1 hour ago, grazman said:

Sure, but doubtful that Mooen Ali will bowl and if the weather improves enough (could do both day 3 & 4) under blue sky their quicks aren't as threatening - if it keeps going to script we should be batting again before the pitch has had a chance to deteriorate too much (there's some advantage to batting with overhead cloud cover).

The pitch might be a bit up and down by days 4 & 5 as well than suiting the spinners.  So as you said, it's only Root that we have to be concerned about and not Moeen

But in that scenario all their quicks come right into it with variable bounce being a factor (if it happens)

Winning the toss and bowling first can always bring trepidation if you have to chase 250+ in the 4th innings

To me being level after the first innings means the team batting second needs to be about 60 or 80 ahead

But that's just my opinion @grazman

Match has got right away from us in that session ... bowling was poor right from the get-go

Disappointing as the bowlers need to be ready to go - there are no warm-up deliveries at this level but as well as that, the bowling lacked penetration

11 hours ago, Macca said:

Match has got right away from us in that session ... bowling was poor right from the get-go

Disappointing as the bowlers need to be ready to go - there are no warm-up deliveries at this level but as well as that, the bowling lacked penetration

Yep and Punter as a former Australian captain was livid with the field placings and inability to bowl to a plan.

I think the leadership has been spooked by the English approach.  There's an inflexibility in their thinking to adjust their approach.  I think they handed the initiative to the Poms and it's a bit sickening to see that.  It's test cricket you have to be aggressive and try to seize the initiative, not just shrug your shoulders and scratch your head. 

After the first innings why open the bowling with Starc again when the ball isn't swinging? 

Why bowl the very same first ball of the innings to Crawley that you did in the first test to let him smash you through covers? If he'd told us exactly where he wanted you to pitch the ball to him we couldn't have accommodated him any better. 

We appear to be slow learners. 

I can understand that delivery in Australia with a brand new Kookaburra when it only swings in the first 10 overs, but the Duke ball in England hasn't swung at all until after the first hour of play.

I would have given him a bouncer and see if he's brave enough to try to hook the first ball of the innings - at least do something different, something they may not be expecting.  

Anyway there's no devils in the pitch that I could see, but let's see how brave our batsmen are. 

Edited July 29, 20231 yr by grazman

5 minutes ago, grazman said:

Yep and Punter as a former Australian captain was livid with the field placings and inability to bowl to a plan.

I think the leadership has been spooked by the English approach.  There's an inflexibility in their thinking to adjust their approach.  I think they handed the initiative to the Poms and it's a bit sickening to see that.  It's test cricket you have to be aggressive and try to seize the initiative, not just shrug your shoulders and scratch your head. 

After the first innings why open the bowling with Starc again when the ball isn't swinging? 

Why bowl the very same first ball of the innings to Crawley that you did in the first test to let him smash you through covers? If he'd told us exactly where he wanted you to pitch the ball to him we couldn't have accommodated him any better. 

We appear to be slow learners. 

I can understand that delivery in Australia with a brand new Kookaburra when it only swings in the first 10 overs, but the Duke ball in England hasn't swung at all until after the first hour of play.

I would have given him a bouncer and see if he's brave enough to try to hook the first ball of the innings - at least do something different, something they may not be expecting.  

Anyway there's no devils in the pitch that I could see, but let's see how brave our batsmen are. 

Yes, a monumental task chasing down this sort of total.  Not confident but hopeful

And I agree that we've been spooked by their batting approach.  Our bowling plans accordingly have been poor and the field placements highly questionable

We're going to need a big hundred from one of our batsmen and at least 3 other decent contributions of 50+ (or another big 100)

And as you said, the pitch is playing well but the task is about concentration & temperament as we've got 2 days to get the runs

But from an overall point of view, at the start of the series if you'd offered me the Ashes with a 2-2 result I would have taken it in a heartbeat

Winning the Ashes to me is like beating India in a test series (home or away) or perhaps even winning the ODI world cup* (in a traditional sense)

Not quite as good as winning a footy GF but if we'd won 4 or 5 flags since '64, all the aforementioned wins and the GF would have the same value (in my view) I'm a test cricket fanatic!!

I'm excited about the world test championship too looking ahead ... another huge achievement whenever we can win that match

But for now, we need to at least make a game of it tonight. We do not want to fall short by a big margin

 

*The ODI World Cup is on this year being hosted by India ... begins October 5th

1 hour ago, Macca said:

I'm excited about the world test championship too looking ahead ...

Is it a given the WTC is in England?  I really don't like the idea of England playing at home for the WTC and influencing the sort of pitch that they would prefer to play on - better all round if it's played at a neutral venue for all sides concerned.

 

Looking forward to the World Cup, it's the only limited over cricket I could be bothered watching.

