The Winged Shadow Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 What a ball to start the Ashes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 Need Hameed to do well, but England to do badly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 1 minute ago, Raja said: Need Hameed to do well, but England to do badly So far, so good then! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 What a start - 3/20 from 11 overs not looking good for England. Brave decision to bat first in overcast conditions and a green-looking pitch but it may yet turn out to be the correct decision as time goes on. Can never really assess the toss until both sides have batted. They've left out Anderson and Broad, so it will be interesting to see how the English attack goes - I'm sure they would've enjoyed bowling on this first up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 18 minutes ago, Jeor said: What a start - 3/20 from 11 overs not looking good for England. Brave decision to bat first in overcast conditions and a green-looking pitch but it may yet turn out to be the correct decision as time goes on. Can never really assess the toss until both sides have batted. They've left out Anderson and Broad, so it will be interesting to see how the English attack goes - I'm sure they would've enjoyed bowling on this first up. In a parallel universe Root chose to bowl, with Anderson and Broad leading the attack to glory. Instead we have this shambles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 11 minutes ago, Paxter said: In a parallel universe Root chose to bowl, with Anderson and Broad leading the attack to glory. Instead we have this shambles. Yes, if they were saving Anderson for later in the series I don't see which of the Australian pitches would have suited him more than this one, especially in these conditions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 Give me Marnus' leg spin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 11 hours ago, ljkeane said: 4 o'clock start it is! Hopefully England haven't already lost the test by the time I get up. Nope. Oh well, on the plus side I won’t have to bother getting up early for the rest of the series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 Dream first day on the job for Cummins. Get a perfect day for bowling, take a five-for, bowl them out for sub-150, and then rain saves your guys from having to bat themselves. Probably not all days on the job are going to be as perfect as that! Will be interesting to see howEngland bowl on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 I don't think this is that bad a pitch and didn't really mind England choosing to bat first on it. Just some great bowling and predictably scratchy batting after a month without competitive cricket. As a point of contrast, Strauss' winning Ashes team played a truckload of warm-up matches on that tour. I'd expect Australia to be able to get to around 300 in the first innings but will happily be proved wrong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 It's easy to second-guess Root (and Hussain sending them in at the Gabba in 2001 for Australia to get 2/364 on the first day probably still gives England nightmares) and it was obviously a hard decision to make. But the pitch looked green and the overcast weather held for the whole day (with some rain at the end). It was going to be a good day for bowling and those tend to be few and far between on Australian grounds. The green-ness will disappear and when the sun comes out, like most Australian pitches, it will be good to bat on. I agree, Australia should make at least 250-300 (in the olden days you would've banked on Australia getting 400+ in the first innings at home every time, but this team is not as good). But everything in hindsight, I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 1 hour ago, Jeor said: It was going to be a good day for bowling and those tend to be few and far between on Australian grounds. I still don't think it was outright poor decision, as some commentators are suggesting. It's not like it swung around corners yesterday. Another failure for Harris, who is averaging 8 in four Ashes matches and 22 across his career. Usman might yet get his chance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 That no ball hurts. It's so important to get Marnus and Smith out there as early as possible, while the ball is newish. Warner is not the kind of person you want to let go on the 'Gabba. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 England are never going to pick a spinner again until we're in 2035 or something Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 These two days are really showing the gulf between the two sides. Not only is Australia's pace attack a lot more dangerous (in pretty much any conditions), but with Warner, Marnus and Smith in the line-up, Australia has a far better top order. I think in the middle/lower order Australia's advantage dissipates, but you have to get them three down first! Poor old Leach is now the most expensive bowler after just three overs... ETA: And oh dear...is Stokes in trouble injury wise? This could be one of those 400/1 days after all @Jeor! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xray the Enforcer Posted December 9, 2021 Author Share Posted December 9, 2021 51 minutes ago, Paxter said: That no ball hurts. It's so important to get Marnus and Smith out there as early as possible, while the ball is newish. Warner is not the kind of person you want to let go on the 'Gabba. for real. England really sagging since that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 Stokes has actually bowled 14 no balls (so far) today. Only two were called...bit of a technology fail at the 'Gabba! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 2 hours ago, Paxter said: ETA: And oh dear...is Stokes in trouble injury wise? This could be one of those 400/1 days after all @Jeor! Only my man Marnus gave away his wicket to Leach with a loose cut shot. 2/185 now but with Warner and Smith at the crease, England still can't be feeling too good. That straightforward dropped slips catch off Warner on 48 is going to hurt them even more as he marches towards a century (maybe I'll jinx him!). It seems that despite his form trouble etc, when he's back on Australian soil Warner appears invincible. Bowled off a no-ball, dropped in the slips, it's a bit of an old-time feel to this England team. They're better than that but they'll have to pick themselves up from this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 38 minutes ago, Jeor said: Only my man Marnus gave away his wicket to Leach with a loose cut shot. 2/185 now but with Warner and Smith at the crease, England still can't be feeling too good. That straightforward dropped slips catch off Warner on 48 is going to hurt them even more as he marches towards a century (maybe I'll jinx him!). It seems that despite his form trouble etc, when he's back on Australian soil Warner appears invincible. Bowled off a no-ball, dropped in the slips, it's a bit of an old-time feel to this England team. They're better than that but they'll have to pick themselves up from this. Are they better than this? This England team did just lose to NZ at home (first time in 20 years) and India at home (first time in 35 years).* *ETA: OK technically we don’t know the result of that series yet… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 Haha. My curse working well again. Sorry Davey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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