Cricket: Industrial Action Edition

[Consigliere]

10 hours ago, Paxter said:

Bangladesh have showed how far away they are from being competitive in test matches away from home. They were truly poor in the second test after showing some promise in the first.

The big problem is that Bangladesh have very little experience playing outside the Indian Subcontinent. The commentary team during the 2nd Test mentioned that including these two games against SA, Bangladesh have only played 17 Test matches away from home since 2010 and only 12 of those games were outside the Indian Subcontinent.

 

10 hours ago, Paxter said:

New Zealand is scheduled to play just four test matches over their upcoming home season *sigh*.

That's just not right.

[Paxter]

As was the case last season, the opening rounds of the Sheffield Shield have been greatly enhanced by the openings in the Aussie test team. There are a plethora of players duking it out for the number 6 and WK positions. Personally I am hoping for Nevill to return to the team. And I wouldn’t be surprised to see Hughes or Lehmann popping up at number 6 if The Big Show can’t make early season runs. There is a strong appetite to blood youth after the success of Renshaw and Handscomb last summer.

In the England camp, it’s looking pretty much certain that Stokes won’t play at the ‘Gabba. Stoneman, Vince, Malan and Ballance all made encouraging scores in the first tour game...but the quality of bowling was not high from a second/third string WA XI. Starc, Haze and Cummins will be a tough proposition for this line-up.

[Paxter]

Haha well it has certainly been a subdued Ashes build-up in here!

In an attempt to revitalise things, I'll make the following stray observations:

1. England's XI is starting to firm-up ahead of the first test: Ball and Finn have both been withdrawn from England's squad due to injury, leaving a likely bowling attack of Anderson, Broad, Woakes, Overton (who would be on debut) and Ali. Malan and Vince have probably done enough in the warm-up games to play at the 'Gabba, with Ballance set to miss out on account of being rubbish. 
2. Cook is in sketchy form so far, but Stoneman has been excellent. Having watched quite a bit of him in the warm-up games, I'm astounded that he hasn't played more test cricket.
3. Australia, despite being deserved favourites, has quite a few selection issues. Bancroft is looking like a smokey to replace Wade after piling on runs in the Shield, while many pundits are expecting Cartwright to play at number 6 ahead of Maxwell. And there is some pressure on Renshaw after a terrible run in the Shield, but I don't think we will see Australia try another new opener just yet. Another headache for the Aussies is that Pattinson, Coulter-Nile and Behrendorff are all injured. This reduces Australia's back-up options if/when Starc, Haze or Cummins get injured. 
4. England has bowled fairly well on the tour so far and will have a great chance to pick up a win in Adelaide if they can get the ball zipping around under lights. As always, the 'Gabba and the WACA loom as the toughest tests for the visitors.

Thoughts?!

[ljkeane]

I think there's just a lot of pessimism amongst England fans about their chances which has been exacerbated by the Stokes situation. That's not unusual playing in Australia of course but at least in the past England fans could console themselves with Australia being so good when it wasn't competitive.

It doesn't help my enthusiasm that it's, rather irritatingly, going to be on BT Sport which I don't have. I'm a bit torn about whether to get it for the Ashes if England are just going to get battered anyway and I might not be able to watch too much of it. On the other hand if I miss a surprise good performance that'll annoy me too.

Anyway, Stoneman hasn't played much test cricket because I think the selectors haven't rated his ability as being up to test cricket but with the failure of all the other options he's getting his chance. It'd be a bit of a bonus for England if he does well.

[Paxter]

Yeah fair enough re: Stoneman. I think he looks a more organised and gritty opener than Jennings, so he might have some success. Will undoubtedly be tough though with Australia’s strong pace attack.

I also agree that the loss of Stokes has put a dampener on the series. Australia isn’t anywhere near the peak of its powers, but they still easily have the three best batsmen and probably two of the best quicks lining up in the series.

[ljkeane]

19 minutes ago, Paxter said:

Australia isn’t anywhere near the peak of its powers, but they still easily have the three best batsmen and probably two of the best quicks lining up in the series.

Steady on, I’m generally pretty down on England’s batting lineup but you think Australia easily have three better batsmen than Root? That’s a little harsh.

[williamjm]

I think it's still the batting that really concerns me about England's team. They have some hope if Cook finds some form and Root gets some support, but I think we'd need at least a couple of the relatively unheralded players to put in some big performances. This isn't impossible - in the chaos of the last tour of Australia Ben Stokes did manage to mage a good impression, so hopefully someone else will be able to impress this time. The first choice bowling attack does look useful, although the lack of experienced backup is another concern.

3 hours ago, ljkeane said:

It doesn't help my enthusiasm that it's, rather irritatingly, going to be on BT Sport which I don't have. I'm a bit torn about whether to get it for the Ashes if England are just going to get battered anyway and I might not be able to watch too much of it. On the other hand if I miss a surprise good performance that'll annoy me too.

My ISP sent me an e-mail today saying I could subscribe to the BT Sport streaming service for £2.50 a month, at that price I'll probably sign up.

[The Winged Shadow]

3 hours ago, ljkeane said:

Steady on, I’m generally pretty down on England’s batting lineup but you think Australia easily have three better batsmen than Root? That’s a little harsh.