Edited July 30, 20231 yr by grazman

1 hour ago, grazman said:

Is it a given the WTC is in England?  I really don't like the idea of England playing at home for the WTC and influencing the sort of pitch that they would prefer to play on - better all round if it's played at a neutral venue for all sides concerned.

 

Looking forward to the World Cup, it's the only limited over cricket I could be bothered watching.

Yes the rest of the white ball cricket is non memorable ... however, as much as it won't happen, I'd like to see the World Cup 50 over matches played on more bowler friendly wickets

About 250 - 280 per innings makes for a better match

Otherwise it's just bat vs bat ... Less is better

And I agree that the WTC needs to be shared around in the future (after the June 2025 WTC)

But let's hope that England never makes the final ... to do so for the next WTC they are probably going to have to beat India or Australia in a test series

And their only series against either team before the next World Test Championship is @ India next Jan/Feb 2024 for 5 Tests (bazball against Jedeja, Ashwin & Azar Patel? Good luck on the dustbowls England)

For us to nail down a spot would probably require a test series win against India in Australia in 2024/25 (5 Tests)

The next World Test Championship is set down for June 2025 (Lords) ... India tour England in 2025 but 'after' the WTC

At a guess, if India beat England and we beat India in the aforementioned test series', I can see a scenario where both Australia & India make the final again (as long as both teams take care of business against all the other test nations - which is more likely than unlikely)

n.b. The next Ashes series is to be held in Australia in 2025/26

Edited July 30, 20231 yr by Macca

Last night bowling performance was forgettable to say the least. Can we live on a wing and a prayer and hope they can bat better. If not we are in for a drubbing.

8 hours ago, dl4e said:

Last night bowling performance was forgettable to say the least. Can we live on a wing and a prayer and hope they can bat better. If not we are in for a drubbing.

Well the first part of the equation has been accomplished, we got through to lunch unscathed

All things considered, a very good result

Interesting that Wood hasn't bowled yet as he is apparently being held back until the ball reverse swings.  Might have been worth 2 or 3 overs before lunch regardless

3 minutes ago, Macca said:

Well the first part of the equation has been accomplished, we got through to lunch unscathed

All things considered, a very good result

Interesting that Wood hasn't bowled yet as he is apparently being held back until the ball reverse swings.  Might have been worth 2 or 3 overs before lunch regardless

Was wondering what happened to wood. Good we have not lost a wicket. To get the required score under 300 with no losses of wickets will be the 1st part of the equation settled. 

Pathetic batting display in the final session by Australia. They absolutely bottled that hard. Ashes retained but it feels like a loss. Bitter.

The Poms were given a near new ball to replace a worn 40 over ball.

The worst decision I've ever seen by officials.  Both umpires should be admonished for their sheer incompetance

The replacement ball given to the Poms was a monumental blunder

Edited August 1, 20231 yr by Macca

If you win the toss, and the pitch is a road…..BAT first.

Every team has trouble chasing even moderate totals in the last innings.

On 8/1/2023 at 12:31 PM, Macca said:

The Poms were given a near new ball to replace a worn 40 over ball.

The worst decision I've ever seen by officials.  Both umpires should be admonished for their sheer incompetance

The replacement ball given to the Poms was a monumental blunder

I have actually seen the umpires rubbing the shine off the replacement ball to better match the old.   Did they do this?

4 hours ago, redandbluemakepurple said:

I have actually seen the umpires rubbing the shine off the replacement ball to better match the old.   Did they do this?

Well all that might do is make the ball swing even further ... technically, roughing up one side of the ball in a deliberate manner is illegal.  To do both sides needs more than just rubbing the shine off as that shine can be retrieved with some elbow grease!

Of course, I'm not suggesting that the umpires did an illegal act, more so doing what can be done illegally

Bottle tops (Wasim), Zippers (Du Plessis) Dirt (Atherton) and Sandpaper (Warner/Bancroft) have all been caught using illegal methods roughing up one side of the ball

So in effect, if that's what the umpires did, then they are showing their naivity to how a bowling team can gain an advantage

Way back, the Indian spinners used to just rub the ball in the dirt near the popping crease (until that method was banned)

A 40 over bowl has got to that stage through natural methods over a session and a half including being hit hard with a bat up to 240 times ... I'm not sure that sort of wear & tear can be reproduced in a short space of time.  Effectively, the hardness gets knocked out of cricket ball over time

Khawaja has been quoted as saying that the ball was no older than 8 overs old ... and he'd know.  These blokes play cricket nearly every day in some sort of capacity

Edited August 5, 20231 yr by Macca

Further to the above, the owner of Dukes (which manufactors the Dukes ball) is saying that he is going to investigate whether the ball was a 4 or 5 years old variety

Back then the Dukes ball offered more swing & seam

But will the ICC investigate?  I doubt it as they'll probably see the protestations as just more whinging or sour grapes

Plus, the ICC are a bit of a toothless tiger anyway.  Beholden to self interest

And that's the issue as well.  In a general sense we are so used to not accepting the umpires decisions that when a serious issue like this does surface, it gets lost with all the other complaints & whinging

But even at the lower levels of park cricket, this sort of thing would probably never happen.  But we're talking about an elite level of sport here. 

