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

[Hamingja]

Batting- Flopped. 184 runs at an average of 18 and strike rate of just 36.58! Boycott nearly had a better strike rate!

Batting is a bit tougher when you can't mishit them all for 6

 

[PhatBoy]

So now that Ben Stokes series is over (won't bowl tomorrow), what's the assessment of him?

Bowling- Solid. 15 wickets with an average of 25, is a great return and he usually could find something when others struggled.

Batting- Flopped. 184 runs at an average of 18 and strike rate of just 36.58! Boycott nearly had a better strike rate!

Captaincy- Disastrous. Strange choices for opening bowlers, clueless when plans weren't working, not selecting Tongue earlier, looked completely cooked on-field and too many tantrums for my liking.

He's had his moments and been a aggressive captain in the past, but honestly he captained worse than Freddy Flintoff 06/07 this series. Would not be surprised if this is his last series as leader.

There are very few leaders who combine all the ‘good’ things that we look for in a cricket captain.

Steve Waugh embodied the ‘I will show you exactly how to give everything and more’ aspect and couldn’t have done it better but really when did he ever have to show any tactical acumen beyond ‘I’ll stack the field in close and give the ball to Warne and McGrath and if that doesn’t work, Lee and Gillespie will terrify everyone. He probably DID have it, who knows, but he didn’t get the chance to need to show it very often. On the few occasions they were challenged - some India games, the West Indies 1999, he actually did struggle a little bit. So he probably didn’t quite have it all. Didn’t make him a ‘bad’ captain though.

You’ve got your tactical acumen leaders like a Stephen Fleming etc who were hugely effective at planning and coming up with ways to implement gameplans

You have your ‘force of will’ type leaders like a Graeme Smith who just seem to find a way to impose their very personality on their team and the game and lead that way. A bit like Waugh i guess but more demonstrative and talismanic

There’s uniters like Clive Lloyd and Temba Bavuma who get a group together and just make them believe they can get more out of themselves

There are ‘I’ll show you the way’ captains like Cummins and Stokes who so often lead by a pivotal moment in a game even if it’s a freak run out.

Man management you can chuck into the mix as well - making guys want to play for you.

And naturally many of those great captains will have more than one of these traits - at his peak michael
Clarke i think had almost all of them. He was a fantastic captain. And believe it or not there have been times when Stokes has been too.



But if high level tactics and game planning aren’t you absolute strength there’s only so far that funky field placings or two short covers can take you especially if you no longer have Broad and Anderson or to a lesser extent Woakes to put the ball on a decent spot and set a field to.

It’s no coincidence that when he or Archer have bowled, his field placements have looked less shithouse because at least there’s been a degree of control over where the ball is going.

His man management has gotten worse as the series has gone on although he has stuck solid by the players copping it so fair play to him there. He hasn’t dropped anyone ‘in it’ as such. He hasn’t pulled enough levers when things have been getting out of hand and he hasn’t done some of the real basics right, like starting sessions with the right bowlers etc.

He’s had his moments but in general it’s been a let down

 

[Gough]

I'm neutral on most of them, but I can't stand Stokes, Crawley, Duckett and Brook.

Crawley embodies Thatcherite mediocrity, City Boy father spends a fortune to turn his son into someone who averages 30.

 

[hawkman]

So now that Ben Stokes series is over (won't bowl tomorrow), what's the assessment of him?

Bowling- Solid. 15 wickets with an average of 25, is a great return and he usually could find something when others struggled.

Batting- Flopped. 184 runs at an average of 18 and strike rate of just 36.58! Boycott nearly had a better strike rate!

Captaincy- Disastrous. Strange choices for opening bowlers, clueless when plans weren't working, not selecting Tongue earlier, looked completely cooked on-field and too many tantrums for my liking.

He's had his moments and been a aggressive captain in the past, but honestly he captained worse than Freddy Flintoff 06/07 this series. Would not be surprised if this is his last series as leader.

He has averaged 28 and 31 in the last 2 years. He probably should be batting 7 especially as he has been bowling more

 

[Around the Wicket]

He has averaged 28 and 31 in the last 2 years. He probably should be batting 7 especially as he has been bowling more

He is a better batsmen then bowler but batting is always going to suffer when bowling so often

 

[kenneje]

 

[sabso]

Is anyone else sad that tomorrow is the last day of the summer of cricket?

