IheartIheartTesla Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 I dont think England were ahead most of the time though. The only time they truly were was at the end of both first innings. I'd say it was mostly at parity and the small margins made a difference (such as the declaration lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freshwater Spartan Posted June 24, 2023 Share Posted June 24, 2023 Tough loss by West Indies to Zimbabwe. Too nervous down the stretch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted June 24, 2023 Share Posted June 24, 2023 England have added Rehan Ahmed to their squad as spinning cover for Moeen. He's certainly a talent with a lot of potential but not exactly a like-for-life replacement for Leach/Moeen. 3 hours ago, Freshwater Spartan said: Tough loss by West Indies to Zimbabwe. Too nervous down the stretch. They've still got more opportunities in the qualifying tournament but if they don't make it it is going to be weird having a World Cup without the Windies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freshwater Spartan Posted June 26, 2023 Share Posted June 26, 2023 (edited) Interesting day in the qualifiers. Team USA (not surprisingly) lose but in the most lopsided fashioned I've ever seen to Zimbabwe. It looked like West Indies was going to choke spectacularly in the last over but some how hold on to win by a run. Crazy game. Edit.... Some kind of call over turned as I walked away. The thing went to Super- over. Of course Netherlands hitting like crazy. Choke is still on. Double edit. Choke is complete. Damn this game of cricket. I need to go back to watching baseball. Edited June 26, 2023 by Freshwater Spartan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Posted June 27, 2023 Share Posted June 27, 2023 Not great is it williamjm 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted June 28, 2023 Share Posted June 28, 2023 Second Test about to begin in a few hours. Will be interesting to see whether Starc or Boland get the nod. The odd thing about Bazball is that it means the Australian bowlers haven't had to get through many overs whereas the English attack had to bowl a lot more. Also I wonder if Smith/Labuschagne will bounce back or if this is the start of a general decline for them (Labuschagne hasn't scored much in his last few Tests). A lot has been made of the fact they only made 35 runs in four innings last Test, which is unheard of over the past 4 years. Australian batting lineups have generally looked a bit fragile in England over the past 20 years. While Khawaja has picked up the slack so far, and they got away with it last Test, Australia really do need Smith/Labuschagne to score to have any consistent chance of winning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted June 28, 2023 Share Posted June 28, 2023 Starc comes in for Boland. A bit odd given that the wicket looks green and Boland has a bit of a McGrath-esque quality and McGrath reigned supreme at Lords. Anyway, I doubt Starc will do a bad job and there's no doubt he shores up the batting order a bit more pushing Cummins down to 9. England win the toss and bowl first. Aussies will have some trepidation facing Broad/Anderson on this wicket first up with a bit of life in it due to the dampness. This could be a quickfire first innings for both teams... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted June 28, 2023 Share Posted June 28, 2023 And that's actually part of what makes this Test series interesting, I think. Both teams have strong bowling attacks and some question marks in the batting lineups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted June 28, 2023 Share Posted June 28, 2023 2 minutes ago, Jeor said: Starc comes in for Boland. A bit odd given that the wicket looks green and Boland has a bit of a McGrath-esque quality and McGrath reigned supreme at Lords. I don't know. I think Australia got it wrong going with both Hazlewood and Boland in the first test. They're both excellent bowlers but their skill of nagging away at a length does somewhat play into England wanting to disrupt things by knocking them off that length. The variety of Starc (and his targeting the stumps) is probably more of an issue for the Bazball gameplan. I think it was always going to be Starc in for someone, it was just a question of who. England replace Ali with Josh Tongue. He did quite well in the Ireland test but that doesn't feel ideal on a number of fronts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted June 28, 2023 Share Posted June 28, 2023 Yes, I suppose on the variety front Starc does offer more than Boland. I just don't think of Lords as a generally swinging pitch so much as a seamer's paradise. Anyway, it looks like conditions are going to be helpful for bowling whoever it is, and Australia aren't exactly making a bad decision by making a change to get someone like Starc in. The stop-start first session will be helping England. They need to be careful about managing their bowlers' workload in this series, what with Stokes needing to limit his bowling as an all-rounder, and Broad and Anderson having plenty of mileage in their careers, and no spinner to eat up overs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted June 28, 2023 Share Posted June 28, 2023 This is a very good start for Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted June 28, 2023 Share Posted June 28, 2023 Yup great start for the Aussies. They should be able to rack up a big score today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted June 28, 2023 Share Posted June 28, 2023 Couple of quick wickets by Joe Root has England back in the game but Australia will be very happy with that first day - 339 for 5 with Smith still in. After bowling first that is not what England will have wanted. Travis Head showing Australia's own version of Bazball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted June 28, 2023 Share Posted June 28, 2023 I don’t know about England being back in the game. That’s an absolute disaster of a day for England considering they won the toss, even the Root wickets at the end aren’t that encouraging considering England went with four (and a half?) seamers who took 3 wickets between them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted June 28, 2023 Share Posted June 28, 2023 England are definitely behind the 8 ball, but I think Root's wickets have stopped them from losing control entirely. There's still a chance they could come back and bowl Australia out for 400ish, and we saw in the First Test that a first innings score of that size wasn't insurmountable. A lot will depend on how Australia bowl in the first innings. Batting first is now an advantage for them given they have Lyon in the fold and might get a first innings lead, and England's inability to make use of bowling first may become a growing factor in the match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted June 29, 2023 Share Posted June 29, 2023 (edited) Skipping down the pitch to Lyon seem generally ill advised. Better day for England but not picking a frontline spinner is looking like it’s going to be a problem. Admittedly I might have done the same. ETA: And now Lyon’s pulled up with what looks a fairly serious injury. That’s a massive blow potentially. ETA2: Ffs Pope. ETA3: Ffs England. Root’s got a reprieve off a no ball but Lyon’s just gone down injured. If the Australian quicks want to grind themselves into the ground bowling all short balls just let them. Edited June 29, 2023 by ljkeane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IheartIheartTesla Posted June 29, 2023 Share Posted June 29, 2023 England on track to get to a thousand runs based on their current situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted June 29, 2023 Share Posted June 29, 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted June 29, 2023 Share Posted June 29, 2023 That was infuriating. Engand letting Aus back in needlessly. The Lyon injury is potentially massive and England had the chance to tire out the quicks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted June 29, 2023 Share Posted June 29, 2023 Lyon is the biggest difference between the sides. This could be circa 2005...Australia leading 1-0 and looking good, before an injury to a key bowler in the 2nd Test starts to make things interesting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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