As previously stated, it's the worst decision by officialdom (by far) that I've ever witnessed at a professional level

LBW or catching adjudications even themselves out over time.  So you take the good with the bad

But are we ever going to see a worn out ball replaced with a near new ball in the future? A decision which led to one team having an unfair advantage?

In my eyes, the 5th test has a giant asterisk attached to it

Anyway, that's 4 Ashes acquisitions in a row now. 

Winners are grinners!

On 8/6/2023 at 9:27 AM, Macca said:

Further to the above, the owner of Dukes (which manufactors the Dukes ball) is saying that he is going to investigate whether the ball was a 4 or 5 years old variety

Back then the Dukes ball offered more swing & seam

But will the ICC investigate?  I doubt it as they'll probably see the protestations as just more whinging or sour grapes

Plus, the ICC are a bit of a toothless tiger anyway.  Beholden to self interest

And that's the issue as well.  In a general sense we are so used to not accepting the umpires decisions that when a serious issue like this does surface, it gets lost with all the other complaints & whinging

But even at the lower levels of park cricket, this sort of thing would probably never happen.  But we're talking about an elite level of sport here. 

As previously stated, it's the worst decision by officialdom (by far) that I've ever witnessed at a professional level

LBW or catching adjudications even themselves out over time.  So you take the good with the bad

But are we ever going to see a worn out ball replaced with a near new ball in the future? A decision which led to one team having an unfair advantage?

In my eyes, the 5th test has a giant asterisk attached to it

Anyway, that's 4 Ashes acquisitions in a row now. 

Winners are grinners!

great post

Well the 1 day extravaganza is now on. We will miss Head but hopefully Maxwell can produce some runs. Watched him play the Pakis in the warm up and looked okay. A lot will rest on our bowling stocks. First game in Madras which is spin friendly but we will probably only have Zampa and Maxwell as spinners. Labuschange can bowl offies but could come under stick.

Anyway lets hope the kiwis make the 270 odd and beat the poms tonite.

Drinks and important partnership between Warner and the unit developing. Have to keep it going then try  and get to 300 which won't be easy to chase on this wicket.

1 hour ago, dl4e said:

Drinks and important partnership between Warner and the unit developing. Have to keep it going then try  and get to 300 which won't be easy to chase on this wicket.

And just like that we lose a wicket ... always the way on this thread, d4!!

They've got 3 world class spinners in their team on a wicket that is taking spin.  230 - 270 tops but can we defend that sort of total?

Edit:  we're in allsortsa! (currently 5-120 off 30 overs)

Edited October 8, 20231 yr by Macca

13 hours ago, Macca said:

And just like that we lose a wicket ... always the way on this thread, d4!!

They've got 3 world class spinners in their team on a wicket that is taking spin.  230 - 270 tops but can we defend that sort of total?

Edit:  we're in allsortsa! (currently 5-120 off 30 overs)

What a disaster that turned out to be. i went to bed when Marsh dropped Kohli. I would replace Carey and Green with Inglis and Stoinis. Careys batting has ben off for a while now.

9 hours ago, dl4e said:

What a disaster that turned out to be. i went to bed when Marsh dropped Kohli. I would replace Carey and Green with Inglis and Stoinis. Careys batting has ben off for a while now.

India produce a wicket that spins a bit and we don't play spin well ... thus, they win

But the format is that we have one big group of 10 with all the teams playing each other once (9 games each team)

The top 4 go through to the SF's so 7 wins probably gets a berth (maybe 6 wins at a stretch) 

Next up is South Africa then Sri Lanka and then Pakistan

Game 2 vs South Africa on Thursday around 7pm on 9Gem and then the main channel (Ch9) later in the evening

A must win otherwise we'll be 0 & 2 with 7 games to play 

South Africa smashed Sri Lanka in their first game with 3 of their players making a century!

Edited October 10, 20231 yr by Macca

Lunch against the south africans and we need 312 to win. Could have been more. Unfortunately our fielding was as poor as Melbourne kicking for goal. We will be 0-2 after tonite.

What a disarster last night was.

23 minutes ago, dl4e said:

What a disaster last night was.

Didn't see any of our innings but the next 7 games for the team could be painful ... especially if we lose another one shortly

As it stands, we might have to win all 7 of our group games just to make the SF's!  An extremely tall order to say the least