Ashes 2019

[marjamlew]

Joe Root B grader - no heart.

[Barney]

Quote
Crystal ball says a very interesting day but all roads lead to an Aussie victory with the Aussies having a couple of quiet pints in the local before a healthy ploughman’s lunch for dinner with England licking their wounds for the last session.

The crystal ball never fails.....most days
‘Say no more’



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[marjamlew]

How good was that? The GOAT was on fire and Cummings was irresistible. Apart form Roy the Poms didn't play bad shots - they were got out by great bowling that they just didn't have the ability or the game to handle. They crumbled like a deck of cards.

[goodison]

Thanks for your synopsis Mark, How you got a goat and a deck of cards in there beggars belief!

[samster]

We were s***.

[saint]

Credit where credits due , the colonials did well ,England caved , and they didnt even need to cheat !

[Barney]

Aussies head to Worcester next to take in their team. Do not know enough about Worcester( will look them up), but will be interesting who gets a game. The batsmen should all play to try for some form. Starc will get a run for sure. He’ll be fired up and I wouldn’t want to be Worcester’s openers.
No idea where to Poms are or what practice they have prior to the 2nd test.
Thorpe the English batting coach has to take some responsibility for the terrible showing by the batsmen at was formally called FORTRESS Edgbaston, if he did offer advice it was not listened to.
Smith certainly took the loud mouths out of the game by the end of day 4.
Only 4 more victories and we will have that whitewash.


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[stattointhailand]

Worcs are 9th out of 10 in County Champ Division 2 (92 pts) Barney, having won 2 of their 10 games so far this season Div 2 leaders Lancashire have 157pts. Suspect that the main X1 will be given time off to relax during this one

[Barney]

Worcs are 9th out of 10 in County Champ Division 2 (92 pts) Barney, having won 2 of their 10 games so far this season Div 2 leaders Lancashire have 157pts. Suspect that the main X1 will be given time off to relax during this one

Statts
Worcester are on the ropes but as a young team, a number have played for England’s U/19 side, they will certainly have some future memories to share over a pint. Having faced Starc and Hazelwood is a memory for ever. Won’t get that pace in the local comp. They are just some fodder for the Aussies to blow some cobwebs out. Hope they can play some shots today and maybe get a decent bruise or 2 from our quicks to show their mates they had the guts to face 140k plus bowling. Even the bowlers can say they had a crack at Travis Head on his way to a hundred.
Good on em.


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[Barney]

Ian Chappell has provided a totally unbiased and accurate assessment of the poms for the next test match....

Quote
England have neither the ability or patience to get Steve Smith out and could lose the Ashes 5-0, former Australian captain Ian Chappell says.

Chappell lashed England after their dismal 251-run loss in the first Test at Edgbaston, where Smith made twin centuries (144 and 142) in his return to the baggy green.

The home side have called-up paceman Jofra Archer for his debut in the second Test at Lord's, hoping that he can rattle the champion batsman.

Chappell said on Sports Sunday that is was a forlorn hope, after England proved themselves incapable in the series opener. The former Australian captain said that Stuart Broad had bowled a single over that troubled Smith, briefly hitting a good length on off-stump early on day four.

"They couldn't find a way through him out here, the last Ashes series in Australia, and it looks like in that interim period they haven't discovered anything else," Chappell said.
"They either can't or they haven't got the patience to keep sticking at it.

"It's like as a batsman, you get a really good spell of bowling coming at you and you think to yourself, 'Right, I've just got to see this out; if I can see this out, things will get better'. Sometimes you've got to do the same as a bowler, particularly if you're up against someone like Smith.

"I don't think England have either got the ability or the patience to do it. Archer's a very good cricketer ... he might trouble Smith with a few short ones, but it's a major problem.

"I can see a 5-0 coming up here.

"I said before the series that I thought it England lost the first Test, they could crumble very quickly. We saw them crumble out here and we've seen that happen a couple of times. I can see it happening again, as long as weather doesn't intervene."
Chappell said that despite Australia falling to 8-122 in the first innings at Edgbaston, England clearly had the weaker batting line-up. He said that Australia's batting wasn't necessarily all about Smith.

"(David) Warner's a very good player," Chappell said.

