Ashes 2017/18..

Root is our steve smith,the captaincy is stifling his game,hes not looked himself,even last summer at times he looked out of sorts.

Hazelwood is hitting that big crack and batting all of a sudden looks difficult,unless it belts it down wel be 3 down.

The SCG & MCG are normally where we do best on aussie tours,so hopefully we can salvage some pride.

Well that's that then. Do we pull in youngsters and blood and or scar them for life or do we let the current incumbents trundle on to its inevitable conclusion?

As you look back over the last 3 tests apart from a few bright spots I think it's been awful. Bowling for most has been too short and we lack the pace needed for these very flat wickets. Our spin has made Lyon look better then Warne at his best. Batting has been at times dire the long tail end has not helped nobody to hang in. Yes now is the time to make a few changes Cook out for one give Balance another chance if he is not up to it get rid. Clamp down on these off field incidents many supporters have spent a small fortune going to watch this rubbish. All we have now is the one day series to look forward too.

Well that's that then. Do we pull in youngsters and blood and or scar them for life or do we let the current incumbents trundle on to its inevitable conclusion?

My prediction has gone well and truly down the pan, I thought we might nick it.

Listening to the experts on media it now sounds near impossible to win away, and that's even without our current frailty.

It seems our bowlers aren't fast enough to bowl short on the hard wickets and they don't get the movement off the wicket they get over here.

Plus the tail is about the longest I can remember.

I hope Root is not going down the same path as Cook who was probably the best opener in the world before he got the captaincy then his batting went downhill.

Never mind let's hope a few youngsters come through.

I think you have to question our preparation,I watched Anderson come foreward to a short ball and he took a bit of a blow.....had they faced any short pitched stuff in the nets because our tail has just been blown away in every innings

I think you have to question our preparation,I watched Anderson come foreward to a short ball and he took a bit of a blow.....had they faced any short pitched stuff in the nets because our tail has just been blown away in every innings

They can't be that soft - how many times has Anderson been to Australia? He's had his own podcast on 5live - it must have come up, and indeed watched the peppering stoneman got.

I'm not judging our batting preparation on the batting of a number 11 on a 5th day pitch and losing cause.

BUT the top 7 have repeatedly fallen for traps set. Not just here but in India and even Bangladesh. It's alright "backing your skills" if you have enough of them and you excite them well enough. Hooking a short ball to one of three waiting fielders or dancing down the track to A spinner on a dust bowl and giving catching practice to long on ain't smart. But look at the off the field stuff - we aren't smart tourists.

---------- Post added 18-12-2017 at 23:25 ----------

I dunno. On paper the tail isn't that weak. Ali was originally picked as a batsman who could bowl a bit, Woakes has 9 first-class centuries, and so on. Unfortunately test matches are not played on paper, though.

 

It is looking like my optimism, a few pages ago, about Joe Root being able to cope with the captaincy was misplaced. What is it with England in this respect? Lack of mental strength, bad management or what? The captaincy hasn't done Steve Smith or Kane Williamson any harm, or various Australians, South Africans and West Indians in the past.

 

Because no county cricket, not even one-dayers or T20, is shown on mainstream TV, I literally have no idea who the upcoming players might be.

Last couple of paragraphs are excellent points. Captaincy ruining players isnt a new english thing. Look at how good Vaughan was in another failed ashes tour 01?) Scored a load against far better opposition than today. Gower is another one. Gooch is probably the exception.

If you look at the top averages I'd guess its all ex internationals and old county pros. Gareth Batty (aged 40) has just given up the Surrey captaincy. That says a lot.

On the positive side, the ODI side is pretty competative. Bairstow isn't a regular in it. I'm half expecting a call to bat 2 in the test side!

The Aussies have scored slowly on the first day but they have only lost three wickets. If they bat through tomorrow we're looking at a 500 plus first innings. Which is not good. Our attack has had no penetration.

The Aussies have scored slowly on the first day but they have only lost three wickets. If they bat through tomorrow we're looking at a 500 plus first innings. Which is not good. Our attack has had no penetration.

Yeah, we needed changes so stuck with an ineffective off spinner and another low 80s seamer. We plugged away in the heat I suppose - the middle session was pretty good - but it's only going one way.

We could have picked crane I suppose, but he would hav been targetted by the likes of warner and smith and sent around the park - and I'm not sure who would have benefitted out of it. I don't know what needs to happen for mo Ali to get dropped - a.n other option I guess but we don't have any really. Curren has done ok, but he can't stop the rot or bowl a side out on this pitch. Watch bird get 5 for nowt though when England bat

Only saw the morning session,but we were too short and at times woakes bowled it too wideas well.

Predictable as ever.Oz have a very firm platform to build on now and against these bowlers should make a sizeable total

Only saw the morning session,but we were too short and at times woakes bowled it too wideas well.

Predictable as ever.Oz have a very firm platform to build on now and against these bowlers should make a sizeable total

It got better after lunch. We pitched it up a bit and got a smidge of reverse swing. Australia only scored about 45 between lunch and tea. There was some uneven bounce too. However, Smith made it look easy when he got in, he really is playing a different game to everyone else.

I’m in need of sleep tonight, so if Smith is still there at drinks, I’m off to bed. If we can shift him early, we might keep them to 400, or so. Then all we need to do is score 600

What a session that was

Well worth staying up for,so bowling wide worked,in the end.....Theyve bowled well this morning lets hope our batsmen can back it up:)

What a session that was

Well worth staying up for,so bowling wide worked,in the end.....Theyve bowled well this morning lets hope our batsmen can back it up:)

I hope our batters have learnt from some of the dismissals, but a great effort by the bowlers. Why bowl Ali though?