ljkeane Posted July 9, 2023 Share Posted July 9, 2023 (edited) First surprise of the day with Moeen Ali coming in at 3. Is Ali in current form a better batsman than Brook? No, but Brook’s technique as it currently stands really doesn’t suit batting at 3 for me. Moeen’s doesn’t either really but at least he’s got a bit more experience there and, honestly, if we’re going to waste a batsman playing out of position up the order probably better Ali than Brook. Edited July 9, 2023 by ljkeane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted July 9, 2023 Share Posted July 9, 2023 England definitely the favourites here, though I expect Australia might give them a scare as they get there. Still, a 2-1 series score is probably a fairer reflection of how things have gone. Australia gave away a few opportunities to go ahead in this game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted July 9, 2023 Share Posted July 9, 2023 This could be a crucial blow with Starc dismissing Stokes and Bairstow in quick succession. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted July 9, 2023 Share Posted July 9, 2023 Definitely a wobble but Woakes has steadied the ship here. I think Australia were always around 50 runs short of a par target. The loss of Lyon was a huge blow for this match - he would have been perfect for protecting a chase and tempting the lower order batsmen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted July 9, 2023 Share Posted July 9, 2023 12 minutes ago, Jeor said: Definitely a wobble but Woakes has steadied the ship here. I think Australia were always around 50 runs short of a par target. The loss of Lyon was a huge blow for this match - he would have been perfect for protecting a chase and tempting the lower order batsmen. Cummins seems reluctant to bowl Murphy, I am sure Lyon would have had plenty of overs by now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Winged Shadow Posted July 9, 2023 Share Posted July 9, 2023 Maybe a bit too late to turn to Murphy. But on the other hand it seems like he does trust him (rather than other way around, if he never bowled). Having said that, probably a worthy gamble considering pace bowling was handled with ease and if England try to do dumb things, this could end up working. Either way, this looks pretty much done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted July 9, 2023 Share Posted July 9, 2023 So England did manage to get it done in the end. They very nearly fucked it up though. I thought the first test was a bit of a missed opportunity but if England hadn't won this one it would have been a massive let down. I must admit I spent the whole time England were within 112 runs thinking this would be over by now if Root had only taken that Marsh chance in the first innings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Winged Shadow Posted July 9, 2023 Share Posted July 9, 2023 (edited) Good match in the end. Lots of ups and down. But Australia didn't bat well enough nor field well enough to win. The young England batters would gain a lot of confidence from this match, they did well that second innings and carried it home (without relying too much on Root/Stokes). Edited July 9, 2023 by The Winged Shadow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted July 9, 2023 Share Posted July 9, 2023 Yes, a good win by England even though there were a few stumbles along the way. Both sides will like having a break before the next match - Australia to regather themselves and stop the momentum shift, England to let their wounded warriors heal and rest up. Sets up the last two matches in this series well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 England win the toss and bowl. I'm not a huge fan of this England lineup. It feels like we're very dependent on it swinging going with both Woakes and Anderson. If we don't get early wickets today there's a good chance it's going badly wrong. Also Ali at 3 really seems like it's about him being willing to stick his hand up and take one for the team rather than it being a particularly good idea. On top of that Bairstow still keeping just isn't a good idea. I understand why they started the series like that but, understandably with him coming back from a serious leg injury, it hasn't worked and it seems to be bleeding into his batting. On the other hand I don't particularly like the team Australia have gone with either. Two allrounders seems a little conservative and no spinner at Old Trafford doesn't seem like a good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Winged Shadow Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 Yeah, Bairstow's keeping has been awful. Very noticeable this series. Leg injury kinda explains it, wasn't aware of that one. Cummins is over reliant on pace bowling. His utilization of spin bowling leaves a lot to be desired. Even with Lyon, never felt that he quite trusted him as a main threat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 Not having a spinner at Old Trafford is definitely odd, but I think the Aussies must have looked at the weather forecast (which seems particularly grim for Days 4 and 5) and thought it probably won't matter too much. In terms of handling spinners, Cummins has gotten better at relying on Nathan Lyon but as I think most captains would, isn't the best at trusting a young up and coming spinner especially when the opposition is being aggressive. I still don't get England's aversion to using both Tongue and Wood. Pace has been shown to trouble Australia and both of them have it in spades. I know they're worried about the batting lineup (hence the inclusion of Woakes instead) but I still think it would have been worth it. As it is, I think they've stacked the bowling too much (Anderson, Broad, Wood, Woakes, Moeen) and they're clearly compensating and planning for Stokes not bowling. Australia have gone the other way around and strengthened the batting but I'm not sure Marsh/Green will really be able to be that menacing as a combined fourth seam option. That being said, it would have been hard to leave out Marsh and they clearly planned for Green to be a permanent fixture in the side, and with the weak batting performance vs Wood the selectors obviously thought they needed a bit more batting depth. The forecast doesn't look great so this could be set for a draw, but with Australia's scoring rate (and England's likely rate) there could be a result even if the last two days are pretty rain affected. England win a fourth toss in a row...but if the sun stays out Australia won't mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 Not a bad day for England but again it doesn't feel like it's gone quite to plan having won the toss. Putting Australia in to bat you'd have to think England were looking to bowl them out cheaply today and give themselves a chance to win the test in three days. That doesn't seem to be on the cards and there wasn't a huge amount of swing again so going with Anderson and Woakes looks the wrong call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 England slowly inching in front in this match. Australia's batting was a big disappointment - lots of starts and actually reasonably good conditions for batting for once, but no one went on with a big score. They seemed to bat better against Wood but then Woakes popped up with a five wicket haul. It looked like 400 was a par score but they're about 100 runs short of what they should have achieved. England have opened up fairly brightly and it's another good day for batting. With weather set to wreak havoc on the last couple of days of the Test, they'll be wanting a big first innings score, bat through today and a bit of next, score 450+ and then bowl Australia out without a chase, especially if they can get some rain-interrupted overs in which will be hard for the Aussie bats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Winged Shadow Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 Australia is bowling some proper rubbish for the field they have set up. Bowling at the stumps but the field isn't set up for that. Fraustrating to watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 Australia a shadow of their usual selves without Lyon. This is an amazing opportunity for England to get a huge lead and boss the test match. #Paxter's Curse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 Run rate for the Crawley/Root partnership is nearly 10! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 Credit to Ali, I didn't think it was going to work out with him at three but a really good effort from him. Crawley's been good throughout the series but good to see him picking a hundred to go with that good form. Very poor day for Australia though. Cummins hasn't had a good day as captain and not selecting a spinner is starting to look a really bad call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 Looks like england are gonna bat australia out of any hope for a win Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 I'm just starting to try and get into the cricket again. One thing I've always wondered is what's up with the pitch. All those different coloured strips of grass. Do they cut and move the wickets about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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