The Ashes

[lord bunberry]

First test starts tonight. England have rested Anderson for this one which is a bit of a surprise, but I suppose he’s not getting any younger. I can’t see anything other than an Australian series win but I’m hoping for 5 exciting tests.

[JeMeSouviens]

I fear we () are in for an absolute humping again. I was listening to 5live trying to hype it up this morning. England just aren't in the sort of test form that would give them a realistic chance out there, I don't think.

[Mibbes Aye]

And once again, the Ashes are upon us. Nothing quite like it IMO. it is more than just a series of Test cricket, that's for sure.

Australia got their team out nice and promptly. Cameron Green confirms his ascendency by winning his fiirst Ashes cap at the tender age of 22. With only four Tests under his belt to date, he is inexperienced but is held in high regard by the Aussies, With first-class averages of over 50 with the bat and under 34 with the ball there is the potential of a very good all-rounder there.

He has certainly been nurtured throughout as an 'elite player' by Cricket Australia. What is of particular interest is that he has already had some stress fractures that have seen him only batting in games but this has led him to greater heights as a batsman. If not an all-rounder then potentially a very good batsman who can throw down a few overs. Although they are very different players, I am reminded somewhat of Marcus Labuschagne's rapid rise in becoming one of the first names on the team sheet.

The other pick worth noting is that of Travis Head over Usman Khawaja. Both share similar averages against England, both are markedly better on home soil than away. Head is seven years younger than Khawaja and I suspect, barring injuries to team-mates, that we will see little again of Khawaja in the baggy green.

For England, the loss of Anderson is pretty dispiriting. He is fit to play, but England are 'managing' his worload (and saving him in the hope of richer pickings at the venues further south). That might be tactically sensible on one level but essentially sends out a message of almost haviong conceded a loss at the Gabba already.

It also shouldn't need pointing out that in Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood, Australia have one of the best seam attacks on the planet and critically, can rotate very easily while the often underappreciated Nathan Lyon simply doesn't just hold down the other end but is a major threat in his own right. They are as likely to get wickets in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney as Anderson and Broad.

Of course, if England were able to breach the bastion in the opening match then that would serve as an enormous morale-booster. How to do that? As of my last check, England were still to name a starting XI, but had twelve players in the frame and the choice seems to be whether to include the spinner Leach, or bring in a massively under-prepared Ben Stokes, to provide a five-strong seam attack.

If that is the case then it appears simple enough to me. You are far likelier to win at the Gabba with Ben Stokes in your side than Jack Leach. Yes, there are caveats - Stokes' lack of games, Leach being decent enough - but it is really hard to visualise how England win without the talismanic Stokes, especially when there are so many doubts about some key batting positions in the English side.

Breaking it down and ooking at it simply or simplistically, even, in terms of the whole series - Australia have the better top order, the better quicks and the better spinner. I have not seen enough of Alex Carey to judge whether he is better than Jos Buttler with the gloves and one could make the case that both sides are uncertain about their best wicket keeper.

That leaves the middle order. If Stokes is able to perform anywhere close to his potential then England have a chance of winning this particular field of battle. However, I am fairly confident that Root has never scored a Test hundred in Australia and so much for England depends on him. All it might take is one of those transcendental, superhuman Steve Smith rampages across a number of maches, that he is prone to, every now and again, or Green to emulate Labuschagne's rapid rise into a nailed-down team pick.

So, in summary, hard to see beyond a series win for Australia and when they win the series at home it tends to be a mauling. Likewise for this particular match. Whatever happens, it will be fantastic I'm sure and the Ashes' capacity to create legends or burnish legendary status will no doubt be on show again

[Tobias Funke]

Had a good chuckle reading the BBC pundits predictions, some are in total delusion in thinking England can win at least a couple of tests. This will be another pumping, 3 or 4 nil as I think weather might ruin at least the Brisbane test.

If weather doesn’t play a part England will likely complete ten innings, of which I reckon at least five of those will see scores of less than 150. Cummins, Hazlewood, Starc and Lyon are a formidable bowling lineup and Englands batting far too fragile.

