the urn home in 2009.

If Australia sees out day 4 at Cardiff then we take the urn home in 2015 because the fifth day was a washout.

If Stokes is given out stonewall LBW at Leeds in 2019 then we take the urn home.

If England don't get a ball change at The Oval in 2023......

So he's not wrong. But if my auntie had a dick she'd be my uncle.

Should have....
Could have....
Would have....
DIDN'T.

 

[Kappa]

3 wickets in a day.

These ashes really have not done test cricket a lot of favors. Many of the big crowds won't be turning up next year imo

 

[Peter Bixley]

Ponting said there is 20 tests for Aus before 2027 Ashes so let's blood young players so they have 20 tests experience by then.

Replaced Weatherald with Kellaway on the basis JW struggles with the full ball and the short ball so can't succeed at test level. Then he replaced the retired Khawaja with Peake. Picked all of Haze, Starc, Cummins, Lyon and Boland. With Richardson and Murphy in the wings.

He left in Green at 7 and had Webster in the squad. Overlooked after serious thought McSweeney still believing Marnus is the best #3 in the country.

Katich moved Head back to 5 to replace Khawaja. Also selected Kellaway but alongside Renshaw. Also retained Green. Bowlers were the same but didn't select Boland and went for Bartlett instead. Reserve players included Rocchiccioli and Hardie.

As in Oliver Peake? First-class average of 26?

 

[MarcMaverick]

As in Oliver Peake? First-class average of 26?

The bar is in hell unfortunatelly

 

[Sonny Hayes]

People are in denial if they can’t see this, in exactly the same way that England were in denial thinking they didn’t need to do things a little differently to give themselves the best chance possible. There’s been numerous moments in the Series where they had their chances or there was a moment that either team needed to grab. They were not able to take those moments nearly often enough and that’s why they find themselves where they are:

It’s not an admission of defeat to say that an opponent has had an opportunity to win, in a contest your own team has been good enough to win. As a Cats fan it doesn’t diminish my team’s achievements to say ‘St Kilda had their chances to win the 2009 grand final’ or something.

But it’s just ultimately irrelevant, a team that has been by and large inconsistent and has a history of throwing games away were inconsistent and it cost them.

Australia could be as easily up 4-0, the hypotheticals just ultimately mean nothing

They also lost by 8 wickets, they had moments to really put themselves ahead in the game but acting like they ‘should’ have won a game they ultimately got smashed in is rewriting history

 

[Peter Bixley]

The bar is in hell unfortunatelly

Seemingly so.

This appears to now be the way. Identify the next Jesus from some social media video, elevate him, usher him into the elite setup, watch him fail.

 

[PhatBoy]

But it’s just ultimately irrelevant, a team that has been by and large inconsistent and has a history of throwing games away were inconsistent and it cost them.

Australia could be as easily up 4-0, the hypotheticals just ultimately mean nothing

It’s irrelevant to what’s happening now. It’s not irrelevant to what happens for both teams in the future. And that’s not just in this frankly boring and stupid ‘we are already seeing articles about potential Ashes line ups for the next series’ world in which we live context.

 

[PhatBoy]

3 wickets in a day.

These ashes really have not done test cricket a lot of favors. Many of the big crowds won't be turning up next year imo

It’s 3 wickets in exactly half a day of overs.

 

[Lunchtime]

3 wickets in a day.

These ashes really have not done test cricket a lot of favors. Many of the big crowds won't be turning up next year imo

We didn't get through a full days play, go and check the overs bowled..

 

[swingdog]

So it's a case of "we can't be arsed preparing properly when we come to you, so you we won't let you prepare properly when you come to us".

How about both sides preparing properly for every series to give the public the highest standard of cricket possible?

The counties will ignore this.

 

[eddiesmith]

3 wickets in a day.

These ashes really have not done test cricket a lot of favors. Many of the big crowds won't be turning up next year imo

Of course they won’t, but they will in March next year and they will when India and England tour next.

