Ashes 2023

[Sloop67]

It's going to be very disappointing if the wether ends up deciding the outcome of the series, it's been building up pretty nicely

[JeMeSouviens]

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It's going to be very disappointing if the wether ends up deciding the outcome of the series, it's been building up pretty nicely

I think there's a decent chance of at least a few hours on Sunday but Saturday looks like a write off. Today a bit hit and miss with showers too. Fingers crossed.

[He's here!]

Jeez, Aussies are doing their best to throw the Ashes away. Fingers crossed for heavy rain all weekend.

[Sloop67]

[QUOTE=JeMeSouviens;7397857]

I think there's a decent chance of at least a few hours on Sunday but Saturday looks like a write off. Today a bit hit and miss with showers too. Fingers crossed.[/QUOT
Sunday is now looking like there will probably be some play

[lord bunberry]

Let’s be honest, weather permitting England will win this test. If they do they’ll beat Australia at the oval. It’s coming home 😂

[Sloop67]

Looking at various weather apps, and the conditions at the golf , the prospect of any play today is very small I'd say

[blackpoolhibs]

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Looking at various weather apps, and the conditions at the golf , the prospect of any play today is very small I'd say

Its pissing it down here in Blackpool, its never stopped all day.

[He's here!]

They're about to call it a draw. Aussies retain the Ashes.

[GRA]

Never understand why they don't have a reserve day. Also to just draw the game due to poor weather seems a cop out. Why not use something like a runs rate to decide it?

[Mibbes Aye]

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Never understand why they don't have a reserve day. Also to just draw the game due to poor weather seems a cop out. Why not use something like a runs rate to decide it?

I'm somewhat disappointed with the outcome. But I think for some, probably most traditionalists, and probably me, the weather (and the nuance of the draw) is one of the many factors that makes the game so complex, often frustrating and sometimes just downright beautiful.

Managing the weather is a big part of Test captaincy. Sometimes that links to the coin toss and deciding whether to bowl first - with the right level of humidity and bowlers who can engineer some swing - and hope for early wickets during the first session of day one. Sometimes it affects the batting - a dry wicket with a hint of green still on day two, say, can be a batter's paradise.

As with this Test it also calls on your time management skills. If England declared too early at Edgbaston, they certainly should have declared in this one, especially given they knew the weather forecast.

On a personal level, I'm frustrated - if the weather was fair I would have spent most of the day with either the radio -TMS or ABC - on, or maybe just watching on TV, but that's the way it goes, especially in Manchester.

On the plus side, there has been some great cricket in this series, and a great WTC between Australia and India preceding it.

I think Austalia have earned the right to retain the Ashes. While England have played some brilliant cricket, its never really felt they were imposing themselves on the series to the full extent. While England outbatted Australia, my takeaway of the key knocks would be they belonged to Australia - Khawaja, Smith, Marsh and Labuschagne repectively.

On the bowling front it has been pretty even - Broad stood out the most, but beind him Cummins and Starc were strongest. Given Australia had to cope with the loss of Lyon - who contributes around 40% of their overs - then the tourists edged this for me.

Regardless, it sets us up for a great finale on Thursday. England will not want to lose a series, any series, let alone against the Australians. The Aussies see an opportunity to win the series for the first time in ages and that will mean a lot to players like Warner and Smith who may not tour in England again, let alone Cummins, who can continue his almost-vertical trajectory in cricket greatness by captaining a winning Ashes side away from home. Bring it on!

[He's here!]

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I'm somewhat disappointed with the outcome. But I think for some, probably most traditionalists, and probably me, the weather (and the nuance of the draw) is one of the many factors that makes the game so complex, often frustrating and sometimes just downright beautiful.

Managing the weather is a big part of Test captaincy. Sometimes that links to the coin toss and deciding whether to bowl first - with the right level of humidity and bowlers who can engineer some swing - and hope for early wickets during the first session of day one. Sometimes it affects the batting - a dry wicket with a hint of green still on day two, say, can be a batter's paradise.

As with this Test it also calls on your time management skills. If England declared too early at Edgbaston, they certainly should have declared in this one, especially given they knew the weather forecast.

On a personal level, I'm frustrated - if the weather was fair I would have spent most of the day with either the radio -TMS or ABC - on, or maybe just watching on TV, but that's the way it goes, especially in Manchester.

On the plus side, there has been some great cricket in this series, and a great WTC between Australia and India preceding it.

I think Austalia have earned the right to retain the Ashes. While England have played some brilliant cricket, its never really felt they were imposing themselves on the series to the full extent. While England outbatted Australia, my takeaway of the key knocks would be they belonged to Australia - Khawaja, Smith, Marsh and Labuschagne repectively.

