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Post by hhsussex on Jul 23, 2015 12:50:32 GMT
England top order this summer Innings Runs Average Highest Cook 8 448 56.00 162 Lyth 8 200 25.00 107 Ballance 8 134 16.75 61 Bell 8 116 14.50 60 Root 8 395 49.37 134 If Lyth and Bell fail at Edgbaston then what? Hales and Taylor?Not on the evidence of Horsham: one didn't get going at all, the other took a day to show that he's very effective at taking runs of 10th rate bowling. |
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Post by hhsussex on Jul 24, 2015 7:33:44 GMT
A couple of points of interests from the Tour game against Derbyshire that started yesterday. First, the return of Haddin to the side which was unexpected after his departure home after the first Test. I haven't seen any commentary on this but presumably his daughter's condition has improved or stabilised. Does this mean he is back in contention for the Third Test and beyond, and is his mental condition uncluttered and focused enough for him to give his all, if selected? It was entirely understandable that he felt he couldn't give of his best when his daughter was thousands of miles away having treatment, but grief and parental concern can't be turned on and off like a tap. It does seem odd that the Australians haven't told him to stay in OZ and sought a deputy for Neville for the remainder of the games.
Secondly, another short and rather awkward innings from Clarke, terminated by nicking one to slip from a 19 year old seamer on debut. If Australia are going to have to carry Clarke through this series it places a lot more strain on the remaining batsmen, and Voges has not yet shown what he does so freely in non-Test games. Shaun Marsh got a 100 and retired, and he could come in for Rogers, if needed, but the prospect of further changes might upset the balance of the team. It will be interesting to see how the second string attack of Cummins, Siddle and Fawad (plus M March and Watson) performs today.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2015 12:55:15 GMT
Don't think Haddin went home; think his family came here and daughter Mia is in hospital in London.
Was just looking at the Australian A side currently playing India. On the surface, they don't have much strength in depth. I think England Lions could put out a side that would probably beat this lot:
CT Bancroft
UT Khawaja*
TM Head
PSP Handscomb
NJ Maddinson
MP Stoinis
MS Wade†
SA Abbott
SNJ O'Keefe
GS Sandhu
AL Fekete
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2015 14:54:37 GMT
Presumably those who complained about the Lord's pitch preparation, which saw just one wicket fall on day one ("pitches like this will kill test cricket" etc etc) , will be delighted with a green seaming wicket on which Anderson only has to put the ball on a length and the lateral movement can be relied upon to bowl out Australia in 36 overs?
If the Aussies bowl in the right areas, it's hard to see Lyth and Bell lasting five mins on this pitch. The game could be all over by Friday evening!
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Post by fraudster on Jul 29, 2015 21:08:25 GMT
Well bonk me backwards, it's took three Tests but a groundsman has finally produced a track to suit England's leading all time wicket taker, and the other chaps. Nice of him to consider home advantage and nice of mother nature and Michael Clark and the rest of Australia's batsmen too. Nice.
I'm confused BM, you seem to suggest the pitch is poor, although England done alright, yet you spent the first part of the summer lording minefields because of the excitement. Featherbeds for internationals and greentops for county cricket is it? This is a true English pitch, and they'll prove it. It's a great track with no surprises, just some average/poor batting and some quality seam bowling.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2015 6:37:40 GMT
I subscribe to the Jason Gillespie approach ("the pitch is what it is, deal with it and if you moan about it you will be dropped").
Just higlighting the moaning of others during the second test, including a cricinfo reporter who made a ludicrous song and dance after day one at Lords saying such pitches would destroy Test cricket and then after day two went very quiet about it without ever admitting he'd got it wrong (although to be fair his position was supported by most other commentators, including you fraudster, and only Vaughan took a different line).
But as it happens I don't think 13 wickets in 65 overs on day one helps a Test match that we want to go five days. If England lose their remaining seven wkts today, then take the bulk of Aussie wkts on Friday, what should have been a great weekend of Ashes cricket on Sat and Sun will have been ruined with enormous financial ramifications for the ECB. So I would hope the Aussies dig deep in their second innings and bat all day Friday and Saturday and set up a decent run chase for England on day five.
I would prefer the ECB said 'give us a wicket that will take us into the fifth day' rather than 'give us a wicket on which Anderson can make hay'.