They’ll crowds will be lower due to substandard opposition next year who don’t draw a crowd.

 

[Peter Bixley]

The counties will ignore this.

As they should. They have a duty to do what is best for them and their members. If the ECB tries to withhold funding then it becomes a different matter.

 

[Jimthegreat]

The SCG test has been shit for a while now. They can't get the pitch right and it usually rains..

Last year was an exception but often the SCG had a habit of dying away to absolutely nothing a couple of years before that.

 

[icyflakes]

Of course they won’t, but they will in March next year and they will when India and England tour next.

They’ll crowds will be lower due to substandard opposition next year who don’t draw a crowd.

Yep, this could be the best series of cricket ever and next summer will have shit crowds comparatively. We've had BGT and The Ashes back to back, of course next year is going to be lower crowds.

And every ****ing moron is going to be trying to attribute it to other factors because you have to have a storyline.

 

[SportsCentre]

How is that breaking the narrative? Isn't that just saying what people are thinking?

The commentary narrative of there's nothing to see here about Green, everything is fine.

 

[Jimthegreat]

If we had've been 4-0 like we should have then we might've bowled with more focus today to get a 5-0 Today we looked like a side content with the Ashes.

If Australia bat like they should, especially having Starc at 10, then we should have a boring draw. Will Australia bat as they should though.

 

[MarcMaverick]

The commentary narrative of there's nothing to see here about Green, everything is fine.

 

[Peter Bixley]

Anyone know what this headline is about?

Can’t believe it’: Aussie’s shock 140-year first turns ugly as umpires’ shock call stuns.​

Kamala Harris became a cricket writer?

 

[Jimthegreat]

Yep, this could be the best series of cricket ever and next summer will have shit crowds comparatively. We've had BGT and The Ashes back to back, of course next year is going to be lower crowds.

And every ****ing moron is going to be trying to attribute it to other factors because you have to have a storyline.

Yep, we have the Kiwi's. Don't have the bowlers they once did. Still be 90,000 on Boxing Day and sell out day 1 of the Pink Test in Sydney as they are occasions but crowds will be certainly lower. Hopefully we have quite a newer side too in preparation for the 2027 Ashes. Then again we have idiot Bailey selecting the side.

 

[swingdog]

I'm not sure England did underperform in the first three tests.

They had 3 batters (Duckett, Smith and Brook), who had never played here and of the other 4 in the top order, Crawley averaged 31.55, Root averaged 51.29 (but only 35.68 in Australia), Pope averaged 35.36 and Stokes averaged 35.69.

Of the bowlers, Archer, Atkinson, Carse, Tongue and Potts had never played top flight cricket in Australia (I'm not counting Archer's BBL stints). Only Wood had bowled here (and very well on the last tour). Archer and Wood were both coming off long injury layoffs.

Given all that, I think they performed as well as expected. A lot of their media talked them up but they were never likely to win or even come close.

In terms of missing their opportunities, they did but it's easy to say it was all on them rather than them not being allowed to take their opportunities. The things that stood out for me in terms of England not being able to play their game, were:

• the tight lines of the Australian bowlers (Crawley remarked how surprised he was by Boland's ability to hit the same mark again and again)
• Carey's standing up to the stumps which negated their ability to walk at the bowler
• the inability of their bowlers to build pressure (Head's innings counts for something here as they looked shell-shocked by going through that)
• their catching in the first 3 tests (which was a continuation of their sloppy fielding in the summer against India)
• Stoke's generally unimaginative captaincy in the field (though, he's not alone in that)

They had one plan and as soon as it faced resistance, it crumbled.

 

[Portmagpies36]

Steve Smith looks better with no Jofra and Wood too champion.

What a ****ing stupid comparison, do your homework champ. How many times has Archer dismissed Smith?
Have a look at Smiths record in England and against England compared to Root.