Ashes 25/26

[t_94]

Yeah fair enough.

On an unrelated note, just saw some of Stokes’ press conference.

He has a real issue at the moment with doubling down on the stuff that causes the isssues.

I think - I could be wrong - I think a fair few people could probably handle some of the onfield stuff as ‘ok this is a bit of gamesmanship trying to get off the field, trying to get a few barbs in before the last match but then India make their minds up to keep batting so you accept it, you walk off the field and it’s done.’ He goes into the presser and initially he actually gives them quite a lot of praise - he says ‘they batted very, very well. Those two batted incredibly well after we’d given ourselves a bit of an opening to give ourselves a chance of winning.’

He’s ticking all the boxes of what a captain should say.

Then he doubles down on the stuff that is raising eyebrows in the first place - he had a chance to say ‘we basically had tried everything and the game was saved and we were hoping for an early finish but they had done the hard work, we weren’t going to risk any damage to our bowlers so, what’s done is done’ but instead he keeps going with the line of ‘what’s the difference after you’ve saved the game whether you’re on 90 or 100?’

If he shuts his mouth, he’s probably not done too much damage to himself or his team. Instead with that one line he ****s them completely

I actually agree with him about this, and think that cricket fans are overly fixated on milestones. However, he shouldn’t complain that the Indian pair see it differently. They are entitled to play it out as they did.

 

[sabso]

I think we need to bend the knee and thank England for saving Test cricket.

 

[DaRick]

Was thinking more of a "captain resigning because of dick pics" mess....

Also the issues with Justin Langer behind the scenes.

 

[PhatBoy]

I actually agree with him about this, and think that cricket fans are overly fixated on milestones. However, he shouldn’t complain that the Indian pair see it differently. They are entitled to play it out as they did.

Look I sort of do on one hand - it doesn’t make a shred of difference in one respect as the work is done, result is achieved and it’s all academic, but it’s not like what’s happened in THIS game has bucked generations of trend, or like this England side or recent England sides or basically any teams around the world in recent teams don’t do the same thing so why is he so exasperated.

 

[The_Reaper]

Mark Wood would have to be the most overrated bowler in recent years.
Never fit and in half the matches he plays he doesn’t do much.

We win this if the selectors have the fortitude to pick a batting lineup to win the series instead of deciding that Khawaja has earned a farewell and that we should pick the most highly rated junior opener or force a middle order batsman to open

 

[The_Reaper]

I actually agree with him about this, and think that cricket fans are overly fixated on milestones. However, he shouldn’t complain that the Indian pair see it differently. They are entitled to play it out as they did.

People are overly fixated on milestones (including Stokes himself when it’s his batsmen). It’s also incredibly hard for a captain to declare to deny one of your players a century, let alone a maiden century.

But it’s also not India’s problem that England’s bowlers needed a rest ahead of the next test

 

[Sonny Hayes]

After our tour of the WIndies, I am very nervous for our XI

I'm not all that worried, i do think this is the best chance England have had in Australia since 2010-11 but i still think it is a slim one.

That bowling line up is not consistently taking 20 wickets in Aussie conditions. I also think that while our batting is a concern it is probably being made to look worse by having a tough 12 months on tough wickets and against some quality bowling Bumrah/WI attack. I truly believe our batsman would be looking more comfortable on some of these English wickets against this attack.

Smith still looks world class, Carey in career best form, Head will have one or two tests where he plays out of his mind, Webster has looked quality. 3 is a question mark and the openers are clearly a big concern. But i still go in to the summer very confident.

 

[TY24]

It will be business as usual when they come here.

Big build up, talk coming in will be about how England are on the up and Australia will be nervous, still haven't found their new openers, are the bowlers still up to it, etc.

Then with the first ball of the summer, Mitch Starc will send Zak Crawley's off stump cartwheeling down the Graham Farmer Freeway, Steve Smith will score a million runs, and all will be forgotten.

 

[Gough]

It will be business as usual when they come here.

Big build up, talk coming in will be about how England are on the up and Australia will be nervous, still haven't found their new openers, are the bowlers still up to it, etc.

Then with the first ball of the summer, Mitch Starc will send Zak Crawley's off stump cartwheeling down the Graham Farmer Freeway, Steve Smith will score a million runs, and all will be forgotten.

Glass half empty version is our top 3 is tissue paper thin and our bowling attack aging.

 

[TY24]

Glass half empty version is our top 3 is tissue paper thin and our bowling attack aging.

As long as we don't produce roads we will steam roll them. If we serve up highways and allow them to treat it like a ODI when batting, we'll be in trouble.

The only bowler they have that worries me is Jofra, but is he going to be able to play 5 tests? History would suggest no.

 

[RookiePick]

Glass half empty version is our top 3 is tissue paper thin and our bowling attack aging.

I'm not sure Green will look too bad come the summer. He seemed to be finding his feet again through the WI series against a pretty handy attack. Given his performance in the t20's, it really just looks like he needed to shake off the rust of a year out of the game. Plus he''ll be in home conditions, which never hurts.

Green, Smith, Head, Webster, Carey looks pretty decent. Openers an issue, lower order generally contributes runs. Bowling attack first rate despite the age numbers.

