2 hours ago, dl4e said:

Was surprised at Stokes declaration as well but it is a bold move. If we bat well and long it  may look silly but if we fail then there will be plenty of time for them to win. I don't think their bowling attack is that good, especially if it stays dry and clear, so I would like to see us bat for close to 2 days if possible to aid in snuffing them out.

We have to cash in on this wicket.  But patience is needed as they've picked 3 quicks who can bowl tight.  And Moeen & Root won't give much away either

We're still chasing close on 400 but may need 500+ to gain an advantage (batting 4th and all that)

Edit:  now 3-67 with England well on top

Edited June 17, 20231 yr by Macca

1 hour ago, Macca said:

We have to cash in on this wicket.  But patience is needed as they've picked 3 quicks who can bowl tight.  And Moeen & Root won't give much away either

We're still chasing close on 400 but may need 500+ to gain an advantage (batting 4th and all that)

Edit:  now 3-67 with England well on top

No not looking good. Head will have to bat out of his skin if we are going to begin saving this.

11 hours ago, dl4e said:

No not looking good. Head will have to bat out of his skin if we are going to begin saving this.

As it turned out Khawaja played exceptionally well with help from the late middle-order

Match is now evenly poised but we need lots more runs to gain an advantage

7 runs behind so evenly poised but I can't see us winning.

1 hour ago, dl4e said:

7 runs behind so evenly poised but I can't see us winning.

Yeah my rule of thumb is that in order to gain an advantage the team batting second needs a lead of 80 runs to be in front in the match

But it's not a hard and fast rule as there are obviously all sorts of variables at play

But right now, it's advantage England in my view.  If they make 320+, they'll be favoured to win

That said, we'll probably need Smith or Marnus to make a big hundred regardless

Lyon holds the key ... if he can run through them, we're a chance

Ollie Robinson your a [censored] telling Usi to F*#k off twice after a brilliant 140

Even Merv at his worst acknowledged a great innings by his English peers

Moeen Ali blatantly cheating, Stuart Broads arrogance (even though l do like him) 

Lets hope their arrogant declaration bites them on the backside 

 

Aussies win after seemingly down and out! So many moments that were major factors too (one being the Stokes declaration)

The match had many similarities to Edgbaston in 2005 as well.  We got one back!

Pat Cummins had some sort of match and in the end he won the match for us!

Edited June 20, 20231 yr by Macca

England win the toss on a seamer and elect to bowl.  At least it looks like the wicket could seam

Starc replaced Boland and England haven't picked a specialist spinner

We need to get to lunch no more than 2 down

Lunch on day2 and evenly based. Was great to see the unit get a ton. Definite chance if they don't overtake our score.

103 lead on d3 with 10 wickets in hand. Would be great to get a lead of 500 before they bat again but maybe that is wishful thinking.

1 hour ago, dl4e said:

103 lead on d3 with 10 wickets in hand. Would be great to get a lead of 500 before they bat again but maybe that is wishful thinking.

If we can bat until close enough to the tea break tomorrow then we'll have a massive lead you'd imagine

That's possibly the time target ... which would leave at least 4 full sessions to press for victory

No baz-ball type batting, just occupy the crease, play correctly and put the loose ball away

Proper test match batting

 

12 hours ago, Macca said:

If we can bat until close enough to the tea break tomorrow then we'll have a massive lead you'd imagine

That's possibly the time target ... which would leave at least 4 full sessions to press for victory

No baz-ball type batting, just occupy the crease, play correctly and put the loose ball away

Proper test match batting

 

Exactly. In fact I think we should bat further than tea just to amass a higher score so the poms will try baz ball and get out playing silly shots. 

6 hours ago, dl4e said:

Exactly. In fact I think we should bat further than tea just to amass a higher score so the poms will try baz ball and get out playing silly shots. 

I agree .... Stokes is on record as not being interested in draws or playing for draws

However, let's see if he can hold true to those comments if a 2-nil deficit is on the horizon

The pitch is playing quite well and we don't have a front line spinner ... ideally we put a target out of reach but still be allowing enough time to bowl them out

First assignment is to make 300+ creating a target of around 400 (or 450+ in an ideal world)

The Aussie way is to go for the win (when holding the upper hand) so we'll be going for it you'd reckon

4 hours ago, Macca said:

I agree .... Stokes is on record as not being interested in draws or playing for draws

However, let's see if he can hold true to those comments if a 2-nil deficit is on the horizon

The pitch is playing quite well and we don't have a front line spinner ... ideally we put a target out of reach but still be allowing enough time to bowl them out

First assignment is to make 300+ creating a target of around 400 (or 450+ in an ideal world)

The Aussie way is to go for the win (when holding the upper hand) so we'll be going for it you'd reckon

Sure but now at 5 down at lunch a target of 400 is now what we should be aiming for and that means Carey and Green will have to play  well. I still would want to bat after tea as well. Really more than 400 hundred is what we should be aiming for.