Surprised no one ever called it this, ref mr Bailey

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

Bethell may be my new favourite non-Australian cricketer, replacing Hashim Amla.

 

[Peter Bixley]

Bethell may be my new favourite non-Australian cricketer, replacing Hashim Amla.

He's also my favourite non-English cricketer.

 

[MarcMaverick]

Bethell will be a problem for years to come if he isn't already.

 

[GreekLunatic]

Reading bbc cricket keys and Baz might keep their jobs some of the comments from the English fans are gold

 

[Bedi]

We have had two, two day test matches - everything is relative. One swallow…

Bizarrely this article in the New York Times (of all places!) is a pretty good read on the subject. It's an interview with ex-US cricket coach (lol), Stuart '54 not out' Law

Why are Test matches finishing so quickly? Impatience, sports science, pitch quality… and the wanger

Between the end of the Second World War and the turn of the millennium, no Tests ended in two days - but there have been 12 since then

www.nytimes.com

 

[TubbsFarquhar]

Is anyone else sad that tomorrow is the last day of the summer of cricket?

It definitely sucks that there's a significant gap until the next series. I would've loved for there to be the post-test ODI series like in yesteryear but, unfortunately, it's a dying format.

 

[Around the Wicket]

Bethell will be a problem for years to come if he isn't already.

Averaged 27 FC prior to this 100... I hope he kicks on but I think he'll have a JP Duminy career... average abit over 30... Duminy smacked 166 in his 2nd Test against Australia then done nothing there after.

 

[Bedi]

Bethell may be my new favourite non-Australian cricketer, replacing Hashim Amla.

welcome to the fan club.

 

[TubbsFarquhar]

Averaged 27 FC prior to this 100... I hope he kicks on but I think he'll have a JP Duminy career... average abit over 30... Duminy smacked 166 in his 2nd Test against Australia then done nothing there after.

Duminy hit three of his six tonnes vs Australia at an average of 44.

He had a modest career overall, but he always seemed to step-up vs us.

 

[satty]

I always hate the wait after cricket, even with the t20 world cup being a month away.

 

[western royboy]

Bizarrely this article in the New York Times (of all places!) is a pretty good read on the subject. It's an interview with ex-US cricket coach (lol), Stuart '54 not out' Law

Why are Test matches finishing so quickly? Impatience, sports science, pitch quality… and the wanger

Between the end of the Second World War and the turn of the millennium, no Tests ended in two days - but there have been 12 since then

www.nytimes.com

The no feet batting drill is complete bullshit

 

[grumbleguts]

It’s pissed me off that Bethel is such a likeable lad. Loved his post match interview on Fox. How am I supposed to post irrational shit about him now FFS

Easy. Look at his hair.

 

[Jim Prideaux]

If you took out the wicket ball it's just the same thing over and over, **** me he was unplayable in that spell.

And that is fast bowling 101. The entire English attack should be forced to watch that A Clockwork Orange style.

On a side note, people on here whine about kids not having the attention span for test cricket, but in the same thread will mock a bowler who has done his god damn job bowling tighter than scotsman because he hasn’t got a wicket.

 

[checkraiseulite]

He wound appear to have gone backwards tactically, the bigger grounds seem to have ****ed with his field settings and he just hasn’t adjusted

having a suburban grade pace attack and fielders that can’t take a catch might have something to do it.

 

[checkraiseulite]

And that is fast bowling 101. The entire English attack should be forced to watch that A Clockwork Orange style.

On a side note, people on here whine about kids not having the attention span for test cricket, but in the same thread will mock a bowler who has done his god damn job bowling tighter than scotsman because he hasn’t got a wicket.

people forget glen mcgrath used to bowl 128kmph.

 

[HoldMyBeer]

Poor ol' Pommies are going to be fuming "if only"

I wonder what they'll replace "Moral Victory" with that sums up their ability to grab defeat from the jaws of victory. The Aussies, good old Guts and Determination and never, ever give in

 

[m0zza]

Can't blame Stokes there. He can barely move his feet.

He managed to step backwards with his front foot to get further away from the line

 

[MarcMaverick]

Reading bbc cricket keys and Baz might keep their jobs some of the comments from the English fans are gold

Oh to be a fly on the wall.