On the bowling front it has been pretty even - Broad stood out the most, but beind him Cummins and Starc were strongest. Given Australia had to cope with the loss of Lyon - who contributes around 40% of their overs - then the tourists edged this for me.

Regardless, it sets us up for a great finale on Thursday. England will not want to lose a series, any series, let alone against the Australians. The Aussies see an opportunity to win the series for the first time in ages and that will mean a lot to players like Warner and Smith who may not tour in England again, let alone Cummins, who can continue his almost-vertical trajectory in cricket greatness by captaining a winning Ashes side away from home. Bring it on!

Yep, Stokes definitely needs to reflect on the decision to keep batting for so long on day 3 when a weekend washout seemed a near certainty.

The Aussies do deserve a lot of credit for the way they handled a brief but very testing spell of play on Saturday tho. Kind of deserved the draw off the back of that IMHO.

[lord bunberry]

England must be feeling gutted they haven’t won the series. It’s always a rollercoaster but this series was Englands to win, the ridiculous declaration in the first test and the suicidal batting at Lords have cost them the chance of a famous series win. Australia at this point have completely gone and all England had to do was be in the running at the Oval. There was always going to be at least one test that was weather effected and the minute you go 2-0 down after 2 tests you’re relying on more than you can control. It’s a disappointing way to decide an Ashes series but you have to hand it to Australia, they stuck in there and ignored the hype, something a few of the English players would do well to learn from.

[JeMeSouviens]

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England must be feeling gutted they haven’t won the series. It’s always a rollercoaster but this series was Englands to win, the ridiculous declaration in the first test and the suicidal batting at Lords have cost them the chance of a famous series win. Australia at this point have completely gone and all England had to do was be in the running at the Oval. There was always going to be at least one test that was weather effected and the minute you go 2-0 down after 2 tests you’re relying on more than you can control. It’s a disappointing way to decide an Ashes series but you have to hand it to Australia, they stuck in there and ignored the hype, something a few of the English players would do well to learn from.

Good summary. The Aussies weren't at their best but performed in crucial moments. Labuschagne's dogged century in the gloom sealing the deal. England blew it in a fit of hubris or over exceitement or whatever it was at Edgbaston.

[Lancs Harp]

There are always questions after a defeat. Thats the same in any sport. Im English and love my cricket. This is the most exciting English cricket team Ive ever seen. Full throttle. They are scaring the living daylights out every Test team in the world. England get it right firing on all cylinders will anhilate the opposition. Occasionally it wll go wrong playing so attackingly but as a fan of English cricket i dont care. I can more than put up with the odd defeat to play the way this team plays. Australia are the best test team in the world and they have been put through the mill and they know it.

[Mibbes Aye]

Aussies to go 3-1 up. Best of the conditions for bowling, and a more balanced attack with Murphy in. Last Ashes Test for nearly two and a half years but we have a five-parter for England in India in a few months and and the small matter of a World Cup before that

[lord bunberry]

Geoffrey Boycott would’ve been proud of that innings by Labuschagne.

[He's here!]

I really cannot stand Stuart Broad.

[Mibbes Aye]

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Geoffrey Boycott would’ve been proud of that innings by Labuschagne.

I may be well off the mark with this but it did cross my mind that Australia had gone back to first principles and asked thenselves WWSWD (What would Steve Waugh do)?

Waugh was an outstanding batsman, a very tidy bowler before his back stopped him and a top fielder, whether in the slips or more often, at square leg or fine leg. But most importantly he is among the few contenders for greatest ever Test captain, probably is the greatest - albeit with a team that sometimes changed but was literally full of true cricketing greats from i to XI.

What made Waugh special was that he had the ingredients, but he worked out the right strategy and tactics to meet his objective - of Australia reigning supreme over every other Test side.

And in a situation like this, where England are pushing their new style, I can see how Steve Waugh would deliberately tell his batsmen to play slow and grind out the runs and eat up the time. That frustrates the English and taxes them as well - a day in the field is not easy, let alone a day bowling. And reducing the time increases the risk tolerance when England do bat, maing it more likely the boundary riders will have catches to make.

Cummins doesn't have the batsmen that Waugh had at his disposal but his bowling unit is on any given day, probably the strongest in the world. The trick is reducing the pressure on them by limiting the batting window for England. Hence slow runs and cautious batting from the Aussies.

That's the theory at least. And I might be wrong and Australia aren't batting against journeyman bowlers - despite the English dressing room resembling a scene from MASH!

[Mibbes Aye]

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I really cannot stand Stuart Broad.

