Cricket 36: Ashes to Ashes, Warner to Dust...

[Paxter]

Australia is nothing without Smith. Jof is too good. This is one of the best debuts I can remember. Reminiscent of Curtly and co.

@ljkeane: Australia is completely flustered atm. I think Usman was more desperate than anything else.

I wonder if Starc will play at Headingly just to counter Jofra.

[The Winged Shadow]

It's like Aussies forgot how to face bouncers. I know Archer is quick, but this is the not the first time they've faced express fast bowler. I expect some serious chin music going forward for the Aussies.

Edit: A part of me is seriously enjoying watching the Aussies jump around after all the years they did this to other teams

[ljkeane]

6 minutes ago, The Winged Shadow said:

 I know Archer is quick, but this is the not the first time they've faced express fast bowler. I expect some serious chin music going forward for the Aussies.

I think Archer’s got a particularly difficult bouncer to pick. Sky had Ravi Bopara on last night, who’s faced in him County Cricket, and he was saying his bouncer is a nightmare because there’s just no change in his action. On top of that it coming down at 95 mph obviously doesn’t give you much time to react.

[Paxter]

I’d get Woakes into the attack now while the ball is new. Root can be a little predictable sometimes with his captaincy.

ETA: Also Woakes...pitch it up!

[Jeor]

Root might wish he had left more time with a declaration, although to be fair they were waiting for Stokes to get his 100.

[The Winged Shadow]

12 minutes ago, ljkeane said:

I think Archer’s got a particularly difficult bouncer to pick. Sky had Ravi Bopara on last night, who’s faced in him County Cricket, and he was saying his bouncer is a nightmare because there’s just no change in his action. On top of that it coming down at 95 mph obviously doesn’t give you much time to react.

Fair enough on the action, I think considering what happened at WC that is probably the likeliest explanation because he isn't actually bowling at mid 90s today like he was against Smith.

[Jeor]

His pace is also probably surprising because his run-up is so low key.

I remember it being said that Wasim Akram had a very good bouncer, but after a while you could see that he changed his action slightly - unfortunately he did the same change of action for the yorker so it was hard to know what was coming!

[ljkeane]

Labuschagne has done pretty well actually. Coming in halfway through the test to replace Smith and getting hit with a bouncer early he could easily have let the pressure get to him but he’s calmed things down a bit.

[Jeor]

Well, Bancroft and Warner continue to fail.

Bancroft has scored 8, 7, 13, 16. Warner has scored 2, 8, 3, 5.

Khawaja is a tiny bit better, but still 13, 40, 36, 2.

Basically not a single half century out of the top three batsmen in the team in 12 innings. That's pretty disastrous.

[Paxter]

And Marnus is outscoring the openers. Get him into the first XI!

[Paxter]

It saddens me slightly to say but...Leach has already cemented his position after a single match. A couple of wickets plus an extremely miserly economy rate is exactly what England need.

[Jeor]

Alright, I'm going to bed now. I was gleefully waiting for Marnus to fall so I could post about his demise...now that I'm admitting defeat I bet he'll get out in the next couple of overs.

[Raja]

Why do we not like Marnus?

[Paxter]

Jeor thinks he’s a crab.

I’m a tentative fan.

[ljkeane]

I think Root’s over bowling Archer here, the next test starts on Thursday. Getting the batsmen jumping around is nice but Woakes averages something like 10 at Lords and Broad has 450 test wickets, there’s nothing wrong with going to them.

Er, scratch that. Just keep bowling Archer into the ground.

[Paxter]

Well what a turnaround that was. I was despairing last night for England, only for Australia to be the team that was saved by the rain.

The Headingley test is set up very nicely now.

[williamjm]

Being at Worldcon in Dublin means I haven't managed to see any of the match, it sounds like I missed a good game. It does however have the compensation that I can discuss it with Stubby in person after a decade of discussing it with him in this thread.

[Paxter]

A few stray observations now that the dust has settled from a great test match:

1. Both sides' top orders are in complete disarray. Root looks unsettled at 3 and will probably want to make his now-traditional mid-series move to number four. Denly and/or Roy are in danger of losing their places or at least being subject to a reshuffle. Personally I would consider a promotion for Stokes, but the temptation will be to leave him, Jos and Jonny in their existing places after the second innings successes. Australia is just in all sorts of trouble with the top three batsmen all short of runs and Smith in doubt for Leeds. The batting order basically starts with Smith and Head at the moment, with decent longevity all the way down to Lyon.
2. The inclusions of Archer and (to a lesser extent) Leach have completely changed the tone of the series. Archer brings speed, accuracy, confidence and endurance into an attack that was looking a little samey in the first test. Leach gives Root the control he so dearly wanted at Birmingham as well as second innings wickets. Incredibly (and probably slightly foolishly), Root only bowled Woakes for three overs in that fourth innings. 
3. Pat Cummins is a star in the making. 13 wickets at 16 so far, with an economy of 2.5 and striking every 6 overs. Just amazing statistics for someone who had never even played a test match in England before. He's also proving useful with the bat, soaking up 140 balls and averaging 26. 
4. Watching Steve Smith is as close as we've ever come at witnessing a Bradman-type figure in the modern era (averaging a lazy 126 in the series so far). England will be strong favourites if he is missing on Thursday. 

[Jeor]

8 hours ago, Raja said:

Why do we not like Marnus?

I guess the unreasonable reason why I dislike Marnus is that he had the temerity to be selected when I knew nothing about him. When he was first selected, it was a pretty "out of the blue" choice and he was this part-time leg-spinning all-rounder that seemed to show the selectors had a fetish about finding a Steve Smith clone. It also didn't help that in his second or third Test match he was batting at Number 3, which seemed all out of proportion for a young no-name player in his 20s with a first-class batting average in the mid 30s.

Since then, @Paxter's banter has helped play up my Marnus dislike...

That being said, he did play a good innings just then, and displayed composure after being hit on the head to still stick it out. In a clandestine sort of way he actually put forward a good case for his selection by sneaking into a Test match and scoring a half century. If Smith is ruled out of the Third Test, he's probably now in line for a call-up.

[Paxter]

Marnus will definitely play the next test if Smith is not fit. He is still the only County player with 1000+ runs this season!

As an aside, I notice that Dawid Malan is averaging nearly 60 with almost 900 runs for Middlesex. And he has an accomplished Ashes hundred to his name..

ETA: I really like Marnus for a few reasons:

1. He's a traditional test batsman: leaves well, plays straight and has good defensive technique. He's kind of an anti-Marcus Harris (impatient; flashy; cross-bat shots galore).
2. He works really, really hard at his game. One of the bats that he uses looks like it has seen 1000+ hours in the indoor nets. He's clearly a very mentally motivated player. 
3. He's got an interesting background. Most Australian players were born in Australia's cities or towns (most often: in NSW) and are Aussie "blokes". Like Khawaja, Marnus is an immigrant and adds some much-needed diversity to the team.