5th TEST

4 wickets for just 28 runs pretty pathetic really from top order batsmen.

Thank God the Ashes have already gone and we didn’t need victory here.
 
Macseasider said:
It's super overcast. Loads for the England bowlers. If we can get 250 we are very much still in the game.
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Taken Australia 30 minutes after lunch to get the ball swinging, we're going to have it going as soon as possible. Can't have Australia for 0 or 1 at close.
 
I wouldn't say we are out of it, we were actually ahead of the game at 180-3. I'd say we are now slightly behind. If we can get close to 300 and then have an hour or so at them in these conditions, the day could easily still be ours. 30 more mins of Wood and Woakes and we'll be in a decent position.
 
SeasideKurt said:
Valuable runs at the end. Let's see how the Aussies fare.
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13 short of the 296 we scored against them in 2019. We do need to make these conditions work in our favour with the ball. With the weather looking a little better tomorrow, we need to have a good couple of hours.
 
Lytham_fy8 said:
Dunno until they've batted innit.
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It’s still poor though losing 7 wickets for less than 100 runs.

Several top order batsman under achieved today namely Root, Stokes, Bairstow.

Of course it’s far from over but you’d think we need a wicket or two before close of play tonight.
 
Jaffa_The_Hut said:
It’s still poor though losing 7 wickets for less than 100 runs.

Several top order batsman under achieved today namely Root, Stokes, Bairstow.

Of course it’s far from over but you’d think we need a wicket or two before close of play tonight.
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I remember a time when we'd lose all our wickets for less than 100.
 
Cheer up we've just taken the first wicket. Warner gone.

Edit. Got to admit it feels a little flat after the weather ruined the OT test. But the Aussies shouldn't have been 2 up in the first place & ultimately it gave us a mountain to climb.
 
Sooty59 said:
Cheer up we've just taken the first wicket. Warner gone.

Edit. Got to admit it feels a little flat after the weather ruined the OT test. But the Aussies shouldn't have been 2 up in the first place & ultimately it gave us a mountain to climb.
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Why shouldn't have they been 2 up?

If you don't take your chances you don't deserve to win.

Aus have put 5 down today and realistically Eng could have been ao for 160ish. But they didn't and Eng weren't.

You could argue that catches etc are down to anything but luck, whereas conditions are purely down to luck and Aus have had the worse of those.
 
It's been a great series. The fact we're arguing about who deserves the victories is testament to that.

I've found it rivetting. I just want Jimmy to get a break. We'd have won if Leach had been fit.
 
Once again the absence of Ben Foakes is killing us, when are Baz and Stokes going to admit they got it wrong and should have played Foakes?

Without question for me the main reason the Ashes are on their way back to Oz. It's the equivalent of not playing your best goalkeeper in football, Bairstow will never be as good as Foakes with the gloves and his missed catches and stumpings are killers in close matches. I wouldnt mind but Foakes first class average is almost 40 whilst Bairstow's is 43, so he's no slouch with the bat either.

For me Bazball management team should hold their hands up and admit they've got it wrong and select Foakes for the next Test series.
 
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Raging_Bull said:
Once again the absence of Ben Foakes is killing us, when are Baz and Stokes going to admit they got it wrong and should have played Foakes?

Without question for me the main reason the Ashes are on their way back to Oz. It's the equivalent of not playing your best goalkeeper in football, Bairstow will never be as good as Foakes with the gloves and his missed catches and stumpings are killers in close matches. I wouldnt mind but Foakes first class is almost 40 whilst Bairstow's is 43, so he's no slouch with the bat either.

For me Bazball management team should hold their hands up and admit they've got it wrong and select Foakes for the next Test series.
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No chance of that. It's hubris all the way for Baz. They have got several things right amongst the errors, not least allowing players to express themselves. But when you listen to them talk its like some quasi religious cult.
 
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Raging_Bull said:
Are you forgetting in the first two Tests Wood and Woakes wasn't there?

Plus we've had no Archer from the start and Ollie Pope also got injured and is out for the series.

And don't get me started on Ben Foakes non selection.

Works both ways pal.
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How does Eng ** up in selection work both ways?

That works one way only.
 
Raging_Bull said:
Once again the absence of Ben Foakes is killing us, when are Baz and Stokes going to admit they got it wrong and should have played Foakes?

Without question for me the main reason the Ashes are on their way back to Oz. It's the equivalent of not playing your best goalkeeper in football, Bairstow will never be as good as Foakes with the gloves and his missed catches and stumpings are killers in close matches. I wouldnt mind but Foakes first class average is almost 40 whilst Bairstow's is 43, so he's no slouch with the bat either.