1 hour ago, dl4e said:

Sure but now at 5 down at lunch a target of 400 is now what we should be aiming for and that means Carey and Green will have to play  well. I still would want to bat after tea as well. Really more than 400 hundred is what we should be aiming for.

Bit hard to score against all this short stuff (with the appropriate field placings)   I reckon we'll bat to half way through the last session.  Should be 400 ahead by then

And if they hop into our bowlers when they bat, we'll resort to the same short stuff.  Boring but a legitimate tactic (under the current laws)

Leg theory is often used against certain batsman but every now and again, all the time

Our bowlers made life very uncomfortable for their batsmen in their 1st innings so I'm expecting more of the same in their 2nd innings

Gee they need to bring back runners.  Lyon looked like he was going to pass out.

On one hand, you could abuse it by using a "whippet".  On the other, there is chance of three taking off with comic mix-ups.

Surprised nobody has mentioned the Starc catch. What an appalling decision by Erasmus. 

39 minutes ago, GBDee said:

Surprised nobody has mentioned the Starc catch. What an appalling decision by Erasmus. 

I have no confidence in Erasmus and that was a shocking decision.  How could he possibly not think Starc had full control of the ball before it was grounded?  Just awful.  

Having said all that how good were the two deliveries from Cummins to remove Root and Brook - outstanding fast bowling without having to resort to leg side theory!

Edited July 1, 20231 yr by grazman

Pay backs a [censored] Mr Bairstow.

Are we trying to throw this test? Green bowling medium paced, half pitch tripe to Stokes and has played him into form. Cummins doing the same but quicker. 

Cameron Green is a dumb bowler.

Are we going to throw this like the game in Alice today. Stokes is a kiwi and Broad nothing more than a whinging pom. Green needs his head read.

Bairstow was out. The English reaction is disgusting and so hypocritical given the Starc catch saga yesterday.

But it is helping them try to win the match. They are heaping the pressure on us and Stokes has taken the liberty. Can't bowl Green if he's going to bowl like that, but we can't afford not to bowl Green without Lyon. We really needed Starc to hold that catch off Green's bowling to get rid of Stokes. We might not get another chance and if he keeps striking it like he has been, we are a bowler down and only going to offer up more bad balls.

Truth be told, it's been an incredible performance for us to even have had this enormous lead. We've batted in the worst conditions and bowled in the best batting conditions, all whilst being a bowler down. England never should have fallen this far behind. But by virtue of how far behind they fell, if they do get up and win from here (they're nearly favourites right now given Stokes' form), they are going to ride the "injustice" of the Bairstow dismissal and the high of coming from behind all through the series.

The Ashes is almost certainly going to be decided in the next 2 hours.

13 hours ago, titan_uranus said:

Bairstow was out. The English reaction is disgusting and so hypocritical given the Starc catch saga yesterday.

But it is helping them try to win the match. They are heaping the pressure on us and Stokes has taken the liberty. Can't bowl Green if he's going to bowl like that, but we can't afford not to bowl Green without Lyon. We really needed Starc to hold that catch off Green's bowling to get rid of Stokes. We might not get another chance and if he keeps striking it like he has been, we are a bowler down and only going to offer up more bad balls.

Truth be told, it's been an incredible performance for us to even have had this enormous lead. We've batted in the worst conditions and bowled in the best batting conditions, all whilst being a bowler down. England never should have fallen this far behind. But by virtue of how far behind they fell, if they do get up and win from here (they're nearly favourites right now given Stokes' form), they are going to ride the "injustice" of the Bairstow dismissal and the high of coming from behind all through the series.

The Ashes is almost certainly going to be decided in the next 2 hours.

And it was and the better team won.

Does Johnny Bairstow have short-term memory loss?

 

Day 3, takes the ball when keeping to a quick and takes a shy at the stumps when Marnus Labuschange is batting. Day 5, when the boot is on the other foot, "it's not in the spirit of the game".

 

You reap what you sow.