Seems like they’re being allowed to play in dodgy light, as long as England bowl spin. Is that normal? Didn’t realise there was gradation like that with the light. Anyhow, they have half an hour of gloom to put the series to bed.
Yes, it’s quite usual for the umpires to tell the captain of the fielding side “Slow bowlers only, or we’ll have to go off for the light”. Sometimes, of course, the light’s too bad even for that. Meant Root got to bowl a couple of overs (he’s picked up a wicket or two this series altogether - he’s no disgrace as a back-up spinner).
And meanwhile, England have rolled 'em all over. Broad turned from Nice Cop into Nasty Cop, as he does every once in a while, and Australia crash from 149 - 1 to 224 all out to go 3 - 0 down in the series with one to play.
It’s been a bit of a bowlers series so far, really. Oddly, the only big score of the series (over 400) so far has been by Australia, who couldn’t convert it into a win.
I must admit, I’m worried about the form of England’s top order. Whilst we’ve seen flashes from KP and Root - and Bell has been the form batsman of the series - Cook, Trott, Bairstow and Prior have not stepped up as yet, and if this continues into the series in Australia, we’ll be giving those Ashes away.
True, though perhaps more accurate to say it’s a poor batters series. The wickets have been good batting strips and too many batsmen who are set getting out to indolent shots when well set. Why did both teams drop a batsman for this Test and replace them with a bowling allrounder on debut?
As a Test cricket dinosaur I haven’t been exactly death-riding Watson but was waiting in expectation of a train wreck through the first session.
After scoring scored his half century and then twatted Kerrigan in the 25th over his batting card read 76* off 71 balls with 15 4s and one 6.
Poster child for the McNugget cricket generation, take a bow.
Best thing that could have happened to him was when in the 90s Broad almost knocked his block off (ripper of a delivery that) and with his head ringing he nudged and noodled his way to the hundred. And generally maintained that approach for the rest of his inning, scoring his last 100 in a still very brisk rate off 176 deliveries.
Of course the leopard doesn’t change his spots when it comes to DRS.
In the 81st over and on 160 Watson was given out LBW to Woakes.
Jeez Shane you muppet, you figure that the decision was umpires call (which gave you out) and you called for a review anyway? I still think the selfish prick should be on a slow, preferrably leaky, boat home.
I think the guy at the other end (was it Steve Smith?) told him it looked kinda high, and they reviewed based on that.
Has anyone ever been able to measure the rpm of older spinners like Shane Warne? I’d be interested to know how much he and other great could have got.
On a related note I wish they used revs per second rather than per minute. 2000 rpm is hard to get your head around and the ball could never spin for a full minute even if it never hit the ground so I think it’s meaningless to use rpm.
Here are some of my projections for the next Ashes, which starts in 3 months:
(1) The batsmen will score more runs I’m not entirely happy with the way England appear to have prepared pitches of a specific type, and I don’t think the English batsmen are either. But I think the pitches in Australia will continue to suit attacking batsmen whilst still rewarding tight bowling.
(2) The Australian batting order will settle. I think it has a lot to do with (1), really, the reason why they’ve juggled it around every time is because the batsmen haven’t been scoring.
(3) ** Stuart Broad will take more than 25 wickets at under 25.** Specific, but that’s how I roll. I think the Aussie batsmen will be keen to get after him, and I think he’s good enough to make them pay.
(4) ** Shane Watson will come to the effective end of his Test career ** by continuing to not be very good, really.
What’s the reason for holding the series in Australia now, instead of next year?
They are trying to de-sync them from the world cup.
(1) The batsmen will score more runs Not sure. In a series on low/slow wickets which didn’t really test techniques and both sides still underperformed. I can’t recall a series where boundaries from drives outnumbered boundaries from cuts/pulls by 2:1
(2) The Australian batting order will settle. Unlikely, for the simple reason that there simply aren’t quality batsmen in form and knocking on the door. Fair suck of the sauce bottle, Steve Smith batting at #5? It wasn’t that long ago that Hodge, Love, Siddons, Hussey couldn’t break out of 1st class cricket.
(3) ** Stuart Broad will take more than 25 wickets at under 25.** Maybe. Being tall, hits the deck hard and will enjoy the extra bounce that generates. But I don’t think he works hard enough. Breslin IMHO is a more likely candidate.
(4) ** Shane Watson will come to the effective end of his Test career **
By virtue of #2, probably not.
Last week my oldest son was buying a new bat. By virtue of scoring a couple of centuries last season and his part-time job he had the dosh to consider a top of the range Gunn & Moore, bloody $750 worth. I talked him down a grade by saying that if he wanted to look like Watson by using the same equipment he’d be better off buying a big set of pads.
Were it needed, another example of the malaise.
Aaron Finch scores a record 156 off 63 ballsas Australia beats England in T20 international.
So where was this apparent prodigy during the Ashes series? Certainly nowhere on the Test selectors’s radar.
Why? Look at his mediocre record in 1st Class cricket, with 1528 runs at 29.96 in 30 matches with two centuries and a low conversion rate from his nine half-centuries.
He’s worth a motza to an IPL franchise (and all hale to him) but not a cracker to the Test team until he can demonstrate a capability to bat for more than more than 10 overs on a pitch with the barest hint of assistance to seamers or against spinners when boundaries aren’t reduced to postage stamp dimensions.
