Ashes - First Test

[chef]

Re: Ashes - First Test

What's with Australia wearing white? Very disapointing.

They aren't are they, they look like creams to me.

[The Coon Dog]

Re: Ashes - First Test

Good fightback by the English today. Looked down & out yesterday. Can't see them declaring & giving the Aussies a sniff. A draw, which would be a moral victory in a sense for the tourists.

[chef]

Re: Ashes - First Test

Good fightback by the English today. Looked down & out yesterday. Can't see them declaring & giving the Aussies a sniff. A draw, which would be a moral victory in a sense for the tourists.

Me neither, with back to back tests they will be looking to keep us in the field for as long as possible.

[chef]

Re: Ashes - First Test

Harris pushing his claims for a spot in the next test with a 4 wicket haul today against the Vics.

[Bornadog]

Re: Ashes - First Test

Harris pushing his claims for a spot in the next test with a 4 wicket haul today against the Vics.

Johnson is the one that must go. If Dougie performs well in WA he may get the nod.

[chef]

Re: Ashes - First Test

Johnson is the one that must go. If Dougie performs well in WA he may get the nod.

Yeah, I would be happy with either of them in the next test side for Johnson.

[anfo27]

Re: Ashes - First Test

A bit annoyed with the poms today. They had us on the back foot and could have really come out after tea with a more aggresive approach with a view to maybe trying to sneak a win here. I'm not saying there tactics were wrong but more that it made for a boring session after tea. I think the great thing about our teams in the past is that they always played to win and that always made for attractive test cricket. Whereas the poms look like their first objective is to avoid defeat, again i'm not saying their tactics are wrong but just too conservative for my liking.

[Topdog]

Re: Ashes - First Test

A bit annoyed with the poms today. They had us on the back foot and could have really come out after tea with a more aggresive approach with a view to maybe trying to sneak a win here. I'm not saying there tactics were wrong but more that it made for a boring session after tea. I think the great thing about our teams in the past is that they always played to win and that always made for attractive test cricket. Whereas the poms look like their first objective is to avoid defeat, again i'm not saying their tactics are wrong but just too conservative for my liking.

England first innings.
(3.38 runs per over)

Australia first innings.
(3.03 runs per over)

England second innings
(3.05 runs per over)

They made 290 runs yesterday. On the 2nd day of this match Australia made 185.

That first innings was terrible by Australia.

[Mantis]

Re: Ashes - First Test

They made 290 runs yesterday. On the 2nd day of this match Australia made 185.

That first innings was terrible by Australia.

We did lose some time through bad light/ rain, but there should be no excuse for the way a few of our batters performed... looking at you in particular Mr. Clarke, 9 off 50 balls in 76 min... you're kidding yourself.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Ashes - First Test

A bit annoyed with the poms today. They had us on the back foot and could have really come out after tea with a more aggresive approach with a view to maybe trying to sneak a win here. I'm not saying there tactics were wrong but more that it made for a boring session after tea. I think the great thing about our teams in the past is that they always played to win and that always made for attractive test cricket. Whereas the poms look like their first objective is to avoid defeat, again i'm not saying their tactics are wrong but just too conservative for my liking.

This is a ridiculous post which shows almost no understanding of Test cricket whatsoever and someone who has been brought up on a diet of mickey mouse 20/20 and ODI batting.

England were 200+ runs behind after the 1st innings, with Australia having all the momentum -- their first priority was getting level and then going ahead without losing wickets as they were still in danger of losing. Can't imagine a much better approach than that taken by the England bats -- risk free play, solid defense, yet looking to score off the pedestrian balls (of which there were many). Perfect tactics, killed the match while still scoring well enough to potentially set up a 5th day win (unlikely). Yet, you are suggesting they throw their bats to improve their already reasonable run-rate and potentially get bowled out to lose by an innings? I guess it's understandable for a generation raised under the non-tactical brain of one Ricky Ponting. England aren't a team of brilliant players (only no.4 Test Nation) so played within their abilities to maximise the situation, rather than trying to over-reach and get destroyed. If Australia could do the same (play within our abilities rather than still believing we are the dominant team from 5 years ago) we may be better than the no.5 Test country.

Plenty of teams have come here and been bowled out cheaply (especially at the Gabba, which is a fortress) -- so they combined solid defense with good shotmaking and neutralised a difficult situation. Their priority is to win the Ashes, not entertain those wanting a 20-20 exhibition. Perfect Test cricket, can't see how anyone can complain about such a brilliant show of top-class all-round batting.

[Mantis]

Re: Ashes - First Test

^^^

If you look at a breakdown of England's scoring yesterday you can see that their post-tea run/rate did drop below what was reached in the previous 2 sessions:

pre-lunch - 116 runs, 31 overs = 3.7
lunch-tea - 113 runs, 32 overs = 3.5
post-tea - 71 runs, 23 overs = 3.1

I guess the point 'anfo' was making was that if they lifted this scoring rate to over 4 in the last session they might have been able to set the Aussies a run chase at some point today, but going off for bad light and missing out on another 30min of play probably put pay to this anyway.

Agree that it's been a very good fight-back by the Poms and leaves the Aussies with some decisions to make.

[chef]

Re: Ashes - First Test

Michael Clarke WTF. Second dropped catch in the innings, the first one was hard but that was a sitter.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Ashes - First Test

^^^

If you look at a breakdown of England's scoring yesterday you can see that their post-tea run/rate did drop below what was reached in the previous 2 sessions:

pre-lunch - 116 runs, 31 overs = 3.7
lunch-tea - 113 runs, 32 overs = 3.5
post-tea - 71 runs, 23 overs = 3.1

I guess the point 'anfo' was making was that if they lifted this scoring rate to over 4 in the last session they might have been able to set the Aussies a run chase at some point today, but going off for bad light and missing out on another 30min of play probably put pay to this anyway.

Agree that it's been a very good fight-back by the Poms and leaves the Aussies with some decisions to make.

Surely that drop in run rate had more to do with the fact that a wicket fell? Trott came out and still had a lot of work to do and decided to protect his wicket rather than counter-attack too much (although he was still scoring regularly). The chance of winning is so slim anyway, why would he risk exposing the middle order so soon after the fall of a wicket and risk handing the momentum back to us? The Poms are the holders of the Ashes -- they only need to level the series to retain it. The prerogative to win is on us, so to lambast a team for batting 'slowly' on hostile territory at a ground no one has beaten the Aussies at for over 20 years is ridiculous.

It would be like us criticising Steve Waugh for playing a captain's knock and surviving an onslaught from India's quicks in Mumbai on day 4 when he came on with Australia down 200 runs on Day 4 and in danger of an innings defeat and all momentum going India's way -- they should be praised for steadying the ship, not blasted for not scoring quickly enough (especially when they did!)

Not every opener is Matthew Hayden. (And even Haydos had to change his style and become more defensive to survive over in England towards the end of his career.)

[chef]

Re: Ashes - First Test

How has Johnson lost the ability to bowl at 150km/H?

[mighty_west]

Re: Ashes - First Test

Michael Clarke WTF. Second dropped catch in the innings, the first one was hard but that was a sitter.

That drop wasn't shocking, it was disgusting, total lack of concentration, Watson gave him a look as well.