I would love to see Haseeb Hameed shine, such a nice lad with huge potential, I just hope this tour is a good one for him.

[lord bunberry]

I’d really like to see England bowl first tonight, I always think a fired up Aussie attack on day 1 is a recipe for disaster if a few wickets fall early. Obviously if conditions are such that it makes batting a no brainier then you’d expect them to do that, but the toss as always will be vital.

[Tobias Funke]

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I’d really like to see England bowl first tonight, I always think a fired up Aussie attack on day 1 is a recipe for disaster if a few wickets fall early. Obviously if conditions are such that it makes batting a no brainier then you’d expect them to do that, but the toss as always will be vital.

Steve Harmison mentioned on his vlog with Brad Hogg that the pitch looks green and with likely overcast conditions could really favour England.

Think Ollie Robinson could be a standout in the England bowling attack but will likely have any good work undone by the batting lineup.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Fine effort from Root and Malan on day 3 there, 58 runs behind.

[Calvin]

Well, what an interesting first test that was. I was lucky enough to be there for all 4 days so even saw the half an hour today that occurred during the TV coverage failure!

As a proudly adopted Brisbanite, I was very pleased that the predictions of a washout never came to fruition. If you think Scottish forecasts are inaccurate then you'd have a great laugh at Queensland's efforts. Sitting in 30c heat for the 2 full days of 8 hours play has taken its toll though.. still I suppose that's a nice problem to have!

That first ball from Starc on Wednesday morning was genuinely one of the best individual moments of sport I've been a part of. Sensational scenes. I think it set the precedent for the whole innings... a team just totally unprepared for a gruelling match of test cricket. I don't have any sympathy for the England team though - while they had their practice matches washed out (as did the Aussies...), they were playing on the wicket down in the Gold Coast during their quarantine for far longer than they'd normally spend in Queensland. I actually thought England would be stood in good stead by having less of their team coming out of the T20 World Cup.

Australia's innings was no great shakes either. Steve Smith looked like he was trying to play T20 shots... I don't think I've ever seen him so uncomposed. Then take Travis Head who has had a great spring for South Australia and the difference was there to see. I was gutted for Cameron Green though who I watch a lot of for WA and think he's a real talent with the bat as well as the ball. He won't make the same mistakes again.

Such is the joy of the sport that a match that was over after the first day, was absolutely full of life before the start of the fourth day this morning - and it's credit to the rhythm that Root and Malan got themselves into. What a different a night makes though; and it was really disappointing to for the fixture to disintegrate in half an hour like that.

If the weather if fair... I can't see how there will be anything other than a 5-0.
The omission of Broad and Anderson struck me as a gamble on the Brisbane test being a wash out, and them trying to keep their two impressive fast bowlers fresh for Adelaide. However I thought that both Wood and Robinson were pretty good (the latter especially), and all it did was expose what a total lack of depth they have with the bat.
Some of the fielding was farcical at times too... Haseeb Hameed stands out of looking like he'd never seen a ball before during their fielding innings.

I'd like to see Jyhe Richardson in for Starc (or Hazlewood if he is carrying a knock.) I also don't think that Australia have their answer at the top of the order; but luckily for them I don't think this will matter.

I fly into Adelaide next Sunday morning. I'm just praying that there's still a match to go by first ball that afternoon as it's Day 4!

[DaveF]

Good write up Calvin.

Do you not think England will do much better in Adelaide with the pink ball?

I thought England bowled well but didn't carry too much luck. If that turns, even a little bit, then they are certainly in the fight. I don't see it being a 5-0.

[Calvin]

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Good write up Calvin.

Do you not think England will do much better in Adelaide with the pink ball?

I thought England bowled well but didn't carry too much luck. If that turns, even a little bit, then they are certainly in the fight. I don't see it being a 5-0.

I hope it’s not a whitewash; but when the Aussies have the best bowling attack in the world; and a better batting lineup, I think England need a considerable amount of luck to get a result. If Adelaide favours Anderson and Broad - it surely favours the Aussie quicks too. A difference could be their freshness I suppose.