Hmm, I'd say two batsmen clearly comes to mind, in Smith and Warner (at home soil). But no idea who the third one is though. Khawaja perhaps, but I wouldn't rate him higher than Root, even at home.

[Paxter]

Khawaja > Root in these conditions! I’m willing to be proven wrong though at the end of the series...

I remember Root struggling quite a bit on the last tour but he is vastly more experienced now and not batting at 3. Time will tell!!

[lmanion]

Story going around this morning that Tim Paine is going to be called up to the squad for the first test. This would be a big suprise given he barely played a game for Tasmania last year and Wade has been the keeper so far this season.

Bancroft also looks like being called up

[williamjm]

1 hour ago, lmanion said:

Story going around this morning that Tim Paine is going to be called up to the squad for the first test. This would be a big suprise given he barely played a game for Tasmania last year and Wade has been the keeper so far this season.

Bancroft also looks like being called up

Cricinfo think Shaun Marsh is in as well, I get the impression he's a bit like Australia's answer to Graeme Hick in terms of how many times he gets dropped and then picked again. There was also a nice statistic that Darren Lehman has scored a first class century more recently than Tim Paine has. It is a reminder that England aren't the only team with a potentially shaky batting line-up.

[lmanion]

Paine is more of a keeper though. He should have been the succesor to Haddin but had a lot of issues with hand injuries around that time which looked to have put an end to that. Neither of the Marsh brothers should be getting called up any time soon they have had their chance especially Mitch.

[Squab]

Hohns has come out defending team makeup saying Paine "best gloveman in country" even if he didn't keep last shield match for Tassie.  Was in as a batsman I guess and got a duck and 70*. The 70* looks good but one of the openers got 247* before they declared at 2/424. Not much in the pitch for the home bowling side spearheaded by Peter Siddle.

IMHO Australia are short a bowling allrounder rather than Marsh v7.02. And I imagine they are picking Sayers as 12th man so he is used to the feel of the team before the pink ball in Adelaide... but I really hope he plays even if he has no form as i think we need the extra bowler. I remember a very nervous end to the last test at the gabba where Australia tried hard to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, all because they were short a bowler (at least sharing the load) on a pitch that does almost nothing for spinners.

I think England have a chance and I am excited. I'm looking forward to sitting above and behind Starcs arm on Day 1.

[Paxter]

Well. That was odd. The real story here is that Renshaw has been dropped despite being a virtual certainty for the 'Gabba at the start of the summer. I am a big fan of Cameron Bancroft, but it seems extremely harsh to drop a guy who averaged over 60 in tests last season and didn't disgrace himself on the subcontinent (cf. the rest of the Australian batting order except Smith). How has Australia reached a point where three bad Shield games means omission of a fairly established opener?

I have less sympathy for The Big Show, though he wasn't exactly terrible in the Shield. And I actually think that, as an all-round cricketer, he offers more to the side than the patchy and injury-prone S Marsh. 

Kudos to Paine for getting another crack at test cricket. I agree with @lmanion on that selection. In any case, picking a 'keeper was always going to be a 'lesser of evils' decision given the dearth of strong performances from Australian WKs across the Shield system. I would draw a parallel with England's decision to pick Vince (i.e. a dearth of good number 3 batsmen on the county circuit). 

[lmanion]

I thought Renshaw was hard done by and probably would have been given a go opening with Bancroft at 6 to get him in the team. I think Khawaja is about the only guy that has been consistently good to start the domestic season.

 

I think Wade had the gloves for Tassie against Victoria due to being the national team keeper so giving him the chance to show what he can do. I have always thought Paine was by far the better keeper. Also before Tasmania declared with the huge score in their 2nd innings the two teams were all out for 173 and I think 140. Doolan who made the double ton was the guy Ponting pointed to as his heir aparent to the #3 spot for Australia but couldnt quite get it together when he got the chance.

[williamjm]

16 hours ago, Paxter said:

How has Australia reached a point where three bad Shield games means omission of a fairly established opener?

That sounds like the sort of selection decision familiar to anyone who followed English cricket during the 90s.

[Paxter]

A fantastic conclusion to the women’s Ashes with England pulling off an incredible win in the last T20 to level the series. Australia retained the Ashes but I think England will feel satisfied with their performance overall, especially after losing the first two ODIs. 

Now on to the first test match of the men’s series. I’m predicting a fairly limp England performance in this one followed by an Adelaide comeback.

[ljkeane]

England have gone with Jake Ball as their 4th seamer so they've still got a good lower middle order in Ali, Bairstow and Woakes but they don't really have that short of a tail anymore.

It's hard to see England getting a win at the Gabba but if they can make the somewhat fragile looking 3 Australian seamers do a lot of bowling that may pay dividends later in the series. I'm not sure how confident I am of England's batting pulling that off though, it'll probably need a big contribution from Cook.

[williamjm]

England win the toss and will bat first (not a difficult decision at the Gabba). This could be crucial for the series, if they can bat long and put in a good first innings performance then it's a sign things may be competitive. If they subside cheaply then this could be a very long tour.

[Hereward]

FUCK.