the ashes

[ayepatz]

Well, well, well! This is shaping up to be quite a series!

[ayepatz]

Just the 405. Ouch.

[madbunny]

what a flogging well done boys .1 all ,what a way to roll the poms didnt even put up a bit of fight

[Ken Gargett]

Stand up if your one Nil up! Stand up if your one Nil up stand up!!

still standing?

we have a series coming up! have to love test cricket. some days, more than others.

[JohnS]

They say cricket is a funny game and the result of the second test reflects this.

My opinion of the first two tests is that quite a few players have yet to prove themselves with the bat on both sides (except Joe Root, Steve Smith and Chris Rogers). Especially concerning is the fact that England have not yet batted for 180 overs (or 2 days) in either test...this makes it difficult to win a game unless you are scoring at 4 an over, and that is not always possible.

I think bowling wise Australia's trio of Hazlewood, Starc and Johnson have performed better than Anderson, Broad and Wood. Anderson may have had a poor 2nd test, but it is Wood that has to step up.

[madbunny]

ok round three starts tonight big game for both teams looking to set the series up at 1 all

[ayepatz]

Well, well, well! This could be very interesting...

[Coolio]

I experienced my first Ashes test on English soil today, and boy it was hard to watch while curled up in the foetal position under my seat!

Bloody hell Anderson ripped through us in devestating fashion. And the crowd really got behind him, and the rest of the team.

The 4 or so rain breaks didn't help us, but in the end probably prolonged our innings a bit! Some poor shot selection with Marsh and Neville coming to mind. And i reckon clarke's back related hammy or whatever he always has, is restricting him. He just doesn't seem to react as quickly as he used too, and was bowled by a good, but not great ball. He would have dug that one out in the past.

Rogers played well. Again.

Play was extended to 7.30pm, but due to my train back to london at 8.20, i left a bit early. Still figuring out the trains etc so wasn't taking any chances!

I've got to say that the Poms do the whole cricket experience well. The food and drink at the ground was great, and easy to access. I think because i'm used to cricket at the gabba, scg and mcg, with crowds in the high 10's of 1000's, to experience an Ashes test in front of a sell out crowd of only around 25k, was a different experience.

I'm really glad i made it up there for the day.

[madbunny]

dam we need some rain for the next 4 days

[ayepatz]

Anyone? Bueller?

[JohnS]

I'd say there will be calls for Michael Clarke to go after this test. I would reckon he might just get the last two tests to score serious runs and prolong his test cricket career.

[OZCUBAN]

This ones all but gone and the Aussies have the wobbles, lets hope they can bounce back.

never right them off

[ayepatz]

England need 121 to win. Should be an interesting afternoon. Pub is calling.

[ayepatz]

Yup. Anderson out. Bummer.

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jul/31/jimmy-anderson-ruled-out-england-ashes

[JohnS]

Australia need more contributions from their middle order in the next test. Their middle order batting has been ordinary so far this tour.

[muzz]

Clarke, I love you and we had some great times, lets not make this more awkward than it needs to be...goodbye.

Wow we really made their bowlers look awesome in the last test. England did bowl very well but we chased a lot of rubbish and were humbled by a much better team on the day.

Lets hope our batsmen can turn up for the 4th test and join the bowlers as a team. I really don't mind losing to England, in England but it doesn't have to be a capitulation!

[ayepatz]

This. Is. Extraordinary. Aussies 29-6?

[ayepatz]

And that's that. Great play from England.

[westg]

Jimmy: Everywhere we go

Crowd: Everywhere we go

The people want to know

The people want to know

Who we are

Who we are

Where we come from

Where we come from

Shall we tell them

Shall we tell them

Who we are

Who we are

Where we come from

Where we come from

We are the England

We are the England

The Mighty Mighty England

The Mighty Mighty England

We are the Army

We are the Army

The Barmy Barmy Army

The Barmy Barmy Army

Ali Cook's Barmy Army

well done

[JohnS]

David Warner announced as Vice-Captain under Steve Smith. My, oh my...hasn't he come a long way Davey Boy? (Just ask Joe Root!)

