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The Ashes

Anybody else kind of dreading the upcoming Ashes series?
It’s bad enough that I’m going “ back to my youth “ and having to follow the games on the wireless, ( **** BT Sport, robbed me of the ability to watch baseball and now the cricket) but I am thinking that this tour looks as doomed as the last couple down under.
The bowling attack looks one paced and very much the same. Right arm medium, apart from Wood who has a little pace, but doesn’t do much with the ball, and he probably won’t play more than one or two games due to injury. Broad has an awful record in Australia, Anderson not much better apart from one series a decade or so back. Robinson, on his first international tour, and Stokes who hasn’t played a game since July and is beginning to look more like Charlton Heston in El Cid every day, are being lined up for heavy workloads.Two slow bowlers who could not spin a top, and I have not even got to the incredibly fragile batting lineup. I hope I’m wrong and they surprise me, but I am not hopeful that England will win one , let alone two or three out of the five test matches, needed to regain the Ashes.

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    Tikay10Tikay10 Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 160,798
    edited December 2021
    And Jimmy Anderson allegedly "rested" for the first Test, lol.
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    Allan23Allan23 Member Posts: 864
    5-0 without any washouts.
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    EssexphilEssexphil Member Posts: 8,057
    edited December 2021
    Jimmy Anderson's record at the Gabba is atrocious-right Test to leave him out.

    Both sides have good bowlers that, while they can still perform in individual games, will not play every game. It is not just ours that are past their best.

    The Aussie batting line-up does not look as strong as it did a few years ago. That said, our batsmen look fragile-we need at least 2 people to average 50 alongside Root to have a chance. Then, and only then, will it be close.

    I would say the 1st Test was key-but I was at the 1st Test at Lord's in 2005, and we got battered.

    PS-I think there will be highlights on the Red Button. BT for me :)
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    Tikay10Tikay10 Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 160,798

    Well that's a good start...
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    pompeynicpompeynic Member Posts: 2,821
    Thirty minutes in, I’ve listened to all I want too. I won’t be setting the alarm to wake up early.
    I said the batting was fragile, but 11-3 is ridiculous. Root will be practicing his Native American rain dance once he gets his pads off.
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    Tikay10Tikay10 Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 160,798

    @pompeynic


    I planned to watch until Lunch (2am) but I'm having second thoughts now.
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    EssexphilEssexphil Member Posts: 8,057
    Tikay10 said:


    @pompeynic


    I planned to watch until Lunch (2am) but I'm having second thoughts now.

    Same for me.
    Early-ish night for me...
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    pompeynicpompeynic Member Posts: 2,821
    Without large chunks of play lost to bad weather, you just don’t recover from 11-3.
    I was in Australia for the 06/07 tour, it was depressing how quickly that tour went wrong under Freddie Flintoff. I saw England score 551-6 dec in the first innings at Adelaide and lose, then capitulate in Perth. It’s not a great place to visit when you’re getting biffed.
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    gpc70gpc70 Member Posts: 1,997
    Don't panic the England selectors have a cunning plan or two.

    First plan rest Anderson for the first test.
    Second plan leave Broad out on the day of test and play a spinner even with a green wicket and cloud cover cunning hey.
    Third plan with the overhead conditions and pitch looking ideal for a win toss bowl first, we elect to bat first another cunning move.

    So when the sun is beating down today and the Aussies close 300/4 pray that the weather forecast is right and let it rain rain and rain some more.

    Shambles.Enjoy tonight's action.
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    vaigretvaigret Member Posts: 16,310
    edited December 2021
    gpc70 said:

    Don't panic the England selectors have a cunning plan or two.

    First plan rest Anderson for the first test.
    Second plan leave Broad out on the day of test and play a spinner even with a green wicket and cloud cover cunning hey.
    Third plan with the overhead conditions and pitch looking ideal for a win toss bowl first, we elect to bat first another cunning move.

    So when the sun is beating down today and the Aussies close 300/4 pray that the weather forecast is right and let it rain rain and rain some more.

