Cricket 37: Boycott's Grandma Probably Should Bat

[Consigliere]

England already have enough and so should look to declare soon so that they can have at least 8 overs at the Aussies. With Warner and Harris, they would be practically guaranteed two wickets before the close of play. Labuschagne and Smith are effectively the openers for Australia. 

[Jeor]

Nah, with two full days of play left there's no need for England to declare. They should just get as many runs as they can get and they'll still have plenty of time to bowl Australia out, plus they don't want to give Australia use of a relatively benign pitch.

I feel sorry for Denly that he didn't get his maiden century - he has come good at the back end of this series.

[Consigliere]

Nah, there's no need to drag this out. Benign pitch or no, the Aussie batting lineup with the exception of Smith (and to a lesser extent Labuschagne) is wank. The match can be wrapped up tomorrow.

[Maltaran]

9 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

Nah, there's no need to drag this out. Benign pitch or no, the Aussie batting lineup with the exception of Smith (and to a lesser extent Labuschagne) is wank. The match can be wrapped up tomorrow.

But why risk it if you don’t have to?

[Consigliere]

6 minutes ago, Maltaran said:

But why risk it if you don’t have to?

The risk is minuscule to none. Chasing down 370+ in the fourth innings of a Test has rarely ever been achieved in the history of the game. Besides that, wickets have fallen and Leach and Archer aren't accelerating the scoring (or scoring much at all). It's just delaying the inevitable for no reason. 

[Jeor]

15 hours ago, Consigliere said:

The risk is minuscule to none. Chasing down 370+ in the fourth innings of a Test has rarely ever been achieved in the history of the game. Besides that, wickets have fallen and Leach and Archer aren't accelerating the scoring (or scoring much at all). It's just delaying the inevitable for no reason. 

The risk is miniscule, but the difference between a target of 350 and a target of 450 is that you can set more attacking fields and be more aggressive as a fielding captain, which enhances your chances of winning, means less heartburn if a large partnership establishes itself (say between Labuschagne and Smith) and may even help wrap up victory quicker in the end.

[Consigliere]

The point is moot though since England aren't getting a 450 lead. Should have just declared when Buttler got out. There was a great chance of picking up one or both of Warner and Harris before the close of play and then having the bowlers rested and having a go at Labuschagne and Smith with the ball still new. 

[ljkeane]

There’s still the best part of two days left. They’ve got plenty of time.

Anyway that didn’t last very long. Archer’s been a little bit of a disappointment with the bat this summer. I thought he’d be a bit more of a threat down the order but there have been quite a lot of soft dismissals.

[Jeor]

And it's all a moot point as both openers are back in the sheds already.

Warner has 95 runs for the series in 10 innings. What a disaster. Harris also. 20 completed innings from Australian openers and 1 half-century.

The game is here. Smith and Labuschagne basically have to bat out the day if Australia are to have any chance. They won't.

[Consigliere]

Both openers could have been back in the shed yesterday. England already had enough when Buttler was dismissed. Batting on after that was just pointless. 

[Philokles]

Lowest average for an opener who had played a whole 5 test series. Shame Denly couldn’t get a few more so both England openers outscored him in a single innings.

[Jeor]

1 minute ago, Philokles said:

Lowest average for an opener who had played a whole 5 test series. Shame Denly couldn’t get a few more so both England openers outscored him in a single innings.

I hope the selectors drop him permanently. But they won't, he'll get the Australian summer and knowing his home record he'll probably save his career then. Plus none of the other openers have covered themselves in glory so there isn't any urgency to drop Warner (they should have gone with Joe Burns). Bah.

[Consigliere]

England should look to get Curran bowling at Smith asap. The angle of the left armer and Curran's ability to get the ball to hold its line and go across Smith as well as bring the ball back in caused him some problems in the first innings - he was unsure what to leave and what to play. Probably the most unsure Smith has looked all series. 

[Jeor]

Just now, Consigliere said:

England should look to get Curran bowling at Smith asap. The angle of the left armer and Curran's ability to get the ball to hold its line and go across Smith as well as bring the ball back in caused him some problems in the first innings - he was unsure what to leave and what to play. Probably the most unsure Smith has looked all series. 

Plus I think Smith is more susceptible to the LBW now that there will be some variable bounce. It's fine to walk across your stumps and flick things to the leg side when you can trust the bounce, but all it needs is one to keep low and he'll be plumb in front.

[Jeor]

Marnus is out. I think this will be all over by tea.

The only question left is whether Smith can get another half century to prolong his streak.

[ljkeane]

Smith gone relatively cheaply. You’d think that’s the end of Australia’s chances with Labuschagne already gone.

A lot of the focus has been on Archer but Broad, a little bit under the radar, has had a good series.

[Which Tyler]

Yep - Smith and Smith II both being out, makes me feel far, far more confident - now it's just a matter or time.

[Jeor]

Broad has had a good series, although I was surprised to check the series averages and find that his 22 wickets in 5 matches have come at 27 runs apiece - so probably in keeping with his general career figures. Obviously he's been key in dismantling the openers with regularity and getting England off to a good start in the field, but he hasn't really backed it up later in the innings.

The only batsmen to average over 35 in the series are Smith, Labuschagne, Stokes and Burns.

Cummins and Archer are the pick of the bowlers with averages under 20, Hazlewood not far behind with average of 21.85. (Marsh well under but it was one match, so he doesn't really count)

[Jeor]

That was a Paine-like review from Root. Was clear to the naked eye it was pitching outside leg and they now don't have any more reviews left. They'll still win the match but they'll have to rely on umpires now.

[ljkeane]

Paine’s series fittingly ends with a failed review.