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What a day that was! We headed into Sydney on the train convinced that we’d be lucky to see a single ball played - it was thrashing down at 9am. Luckily it cleared up nicely.
The first session was killer - I was in the dumps at 36-4… but then Bairstow and Stokes actually started playing. After the lunch break some gobby Aussie blokes behind us were talking about having the first innings wrapped up in an hour. Hope they had money on it!
Headline on BBC Sport app is on an upward curve I see. “…England show fight…” 😀
Wood hooking sixes off Aussie quicks is the stuff of dreams!
NZ Bangladesh decider starts this evening also, really hope they can either win or draw and take the series.
Mann has grown on me over the years, he is very understated, just an old fashioned BBC man with good specialist knowledge, nothing fancy just straightforward commentary - a bit like CMJ in commentary terms. His interview with Ashley Giles was excellent. Not a huge fan of Norcross, rather like Ed Smith, he is obviously not a stupid bloke but a bit too keen to show off how clever he is. Finn has been great, I am fifty fifty on Vaughan. When talking cricket he can be incredibly incisive but his non cricket chat, which he seems incredibly proud of, is so so banal. Not sure about Hartley yet, althugh there was a very funny moment last night when she was talking about having a man's ball in her hand, Jim Maxwell just about managed to hold it together.
Anyway good to see Bairstow in the runs, always liked him, but I must admit I had written him off. Maybe he should be given the gloves so Butler can be put out of his misery.
that clipping the stump decision was appalling, for an umpire to give that out basically caved to home team pressure. Should be handed his p45.
what kind of lead do we think ?
I reckon England could get it down to a 100 lead if Broad and Bairstow stick it out for a bit. Fair dues to Broad, he’s giving it a fair knock.
EDIT: and as I posted, Bairstow gets edged behind. So, maybe a lead of 100 a bit optimistic. Easy know I’m not an English-stickball man. 😀
soft
That's that.
Oooh, Aggers back on, early wicket for England. 12-1
Smith gone - 86/4!
can england bat for a day?
😂
I'm hopeful that a little bit of bad weather and a bit of batting might get them over the line. No funky weather, no draw I fear.
Pope in for Buttler next test? Or Billings...
Pope in for Buttler next test? Or Billings…
I thought Pope looked OK behind the stumps, but I suspect they’ll play Billings who I actually quite highly rate.
Out of principle I'd like the proper keeper to play. Finger injuries permitting Bairstow will be in the side after a ton, I wonder if they'll expect him to take the gloves too. Hopefully Buttler will create an issue later with a marauding match winning double ton at sr >120
Hopefully Buttler will create an issue later with a marauding match winning double ton at sr >120
half arsed chip to mid off for 2 more like.
98 overs to go
That’s all
46-1. There’s hope yet. Weather and avoiding a collapse. You never know…
Oh, FFS, it’s the hope that kills you….
I saw we had started well, so flicked on BT sports. Literally the first ball I see is a wicket!!
BBC sport app says “…deny…”
So Hameed has only 4 first class 100s his foot work is bad against medium pace and wowfull with fast stuff he gets pinned into the crease.
Definitely not an opener.
And Crawley has almost found some form
Only 326 to win
Half century for Crawley - nice!
2nd wicket down. Still optimistic. BBC app still using “hopeful.” Root needs to pit in a helluva knock.
Is this what the ashes might have looked like if England bad been able to play some warmup games? Still expecting a collapse mind!
squeaky bum time
(yeh, to avoid going 4-0 down, how squeaky can it possibly be)
edit - not very.....that's one hell of a yorker though
Ha! Take that Glenn McGrath.
😁
What a match, at long last. Test cricket ❤️
Yep, a draw because it rained 🙂
One main thought for the series is that I really like Cummins as Aussie skipper. He does his talking with the ball, plays hard but fair. Very different to the team of a few years ago.
There is no doubt England are still far short in Australian conditions. Every time I watch Malan, he looks like getting out. From a technical point of view ( I coach at lower levels) he hangs on the back foot and plays with an angled bat. This leaves him very susceptible to variable bounce.
Yup he comes across very well. No one could accuse him of being soft but there's also none of the arrogant machismo of past Aussie teams/captains.
I'm even almost warming to David Warner, despite his ridiculous Tik Tok shenanigans 😳
Steve Smith and Labuschagne can still get in the sea with their weird mannerisms and ugly batting style though!
Even Steve Smith thinks Labuschagne is annoying, which is some benchmark.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/cricket/59926934
Just read a Guardian opinion piece on our Ashes campaign. They gave no stats to back up the point, but apparently in the last 5 years, of all the batsmen who have opened more than once, the most successful is Jack Leach!!!
Well, not a bad morning.
And I’m loving Billings constant chat as well, just what you need from a keeper.
Shame Anderson isn’t playing. Good job we weren’t batting first, we’d have been all out by now
So we get the Aussies out for 300 first innings and what do our openers do? Yep, you got it… they last no more than 8 overs with the score 29-2. FFS.
opening's the toughest job in the batting game*
New ball, fresh bowlers, particularly on a helpful pitch - you can get a good one at any time but going in first up it's inevitable that sometimes you fail. I'm not going to be critical when we had Aus 18-3 as well.
That's not a total excuse - you expect to fail sometimes, and we seem to always fail at the moment. Secondly; one of those two to fall was run out, and that's crap given how hard it is right now, to be giving Aus free wickets. Although it was a good bit of fielding and direct hit.
* maybe #3 - you could be in in the first over, you could be in after 50 overs..... although as England's #3 I wouldn't bother making a hot drink at the changeover, it'll almost inevitably be too hot to drink before you're in.
4 down, still more than 200 behind. Root gone. 🤦
Edit: make that 5
as I was typing the message above, at 80-2, I specifically avoided saying that we've recovered well.
Seems like just thinking it is enough nowadays to hex it.
yay saved the follow on!
... groundhog Day...🙄🙄
just when you start to have hope.......smack to the chops "wake up wake up"
yay saved the follow on!
That just makes the torture slower.
zip it glenn