5th Ashes Test England v Australia July 27-31 1930hrs @ The Oval

[FromTheBoundaryLine]

Harry Brook says beating Australia at the Oval would be moral victory

Harry Brook says beating Australia at the Oval would be moral victory

After winning at Headingley and dominating the first three days at Old Trafford before rain robbed them, Ben Stokes' men want to prove they have had the better of the contest.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Interesting. So if Australia are dominating the 5th test and look like winning but weather conspires to force a draw Harry will say that the Aussies really deserved to win the series.

 

[luthor]

I don't give a stuff if Mitch Marsh is fit to bowl or not.

He has looked imperious as a batsman and should play in that capacity anyway.

It's time our selectors kept faith with Mitch and play him, irrespective

 

[luthor]

This is a good one to keep in your memory bank over the next couple of weeks. They don't look too perturbed about hanging around till 10pm or reserve days...

View attachment 1756722

England can go screw themselves.

Rain works both ways ya flogs

 

[chairo]

I like it, but recon I'd prefer sending them in and skittling them 120

Hope we bat first...when we played there against India, the pitch deteriorated and was more difficult to play later on. Seems a recurring theme there, as average first innings score is 340 and forth innings is 135.

 

[JackOutback]

Gotta say, loving all the support for Mitch Marsh. Some have even forgot they booed him on him soil.

 

[The 747]

Gotta say, loving all the support for Mitch Marsh. Some have even forgot they booed him on him soil.

Amazing what performing can do for one's reputation.

 

[Peter Bixley]

If Mitch Marsh is dropped then it will be the most shameful act by the selectors since Brad Hodge was axed after scoring a double century. I think it will probably be:

Warner
Khawaja
Labuschagne
Smith
Head
Marsh
Carey
Starc
Cummins
Murphy
Hazlewood

Got myself a ticket for day 2 in the resale. Now that the urn is in the bag, I can go there relatively stress-free

 

[Kapow!!!]

Amazing what performing can do for one's reputation.

It's weird how fans will actively support players who've earned their spot in the side and earned the trust to keep their spot when out of form.

Oh wait, not weird, what's the opposite of that?

 

[the_interloper]

Gotta say, loving all the support for Mitch Marsh. Some have even forgot they booed him on him soil.

I wanted him nowhere the squad, happy to admit I was wrong, good on him, seems like a ripper bloke

 

[Moonwatcher]

Can someone repost the Mitch Marsh air DJ'ing to Don't you go out in the rain?

 

[Moonwatcher]

Found it. Still beautiful

 

[Titch3Votes0MooreAA]

What I would do for the 5th and final Ashes Test:

In my opinion, Warner has to go, even though I doubt he will. He just fears England. This was the man who was once one of the most fearless players in the game. It's unfortunate to see. We need someone to replicate what Zak Crawley is doing for England. Sure, I don't think Zak Crawley is an overly great player, but his aggressive mindset sets the tone for his side and wears down the new ball as well as mentally wearing down our bowlers.
That is why I would promote Marsh up the order to open with Khawaja. Sure, Head could, but I like him a lot more in the middle order at Test level, and in my opinion, Marsh is a more destructive batsman who would wear the ball and bowlers minds a lot quicker. Look at how he performed as an opener in that ODI series this year in India. He was at his destructive best. And he has shown it in this series as well. This would also allow the pressure to be taken off Usman Khawaja and allow him to play at his best.

I believe Warner has to make way for Murphy. And if he doesn't, we need to find a way to get Todd Murphy back in. It's easy to think that just because our fast bowlers took all the wickets in that 3rd Test, we don't need Murphy. But we do. And that was evident in the 4th Test. Our bowlers were very tired, and I reckon they became complacent as a result. Lyon has taken the pressure off our fast bowlers for the last decade, bowling very heavy loads. If anything, Lyon is the reason Cummins, Starc, and Hazlewood are one of the most successful fast bowling groups ever. It's no fluke that England scored as much as they did without us playing a proper spinner. We need Murphy to do the same as Lyon has done for the last decade.
We also need Murphy to provide greater variety. I thought Murphy actually bowled well to Stokes in that 3rd Test despite getting tonked. When he pushed it wide and floated it up a bit, Stokes couldn't control his shots and was mistiming them. Now if Murphy can do that in this test, make them advance down the crease, and make them miss the ball as a result of it being so far wide, we could put a nail through the heart of the BAZBALL gameplan and win The Ashes outright.

