Ashes - Part 2...

[BroxburnHibee]

England throwing it away again

207-7

[Haymaker]

Well this is bollocks.

[BroxburnHibee]

3rd day ends on 235-3

Aussies will bat till lunchtime then let them try and see out a day and a half. Never gonna happen.

[Aldo]

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England throwing it away again 207-7

He he another capitulation.

Whitewash in cards

He he

[marinello59]

Just as I started typing that it was good to see Bell and Stokes batting well Bell went. Oh well.

[GhostofBolivar]

That's that.

Didn't even make tea.

A pitiful capitulation by England -the only thing they've got to play for now are their careers.

[MB62]

The RetURN of the URN

Go on the Aussie's, make it a Famous Five

[IWasThere2016]

BOOOOOOOM! All over .. Aussies win the Ashes.

It's 3-0 - will it be 5-0? Is this appropriate? --->

Gonna be a hoot listening to some of those 'knowledgeable' English commentators eating the old humble pie

Fitting Johnson took the final wicket.

Only thing England can be proud of is the Barmy Army in great voice until the end.

Sweet! Pleasing! The lot

[derekHFC]

Beefy ate a bit humble pie this morning when he said; "I did say it would be 5-0, I just picked the wrong team".

[Stonewall]

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BOOOOOOOM! All over .. Aussies win the Ashes.

It's 3-0 - will it be 5-0? Is this appropriate? --->

Gonna be a hoot listening to some of those 'knowledgeable' English commentators eating the old humble pie

Fitting Johnson took the final wicket.

Only thing England can be proud of is the Barmy Army in great voice until the end.

Sweet! Pleasing! The lot

Boycott's been terrific though. Straight to the point and telling it like it is.

[--------]

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BOOOOOOOM! All over .. Aussies win the Ashes.

It's 3-0 - will it be 5-0? Is this appropriate? --->

Gonna be a hoot listening to some of those 'knowledgeable' English commentators eating the old humble pie

Fitting Johnson took the final wicket.

Only thing England can be proud of is the Barmy Army in great voice until the end.

Sweet! Pleasing! The lot

No, Stokes played an exceptional innings, way above the quality and responsibility shown by some of the senior players.

I think it was significant that the Australians applauded his 100 and then applauded him as he walked off after his dismissal.

Bresnan and Carberry I thought at least were trying to play.

The big questions raised by these matches (in my opinion) are over Cook's captaincy and the attitude of certain senior players.

Cook seems to have been unable to get his senior players to play a team game - Pietersen's the obvious example, but Bell and Prior have been dismissed time and again playing inappropriate and irresponsible shots, Broad has been less than focussed, and Cook himself seems to have allowed the concerns of captaincy to affect his personal game to the point where his performance in this last test was pathetic. Bell's an accomplished batsman but I'm not convinced of his character; same goes for Pietersen - and on an Ashes tour character counts.

Why play Swann at the WACA? Why not give one of the younger pace bowlers - Rankin? - a chance on a wicket that would have suited him? Why play Prior? They don't have another wicketkeeper? Is Bairstow just along for a holiday? Would Rankin and Bairstow have done any worse than the players who had failed in the first two tests? What about Finn?

How long do you keep picking players who obviously care much more about their own careers and their sponsorship deals and media deals than they care about the team?

England got exactly what they deserved, and I'm lovin' it.

I truly like watching cricket in a non-partisan spirit, but I cannot like this England team no matter how much I try, and they give me little or no incentive to try very hard at all.

[Mibbes Aye]

And now Swann has gone - there may be serious underlying reasons we are not privy to, but it does feel like bad form to quit the sinking ship mid-tour, especially after Trott's departure. I'm struggling to imagine an Australian doing that. Curious as well given that we've done the Gabba and WACA, leaving the MCG and SCG to play which would almost certainly be more sympathetic pitches for Swann.

He's definitely been targeted and suffered as a consequence and it's equally likely he would have been flayed in Melbourne and Sydney though. Doesn't bode well for the English, given a couple of the others are similarly marked men.

Well over 200 wickets with an average (admittedly only just) in the twenties is a great record, as well as Ashes successes that disrupted a long period of Aussie dominance so he deserves some respect.

Difficult loss to the England spine though, and with a good few of their stalwarts both ageing and losing form, it's not a bright future........

[BroxburnHibee]

Absolute shambles of a series for England

Maybe Swann always intended to retire so decided to get home for Christmas.

Think in the months/years ahead it will all come out - personally I think Pietersons inclusion has rocked the boat badly for them.