    Shambles.Enjoy tonight's action.

    couldnt have summed it up better and it looks like the rain turned up too early, what was Root doing batting first !!!!!

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    gpc70gpc70 Member Posts: 1,997
    vaigret said:

    gpc70 said:

    Don't panic the England selectors have a cunning plan or two.

    First plan rest Anderson for the first test.
    Second plan leave Broad out on the day of test and play a spinner even with a green wicket and cloud cover cunning hey.
    Third plan with the overhead conditions and pitch looking ideal for a win toss bowl first, we elect to bat first another cunning move.

    So when the sun is beating down today and the Aussies close 300/4 pray that the weather forecast is right and let it rain rain and rain some more.

    Shambles.Enjoy tonight's action.

    couldnt have summed it up better and it looks like the rain turned up too early, what was Root doing batting first !!!!!

    If Broad played instead of Leach i'm pretty sure we win toss and bat but to give the spinner the best conditions you want him bowling on the fourth/fifth day
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    gpc70gpc70 Member Posts: 1,997
    win the toss and bowl
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    zadoczadoc Member Posts: 3,402
    Warner more lives than a cat!
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    gpc70gpc70 Member Posts: 1,997
    Great quote by the bowling coach Jon Lewis about team selection.
    question
    Should we have picked another seamer?
    answer
    I don't think so we looked at the pitch on the morning of the game and decided to go with the make up of the team we have.
    That was what we felt was right decision and i think if we had bowled to the best of our ability we'd of put Australia under a bit more pressure than they were today.
    However we still took 7 Australian wickets today.We are a BIT(LOL)behind in the game,but i no the guy's will come back fighting in the next 3 days.

    So he thinks that taking 7 wickets while being flayed to all parts of the ground is ok,maybe if we'd batted a day longer and posted a score in excess of 400 as for being a bit behind the game pfff if that's what he thinks we should be boarding the next flight home.
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    gpc70gpc70 Member Posts: 1,997
    Smith has been paid by radio and tv to get this shower of s hit into a fifth day.
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    TheEdge949TheEdge949 Member Posts: 5,205
    OMG Just how pathetic are we, this is an embarrassment. This is Ashes cricket from the 80's. ECB hang your heads in shame, wrong coach, wrong selections, wrong tactics.

    It's all B.T.'s fault lol
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    EssexphilEssexphil Member Posts: 8,057
    Root. Outstanding batsman. Rubbish Captain. All this utter tosh blaming his troops. Rather than shouldering responsibility. You know, like a Captain.

    We haven't got the best players. But we have picked the wrong ones, at the wrong times. And we went into the 1st Test with no preparation, whatsoever.

    But at least Root faces the press. Where is Silverwood? It's not as though he is busy applying his tactical genius. This is a man who, after being slaughtered, says he would have picked the same 11 again for the 1st 2 Tests.

    Who is coming out of this Series with any credit? Root, purely as a batsman. Malan has done quite well. Stokes-considering the last time he played cricket, I had hair. Wood. Think that is it, so far.
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    gpc70gpc70 Member Posts: 1,997

    OMG Just how pathetic are we, this is an embarrassment. This is Ashes cricket from the 80's. ECB hang your heads in shame, wrong coach, wrong selections, wrong tactics.

    It's all B.T.'s fault lol

    The 80s were good Botham Willis 81
    82/83 we drew series to retain
    85 we Gower's summer we won 3/1
    86/87 Gatting's team won 2/1

    Now if your talking the 90s early 2000s we were as bad as this present day team,mind you in the 90s2000s the Aussies had some proper player's.

    To name a few of the top of my head from the 90s
    S Waugh M Waugh R Ponting M Hayden plus when you got rid of top five you had a certain A Gilchrist to come out at number 7 and smash it to all parts.


    As for the bowling G McGrath B Lee backed up by M Kasprovicz and a certain spinner named Warne.

    The current Aussie team is ok but were doing a grand job of making them look like world beaters.
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    TheEdge949TheEdge949 Member Posts: 5,205
    Brilliant, the bowlers get us back in the game and once again the top order show the world how not to bat.

    The definition of insanity springs to mind.
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