Cricket

[Baz]

Good first day for England considering they lost their best two batsmen cheaply. 

I think the Aussies may have the mix wrong, 3 pace bowlers and 1 spinner is light on that wicket, although these things change.

350-400 would be a good score, more than that will take some getting for the Aussies. I think it's realistic if we can get through the first hour or so unscathed.

[ChrisyG]

29 minutes ago, Baz said:

Good first day for England considering they lost their best two batsmen cheaply. 

I think the Aussies may have the mix wrong, 3 pace bowlers and 1 spinner is light on that wicket, although these things change.

350-400 would be a good score, more than that will take some getting for the Aussies. I think it's realistic if we can get through the first hour or so unscathed.

300+ would be a good score after losing early wickets. Wicket normally hardens up but it's given rain for Saturday and Sunday

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, ChrisyG said:

300+ would be a good score after losing early wickets. Wicket normally hardens up but it's given rain for Saturday and Sunday

 

Just now, ChrisyG said:

300+ would be a good score after losing early wickets. Wicket normally hardens up but it's given rain for Saturday and Sunday

I don't think 300 will be enough. 375 maybe.

[ChrisyG]

36 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

 

I don't think 300 will be enough. 375 maybe.

Yes, but at one stage I thought we were going to collapse! It's a not lose test match though, we won't win. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, ChrisyG said:

Yes, but at one stage I thought we were going to collapse! It's a not lose test match though, we won't win. 

It's not at that point yet. We need a good first session tomorrow though.

[ChrisyG]

17 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

It's not at that point yet. We need a good first session tomorrow though.

Yep, need Ali and Bairstow to get a few.

[Gav]

Good start, 20 runs on the board but Lion looking dangerous.

Need 300 at a minimum, but 350 would be better, more coffee required. 

[BRFC4EVA]

For all the rubbish spoken by the Aussies before the series, theyve already resorted to Starc going around the wicket to the left handers with a bodyline angle and Lyon as their best chance of a wicket. There is really nothing to fear from this Aussie side-at 4 down one could argue this is the strongest part of the batting line up in Ali, bairdstow (normally Stokes also) and Woakes.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Obviously we could have done with more runs, the tail didn't wag as I hoped it would. We need to separate these two ASAP.

[ChrisyG]

Well, the games on a knife edge! Really need some big runs from Rooty boy tomorrow. Our tail end worries me as it's very light without Stokes.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Yep, we need a captains innings tomorrow.

[BRFC4EVA]

Yeh absolutely. Anything above 250 will be a really tough chase for them on a 5th day surface.

[philipl]

Well this thread has rather tailed off...

[Norbert Rassragr]

England seem to have got worse as the game progressed. Hopefully that will change next game. Our batsmen can't handle real fast, nasty pace as all our bowlers are that 5 mph or so slower.

[Baz]

Not seen much of the action, but from commentary it appears that the Aussies gave just shown a bit more tenacity than England. From the bits I have seen, some of the English wickets in the first innings were been pretty soft dismissals, rather than a sustained period of good bowling.

Just think this was a not lose game for the English, it'll allow the Aussie fans, media and players to get their tails up, and that'  something we have struggled with massively in the past.

[pg]

Well Australian beats England at the Gabba which is no surprise. I don't think England have won there since 1986 when Ian Botham went bananas.

It seems Smith's innings was the main difference.

The next test is Adelaide. Some observers think the pink ball at night will provide more 'English' conditions and will help Broad and Anderson. Of course, a swinging ball may also help Starc.

I guess we'll see.

Edited November 27, 2017 by pg
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[Biddy]

Not a single wicket on the second innings.  That's poor beyond belief.

[jim mk2]

England generally do well at Adelaide ....... so the Australians change the format.

Of course they chose not to do so at Brisbane and Perth, where Australia usually do well.

Draw your own conclusions. 

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

On 27 November 2017 at 12:58, jim mk2 said:

England generally do well at Adelaide ....... so the Australians change the format.

Of course they chose not to do so at Brisbane and Perth, where Australia usually do well.

Draw your own conclusions. 

 

Nothing new there Jim. They'll do anything to win irrespective of the ethos of such sports as cricket. Anybody in any doubt of that I refer you to Trevor Chappell " bowling " against New Zealand.

It makes me laugh when you think about that " Bodyline " tour. At least we were bouncing the ball at guys who were acknowledged batsmen.

Edited November 28, 2017 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[matt83]

Big session coming up if we are to make any sort of impact on this series. Let’s hope jimmy can make things happen under the lights  

Reckon need to win this one. 1-0 down before going to Perth where we’ve only won once anything but a win and could be series over.

[Husky]

Is it true that there aren't even any highlights of any description on terrestrial TV?

[matt83]

On 02/12/2017 at 15:53, Husky said:

Is it true that there aren't even any highlights of any description on terrestrial TV?

I’ve not seen any. It’s a poor show if want to keep the average joe engaged in the sport. Unfortunately I have BT sports so seen a fair amount of this underwhelming series.

Sky sports are doing their usual trick of practically ignoring sports that their channels aren’t showing. FA Cup hasn’t happened for well over a decade and now the ashes barely gets mentioned. They’re normally all over club rugby league but as the BBC had the World Cup that was only mentioned in passing. Plenty of NFL though.

[matt83]

132/6. Embarrassing again. Ability wise going in u thought we’re not massively different to them. Smith/Warner equivalent to root/cook then the rest from both sides are meh. Bowing attacks similar they edge it in their conditions but the gulf in performance is like they’re playing a club side. Only thing I can think is we’re mentally weak

[Gav]

Right from day one every commentator has criticised the England bowling attack for pitching the ball to short. If this is a tactic it's not working, if it's poor bowling then it's a disgrace from Broad and Anderson.

The batting has been amateurish yes, but these 2 have been around for long enough to know what's required, just watch the Aussies!

[Mattyblue]

I was in Brisbane for the first test and what really struck is how into their sport the vast majority of the populace seems to be.

Various reasons for this, but what I did notice is that nearly all their top sports are found on free to air televison.

Football is our national game and can survive behind a paywall - plus there are some live matches on free TV, plus Match of the Day each week. The ECB threw away a golden opportunity after the 2005 Ashes and the fact you can't even find Ashes highlights on free to air just shows how low profile cricket has become.

 

Edited December 4, 2017 by Mattyblue