"If you're nervous about the Australian batting line-up, if you were English, you would be extremely nervous about the English batting line-up. They've got about three, maybe four one-day batsmen in a Test side and they wonder why they can't bat out a day to save the game."
Chappell said that while he would have retained axed pacemen Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood for the first Test, their omission was at least a sign of Australia's ruthlessness. He said that England never showed strength with its selections.

The home side have called upon quick Jofra Archer to replace injured spearhead James Anderson, while left-arm spinner Jack Leach comes in for the horribly out-of-form Moeen Ali.

"I would've had Starc in the first Test," Chappell said.

"And also, everyone's jumping up and down about the job (Peter) Siddle did, and he did a very good job. But does anyone think Josh Hazlewood wouldn't have done the same thing?

"Josh is a very, very accurate bowler, a bit quicker than Siddle. It was a gutsy move - and this is a thing about Australian selection.
"Australian selection historically will be much more ruthless than any other team. What other country would leave out Starc and Hazlewood?

"What other country would drop Steve Waugh and Mark Taylor when they're captains? What other country would do that?

"England should have been a bit more ruthless with their second Test selection, which tells me that either they're not going to be ruthless, or they haven't got much (else).

"Leach I don't think is going to be much better than Moeen Ali. In fact, if I was an England selector, as much as it would pain me to do it, I'd go without a spinner and I'd play (Sam) Curran and Jofra Archer.

"But their selectors are not ruthless; as are none of the other countries, apart from Australia."

[Barney]

The 2nd test will be a red day on day 2 for the Ruth Strauss Foundation. Good idea to use a sporting event to raise money to assist people going through the same stress that the Strauss family went through.
Red caps for the players, red stumps and hopefully a red crowd.

[Barney]

Any UM members got any reliable info on the weather for the 2nd test.
Maybe someone is at the ground.
Rumours are strong that rain will affect the game?

[stattointhailand]

From the ground Barney .....

"9.35am: Morning all, and welcome to our coverage of the Lord's Ashes Test. O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Sadly it's already raining heavily at Lord's, so we might have to make our own entertainment this morning."


BTW That excuse for a Welsh church ....... Ian whatsisname is a right bloomin' numpty
Fancy predicting 5 - 0 didnt he notice that the Aussies won the first test, so 4 - 1 is the maximum we can win by

[Barney]

From the ground Barney .....

"9.35am: Morning all, and welcome to our coverage of the Lord's Ashes Test. O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Sadly it's already raining heavily at Lord's, so we might have to make our own entertainment this morning."

Thanks
Toss today would be a tough decision for the capt who calls correctly. Could be a send opposition in call.

Unfortunate, sounds like the crowd can only sit and drink.


Bob Helm's name was mentioned recently, he is missed on the cricket threads and was always knowledgeable for the cricket and gave totally unbiased opinions like myself.

[stattointhailand]

Set up team for a FOUR day game at most

[marjamlew]

Got a couple of mates who flew over on the weekend to tick Lords off the bucket list. Long way to go to sit in the rain.

[stattointhailand]

Cricinfo sums it up

:Steve: "For those new to test cricket, here is The 5 stages of (rain delay) grief. 1. Denial - you believe the rain will stop any minute and play will start. 2. Anger - you swear and tweet about English weather. 3. Bargaining - you msg cricinfo for a weather update and ask about rules for making up lost overs. 4. Depression - you hate the world because cricket was meant to be your highlight today. 5. Acceptance - you stop refreshing cricinfo every 2 mins, and go do some mundane non-cricket related task."

[stattointhailand]

Lunch on day 1, and you have to say the Aussies have ridden their luck ........ not sure either opener even SAW any of Jofra's deliveries let alone played them

[stattointhailand]

Update:-

"2.12pm: There be ANOTHER INSPECTION at 2.30pm. Gah! Some concern over sections of the outfield, so the umpires will retreat to the pavilion and leave the groundstaff to continue mopping up for a bit longer.

"Sorry to be harbinger of doom but it will be raining again by 14:45," grouses Peter Davis. This is not your first rodeo, eh

And Joe isn't holding out much hope either: "More rain headed to Lords"

[stattointhailand]

4.20pm Play has been abandoned for the day. We will start at 11am tomorrow, weather permitting, with time being added onto each day. Because the toss didn't take place it's now a four-day Test with a follow-on of 150. The forecast is better tomorrow which is good news. Later in the game a bit more dodgy but we'll keep our fingers crossed.

First blood to Engerlund ...... kept smiffy quiet all day