The Ashes, Third Test Australia v England @ The MCG 26-30 December

Who will win?


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    34
  • Poll closed .

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Ischenko

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Jun 1, 2012
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Please Maddinson over Marsh - don't need Marsh's bowling with Green (especially in Sydney), and surely Maddinson is more technically sound than he was on debut? He did look totally out of his depth then but that was some years ago...
 
Please Maddinson over Marsh - don't need Marsh's bowling with Green (especially in Sydney), and surely Maddinson is more technically sound than he was on debut? He did look totally out of his depth then but that was some years ago...

plus Maddinson can roll the arm over for some "spin" if the pitch is turning.
 
Aug 27, 2014
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there are no other teams worthy
You'd have to think Khawaja, seeing that it was between him and Head for the first Test and there hasn't been any red ball cricket since.
Please no.
We are at fourth Test now and series wrapped up. Perfect opportunity to give someone younger a go and see if they ready for next step.
We do not need a fill in right now like we would have before series decided. Now we can experiment. Let's do that.
 

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Just for the laughs I would like us to pick Josh Inglis:

He does well and scores a 50 + and then the Poms can enviously look on as the kid, that was born in Leeds and came to Australia 12 years ago, becomes the future Australian wicketkeeper / batsman ............... that the Poms are so lacking.
 

Around the Wicket

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A poor team playing an average team making them look like a good team. Let’s see how we go in Asia over the next year before making a conclusive assessment.


Sent from my Louis Vuitton Jaffle Maker

Agreed, last 2 Ashes white washes there done nothing the following 12 months away.
 

deanc

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You'd have to think Khawaja, seeing that it was between him and Head for the first Test and there hasn't been any red ball cricket since.

Some interpreting the recent squad additions as selection possibilities are ignoring the fact that CA is simply ensuring the team has cover with like-for-like replacements for any further unforeseen COVID cases. Khawaja will take Head's spot for Sydney.
 
Please Maddinson over Marsh - don't need Marsh's bowling with Green (especially in Sydney), and surely Maddinson is more technically sound than he was on debut? He did look totally out of his depth then but that was some years ago...

It will be ussie in. The other guys added are just cover in case we get more covid cases.
 
Jan 6, 2004
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Some interpreting the recent squad additions as selection possibilities are ignoring the fact that CA is simply ensuring the team has cover with like-for-like replacements for any further unforeseen COVID cases. Khawaja will take Head's spot for Sydney.

More of our guys will test positive next few days you would think and as far as i know they aren't doing a bubble for a game in a city with this many cases so we need a lot of backups if they are really going to force this test through no matter what.

Most likely scenario now is england get a few cases among few players and decide they have had enough and head home, but they dont want a bubble either so i don't see how we play these last tests would need a miracle.
 
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Sep 30, 2003
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Anyone with a functioning brain (which I appreciate rules out a great number of high-volume contributors to match threads on here) could probably put two and two together and work out they've most likely brought Marsh and Inglis in out of fears Green and Carey may be close contacts and forced to sit out.

Would say it's down to Usman or Maddinson for Head's replacement.
 

Tugga27

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Anyone with a functioning brain (which I appreciate rules out a great number of high-volume contributors to match threads on here) could probably put two and two together and work out they've most likely brought Marsh and Inglis in out of fears Green and Carey may be close contacts and forced to sit out.

Would say it's down to Usman or Maddinson for Head's replacement.
Surely Maddisons inclusion is the same as Inglis and Marsh's.
Just coverage/insurance.

Usman to play for me.
 
May 1, 2016
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It is very timely actually - Harsha Bhogle’s cricket legends interview just aired. He talks about how Indian players now have swagger and even the quiet ones like Pujara don’t have that same timidity that crippled their players when they travelled for so long.

He said that Gavaskar have India a realisation that they could play pace bowling based on how he stood up to the West Indies juggernaut and Tendulkar and Dravid carried that on and that has now filtered to not one or two players but all of them. Likewise Kapil Dev begat Srinath who begat Zaheer Khan, and from there they have this cartel of fast bowlers.

I’m not a fan of India but I’ve got a lot of respect for how they’ve grown beyond the ‘spin destroyer’ demographic that permeated their batting line ups for so long
The big difference between them and everyone else at the moment - in my opinion - is that they will go into a tour with a specific strategy for batting. When they went to England, they specifically put away their cut shots, instead leaving the ball or playing the square drive if the ball was full enough; this meant that the bowlers gave them plenty of what they wanted (the ball on their pads, as they adjusted to not getting wickets in the cordon) and forced England to roll out some fast bouncy decks to try and win. They came here with the specific intent to have our bowlers bowl lots of overs; it worked when Pujara did it by himself, and it worked their next tour, allowing Pant/Jadeja/Ashwin/Sundar to make hay against an exhausted attack.

We go to England or India: 'It's just how they play, can't be expected to win away against pitches like that!' or 'Got to play your natural game' and England are no better.
 

deanc

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More of our guys will test positive next few days you would think and as far as i know they aren't doing a bubble for a game in a city with this many cases so we need a lot of backups if they are really going to force this test through no matter what.

Most likely scenario now is england get a few cases among few players and decide they have had enough and head home, but they dont want a bubble either so i don't see how we play these last tests would need a miracle.

That's mostly speculation, but entirely possible. Despite the strict level-4 protocols these blokes still need to live their lives, so if they still somehow contract Omnicron so be it. Last count, Australia now have a squad of 21 to pick from.

Yep, the Poms are more of a concern, remember very few have played in Australia before, so the players and their families out and about sightseeing etc. could easily (through no fault of their own) contract COVID, possibly resulting in the end of the series...

I'm always glass half full though, so I'm looking forward to the Sydney test, irrespective of who is playing in the selected teams...
 
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