My final change would be to drop Cameron Green for Michael Neser or Sean Abbott. I can't really decide between Neser and Abbott. Both have pretty much been two of the top five domestic fast bowlers for quite some time now and have been in tremendous form with both bat and ball in the English summer, with Abbott playing against higher competition. They are in the form of their lives in the County Championship. Neser has 20 wickets @26.15 and 487 runs @81.16, most notably his 176* for Glamorgan in 6 games in Division 2. Sean Abbott has 37 wickets @24.78 and 456 runs @45.6 in 9 matches for Surrey. He also scored that beautiful century in the Vitality Blast.
What I do know is that Green should not play. He is out of form. In my opinion, Cameron Green needs to go back to WA. He needs to get both his batting and bowling mindsets right. And booting him from the Australian side might be the catalyst for him to fulfil his potential as the best player in the World. With his batting, he gets trapped on the crease far too often when defending. It puts him in awkward situations and gets him out. Perhaps that is his height coming into play, but he needs to be more attacking, a lot more. He is much more comfortable attacking. I'm not saying he needs to play like Mitch Marsh or Travis Head, but looking for the gaps and going at a faster rate would do him much better. As for his bowling, he clearly has a good yorker in his arsenal, but he doesn't use it nearly enough. And his short-pitched bowling is too easy for the batsman to hit, as England have proved. It needs to be a lot straighter and closer to the rib/chest area.

My XI: Marsh, Khawaja, Labuschagne, Smith, Head, Carey, Neser/Abbott, Starc, Cummins, Murphy, Hazlewood.

 

[grumbleguts]

What I would do for the 5th and final Ashes Test:

In my opinion, Warner has to go, even though I doubt he will. He just fears England. This was the man who was once one of the most fearless players in the game. It's unfortunate to see. We need someone to replicate what Zak Crawley is doing for England. Sure, I don't think Zak Crawley is an overly great player, but his aggressive mindset sets the tone for his side and wears down the new ball as well as mentally wearing down our bowlers.
That is why I would promote Marsh up the order to open with Khawaja. Sure, Head could, but I like him a lot more in the middle order at Test level, and in my opinion, Marsh is a more destructive batsman who would wear the ball and bowlers minds a lot quicker. Look at how he performed as an opener in that ODI series this year in India. He was at his destructive best. And he has shown it in this series as well. This would also allow the pressure to be taken off Usman Khawaja and allow him to play at his best.

I believe Warner has to make way for Murphy. And if he doesn't, we need to find a way to get Todd Murphy back in. It's easy to think that just because our fast bowlers took all the wickets in that 3rd Test, we don't need Murphy. But we do. And that was evident in the 4th Test. Our bowlers were very tired, and I reckon they became complacent as a result. Lyon has taken the pressure off our fast bowlers for the last decade, bowling very heavy loads. If anything, Lyon is the reason Cummins, Starc, and Hazlewood are one of the most successful fast bowling groups ever. It's no fluke that England scored as much as they did without us playing a proper spinner. We need Murphy to do the same as Lyon has done for the last decade.
We also need Murphy to provide greater variety. I thought Murphy actually bowled well to Stokes in that 3rd Test despite getting tonked. When he pushed it wide and floated it up a bit, Stokes couldn't control his shots and was mistiming them. Now if Murphy can do that in this test, make them advance down the crease, and make them miss the ball as a result of it being so far wide, we could put a nail through the heart of the BAZBALL gameplan and win The Ashes outright.

My final change would be to drop Cameron Green for Michael Neser or Sean Abbott. I can't really decide between Neser and Abbott. Both have pretty much been two of the top five domestic fast bowlers for quite some time now and have been in tremendous form with both bat and ball in the English summer, with Abbott playing against higher competition. They are in the form of their lives in the County Championship. Neser has 20 wickets @26.15 and 487 runs @81.16, most notably his 176* for Glamorgan in 6 games in Division 2. Sean Abbott has 37 wickets @24.78 and 456 runs @45.6 in 9 matches for Surrey. He also scored that beautiful century in the Vitality Blast.
What I do know is that Green should not play. He is out of form. In my opinion, Cameron Green needs to go back to WA. He needs to get both his batting and bowling mindsets right. And booting him from the Australian side might be the catalyst for him to fulfil his potential as the best player in the World. With his batting, he gets trapped on the crease far too often when defending. It puts him in awkward situations and gets him out. Perhaps that is his height coming into play, but he needs to be more attacking, a lot more. He is much more comfortable attacking. I'm not saying he needs to play like Mitch Marsh or Travis Head, but looking for the gaps and going at a faster rate would do him much better. As for his bowling, he clearly has a good yorker in his arsenal, but he doesn't use it nearly enough. And his short-pitched bowling is too easy for the batsman to hit, as England have proved. It needs to be a lot straighter and closer to the rib/chest area.