[--------]

Better start for England this time, though Root's looking shaky.

OOPS! Spoke too soon. Carberry and now Root have gone - 3 for 108.


Good grief! Strauss and Warne are a pair of Olympic-class bores. Not a glimmer of a sense of humour in either of them. And neither of them bright enough to realise that the essence of a good commentator is to say as little as possible and let the action speak for itself. Who cares about which particular mate Warnie had over for a barbie yesterday?

Not a patch on Nasser and Bumble.

Or the TMS crowd.

Or Gower and his patented "Banana Guard".

Example below -


What did you think he was talking about?

[jodjam]

England scoring way too slow again.

Would never have thought in the summer that partially due to Oz cranking up a bit of pressure England would be without Trott, Swann and now Prior. It's a pretty dramatic turnaround in a test side.

[--------]

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England scoring way too slow again.

Would never have thought in the summer that partially due to Oz cranking up a bit of pressure England would be without Trott, Swann and now Prior. It's a pretty dramatic turnaround in a test side.

I'm surprised no one picked up the fact that Trott was struggling - it isn't the first time similar problems have arisen in the England camp, after all. I also find it odd that Swann should have publicly announced his retiral now, rather than going to the captain and coach and telling them he didn't feel fit enough to do the team justice, but that he would stay (if they wanted him to) until the end of the Test series. prior seems just burned out - again, surely someone should have picked up that he was struggling?

All that said, they've just gone to lunch, and if they bowl this afternoon the way they've bowled so far today, they might just have an innings lead. Haven't a clue what Warner thought he was up to - I've never seen an opening batsman in a Test match play so stupidly, and Stokes has bowled beautifully and well deserved Watson's wicket.

[Haymaker]

Slow going today. 101-3 just after tea.

[Haymaker]

112-5 after 52.1. Rogers caught by KP, bowled by Bresnan.

[3pm]

The way it's gone on this tour I exoect them to get bowled out for 25 in the 2nd innings!

[--------]

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The way it's gone on this tour I exoect them to get bowled out for 25 in the 2nd innings!

I don't know - Pietersen seems to have sorted himself out, team spirit seems to be a lot more positive. I didn't see anything beyond the first session, but I wouldn't be surprised if they get it back to 3-1 here.

There's obviously something in the wicket.

[Haymaker]

Fair play to Piers Morgan for accepting Brett Lees challenge. Took a fair few hits!

[derekHFC]

I'm of the opinion that Clarke made a boob here. HE should have batted first and put England under more pressure.

[DaveF]

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Fair play to Piers Morgan for accepting Brett Lees challenge. Took a fair few hits!

Some cracking video of the over. This one's from the mirror.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/cricke...n-face-2963358

As you say, well done to Morgan for facing up to it, even though he never saw a single delivery coming his way

[Jonnyboy]

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Better start for England this time, though Root's looking shaky.

OOPS! Spoke too soon. Carberry and now Root have gone - 3 for 108.


Good grief! Strauss and Warne are a pair of Olympic-class bores. Not a glimmer of a sense of humour in either of them. And neither of them bright enough to realise that the essence of a good commentator is to say as little as possible and let the action speak for itself. Who cares about which particular mate Warnie had over for a barbie yesterday?

Not a patch on Nasser and Bumble.

Or the TMS crowd.

Or Gower and his patented "Banana Guard".

Example below -


What did you think he was talking about?

It's Geoffrey Boycott who gets my goat Doddie.

[Haymaker]

Cook goes at 65. Root in and out for a duck!

Reviewed and not out!

Carberry out lbw. 86-2.

[Haymaker]

Root gone, run out. 86-3. The collapse is starting.

Bell out for a duck almost immediately. 87-4

[Haymaker]

Lyon takes Stokes. 131-5. England by 182.

[Haymaker]

Bresnan and Broad gone for ducks. 174-8.

Unbelievable over. Dot wicket dot dot wicket dot.

Wind blows the bails off next ball! Very windy, stuff sll over the pitch.

Pietersen gone for 49. Lyon with 5! 179-9

Panesar goes lbw for a duck to Johnson. Last 5 wickets for 6 runs. All out for 179.

[BroxburnHibee]

Yet another collapse from 65-0 to 179 all out.

Carberry - 2 hours to reach 12!!!!!!!!

[marinello59]

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Yet another collapse from 65-0 to 179 all out.

Carberry - 2 hours to reach 12!!!!!!!!

Shambolic is an understatement. It was great yesterday being able to tell the wee lad that the highlights would be worth watching for once. I'm hoping he doesn't mention it today.