4th Test England v Australia Official Thread

They’ve just done a live report from Old Trafford on Sky News and believe it or not it’s dry and not raining.
Just can believe it’s been bucketing it down over here on the Fylde coast all night and still is now yet it’s not raining in Manchester. 🤷‍♂️
 
Jaffa_The_Hut said:
They’ve just done a live report from Old Trafford on Sky News and believe it or not it’s dry and not raining.
Just can believe it’s been bucketing it down over here on the Fylde coast all night and still is now yet it’s not raining in Manchester. 🤷‍♂️
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It'll come. Not heavy but enough, the heavy rain is later afternoon.
 
Forecast looks pretty terrible from 11.00 am onwards until scheduled close of play on both the MET office and BBC apps. A good chance of very little play at all today I should think?
 
I think it's unlikely we're going to get the time we need to win, which is a massive shame as we've dominated Australia. It's just bad luck - we've been saved by the weather in the past I'm sure. All we need to do now is go to the Oval and try and level the series, even though we can't win the Ashes. We've given it a real go, but our chance went with a succession of missed chances in the previous tests.
 
From a sporting perspective it will be a real shame if the weather dictates the result at OT. But that's cricket in an English summer unfortunately.

It's been a cracking series and IF (big IF) we could get Wood and Archer fit for the next Oz tour, I'd feel like we could really get at them.
 
GrahamwantshisOates said:
Easy bet at 2 to 1 odds or a draw.
Interrupted Weather and Saturday wash out
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There is no such thing as a dead cert bet but at 2 to 1 odds of a draw when the forecast was for a washout weekend it looks like my bet will come off.
I would love to see England win but easy bets at such good odds are hard to resist.

Will place winnings on a top 6 finish for Pool.
 
Constant but very light misty drizzle at Manchester Airport presently. I’d say it’s match abandoned if the forecast is worse for this afternoon
 
Tests Cricket needs to get up to date and always allocate an extra day just in case of losing lots of time with the rain. What’s the problem with playing tomorrow 🤷🏽‍♂️
 
Leither said:
Why don't they just start at 12.30?

Surely everyone has had ample time to get some food . . . why have 'lunch'?
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Pitch needs to be rolled, painted, they were still getting some rain off the outield. Takes a while. Might as well get lunch out of the way while it's being prepped. Makes no difference anyway, raining now. Ashes gone
 
straightatthewall said:
From a sporting perspective it will be a real shame if the weather dictates the result at OT. But that's cricket in an English summer unfortunately.

It's been a cracking series and IF (big IF) we could get Wood and Archer fit for the next Oz tour, I'd feel like we could really get at them.
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On the other hand, Wood is always liable to an injury. Archer may never play red ball again after being over bowled by Joe Root

And it’s quite possible that none of Broad Anderson Woakes Ali Stokes (due to cumulative injuries) or Bairstow ( same) will be around to play a red ball series in the winter of 2025.

Basically you are starting from a base of Ollie Pope and Harry Brook

It had to be now for this generation. We should be 2-1 ahead, not 2-1 down and if we were the weather would not be as important
 
Due to a logistics cock up I got tickets for today at OT and also the final day at Hoylake, which is on my doorstep. I can confirm it is still drizzling away here in Manchester 🙄😬
 
Going to be much nicer weather on Monday. About time they rolled play onto another day. Ridiculous in this day and age to have a draw and two washout days.
 
We've been hanging around all day. [section removed] why don't they call it off?
 
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tangerine_neil said:
Going to be much nicer weather on Monday. About time they rolled play onto another day. Ridiculous in this day and age to have a draw and two washout days.
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There has been talk of cutting tests to 4 days because of the speed of runs per over these days.
 
It's a joke really, makes the sport a bit of a mockery, where one team is pretty much going to win the test, but weather decides it.
 
What could have been a super Sunday has turned into a soggy Sunday. The weather has robbed us and the series the decider it deserved. We can't complain too much though, it is our miserable weather that has cost us. 😏
 
As I said the decision to bowl was shown to be right. The decision to bat on less so, especially when the clown Bairstow didn't get the 100 anyway.

You'd also have to hope that Wood was genuinely carrying a knock first 2 games and not a pc media friendly twinge.
 
NewburyOne said:
What could have been a super Sunday has turned into a soggy Sunday. The weather has robbed us and the series the decider it deserved. We can't complain too much though, it is our miserable weather that has cost us. 😏
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Challenge Cup semi-final was sport at its finest.
Who'd have thought both St. Helen's and Wigan would lose?
Congratulations to the Leopards and Robins
 
I'd we'd declared earlier Australia would have overtaken our score and if we had any chance of play today we'd have to get them all out and then need to bat.
Mark Wood is frequently injured due to his unorthodox bowling style and the fact that he puts so much pressure on his ankles bowling at 96mph. Bairstow has been absolutely key to "Bazball" and has provided some amazing cricket for England - his knock on Friday was a joy to watch.
The only fault was possibly selecting Jimmy but with it being at Old Trafford I can't knock it too much.
The only thing that beat us this weekend was the weather and I'm confident we can put the disappointment behind us and give them a good hiding at the Oval ,weather permitting.
 
