The Barmy Army is here in force. 1st Ashes test.

[westg]

Here we go. The much anticipated 1st Ashes test starts today here in Perth. It looks as though we are about to set a world record for sunburnt poms. They are everywhere in the city which is fantastic as they bring a  fun atmosphere, friendly banter and all sorts of  theatrics within the crowd. 60000 sold out. 

Stuart Broad started a fire mentioning that this is the worst Australian team in the last 10 years. Have to say, I do agree. And that was before we lost Hazlewood last week. We have one player under 30 and Steve Smith at the helm. I do love him but it should have been rubber stamped. Never to captain again. After the shame and public disgrace. We have a bouncy hard deck at Optus Stadium with a cloud or two coming over at times. Some wind swirling around which should add some spice to the wicket. Maybe a we should have a bowl first. 

What say you ? 

[7kingsguy]

5 tests at Optus and all 5 won by the team batting first. Stokes will bowl if he wins the toss though because he 'likes a chase'.

I will be up for the first ball at 2.30am here in the UK.

Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk

[El Presidente]

5 hours ago, westg said:

What say you ? 

I have little love for cricket. 

I have less love for English sporting teams....any 

As per normal, If English wickets are falling, I will love cricket for the duration of the series. If not, I will be back to watching flies crawl up the window. 

[westg]

4 hours ago, El Presidente said:

I have little love for cricket. 

I have less love for English sporting teams....any 

As per normal, If English wickets are falling, I will love cricket for the duration of the series. If not, I will be back to watching flies crawl up the window. 

Could be worse. And far less painful then watching a Wallabies game. Agree, not a fan of any geeza team. That said, the crowd will be a hoot today. 

[westg]

4 hours ago, 7kingsguy said:

5 tests at Optus and all 5 won by the team batting first. Stokes will bowl if he wins the toss though because he 'likes a chase'.

I will be up for the first ball at 2.30am here in the UK.

The first test is in Perth. Then Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney. I just can't get my head around day / night pink ball  matches. ACB running at a huge loss so trying to recoup some coin I guess. Not so sure on batting first here in Perth. Plenty going on in the first few days which will help the bowlers. Looking forward to Archer making his presence felt. 

[JohnS]

I actually wonder if Usman Khawaja will make it 5 tests to Sydney. His form against fast bowling has been ordinary in the last year or so and he is close to 39 years of age. I do see Marnus Labuschagne playing better than he has in the past two years. A lot has been said about Travis Head's form, but he can win a match in the space of an hour's batting. I still remember what he did in the 1st test in Brisbane four years ago. That 150 was scintillating and changed the outcome of the series, for me. I expect Steve Smith to be ever-reliable and Scott Boland to be quite a threat, even if the English batsmen come after him.

If England are going to be competitive this time around it will depend on the form of two players, in my view: Joe Root and Harry Brook. If both these players can post consistent scores, they will have a chance. I don't see the others posting consistent 100s and 50s with the way they play.