Steve Smith only scored 12 runs and Australia won by essentially an innings - if he gets it together then that’s a lot of runs next week that they didn’t have this week. Alex Carey and Travis Head are on their home ground, Marnus looked great and will still be livid that he got out the way he did… I think they just have too much for England.

[He's here!]

Clearly some very knowledgeable cricket fans on here. I've watched a couple of Scotland games at the Grange and it's a thoroughly agreeable way to pass a day with a few beers. The Ashes, as others have said, has a unique allure.

Out of interest why do you think it is that 'we' support England at cricket when we wouldn't be so likely to do so in other sports? I qualify that by saying I wanted England to win this year's Euro football final.

[Stonewall]

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Clearly some very knowledgeable cricket fans on here. I've watched a couple of Scotland games at the Grange and it's a thoroughly agreeable way to pass a day with a few beers. The Ashes, as others have said, has a unique allure.

Out of interest why do you think it is that 'we' support England at cricket when we wouldn't be so likely to do so in other sports? I qualify that by saying I wanted England to win this year's Euro football final.

I really don’t know why but I’ve never had problems supporting the England Cricket team. I do watch cricket in a different way to how I watch football. It’s much less partisan and there’s always been players with significant Scottish connections playing from Mike Dennes through Tony Greig, Alec Stewart, Robin Smith, Gavin Hamilton as well as Irish and Welsh players.

Always seemed like a GB team.

Also having played club cricket from 18-50 the Aussies were really a shower of ****s to play against.

[He's here!]

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I really don’t know why but I’ve never had problems supporting the England Cricket team. I do watch cricket in a different way to how I watch football. It’s much less partisan and there’s always been players with significant Scottish connections playing from Mike Dennes through Tony Greig, Alec Stewart, Robin Smith, Gavin Hamilton as well as Irish and Welsh players.

Always seemed like a GB team.

Also having played club cricket from 18-50 the Aussies were really a shower of ****s to play against.

Never realised Tony Greig was Scottish. I always thought he was South African.

That was my most fondly remembered England team as a kid. Alan Knott was my favourite.

[JeMeSouviens]

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Clearly some very knowledgeable cricket fans on here. I've watched a couple of Scotland games at the Grange and it's a thoroughly agreeable way to pass a day with a few beers. The Ashes, as others have said, has a unique allure.

Out of interest why do you think it is that 'we' support England at cricket when we wouldn't be so likely to do so in other sports? I qualify that by saying I wanted England to win this year's Euro football final.

3 things I think:

- Cricket commentators/pundits are generally extremely balanced, fair minded, sporting and only very gently partisan.
- We don't really have our own dog in the fight, recent limited overs teams notwithstanding.
- For most of the time I've followed cricket, England have often been the underdogs, and nobody pretends otherwise.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

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3 things I think:

- Cricket commentators/pundits are generally extremely balanced, fair minded, sporting and only very gently partisan.
- We don't really have our own dog in the fight, recent limited overs teams notwithstanding.
- For most of the time I've followed cricket, England have often been the underdogs, and nobody pretends otherwise.

You're 2nd point is the stand out one for me. Also, when it was piddling down during school summer holidays in the early 80s what else were you going to watch, "Beefy" Botham, Bob Willis, Gladstone Small etc, it was all good.

[Calvin]

Pat Cummins out of the second test.
Suddenly I feel much less confident!

[JeMeSouviens]

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Pat Cummins out of the second test.
Suddenly I feel much less confident!

How about now?

Buttler's drops.

England soon be needing snookers again.

[IWasThere2016]

I've backed Aussies for 4-0 and 4-1

[DaveF]

The drop at the end was as bad as it gets.

And I think Stones bowled more short balls yesterday than the Windies did in the whole of the 80s 😁

[3pm]

Those two lads who open for England... 🙈

[Calvin]

Might be a long way on Sunday for not much cricket at this rate...