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/the-ashes/ashes-2015-newly-elevated-warner-welcomes-added-responsibility-as-vicecaptain-20150814-gizl9e.html

On the contrary, News.com.au have published an article claiming Warner is precisely the wrong person to be vice-captain at this time...

http://www.news.com.au/sport/cricket/the-ashes-2015-david-warner-the-wrong-man-for-vice-captains-job-he-lacks-respect-and-popularity/story-fnu2penb-1227484254650

[Coolio]

David Warner announced as Vice-Captain under Steve Smith. My, oh my...hasn't he come a long way Davey Boy? (Just ask Joe Root!)

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/the-ashes/ashes-2015-newly-elevated-warner-welcomes-added-responsibility-as-vicecaptain-20150814-gizl9e.html

On the contrary, News.com.au have published an article claiming Warner is precisely the wrong person to be vice-captain at this time...

http://www.news.com.au/sport/cricket/the-ashes-2015-david-warner-the-wrong-man-for-vice-captains-job-he-lacks-respect-and-popularity/story-fnu2penb-1227484254650

I can only assume john that they've done their homework and he's turned the corner? I mean, surely you wouldn't risk making him vc if he was still a clear and present danger of doing something stupid again? It's hard to trust Cricket Australia, but I'll give Warner the benefit of the doubt for a while and see how he goes! My fear though is that with the aggressive way we play the game, this will bring out his bad side again and it will all end in tears.

[Ken Gargett]

Veteran Rogers said there was merit to examining both the type of ball used in Australia and the type of pitches used in Sheffield Shield cricket in a bid to help progressively stiffen their Test batting. But he argued both were secondary to getting new players conditioned to playing with restraint.

i can cop losing, even if i hate it, and even watch it. but the moment i switched off was the previous test when rogers faced the last five balls of his innings in the 2nd dig when we needed restraint and patience. it was a very long way to go but they had good weather, a good pitch and a pretty average attack, if they were careful with broad. sure, they may have had to put their collective heads down and build a big innings but this was the ashes and these are test batsmen. we did not have to win the test, just draw it and then the ashes were still alive.

both openers were in the high 40s. a perfect platform.

so where was this restraint from rogers (warner, i could almost understand as he plays that way all the time but it was the moment i went from a rogers fan to feeling the sooner he is gone the better). if i'd ever got to play test cricket (never even close), i'd have loved this situation. you could wear your opponent down and save the test. and making their bowlers slog away for several days would have given australia a massive boost for the decider. imagine border in the same position. he would have made the poms earn every wicket with blood. would have fought tooth and nail. ditto waugh. or lawry or a good many other past aussies. not this spineless lot. good riddance to as many of them as possible.

5th last ball - feet don't move, wild slash, catch to root. out. no. finn has marginally overstepped so he is recalled. what a reprieve. great bit of luck and a great chance to go head down and bum up.

4th - wild slash. learnt nothing. commentators and england genuinely certain he has knicked it. i did not think so and the keeper was the only pom a little doubtful. england down to last review so they do not. turns out he missed it by more than 18 inches. bizarre but an awful shot.

3rd - no footwork and another wild slash. knick over slips. 4 runs. his 50. surely time to settle down.

2nd last - yet another wild slash with no thought, patience, talent or intelligence.

end of over.

warner gets a single early next over.

last ball - yet another slash without footwork or intelligence or regard for all the cricket fans in australia. to root. catch taken. rogers gone and so the rot sets in.

and he has the hide to speak of restraint. he won't be missed.

[JohnS]

What I have found stupefying about this series is that both teams have been so spectacularly bad at arresting momentum in every test. Even as I write this, I can't believe that England have got themselves at 8/107 at the end of the second day chasing 481. With three days to go, I can't see them coming back. However, what actually caused this batting collapse? Yes, the Australian bowlers, especially Siddle, bowled in good areas consistently, but what really did it was the fact that players like Bairstow and Stokes had a sweeper deep on the off-side (and leg-side sometimes) which prevented boundaries. So when you see the highlight reels, you'll understand why they got out why they did. The Aussies did the exact same things in this series too.