England will need to bring their absolute best and we'll need to have some bad lapses for them to get past us over 5 tests.

 

[katana]

think england win one of the first three tests. series 4-1 win to australia assuming sydney isn't a washout.

 

[PhatBoy]

As long as we don't produce roads we will steam roll them. If we serve up highways and allow them to treat it like a ODI when batting, we'll be in trouble.

The only bowler they have that worries me is Jofra, but is he going to be able to play 5 tests? History would suggest no.

If Australia don’t produce roads, there is only one batting line up on paper that looks equipped to make regular runs and it isn’t Australia’s.

 

[TY24]

If Australia don’t produce roads, there is only one batting line up on paper that looks equipped to make regular runs and it isn’t Australia’s.

Every home Ashes series, this sort of conversation comes up.

And every home Ashes series, we wipe the floor with them.

Last time out Bairstow scored their only ton of the series. There was a handful of 50's from Root and Stokes, but not much else to write home about.

If we bowl well, we will win like we always do.

 

[PhatBoy]

Every home Ashes series, this sort of conversation comes up.

And every home Ashes series, we wipe the floor with them.

Last time out Bairstow scored their only ton of the series. There was a handful of 50's from Root and Stokes, but not much else to write home about.

If we bowl well, we will win like we always do.

Does it? Last home ashes Australia had Warner and Khawaja bashing runs ad nauseum, Labuschagne still knowing which end of a bat to hold and in general a world class batting line up.

England’s top 7 contained one batsman with an average over 40.

None of this of course guarantees England will post a more competitive effort but it’s unarguable that they are more qualified to do so.

 

[TY24]

None of this of course guarantees England will post a more competitive effort but it’s unarguable that they are more qualified to do so.

Let's see how they go against the best bowling unit in the world on home soil.

I don't see them winning a test if our 5 front lines stay fit.

 

[big_e]

Does it? Last home ashes Australia had Warner and Khawaja bashing runs ad nauseum, Labuschagne still knowing which end of a bat to hold and in general a world class batting line up.

England’s top 7 contained one batsman with an average over 40.

None of this of course guarantees England will post a more competitive effort but it’s unarguable that they are more qualified to do so.

Khawaja wasn't picked in the first three tests. There was considerable debate about the line-up leading in to the first test, both Head and Khawaja were named in a 15-man squad because the selectors still hadn't decided, and the word "bat-off" was common when discussing the opening spot early in the summer. Here's Cricinfo on the first morning.



I'm definitely not an Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi kind of guy, but England sides routinely go to water when they land in Australia, and the safe bet is that they'll do it again, no matter how good their side looks on paper.

I hope they are competitive though. Ashes in Australia is typically a boring series.

 

[Gough]

By my reckoning the last time the fifth Test of an Ashes here was live was 82/83.

 

[PhatBoy]

Khawaja wasn't picked in the first three tests. There was considerable debate about the line-up leading in to the first test, both Head and Khawaja were named in a 15-man squad because the selectors still hadn't decided, and the word "bat-off" was common when discussing the opening spot early in the summer. Here's Cricinfo on the first morning.

View attachment 2381644

I'm definitely not an Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi kind of guy, but England sides routinely go to water when they land in Australia, and the safe bet is that they'll do it again, no matter how good their side looks on paper.

I hope they are competitive though. Ashes in Australia is typically a boring series.

Fair play, had forgotten the Khawaja situation; there is no argument that can possibly be made at that point that beyond parochialism that there was any comparison between the two batting line ups, though, and whatever conjecture there was about Travis Head, bringing a batsman into your middle order with an average of 40 is not exactly a gamble akin to some other selections - even the Harris one itself within the same team.

England DO typically go to water here - because they are typically full of average players over most of their recent tours. They have a handful of average players still, but they are at least offset by some good ones at the moment.

 

[Nuggetz]

English attack based on their series v India looks ordinary. Stokes saved em a few times then his body broke down. Archer is the key for them imo, otherwise who will be their legit strike bowler? Do they pick both Archer & Wood for the 2 tests at Perth & Gabba (Pink ball) then rest them until boxing day?

 

[magpiemaniac44]

If this is the attack England roll out for the first test (I don't think it will be) they'll be cannon fodders

 

[Sykes_]

If this is the attack England roll out for the first test (I don't think it will be) they'll be cannon fodders

On the wickets we’ve been serving up recently, they’ll be fine, particularly against our putrid top 3

 

[MJG14]

Woakes expected to miss apparently due to his shoulder injury. Would have preferred if he was playing actually, he struggles away from home and I felt like they would have played him.

 

[PhatBoy]

Woakes expected to miss apparently due to his shoulder injury. Would have preferred if he was playing actually, he struggles away from home and I felt like they would have played him.

Exactly. It’s the best thing that could happen to them: their selectors love him for some reason and you could see them inexplicably picking him and expecting a decade of evidence to be cast aside by one magical series in which he turns into Richard Hadlee or Imran Khan

 

[sabso]

Exactly. It’s the best thing that could happen to them: their selectors love him for some reason and you could see them inexplicably picking him and expecting a decade of evidence to be cast aside by one magical series in which he turns into Richard Hadlee or Imran Khan

Bit like Mitchell johnson