AlternativeSeaside said:
What a disappointing day of sport, should have been a cracker and yet all three events of interest to me have been a damp squib 🤷‍♂️
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I'll go for that👍 We completely shot ourselves in the foot with some of the dafter aspects of our David Brentball approach to this series. Continuing with pandering to Bairstow yesterday when they should gave had the Aussies back in earlier. Stokes is a fantastic cricketer but he's talked some right bollocks lately. We've thrown away an outstanding chance to win the Ashes and that's what the record will show.
 
Mark_GT said:
I'll go for that👍 We completely shot ourselves in the foot with some of the dafter aspects of our David Brentball approach to this series. Continuing with pandering to Bairstow yesterday when they should gave had the Aussies back in earlier. Stokes is a fantastic cricketer but he's talked some right bollocks lately. We've thrown away an outstanding chance to win the Ashes and that's what the record will show.
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That's just bollocks, we've made the best team in the world look like amateurs and the first two tests could have gone either way.

Short memories.
 
Lytham_fy8 said:
That's just bollocks, we've made the best team in the world look like amateurs and the first two tests could have gone either way.

Short memories.
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Not bollocks at all. Results count, like in 2005. There in Wisden forever. We could have had them and we let them go, despite using our ball in our conditions in front of our fans with some of their best players either injured or performing below par. A massive opportunity missed and they know it, even if the current cult of positive thinking won't let them say it. Surprised you're falling for it Lytham.
 
The Aussies have retained the Ashes in both men and women and I have to say they have been damned fortunate in both series, but considering they are deservedly number one in both we've done pretty well to run them so close in both.
 
Mark_GT said:
Not bollocks at all. Results count, like in 2005. There in Wisden forever. We could have had them and we let them go, despite using our ball in our conditions in front of our fans with some of their best players either injured or performing below par. A massive opportunity missed and they know it, even if the current cult of positive thinking won't let them say it. Surprised you're falling for it Lytham.
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Hang on, we also had players missing and I suppose some of their team 'being under par' had nothing to do with us?
 
If we'd got the Aussies back in earlier I'd imagine we'd be in the same situation but about 80 runs behind we will never know . when we were batting on Friday the weather on Sunday looked a lot more promising that it did later on in the evening. I'd never be confident we could bowl the Aussies all out for 160 in an evening.
 
The declaration in the first test cost us.
If we’d had 10 overs at them fair enough, but to declare with only four overs available in the day, when Root and Robinson were in command, was ridiculous.
Any queries please contact captain hindsight.
 
Lytham_fy8 said:
Hang on, we also had players missing and I suppose some of their team 'being under par' had nothing to do with us?
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Agreed we did and yes the underperformance of some of their stars was down to brilliant bowling and some imaginative captaincy. No question. We all loved it. But we made poor decisions too, like picking a patently unfit keeper, a dubious declaration (which admittedly I loved at the time) and dropping way too many catches. In the end we let them wriggle away from us and they and we know it.
 
The declaration in hindsight was daft but if we'd had won it would have no doubt been a masterstroke. A bit like batting on Friday afternoon. Fine margins in top class sport and except for the last two days it's been enthralling entertainment. Just what test cricket desperately needs and I hope we beat them comfortably next week.
 
Without question for me the reason we've not won the Ashes was down to the selectors picking Bairstow as wicket keeper in the first two Tests when he was clearly nowhere near fit and "under cooked" in terms of match practice, that decision was taking loyalty way too far, even Bairstow said after this match "I have not played in 10 months and not kept properly in three years so the two combined, there are going to be challenges." I mean come on, you pick a player who's admitted that and you are surprised by so many fumbles, missed catches and poor scores? It killed us in the first two tests along with Stokes barmy declaration which left us short of the total we needed to set Australia to win. The correct call was say to Bairstow go play County cricket and get back in the groove and we'll pick Foakes to keep wicket, for me if we do that we would be going to the Oval at least level in the series. That said I do absolutely love Bazball, long may it continue but FFS get your other calls right.
 
Raging_Bull said:
Without question for me the reason we've not won the Ashes was down to the selectors picking Bairstow as wicket keeper in the first two Tests when he was clearly nowhere near fit and "under cooked" in terms of match practice, that decision was taking loyalty way too far, even Bairstow said after this match "I have not played in 10 months and not kept properly in three years so the two combined, there are going to be challenges." I mean come on, you pick a player who's admitted that and you are surprised by so many fumbles, missed catches and poor scores? It killed us in the first two tests along with Stokes barmy declaration which left us short of the total we needed to set Australia to win. The correct call was say to Bairstow go play County cricket and get back in the groove and we'll pick Foakes to keep wicket, for me if we do that we would be going to the Oval at least level in the series. That said I do absolutely love Bazball, long may it continue but FFS get your other calls right.
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He's got a 99* and a 78 this series. Other than that nothing but his current average of over 40 would be up there among the best for any English wicket keeper in an Ashes series in history. He hasn't played much over the last year but he's played more than Mark Wood, who hasn't bowled a red ball in half a year and has his own fitness issues yet came in and lit the series on fire, so it's hard to predict these things. England clearly think the old way of putting someone back in county cricket for 3 months to get into form isn't needed anymore and they've been proven right with other players.

It's the dropped catches that are the big sin, not the batting. If there was no rain and England win by a few wickets his 99* knock would be a lot more meaningful, that's not his fault. But I can certainly see the headache England have with him and Foakes.
 
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