For me Bazball management team should hold their hands up and admit they've got it wrong and select Foakes for the next Test series.
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Yep, got to agree with you, bizarre decision
 
Mark_GT said:
No chance of that. It's hubris all the way for Baz. They have got several things right amongst the errors, not least allowing players to express themselves. But when you listen to them talk its like some quasi religious cult.
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I wouldn't be surprised if the pick Foakes for the India tour. Keeping to spin and all of that.
 
Raging_Bull said:
Once again the absence of Ben Foakes is killing us, when are Baz and Stokes going to admit they got it wrong and should have played Foakes?

Without question for me the main reason the Ashes are on their way back to Oz. It's the equivalent of not playing your best goalkeeper in football, Bairstow will never be as good as Foakes with the gloves and his missed catches and stumpings are killers in close matches. I wouldnt mind but Foakes first class average is almost 40 whilst Bairstow's is 43, so he's no slouch with the bat either.

For me Bazball management team should hold their hands up and admit they've got it wrong and select Foakes for the next Test series.
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They have to select Foakes (without a doubt in my mind) instead of Bairstow as 'keeper purely because I'd always choose the best for that position which is also the fulcrum of the fielding team.

Unfortunately (and in our time RB), selectors have nearly always left out our best wicket-keeper eg., Alan Knott selected instead of Bob Taylor, Alec Stewart instead of Jack Russell, Geraint Jones and then Matt Prior instead of Chris Read.

Ben n Bren are not stupid cricketing chaps, so let's see what they decide on in the future.

BTW, I doubt there'll be any apologies forthcoming!
 
Just glad that The Hundred starts on Saturday and we can put to bed all this tippy tappy test match rubbish.

Proper boom boom cricket 🏏🏏🏏🏏

Just hope our Manchester Originals have a better season 👍
 
fcblackpool said:
How does Eng ** up in selection work both ways?

That works one way only.
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I'll rephrase that, I mean there's two sides to that story not it works both ways, in other words Oz are not the only side to be affected by injury and specifically to Nathan Lyon, we have had more than our fair share too. Imagine Wood and Archer steaming in at 90mph plus all the series and also not losing Pope to injury? Throw in us picking Foakes as wicket keeper from day one and I reckon we piss this series and the urn stays in Blighty 🤔
 
Raging_Bull said:
I'll rephrase that, I mean there's two sides to that story not it works both ways, in other words Oz are not the only side to be affected by injury and specifically to Nathan Lyon, we have had more than our fair share too. Imagine Wood and Archer steaming in at 90mph plus all the series and also not losing Pope to injury? Throw in us picking Foakes as wicket keeper from day one and I reckon we piss this series and the urn stays in Blighty 🤔
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tbh has the bowling dept let them down that much? A bit bland and samey early in the series and Wood was OK to play in at least the 2nd test, but apart from Anderson the bowlers have done individually OK. Archer is more interested in T20 and hurting batters than actual test cricket- I'd be surprised to see him again unless there's a gaping hole in his schedule (the Ashes were a high profile lifting for him).

So the problem is the selectors and bazbollux obsession as far as I can see.
 
fcblackpool said:
Why shouldn't have they been 2 up?

If you don't take your chances you don't deserve to win.

Aus have put 5 down today and realistically Eng could have been ao for 160ish. But they didn't and Eng weren't.

You could argue that catches etc are down to anything but luck, whereas conditions are purely down to luck and Aus have had the worse of those.
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Well that's my opinion. It's been small margins (cliché of the moment) & this test is not over yet.
 
Australia doing the opposite of Bazball right now, Marnus has scored 5 runs off 51 balls, that's enough to send the whole ground to sleep.

Mind you stoicism can still win Test matches, assuming you get 5 days of cricket that is.
 
Australia scored 21 runs in the first hour. It may be a way of avoiding defeat, but as they've retained the ashes and are world champions in the test format one would have thought they'd have a bit more confidence in themselves and basic pride to try harder than this.
 
Meliora said:
Australia scored 21 runs in the first hour. It may be a way of avoiding defeat, but as they've retained the ashes and are world champions in the test format one would have thought they'd have a bit more confidence in themselves and basic pride to try harder than this.
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Just a boring team aren't they? We should have beaten them 4-0 and it's our own fault.
 
Huge wicket that, Broad always comes up trumps. If we can get a Broad classic with 2-3 wickets in quick succession we might get them cheaply.
 
The ball is starting to move, if we can nip Smith out, we are well and truly in this test. As said above, we really need one of those magic Broad spells..
 
Broad bowling like this against left handers is one of those moments in sport where you just sit back and marvel. A master of his craft.
 
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