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Post by hhsussex on Jul 30, 2015 7:09:03 GMT
I will wait until the England innings has resumed and see what other batsmen make of the wicket and the weather conditions. It looked like very good bowling by both Anderson and Finn yesterday, and some rather panicky batting from most of the Australians. When England batted Lyth did the difficult bit of withstanding some very testing deliveries, then had a rush of XXXX to the brain and went chasing a wide ball, not for the first time. It's a pity, because he plays nice strokes when he gets going, and we need a counterpoint to Cook, but it seems clear now that he isn't going to make a Test match player.
Bell played the same innings he's been playing for 10 years, some flowing handsome shots,but displaying diffidence where he should show resolution, and bravado where responsibility was required. Another bright little 50 odd, just like the fifties he scored in 1005 when he was a young hopeful and averaged 17 for the series. If we win this game he probably can't be dropped for the next Test, but this must surely be his last series: there is nothing more to Bell than we have seen ad infinitum. He will never be dependable, and this is why he has never been considered captaincy material.
Whether England attack, or play with circumspection because of difficulties with the pitch, I hope they execute their choice positively. I think they could get a substantial lead, and then it is up to the Australians to make a 4 or 5 day game of it. It certainly explodes a lot of the nonsense about Australia having destroyed England's confidence, and the cricket should be the better because of the relative equality of the sides.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2015 7:29:51 GMT
Aussies didn't bowl well yesterday, as they acknoweldged. If they had kept it simple and hit the right areas as England did, then 16 wickets would have fallen in 65 overs on day one of what is supposed to be a five day Test.
If I was a gambling man, likeliest outcome:
England bat all day and build a 280 lead. Australia then need to bat for two days to have a chance of saving the game but are bowled out on Friday leaving us with a cricket-less weekend.
Hope I'm wrong and Rogers and Smith dig in and Aussies are still batting at tea on day four...
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Post by flashblade on Jul 30, 2015 7:47:29 GMT
BM - I know you'll find this odd coming from an accountant, but I hope England thrash the Aussies within 3 days - bugger Edgbaston's cash flow! It's the game that's paramount - let's not allow money to distort the game even more than it has done already.  |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2015 8:05:55 GMT
fb - I was being far more selfish than that and wondering what I would do with a cricket-less weekend!
I don't want a three day thrashing. I'd like to see centuries from Warner and Smith and England set to chase 250 (and get them) on Sunday.
In my view, that would be the best outcome for the game of cricket and for the series and if the accountants like it, then that's a bonus...
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Post by hhsussex on Jul 30, 2015 8:22:27 GMT
Aussies didn't bowl well yesterday, as they acknoweldged. If they had kept it simple and hit the right areas as England did, then 16 wickets would have fallen in 65 overs on day one of what is supposed to be a five day Test. If I was a gambling man, likeliest outcome: England bat all day and build a 280 lead. Australia then need to bat for two days to have a chance of saving the game but are bowled out on Friday leaving us with a cricket-less weekend. Hope I'm wrong and Rogers and Smith dig in and Aussies are still batting at tea on day four... I'm almost tempted to go for another bottle from you, but I know it's arrival would be delayed because of your forthcoming hols....however, I think that the converse to what you wrote might be equally true, and that another day might have seen something like 7 wickets for 260 or so. Let's find out more about this evil, accountant-hating pitch in a few hours time  |
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Post by jonfilby on Jul 30, 2015 8:50:25 GMT
BM - I know you'll find this odd coming from an accountant, but I hope England thrash the Aussies within 3 days - bugger Edgbaston's cash flow! It's the game that's paramount - let's not allow money to distort the game even more than it has done already. www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUZEtVbJT5c
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Post by hhsussex on Jul 30, 2015 8:58:29 GMT
BM - I know you'll find this odd coming from an accountant, but I hope England thrash the Aussies within 3 days - bugger Edgbaston's cash flow! It's the game that's paramount - let's not allow money to distort the game even more than it has done already. www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUZEtVbJT5c
Or even |
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Post by flashblade on Jul 30, 2015 8:59:38 GMT
BM - I know you'll find this odd coming from an accountant, but I hope England thrash the Aussies within 3 days - bugger Edgbaston's cash flow! It's the game that's paramount - let's not allow money to distort the game even more than it has done already. www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUZEtVbJT5c
To clarify, Jon - I don't want money to distort the progress of an individual match. However, the game generally has to produce sufficient money to support the game generally. Something has to subsidise the loss making CC cricket we all love. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2015 10:17:01 GMT
Awesome from Johnson this morning. The Bairstow dismissal was brutally unplayable.
You just knew the Aussies wouldn't bowl as badly as they did last night and I still say if the Aussies had bowled decently yesterday, England would have ended the day at least six down ...
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