[Mibbes Aye]

I listened to some of the game this morning (happy coincidence - it meant I was awake for the declaration to be read out in the North Shropshire bye-election ). Caught the highlights package tgis afternoon on BT Sports. An eventful day, to say the least.

I thought it was excellent game management by Australia. Bat conservatively in the opening period then become more expansive as the day went on and the England players sweltered in the relentless Adelaide heat.

What caught my eyes about the Australians was the oartnerships that emerged - Warner and Labuschagne, then Smith and Carey and then Neser and Starc. They didn't just provude the runs that dominated the Aussie total but they patiently acquired them slowly and surely (at least the first two pairs did).

Great timing with the declaration left England facing some tough overs to negotiate at the end of the day and Australia were happy to take out the two openers. They will be looking for a quick couple of wickets tomorrow, Root in particular.

All in all Australia would struggle to script it better. What was particularly telling was that at the close of Day Two in the Second Test, the Aussies had posted seven big Ashes scores (I'm setting the bar at 50+) to England's two. Admittedly, they have batted around 60% of the matchplay but even still, it is a stark difference.

Five of the Australian top seven batsmen have reached the half-century mark, two of them can both separately say they have the same number of fifties as the England team! Still early days I guess.

What maybe accentuated the difference in quality was that at first man down, that critical No.3 spot, the two teams are picking batsmen with ptactically identical matches and innings under their belt at Test level. But Malan for England averages below thirty while the Australian, Labuschagne, averages over sixty.

I have said a good few times on here that Hameed deserved to be in the England team and stick by that. If the selectors had the courage to pick him and Dom Sibley, with Zak Crawley at three, they would need to commit to letting them grow on the job, as they are still vey young.

Of course it would send out a real statement of intent were Root to move up. Playing at four probably makes his batting average better but with the state of England, it would show leadership on his part.

There are plusses for England. Robinson looks like he could lead an attack, which is very timely for England given that they find themsekves having ti manage Anderson's match time and I'm not sure what the state of play is with Jofra Archer - next spring at the earliest?

[HH81]

Pretty awful showing so far from England.

I reckon this is the first ashes over there that I have not got up through the night to watch at least one day.

[HH81]

77-2 decent start to the morning.

Hope I didn't jinx it.

After my post above thought I would get up and watch it today.

[Calvin]

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77-2 decent start to the morning.

Hope I didn't jinx it.

After my post above thought I would get up and watch it today.

Yeah! We saw at the Gabba what can happen when one of this pair lose their wicket; but a pleasing start to the day from an English perspective. Nice 67 run session.

[HH81]

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Yeah! We saw at the Gabba what can happen when one of this pair lose their wicket; but a pleasing start to the day from an English perspective. Nice 67 run session.

Looks a lovely ground to watch cricket at. Quite fancy an ashes once in my life over there.

Do a lot of cricket in England at Headingley but funny enough I quite like going to Old Trafford.

[Calvin]

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Looks a lovely ground to watch cricket at. Quite fancy an ashes once in my life over there.

Do a lot of cricket in England at Headingley but funny enough I quite like going to Old Trafford.

I only really got into cricket when I moved over here - I've been to a couple of ODIs and Middlesex matches at Lord's but now can't wait to do an Ashes in England too.
I've got decent tickets for tomorrow but if it makes it to a fifth day then I'll be placing myself directly on the hill for sure.

[HH81]

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I only really got into cricket when I moved over here - I've been to a couple of ODIs and Middlesex matches at Lord's but now can't wait to do an Ashes in England too.
I've got decent tickets for tomorrow but if it makes it to a fifth day then I'll be placing myself directly on the hill for sure.

Nice one. Have a great day 👍.

Root and Malan still going along well. Looks like I didn't jinx it just yet.

I tried that 100 balls last summer, enjoyed it at the game but can't get into when it was on TV. Might try watch another next summer.

[HH81]

Root out for 62.

Should have left it. Annoying.

[HH81]

158-4 now. Got a bad feeling about it now. 2 quick wickets and the runs have dried up.

At dinner I went for a 35 min walk. Should have stayed out. 😁