The Winged Shadow Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 Selectors backed themselves into a corner with Harris selection as it would be pretty harsh to drop him after one match. If it was still Bancroft, you could drop him, let Khawaja open, Smith comes in. It could've worked out quite well. I still think Harris or Wade is in the firing line. But Wade has a 100....so that in itself would be harsh. Drop Harris, move Khawaja up to open would be my move. *tinfoilhat* Paine is playing shit this series to allow the smooth transition of captaincy back to Smith */tinfoilhat* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted August 24, 2019 Author Share Posted August 24, 2019 Yes, if the selectors are more concerned with getting things right (rather than looking silly), they should correct the mistake of Harris' initial selection by dropping him and moving Khawaja up. The question then begins of who would bat at 3 - one of Labuschagne or Smith. But even if Khawaja isn't in good nick, a top four of Warner, Khawaja, Labuschagne and Smith looks much more solid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impmk2 Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 Smith is averaging 126 coming in 4th this series. Wouldn't want to mess with that. Leave him there, put Labuschagne at 3, and move Khawaja up to opening (which he pretty much is at the moment anyway). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 I watched the highlights of England’s performance with the bat and it was disgracefully bad really. Ok, Australia bowled well but they pretty much just did what you’d expect a test attack to do, only Root got a delivery he couldn’t do anything about. Conditions are about as benign as they’re going to get for batting at Headingley, the Ashes are on the line and England get bundled out for 67. If they’d even put in a regulation shit performance and got to about 150 odd they be in with a bit of chance. The ECB have ruined the test team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Winged Shadow Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 Nothing going right with England. The body language is pretty bad at the moment. They are getting frustrated at every little thing. edit: Although, to be fair, a lot of things have gone wrong. Overthrow 5, wide 5, crap fielding, dropped catches etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 England have had a mare in the field. They should have been chasing around 250 or less but now that target is going to be around 350 (maybe even closer to 400 if the Aussie tail wags a little bit). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Winged Shadow Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 Positive for England is that there is a ton of time to chase this down. They need to tire out the Aussie bowlers and not lose wickets. They can capitalize later today or early tomorrow if they can see off the new ball. However I don't have a lot of faith that the England batters won't chase those wide deliveries and get out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 There’s no chance this England batting lineup are getting the 10th highest run chase in the history of test cricket but it’d be nice if they showed some pride and made it difficult for Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted August 24, 2019 Author Share Posted August 24, 2019 I think England's batsmen need to forget about the specific target and just concentrate on building a solid Test innings. If they do, good things will come. There's plenty of time and batting conditions are good, and it's a chance for someone to at least make a decent score (if not a century) and restore some morale to the batting lineup. A lot of them are playing for their places so you'd think they have at least some motivation. Roy, for instance, needs to show people he can play a Test innings. Root wouldn't mind getting some of the pressure off his batting performances. So on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 15 minutes ago, The Winged Shadow said: Positive for England is that there is a ton of time to chase this down. Lol. Talk about accentuating the positive! Even though I’m sick to my very core that Australia are on the verge of winning in England for the first time since 2001...I can’t help but feel this is the the wake-up call English cricket needs. Virat’s men should have beaten England last season and even Pakistan and Ireland could have gotten more from their recent, brief tours. Plus of course that ominous loss to the West Indies that should have led to a more substantial rethink. Maybe the obsession with white ball cricket will diminish and balance will return to The Force? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted August 24, 2019 Author Share Posted August 24, 2019 18 minutes ago, Paxter said: Maybe the obsession with white ball cricket will diminish and balance will return to The Force? The solution will take a long time, though, which is a bit of a problem. There just aren't the right players to be able to build a Test team so they're going to have to raise them up from the first-class game, and that's going to take at least 2-3 years. There aren't English players like Labuschagne playing in county cricket right now that could be plucked out and inserted into the team. I mean, you could give people like Sibley (who by all accounts is a bit more of an old-school opener, I've never seen him play though) an extended run in the team and show that you are prioritising those skills rather than the biffers of the one day game. But it's probably not going to result in lasting success for a few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 48 minutes ago, Jeor said: The solution will take a long time, though, which is a bit of a problem. There just aren't the right players to be able to build a Test team so they're going to have to raise them up from the first-class game, and that's going to take at least 2-3 years. There aren't English players like Labuschagne playing in county cricket right now that could be plucked out and inserted into the team. I mean, you could give people like Sibley (who by all accounts is a bit more of an old-school opener, I've never seen him play though) an extended run in the team and show that you are prioritising those skills rather than the biffers of the one day game. But it's probably not going to result in lasting success for a few years. *shrugs* I think they have to be prepared to do that if they want to win the Ashes back. But who knows, maybe they are quite happy winning the World Cup and declining in tests? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted August 24, 2019 Author Share Posted August 24, 2019 Ok, this is just getting cruel now. Roy out clean bowled. He's a complete joke as a Test player. Burns out caught at first slip too - Australia seem to have cottoned onto him not being comfortable against the short stuff now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lessthanluke Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 1 hour ago, Paxter said: *shrugs* I think they have to be prepared to do that if they want to win the Ashes back. But who knows, maybe they are quite happy winning the World Cup and declining in tests? This seems to be the case from what I'm seeing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted August 24, 2019 Author Share Posted August 24, 2019 This has been a decent partnership here. Root and Denly have soaked up 20+ overs together and toughed it out. It wasn't going to be as easy as the first innings so Australia are going to have to work a bit harder to get the remaining 8 wickets. It would be a bit like Root to get a century against the odds here, just when everyone is dumping on him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 Yes a key partnership to restore some amount of pride. But they need to go big. This is Denly’s big chance! *invokes thread curse* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted August 24, 2019 Author Share Posted August 24, 2019 It's about time Denly made a big score for you, @Paxter! Marnus has already made me eat my words enough. Time for Denly to get 150 and bring it home for England! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 If Denly repeats Mark Butcher’s 2001 heroics I will fly to Leeds in the winter and do a nudie run around Headingley. Had England shown this application with the bat yesterday we would have had a great test match on our hands! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted August 24, 2019 Author Share Posted August 24, 2019 We still might, you know. They need another 269 runs and it's only a third day pitch, so conditions are still reasonably fine for batting. If they can get 100+ runs in the extended final session for the loss of only one or two more wickets, that will leave around 150+ to get, which is do-able with this England tail. There's still Stokes, Buttler, Bairstow and Woakes to come, and Broad/Archer/Leach have all had moments where they can handle the bat. It might turn into a close match yet... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 I live in hope! The thought of Australia retaining the Ashes after only three tests makes me ill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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