Curse him and his ability to score quick runs in T20s.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with (a) cricketers that are good at T20s having a T20 career or (b) selectors picking cricketers that are good at T20s for T20s. It’s not Aaren Finch’s fault that he is good at a form of the game you don’t like much.
Will this see him get a shot in the Test series? It wouldn’t have, 10 years ago. But the fact is that Aus are short on Test match batting talent, and their selectors are playing the same selection lottery that plagued England throughout the 90s, so I expect it probably will. But I don’t see Aus finding a good T20 player as a sign of any kind of malaise, to be honest.
He didn’t do as well in the second game, though.
And we’re back.
For the second time this year, The Ashes. This time in Australia. I think by the end of this series both sides and sets of supporters will be sick of the sight of each other. Thank God this is going to be the last time we do this, once the calendar has been appropriately rejigged.
Bizarrely, given England won 3-0 up here, I can’t help but feel a little apprehensive. Many of the top order are in patchy form - Trott in particular is going to have to work out playing the short ball in this series - and it looks a certainty that they will be moving Root down to 6 to play Carberry. The third pace bowling option is also well up in the air with Finn taking wickets but bowling poorly and Tremlett and Rankin looking non-threatening in the warm up matches. They probably need Bresnan back fit.
With home advantage, Australia will be a different proposition. This one is going to be a lot tighter on the scoreboard than the series up here, I reckon (itself a series that actually turned only on England winning the sessions that really counted - a skill but one that masked that the sides were, in general play, a bit closer than the scoreboard ultimately suggested).
Series starts on Wednesday night UK time/Thursday morning in Oz. I just all our guys remember what happened to Simon Jones and avoid sliding on the Brisbane outfield.
Well, its only the World Cup the year after that.
I really think the Aussies have a good chance here. If they can only show some depth.
Perhaps a thread title change is in order. It’s Ashes 2013/2014 now.
Well, there’s only the final test that will be played in 2014, so we could probably get away with leaving it as it is - but, it is true that technically we could do with a title change.
Also, this series heralds the brave new world of cricket AT (After Tendulkar). Congrats to him on a wonderful career. Great scenes in Mumbai over the weekend.
2 hours and counting. Major decisions for England are who will keep wicket (Prior is carrying an injury) and who the third seamer will be. Australia look a little more settled, as England also will be using Carberry at the top of the order and having another reshuffle with Root back at 6. With home field as well, I think this could be a tight series, that Australia win. Not feeling confident about England at the minute.
Still, that is why they actually play the games right? Speculation time is over. Time to try and go semi nocturnal and simultaneously attempt to hold down my job.
Lots of theories that the Poms have peaked and the Aussies are on the rise.
Don’t buy it.
None of the Aussie batting has been in any sort of form at first class level; because they haven’t been playing any.
It’s an established cricketing truism that the absolute best preparation for batting in an Ashes Test on a Gabba greentop under sultry skies against one of the better swing bowlers in the world is batting in a ODI on a Bangalore dust bath under lights when scoring at 300plus in 50 overs isn’t really a competitive score. :smack:
Wouldn’t be surprised if Australia selects different 10 bowlers through the duration of the series as casualty wards fill with broken down pie chuckers.
Too much punditary suggests we’ll be competitive if everything goes right.
Heh, if everything goes right we’d win the Ashes in 9 days, like say in 2005.
That ain’t going to happen … conversely we could lose them that quickly.
I’mk hoping for a highly competitive series but can’t see the locals as being good enough for long enough to win it.
Gawd help us; ask not for whom the bell tolls :smack:
End of the 50th over Australia 143/6
All selected batsmen out. A fine all-round display of piss and wind.
Would Ashton Agar be somewhere looking for a game? 
Went to bed with Warner looking like he was going to marmalise us. Getting up and looking at the scorecard, hard to escape the feeling that England have had a good day. If Mitchell Johnson can get 60+ when the ball goes soft, England should feel that they should get a decent amount of runs if they can a) get the final 2 relatively cheaply and b) negotiate the new ball themselves.
Looking at the replays of the wickets, some pretty weak shots from the Aussie top order. Warner mistimed a cut, more than one just hanging their bat out to meekly edge to slip. Only Rogers and Clarke got difficult deliveries (and I suspect that if Clarke had a back that bent properly, he would be a lot better at playing that Broad bouncer).
Still, it’s only one day. Long way to go. Good start for us though.
Good day for England. Tight and disciplined bowling and fielding by all accounts (Broad’s opening aside) and allowing the Aussies to almost get themselves out.
Can’t help but think that the focus on Broad has been counterproductive. He may have been overawed by that a few years ago but not now. Even the hoo-ha over the walking incident this summer didn’t seem to faze him so I don’t see that a little media hype is going to affect him.
And certainly not know. I’ll be interested on how the Courier Mail is going to write up a 5-fer without actually mentioning his name. I suspect he’ll be sleeping soundly tonight and raring to go with a fairly new ball tomorrow.
Predictions? always a mugs game but I think a total below 300 for Oz and solid batting for England. 250-3-ish at close of play tomorrow.