What exactly is wrong with batting ugly in test cricket? We are talking about leaving good balls, playing the bowling on its merit, and trying to actually rotate strike with singles? This is what builds partnerships and gains a team momentum. This is what Steve Smith did in this test (and similarly I remember him doing the same thing in his 192 against India last summer). It took him a long time to get to 20, and it mainly came from deflections to the leg-side in singles. Once he was 'in', then he was able to build his innings. David Warner did the same thing in his innings. Which English players can play like this? The answer is three...Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and Joe Root. The Poms should be very grateful that Joe Root has been in incredible form, because Alastair Cook and Ian Bell have not. And have Australia been better? No, not at all, although Adam Voges does play like this, as has Warner and Smith (but less times than Joe Root, hence why England have won this series).

This leaves some glaring questions for the immediate future. How will England fare against Pakistan in the UAE. I let you know now, be prepared for some vitriol in the English press. And Australia? Okay, they'll do Bangladesh and West Indies but against New Zealand they will struggle unless they can learn to actually bat like test players. This is what has undone Shane Watson as a test player. If you go out seeking to dominate the bowling but smashing boundaries and you don't rotate the strike by looking for singles, in test circket you are doomed. Oh how I wish Mike Hussey was still playing for Australia!

[Ken Gargett]

What I have found stupefying about this series is that both teams have been so spectacularly bad at arresting momentum in every test. Even as I write this, I can't believe that England have got themselves at 8/107 at the end of the second day chasing 481. With three days to go, I can't see them coming back. However, what actually caused this batting collapse? Yes, the Australian bowlers, especially Siddle, bowled in good areas consistently, but what really did it was the fact that players like Bairstow and Stokes had a sweeper deep on the off-side (and leg-side sometimes) which prevented boundaries. So when you see the highlight reels, you'll understand why they got out why they did. The Aussies did the exact same things in this series too.

What exactly is wrong with batting ugly in test cricket? We are talking about leaving good balls, playing the bowling on its merit, and trying to actually rotate strike with singles? This is what builds partnerships and gains a team momentum. This is what Steve Smith did in this test (and similarly I remember him doing the same thing in his 192 against India last summer). It took him a long time to get to 20, and it mainly came from deflections to the leg-side in singles. Once he was 'in', then he was able to build his innings. David Warner did the same thing in his innings. Which English players can play like this? The answer is three...Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and Joe Root. The Poms should be very grateful that Joe Root has been in incredible form, because Alastair Cook and Ian Bell have not. And have Australia been better? No, not at all, although Adam Voges does play like this, as has Warner and Smith (but less times than Joe Root, hence why England have won this series).

This leaves some glaring questions for the immediate future. How will England fare against Pakistan in the UAE. I let you know now, be prepared for some vitriol in the English press. And Australia? Okay, they'll do Bangladesh and West Indies but against New Zealand they will struggle unless they can learn to actually bat like test players. This is what has undone Shane Watson as a test player. If you go out seeking to dominate the bowling but smashing boundaries and you don't rotate the strike by looking for singles, in test circket you are doomed. Oh how I wish Mike Hussey was still playing for Australia!

john, i think the problem is partly that these are two pretty average sides. a few top players spread about and a few good performances. in general, very poor. and very poor by their own standards. clarke, cook, bell and so on all performing way under their usual.

who in either side would force their way into their team for the 2005 series? smith and root. may be broad. i can't think of anyone else. so, if that is vaguely correct, we have only 2-3 players as good as those guys.

the bizarre thing is that we have massively dominated the batting stats. we just have not put it together well. such a disappointing series on so many levels.

i also think it a little tough to be bagging england on this test. they won the ashes. you can understand how tough it is to get up for a dead game.

i wondered the first morning if haddin dropping root would end up costing us the ashes. lot more to it, of course, but it may well have.

[JohnS]

Yes, it does sound like I'm bagging England, it's understandable that they have achieved their goal and so it makes the 5th test less motivating then the 3rd and 4th.

I guess I am lamenting the lack of a close contest and two sides capable of playing 'hard' test cricket like what I've enjoyed from watching Australia play since the late 80's until as recenly as 5 or 6 years ago. I think you've summed up my concerns well though Ken. Both sides have been very average if you compare the standard of play to what I have been accustomed to in the past, and I know Ken, as a fellow lover of test cricket, you know what I mean.