The Ashes
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@mariner4life the DRS decisions last night - both the failure to pin Cook early, then the two dud calls for caught behind and LBW on Root - need to be harshly treated. That was poor.
I'm a bit more sanguine about the follow-on decision.
Its very easy to say "send the Poms back in against a swinging ball at night" but there has been little evidence that Starc is bowling well enough to do it. You have the game at your mercy if you survive the evening session with the bat, and if you don't there is still all sorts of records to tumble for England to win.
Risking 130 overs back-to-back might not have delivered the crushing blow we wanted, and then we might have to bowl first in Perth on a deck that hasn't offered a lot lately. Throw in Cummins' injury history and you might go from a potential 2-nil up to maybe 1-all in Perth, with your pace attack cracking at the edges.
As it is, Hazelwood is having a decent spell here, and Lyon is all over the English left-handers no matter where they bat in the order. Cummins is firing at pace. Just Starc needs to tighten his shit up really and we're unassailable.
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Nick I also think the controversy of the follow-on call obscures just how well Anderson bowled that night.
I was there at the ground and it was the best spell of bowling I've seen live. 11 straight overs of pure quality. Not a ball wasted. He had three wickets by the end, but should have had six.
The assumption in the criticism of Smith is that we could have done similar, when last night showed that bowling at night isn't quite as easy as Anderson made it look.
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that fat lady, she is out the back warming up
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I wonder if there are many people as genuinely despised as Piers?
Anyway, this test has been entirely predictable, despite the chicken little's panicking about missed opportunities to enforce an unnecessary follow on. England lucky to get within 150.
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Broad gone and it's down to 130 runs with 1 wicket remaining...
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Ok. So it wasn't as close as I tthought ...
@barbarian said in The Ashes:
Nick I also think the controversy of the follow-on call obscures just how well Anderson bowled that night.
I was there at the ground and it was the best spell of bowling I've seen live. 11 straight overs of pure quality. Not a ball wasted. He had three wickets by the end, but should have had six.
The assumption in the criticism of Smith is that we could have done similar, when last night showed that bowling at night isn't quite as easy as Anderson made it look.
But that's equally an argument in favour of the follow on. And regardless ofc result i still think it was wrong.
It's not just about your bowlers. It's what can one of the best ever swing bowlers in history do with a pjnk ball under lights? Can he tear us to shreds?
I maintain he opened a door he didn't have to.
But well done Aussie.
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And that's what. Won by 120.
Its an interesting thing I've noticed about Starc: when required to do some hard yards, he seems to get a bit erratic. Once the ball is swinging he looks peerless. He gets a 5-wicket haul here, while for the match was rather toothless IMHO.
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@booboo Fair point.
It's why cricket is such a great game. The first two tests have thrown up a thousand talking points, despite both ending in relatively comfortable Aussie victories (on paper).
I see the point behind Root's decision at the toss, like I do with Smith's to bat instead of enforcing. I think both were proven incorrect, but neither were particular howlers.
Ultimately the winning and losing of the game was, like the first test, the success of Australia's middle/lower batting order and the inability of the English batsmen to make anything close to a match-winning score.
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I think the call to not follow on was the right one not only in the context of the test but also for the Aussie team.
Yes Anderson is quality and what a spell, but I think there was a decision to try and bat some of the Aussies into a bit of form and give them some time.
Hopefully England can bounce back.
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@act-crusader If that was the strategy then it wasn't what you'd call an unqualified success.
I don't think Aussie's actually think that deeply about what they're going to do. Innovative captaincy just isn't their thing. They were on top for so long they didn't need to think strategically they simply bludgeoned the opposition into submission. Now it seems they either can't or won't digress from the accepted play book. Even though they're no longer a great side.
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@act-crusader If that was the strategy then it wasn't what you'd call an unqualified success.
I don't think Aussie's actually think that deeply about what they're going to do. Innovative captaincy just isn't their thing. They were on top for so long they didn't need to think strategically they simply bludgeoned the opposition into submission. Now it seems they either can't or won't digress from the accepted play book. Even though they're no longer a great side.
As @Virgil said both teams have a handful of world class players supported by some pretty ordinary ones. Black Caps are pretty similar in that regard to a slightly lesser degree.
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Can I break from match discussion/Aussie bashing/Pom bashing to talk about the Adelaide Oval.
I went with four mates to the first three days of the test. It was fucking brilliant, and I can't recommend it enough.
The Day/Night format is great. You can roll out of bed at 9am, have a leisurely breakfast, a pub lunch and then wander into the ground for the 2pm start. Play goes until 9pm, where you can then step straight into the Adelaide CBD for a cleansing ale or two on the way home.
And the ground itself is just fantastic. Easy to get around, and I never had to queue for a beer for more than 2-3 minutes. We sat behind the bowlers arm on day 1, and then on the Eastern side at 45 degrees on days 2 and 3.
It's now easily my favourite cricket ground. Plus I saw Gary Lyon hit a six and then snaffle one of the great caught and bowleds, so the cricket was pretty good as well...
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@barbarian said in The Ashes:
Can I break from match discussion/Aussie bashing/Pom bashing to talk about the Adelaide Oval.
I went with four mates to the first three days of the test. It was fucking brilliant, and I can't recommend it enough.
The Day/Night format is great. You can roll out of bed at 9am, have a leisurely breakfast, a pub lunch and then wander into the ground for the 2pm start. Play goes until 9pm, where you can then step straight into the Adelaide CBD for a cleansing ale or two on the way home.
And the ground itself is just fantastic. Easy to get around, and I never had to queue for a beer for more than 2-3 minutes. We sat behind the bowlers arm on day 1, and then on the Eastern side at 45 degrees on days 2 and 3.
It's now easily my favourite cricket ground. Plus I saw Gary Lyon hit a six and then snaffle one of the great caught and bowleds, so the cricket was pretty good as well...
Would love them to do it at the basin. 10 minute stroll to Courtney place afterwards for a cold one. Marvellous.
