ljkeane Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 In fairness Steve Smith's actually looked pretty good, it's quite odd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maltaran Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 :(I'm going to try and use my powers for the side of Good next time Australia step up to bat.Stop speeding things up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Ok that may have been my fault.England looking like they might fall well short of a decent score on this pitch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xray the Enforcer Posted July 18, 2013 Author Share Posted July 18, 2013 What the effing eff? I go to a yoga class for an hour and another three wickets gone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereward Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 What the effing eff? I go to a yoga class for an hour and another three wickets gone?It was Alex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 England looking shaky here...I really don't like Root opening the batting. Compton where are you!?I agree, the experiment with Root opening the batting has yet to work, he looked more comfortable batting in the middle order.Overall, Australia must be the happier of the two teams since England appear to have wasted a good batting pitch with some shaky top order batting and some poor shot selection (Trott and Bairstow's dismissals were particularly painful, especially since they'd been batting well before that). On the other hand, it's always good to have some runs on the board and even if England seem to be heading for a below-par score they know Australian batsmen who are short on confidence could give an opportunity for a first innings lead if they bowl well enough.Michael Holding is my hero. The Windies v England series in 76(?) is one of my first memories of watching the whole game. This still makes me shudder:It does seem bizarre looking back at those old games with the batsmen facing ferocious fast bowling without any helmet or other protective equipment.Consecutive hundreds for Bell. Honestly I was a bit concerned about his form going into the series but fairplay to him that's two important contributions in a row.He was barely talked about in the build-up to the series, all the talk seemed to be about the other batsmen, but it looks like this might be the Ashes series he's remembered for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alester Florent Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 He was barely talked about in the build-up to the series, all the talk seemed to be about the other batsmen, but it looks like this might be the Ashes series he's remembered for.It'll probably depend on who wins the series, of course... In 2009 Clarke had an awesome series with the bat, but Australia lost so that's that. Not that the 2009 series was particularly memorable anyway except for a couple of desperate moments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arya_underfoot Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Just saw the highlights- Bairstow must still be crying! Keep up the jinxing, English persons.Hopefully, the fast bowlers can mop up the tail quickly tonight and get our opening batsmen in. The pitch looks beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 It'll probably depend on who wins the series, of course... In 2009 Clarke had an awesome series with the bat, but Australia lost so that's that. Not that the 2009 series was particularly memorable anyway except for a couple of desperate moments.Bell actually had a pretty good series in 2010/11, it was just somewhat overshadowed by the mountain of runs Cook scored. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delete this account pls Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Bell usually does pretty well against us, IIRC. Never spectacularly, but he's usually very solid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Bell usually does pretty well against us, IIRC. Never spectacularly, but he's usually very solid. Yeah, the 2005 Ashes hurts his numbers (I think he scored two half centuries in 10 innings and averaged less than 20), but since then he's been much more solid.I actually think that England are ahead here. As Will mentioned, runs on the board are key, and England have those, even if it's not as many as they would have liked. Australia did a good job with the ball, but the weakness in our batting means that we really can't afford an England first innings score of 300+, which they look on track to be getting. Not to mention that Bresnan, Broad and Swann have enough between them to still drag England to 400 if they really apply themselves.I feel our batting has potential (esp. Rogers, Watson, Clarke, and even Smith and Hughes got half centuries last Test) but we need them to hit form together so that we can string together a few partnerships instead of relying on one big hit like Agar. England have shown that they can build an innings based on a few different partnerships (eg Bell-Trott and Bairstow-Bell) which means they can put together a respectable score even when they lose a few wickets in bunches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arya_underfoot Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 I feel our batting has potential (esp. Rogers, Watson, Clarke, and even Smith and Hughes got half centuries last Test) but we need them to hit form together so that we can string together a few partnerships instead of relying on one big hit like Agar. England have shown that they can build an innings based on a few different partnerships (eg Bell-Trott and Bairstow-Bell) which means they can put together a respectable score even when they lose a few wickets in bunches.Essentially Clarke needs to score big for Australia to be competitive. The difference in the first test was the lack of a Clarke contribution. Here, faced with a bigger total, the other batsmen just need to find a way of occupying the crease and enable Clarke to find some form. I found it interesting that Bell get out at the first sight of a legspinner. It must be something psychological because he handled the ball going away from the bat from Agar pretty comfortably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex. Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 The Guardian just stuck up a picture of a Lords ticket which made me chuckle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Pattinson has served up rubbish so far in this Test. He's going to need a big second innings performance otherwise I think his spot will go to Starc or Bird next match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xray the Enforcer Posted July 19, 2013 Author Share Posted July 19, 2013 Did Bresnan really go out on the very first ball of the day? (looking at the commentary -- was asleep when Day 2 started) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stubby Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 The Guardian just stuck up a picture of a Lords ticket which made me chuckleNice one.On Bell, the commentators said last night that he is only the fourth English batsman to make hundreds in three consecutive Ashes tests now. The first was In Sydney during the last Ashes test before Trent Bridge. Fair play that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 England are out, but the damage was done by that last partnership. 361 is a decent enough score.Heh. To add fuel to the fire, Broad reviews the last wicket even though he knows he's hit the ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xray the Enforcer Posted July 19, 2013 Author Share Posted July 19, 2013 And England all-out.Quick dumb question: does each team get two reviews per Test, or two reviews per innings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex. Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Ha, Broad reviewed it. Nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maltaran Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Two per innings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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