I have nothing but the utmost respect for his achievements as a bowler, and I can't dislike his carefree batting approach at 10 or 11.

But it is simply scientifically impossible to like him, or at least his on-field persona.

Whether it is his silly smug gestures when he takes a wicket, his surly backchat to the umpires when he is denied a wicket, or just his stupid 'Karate Kid baddy' headband, he brings it on himself really.

[lord bunberry]

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I may be well off the mark with this but it did cross my mind that Australia had gone back to first principles and asked thenselves WWSWD (What would Steve Waugh do)?

Waugh was an outstanding batsman, a very tidy bowler before his back stopped him and a top fielder, whether in the slips or more often, at square leg or fine leg. But most importantly he is among the few contenders for greatest ever Test captain, probably is the greatest - albeit with a team that sometimes changed but was literally full of true cricketing greats from i to XI.

What made Waugh special was that he had the ingredients, but he worked out the right strategy and tactics to meet his objective - of Australia reigning supreme over every other Test side.

And in a situation like this, where England are pushing their new style, I can see how Steve Waugh would deliberately tell his batsmen to play slow and grind out the runs and eat up the time. That frustrates the English and taxes them as well - a day in the field is not easy, let alone a day bowling. And reducing the time increases the risk tolerance when England do bat, maing it more likely the boundary riders will have catches to make.

Cummins doesn't have the batsmen that Waugh had at his disposal but his bowling unit is on any given day, probably the strongest in the world. The trick is reducing the pressure on them by limiting the batting window for England. Hence slow runs and cautious batting from the Aussies.

That's the theory at least. And I might be wrong and Australia aren't batting against journeyman bowlers - despite the English dressing room resembling a scene from MASH!

That’s a hell of a theory and one I’d probably go along with if this was a test match with something riding on it. I know there’s no such thing as a dead rubber in an ashes series but surely this was Australia’s chance to counter bazball. They won the toss and bowled England out for under 300. If it wasn’t for the tail wagging they were looking at a deficit. Everything seems a bit upside down at the moment but I really thought the Aussies would’ve come out swinging given they’ve got nothing to lose.

[Mibbes Aye]

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That’s a hell of a theory and one I’d probably go along with if this was a test match with something riding on it. I know there’s no such thing as a dead rubber in an ashes series but surely this was Australia’s chance to counter bazball. They won the toss and bowled England out for under 300. If it wasn’t for the tail wagging they were looking at a deficit. Everything seems a bit upside down at the moment but I really thought the Aussies would’ve come out swinging given they’ve got nothing to lose.

I think that's the key though - they retain the Ashes no matter the outcome, but a draw means they have won a series in England (2-1) for the first time in 20 years.

Winning an away series in the Ashes (as opposed to just retaining the urn) is a huge deal in the Australian psyche.

[He's here!]

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I think that's the key though - they retain the Ashes no matter the outcome, but a draw means they have won a series in England (2-1) for the first time in 20 years.

Winning an away series in the Ashes (as opposed to just retaining the urn) is a huge deal in the Australian psyche.

They'll toil to get a draw now, let alone a win in this match. Any rain forecast?

[Mibbes Aye]

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They'll toil to get a draw now, let alone a win in this match. Any rain forecast?

A bit

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

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They'll toil to get a draw now, let alone a win in this match. Any rain forecast?

Without having checked the weather forecast i'm not entirely convinced that The Aussie's can't win this. If Warner can turn up for a change things could become quite interesting.

Hopefully not though.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

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I really cannot stand Stuart Broad.

He's retiring from cricket at the culmination of this test.

[He's here!]

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Without having checked the weather forecast i'm not entirely convinced that The Aussie's can't win this. If Warner can turn up for a change things could become quite interesting.

Hopefully not though.

If England's final pair take the lead past 400 there's no way the Aussies will get close. If there's enough rain to reduce play by a few hours they could possibly stay in long enough to earn the draw and thus a series win.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

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If England's final pair take the lead past 400 there's no way the Aussies will get close. If there's enough rain to reduce play by a few hours they could possibly stay in long enough to earn the draw and thus a series win.

I hope your opening sentence transpires to be correct.

[JimBHibees]

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I really cannot stand Stuart Broad.

Why? Has had an amazing career

[He's here!]

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Why? Has had an amazing career

Can't argue with that. It's his on-field persona, as Mibbes Aye explains so eloquently above, that is so repellent.

[He's here!]

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I hope your opening sentence transpires to be correct.

Think it's been raised before but it's interesting how the 'anyone but England' approach which many Sots adopt to international sport doesn't seem to apply so much to cricket.