The Big Ashes Thread - (Warning! May contain spoilers)

adskis

The Ashes!!!

Love it.

Sleepless nights, rain delays, LBW arguments between Aggers and Boycott, the lot!

Should be a great series.

Anyone else already tired?

elbowloh

Adskis wrote:

The Ashes!!!

Love it.

Sleepless nights, rain delays, LBW arguments between Aggers and Boycott, the lot!

Should be a great series.

Anyone else already tired?

I didn't stay up.

My biggest fear was that I'd wake up, turn go to the bbc page and see that we were 188 all out with the Aussies already on 200-1, so pleasantly surprised this morning.

Listened to the last session until close of play on TMS. No bombast or 5-0 predictions from McGrath when he was in the chair.

smokey_bacon

Midly interested. Dont follow it enough to know the form etc. Do love the banter though thats fantastic. It fills the post F1 season hole quite nicely.

lostboysaint

Chuffed to see James Vince sticking it up the critics.

Tashman

Couldn't sleep well last night so was updating constantly, or was it that I couldn't sleep because I was updating? Anyway a great first day, evenly poised, I only hope that our bowlers can get something from this wicket. 2 evenly unknown quantities in batting line ups make it intriguing.

awavey

I fell asleep after the first hour, then woke up around 3am and panicked because the score said 101/5...then realised they were replaying a game from the archives due to the rain delay.

absolutely knackered today though,not sure how much of todays session Ill manage

DrLex

Dog woke me early, so been watching for the past hour, which has been the Aussies digging in after a poor start. I suspect they’ll get up to a similar total unless they lose their heads or we get some better movement.

vimfuego

Seems to be in the balance at the moment. Bowling last, so may well boil down to Lyon vs Moeen on the bowling front in second inns.

elbowloh

Another "honours even" day.

Watched the first half hour last night and went to bed with it at 214 for 4. Malan and Moeen looking settle. I'm thinking we're good for 350-400 here.

Checked the beeb again and the headline was "England on top", so thought my prediction was true, but then saw we were all out for 302! Another collapse, which is worrying on a benign wicket.

We did really well to get the 4 wickets down, but Smith and Marsh look like putting on some big runs. However, get those out and we'll be into the tail.

Still think the Aussies could get a first innings lead.

adskis

Well this thread's gone a bit quiet!!
2 - nil

:shock:

Tumbleweeds

Tashman

:? was really hoping to still be batting this morning when I got up

timothyw

Yeah, frustrating, if unsurprising.

Playing for pride now, hopefully we'll have a few good days to make it worth tuning in.

Problem is that unless you have a really great team, the home advantage is a hell of a lot to overcome. I'd say right now neither England or Australia have great teams, so the result is pretty inevitable (as is the 2-1/3-2 regaining of the ashes come 2019....)

trivial_poursuivant

Best players missing

Best bowlers playing injured

Only one outcome. Let’s hope for rain so it’s not a 5-0 whitewash

pblakeney

Adskis wrote:

Well this thread's gone a bit quiet!!
2 - nil

:shock:

Tumbleweeds

It'll be even quieter now...

Wheelspinner

I don’t give a toss about cricket, but should I periodically post on this thread and keep it near the top of the forum as a reminder?

elbowloh

We're just not good enough. Batting and bowling was inferior to Australia.

Our senior players have, to the most, not performed. Cook, Root, Ali, Broad in particular have all been well under par.

voodooman

Hmmm

Go to Australia with a very good, but popgun attack of similar bowlers, add in a batsman who's the main spinner. Then have your senior batsmen out of nick - what could possibly go wrong?

I also post on cricket specific sites and said ages ago that we needed either taller, or quicker bowlers, plus a lefty. Unfortunately on Aussie pitches 80mph is pretty much see ball; hit ball. I've played out there in grade cricket and the best way to describe it is like batting on a flat road surface. Once used to the pace and bounce you don't really need to use your feet conventionally; just set your feet with a nice planted base and throw hands through the line.

In first grade cricket there are bowlers in each club who are significantly quicker than our test bowlers, and literally everyone in the team can play that pace. Even no 11.

cjcp

voodooman wrote:

Hmmm

Go to Australia with a very good, but popgun attack of similar bowlers, add in a batsman who's the main spinner. Then have your senior batsmen out of nick - what could possibly go wrong?

I also post on cricket specific sites and said ages ago that we needed either taller, or quicker bowlers, plus a lefty. Unfortunately on Aussie pitches 80mph is pretty much see ball; hit ball. I've played out there in grade cricket and the best way to describe it is like batting on a flat road surface. Once used to the pace and bounce you don't really need to use your feet conventionally; just set your feet with a nice planted base and throw hands through the line.

In first grade cricket there are bowlers in each club who are significantly quicker than our test bowlers, and literally everyone in the team can play that pace. Even no 11.

Question: is this for straight pace, or can they play it when it swings a bit? I have a vague recollection of a commentator saying that Simon Jones's reverse swing would have been very good against the Aussies for the 2005 Ashes (before he got injured).

awavey

cjcp wrote:

Question: is this for straight pace, or can they play it when it swings a bit? I have a vague recollection of a commentator saying that Simon Jones's reverse swing would have been very good against the Aussies for the 2005 Ashes (before he got injured).

you mean 2002/03 or 2006/07 ? as he was pretty handy in the 2005 series, only missed the 5th test which turned out to be his last England test, injuries put paid to the other tours, but come 2019 Im sure even Jimmy Anderson will still be able to loop the ball round corners and rip through the Aussie batting line up.

but I still think that there Glenn McGrath was a pretty useful medium fast bowler on Australian pitches, as was Stuart Clark in the 2006/07 series even Peter Siddle in 2010/11 (and we won that series!!) I guarantee nearly all of them will say England were bowling too short a length and the wrong line.

the point is England, or the ECB really, wont develop a fast bowler since you pretty much need to do the opposite of what theyve been doing to county cricket for the last decade,

voodooman

Swing - depends of if it's late swing or from the point of release. Early swing is easy to play compared against late swing which can be a nightmare (faced both Wasim and Marshall in the early 90s - terrifying late swing at pace) - but it's all relative anyway.

McGrath was a bit handy! but also very tall, and a damn site quicker than people remember. When first on the scene he was proper sharp. I think it was impossible to do, but one of Broad / Anderson shouldn't have gone and instead been replaced with someone like Footit / Coad who can bowl at proper pace / lefty / height.