My XI: Marsh, Khawaja, Labuschagne, Smith, Head, Carey, Neser/Abbott, Starc, Cummins, Murphy, Hazlewood.

a) what's with all the weird bolding?
b) we have a zac crawley, his name is David Warner. Zac Crawley edges everything, bats at 54% control. Does David Warner do this? You Betcha. Zac Crawley plays on to the stumps to get out, could David Warner do this? You betcha. The difference is, the ball that warner edges on to his stumps is the first ball of that kind, Zac Crawley does the fifty seventh time he edges it past the stumps.

 

[Pocket Terrace]

If Mitch Marsh is dropped then it will be the most shameful act by the selectors since Brad Hodge was axed after scoring a double century. I think it will probably be:

Warner
Khawaja
Labuschagne
Smith
Head
Marsh
Carey
Starc
Cummins
Murphy
Hazlewood

Got myself a ticket for day 2 in the resale. Now that the urn is in the bag, I can go there relatively stress-free

Brilliant. Enjoy mate. There’s no better place to watch Test cricket than The Oval.

 

[The 747]

If Mitch Marsh is dropped then it will be the most shameful act by the selectors since Brad Hodge was axed after scoring a double century. I think it will probably be:

Warner
Khawaja
Labuschagne
Smith
Head
Marsh
Carey
Starc
Cummins
Murphy
Hazlewood

Got myself a ticket for day 2 in the resale. Now that the urn is in the bag, I can go there relatively stress-free

I would be surprised if they drop Marsh. They'll drop Green for Murphy IMO and make no other changes.

It's a shame for Neser though, does deserve a go. Would be a different look for the attack - which has not been great so far.

 

[dogs105]

I would be surprised if they drop Marsh. They'll drop Green for Murphy IMO and make no other changes.

It's a shame for Neser though, does deserve a go. Would be a different look for the attack - which has not been great so far.

Was talk yesterday that if green was out for Murphy, they would also swap Haze and neser, to "strengthen the batting".

 

[Gough]

F*** right off, he might scrape into the top 20.

 

[dogs105]

F*** right off, he might scrape into the top 20.

*

 

[The 747]

Was talk yesterday that if green was out for Murphy, they would also swap Haze and neser, to "strengthen the batting".

I hope that is what they will do. Attack is too same same.

 

[Financialpanther]

F*** right off, he might scrape into the top 20.

He's no Steve Harmison.

 

[radiojake]

F*** right off, he might scrape into the top 20.

Did Stoke confuse 'greatest' with 'oldest'?

 

[tombomb]

Warner will be playing.

If he wasn't, he would have already been told.

Which means Candace would know.

Which means 5 journalists in Sydney would already know.

 

[FredLeDeux]

F*** right off, he might scrape into the top 20.

Not even close to the top 20 against Australia, has had 40 chances and still averages more than 35.

 

[Nicho50]

Ussie, Warner, Lab, Smith, Head, Marsh, Carey, Neser, Starc, Cummins, Murphy

Hazelwood out for Neser, if Starc is not 100% it will be him but he has been the best bowler all series and no doubt the left arm gives that difference to the attack. Cummins looks the bowler most needing a rest but we know that won't happen and Hazelwood has looked very flat , even though he took 5 the last game it wasn't a great 5. If you lose that batting depth and Marsh can't bowl you either have to drop Warner to fit Green in or Neser replaces one of the bowlers.

Please no Boland.

 

[kickazz]

F*** right off, he might scrape into the top 20.

It's on brand with their current view of cricket. It's like this current English team is the only one to have ever played the game.

Easy to piss on the rich history and nuances of cricket when you don't even acknowledge it's existence.

I swear this team seems more and more like a three year old every day. It's all about them.