• NEXT GAME: Itswich Town (as my mate also says) F.C
    Friday 29th March 2024
    Kick off 17.30
    Ewood Park
    Championship

Howzat

davebirch

Senior Member
There's a significant difference between the techniques required to play winning cricket in England and winning cricket in Australia on their concrete-hard pitches but neither visiting side seems to come to terms with that.
Look at the team of super Aussie batsmen in the 2015 ashes series - 136 all out at Edgbaston, 60 all out (how we chuckled) at Trent Bridge. Playing on the front foot to balls that are seaming around. Boycott reckoning his mum must be in the top 3 in the world if Steve Smith was.
Then we go to Aus and look like rabbits in the headlights at times with 90-odd mph balls whizzing past our ears and our bowlers make even their average batsmen look like world-beaters.
You would think that we would have more chance of reproducing their pitch conditions (artificially) than they have of reproducing ours but it never seems to happen and we almost always seem ill prepared when we turn up down under.
If we lose this ashes series I would be fairly confident that in a couple of summers we will have them back again (although there will be no Jimmy Anderson by then).
Anyway, the rain helped us today, so let's see if we can adapt a bit better tomorrow and bat through the day.

WB most pitches in Aus are now "drop in", meaning they are prepared outside the ground and are put in position after the end of the football season. The grounds are used for Aussie rules in winter.
 

OnlyOneTugay

Prediction Champion 2019 & 2020
Too little too late from England , but credit to Woakes and Overton for a decent 8th wicket stand

Aussies have already got enough at 268 ahead despite a better bowling performance by England

This is all very frustrating :mad:
 

OnlyOneTugay

Prediction Champion 2019 & 2020
Very good day for England . Aussies still big , big favourites but with Joe Root still there then England have the faintest of chances . This text from Rob in Essex on the BBC website made me chuckle :

" I am so scared right now. I don't know whether to laugh, cry or just give up watching cricket. I will offer Root my wife's hand in marriage if he bats us to victory... Damn it, he can have my hand as well if he wants. And my motorbike "

I know how he feels but replace motorbike with two Rovers season tickets :)
 
Last edited:

Wilpshire Blue

Senior Member
Shame that Malan was out just before the close.
I too think the Aussies still have too many on the board but it makes a welcome change to still have some keen interest at the end of day 4.
Hopefully, with it being a day-nighter, we will be able to see the conclusion and not wake up to another "England collapse" headline.
I bet Smith is wishing he's enforced the follow-on :D
 

Wilpshire Blue

Senior Member
Oh well, another "England collapse" headline after all :confused:

Still can't get over Root winning the toss and putting the Aussies in to score the best part of 450
 

Drog

Administrator
Staff member
As I've said before there is something about the demeanour of Joe Root that doesn't suggest that he is inspirational Captain material. I just hope the job and the sh1tstorm that will soon hit him doesn't destroy a great batsman.
 

OnlyOneTugay

Prediction Champion 2019 & 2020
Oh well, another "England collapse" headline after all :confused:

Still can't get over Root winning the toss and putting the Aussies in to score the best part of 450
I think Root knows what we all feared Wilpshire , the top 5 England batting line up is weak and his decision to put the Aussies in was a sign that he's lost confidence in it, if he ever had any in the first place. Having said that our bowlers bowled too short in the first innings. Austrailia should never have got 400, their batting has just as many weaknesses as ours.

I'm worried we are hurtling towards another 5-0 drubbing . If that happen's it will give the Aussies a hat trick of 5-0 whitewashes , in the last 4 series down under. With the amount of money that England cricket is getting from TV , that's unacceptable .

The captaincy is a difficult one Drog. Looking back over the years I've watched England , the only two captains that really stand out for me are Mike Brierley and Nasser Hussain . I wouldn't describe Brierley as inspirational in the recognised sense of the word , but he knew how to get the best out of his team mates and despite his average batting ability earned the respect of the likes of Boycott and Botham - which really says something about his man-management skills. He won 3-0 in an Ashes series down under , but that was against an Aussie second team after Packer. Apparently he was hated in Australia just as much as Jardine , which as far as I'm concerned makes him a national hero and worthy of a knighthood !

Hussain , a truly inspirational leader of the type you're probably referring to , who with Fletcher as coach, pulled English cricket up by it's bootstraps but he was hammered 4-1 in Australia . However I think his work paved the way for the Ashes win under Vaughan in 2005 . I don't think Vaughan was ever tested as a captain down under.

I'm not sure if Root is any better or any worse than the likes of Strauss, Cook , Vaughan, Gower et al and I think it's too early to judge him , especially on an Ashes tour with a weak batting team. The problem is if you look at the top 5 England batters , at the moment he's the only one that I have confidence in to score big . Cook's been a big let down ( wouldn't surprise me if he's considering retiring from test cricket ) and Malan, Vince and Stoneman , arguably aren't capable of scoring big runs against quality test attacks .

In cricket good captains and good sides tend to go together and in the vast majority of cases , it's the latter that I think is the vital component for the former.
 
Last edited:

Drog

Administrator
Staff member
As long as they have good bowlers OOT.
 

OnlyOneTugay

Prediction Champion 2019 & 2020
Just 3 England captains have won the Ashes home & away . Brierley , Len Hutton and Andrew Strauss

I think Strauss was much underrated but had the benefit of Cook ( in his pomp) Pieterson , Swan ( world class spinner ) Prior ( in his pomp ) Broad & Anderson .

I’d also forgotten to mention Illingworth who also won down under . Tough , uncompromising Yorkie .

Jardine still the main man ;)
 

Drog

Administrator
Staff member
Owzat!!!!! As cricketing careers go this one looks to be ending before it begins with a Golden Duck!

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/5101077/ashes-2017-england-ben-duckett-suspended/

I might be guilty of reading between the lines and making assumptions (as this lad might suffer from some form of learning difficulty or similar debilitating psychological condition) but coming on the back of recent events it's clear that some people really should not be allowed to consume alcohol. Ever!
 

Drog

Administrator
Staff member
Is that what it was? All the same it's more befitting a Rugby tour than a cricketing one.
 

OnlyOneTugay

Prediction Champion 2019 & 2020
Well done England . At last some good news from Australia . England finish the day at 305 for 4 .

They need to press on tomorrow and get as near to 500 as possible . Don't want to wake up tomorrow morning and find England are 370 all out
 
A

ABBEY

Guest
The review that got stoneman seemed a bit biased . Took half hour to get a decent picture . I always thought the benefit with umpires decision.
 

OnlyOneTugay

Prediction Champion 2019 & 2020
Agree 100% Abbs , the benefit of the doubt goes with the batter . Also if there is doubt , then the off field umpire should go with the on field umpire’s decision which was not out . Shame for Stoneman as he’s a dogged battler, full of fight and deserved a break
 
Last edited:

OnlyOneTugay

Prediction Champion 2019 & 2020
It was all going well and then the obligatory England collapse , this time six wickets for 35 runs in 51 balls . Smith looking imperious and homing in on a century . Aussies 203 -3 , still 18 overs with the old ball .
 
Last edited:

Wilpshire Blue

Senior Member
Agree OOT. I think today is the day that any slight glimmer of a chance of retaining the ashes was snuffed out.
I was hoping to wake up to 500+ runs for England but now I fear a first innings deficit.

Apparently there are forecasts of rain, so perhaps we might avoid a 5-0 :)
 
Top