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Not out BECAUSE it hit the stumps!
Beard Inspector 😀
England avoid the follow on
Stand by my earliet comments sbout yestetday; as for any of warner, bancroft or smith being banned for life - get a grip man.
Yesterday's highlights were england's bowling until about 3pm and smith's batting; lowlights were the umpires' poor performance and the boring monotonous half-wits shouting 'cheat'.
As for today Burns looks comfortable, Root much less so before lunch but now looks settled.
Lyon probably has long spell to look forward to this afternoon.
Siddle still getting some lift but he will tire.
Looking promising - famous last words......
Great message to send out to others; brazenly cheat, don’t worry if you get caught you’ll have a few months off (but can play elsewhere) and be welcomed back to the team on full pay and benefits. No deterrent to cheaters at all
Stripped of the captaincy, banned for a year. I think he was treated harshly. The boo boys have made their point.
Well done Burns - stuck at it on a tricky wicket with plenty of turn. I think Aus will rue only playing 4 bowlers. More sensible batting tomorrow please - preferably until tea at least!
Stand by my earliet comments sbout yestetday; as for any of warner, bancroft or smith being banned for life – get a grip man.
Banned for life? No. Made to feel uncomfortable and reminded of their actions, I have no problem with this whatsoever, and particularly in Warner’s case. When they start acting like gentlemen they can be treated like them.
That said, chatting with an Aussie colleague today, he reckoned we’d have seen the back of Bancroft on performance alone but for the feeling of guilt for their treatment. Nobody plays the victim quite like an Aussie who’s been caught out
Friday at Edgbaston was even better than Thursday.
Burns showed maturity in choosing which balls to leave and which to play; he and Stokes look well set but the Aussies will be steaming in on Saturday morning with a ball only a few overs old.
Lyon was turning the ball a little more late in the day so he could be more important in England's 2nd innings.
Umpires had better day than they endured on Thursday.
Aussie quicks got more lift and bounce out of the pitch than England.
After the match in the queue for shuttle bus the attitude of several England players to young fans asking for autographs and/or selfies was disappointing: Broad and Anderson made no effort at all; Roy smiled; Bairstow signed a few autographs; Root had time for everyone - selfies, autographs, brief chats.
Regrettably I will be following the rest of this test on radio.
The booing is boring. They were stupid, some of them naive, probably led by Warner, but EVERY team doctors the ball in some way. A lifetime ban for them would be harsh.
Smith and Burns batting together would make interesting viewing.... One is held up as having strange technique but being mentally tough and knowing his game, the other poor technique who won't survive unless he changes it. It's time we stopped trying to get every player to play the same way.
The booing is now boring and I’m expecting better banter to come from the Barmy, however the flapping bits of sandpaper was very funny.
I was particularly impressed with how Burns dealt with the 60 over ball change, the replacement ball moved, relatively speaking, sideways compared to the original. Still, I suppose when you’re no longer able to take 80 grit with you onto the field of play, selecting a replacement ball that’s had a gentle life to date is the next best thing and did indeed produce two wickets. 🤔
From the TMS live feed;
You couldn't make it up. 14 years after THAT ankle injury, Glenn McGrath almost did it again - just stopping himself from stepping on a ball that had strayed from England practice. After that, there was a chat with Paul Collingwood about Jimmy Anderson's fitness. "He looked a little ginger," said McGrath. "There's nothing wrong with being ginger," said Colly.
😃
Ali being as useful as ever 😒
stupid pick, his batting has been woeful and there are far better spinners out there.
Calypso collapso, again
Bairstow needs a slap too. Another angled bat waft outside off. I coach U11 and they’d be upset with that shot.
Despite his test beginnings, Bairstow’s recent limited overs successes seem to have clouded his judgment
do enjoy a bit of tail waggage !
50 partnership for the 8th wicket. well played chaps.
70 run lead...
374 all out, probably looking at 450 at the start of play then 300 but a good effort from the tail lead of 90 not to be sniffed at.
once a **** always a ****, walk you ****
Boooooooo! Off you get cheat
450th wicket for Broad
Crowd enjoyed that 🤩
Twice he could’ve walked in this match and didn’t, so much for changing peoples opinions of him
it was a proper edge too, didn't even need snicko to see!!
let's hope moeen makes me eat my words 😀
Test match cricket. Bloody marvellous.
Smith and Head, again. About the only way out of this looks to be to hit Smith in the Head. He is annoyingly very good, and probably the difference between two mediocre batting lineups
Yep, Smith can churn out these performances and very likely will in the rest of the series.
Too much inconsistency in england's batting.
Moeen needs to believe in himself; pitch will give him some help on sunday.
If australia get to lunch without losing a wicket i think the odds will move strongly in their favour
Add 2 quick wickets this morning and it probably 50 for 5. Game so evenly poised a brilliant test match so far that has ebbed and flowed in both directions Long live test cricket.
79-3 at the moment and not showing much sign of improvement
Pretty poor from England this morning. Is Woakes injured too?
This has got away from England. They had an end open and a shit batsman (Wade) to go at, and have not looked like getting a wicket. I don’t fancy batting for a day and a session against Lyon et al.
Should’ve bowled Woakes first session today
Phew!
Well, for the time being.
We haven't had much luck with bowler injury but haven't shown any gumption. Surprised Aus haven't declared by now, they should go at us at the end of a long day in the field
England being ground into the dust.
Now into last 12 overs of the day.
Australia to declare with 10 to go and then a severe examination for burns & roy.
5% chance of england win.
Fortress Edgbaston close to being breached.
Dig in tomorrow
What are the words to the song the Barmy army are singing at the moment?
The booing is now boring and I’m expecting better banter to come from the Barmy, however the flapping bits of sandpaper was very funny.
I’m in two minds about this, still.
Sure, they were stupid, they got caught, they took their punishment, served it and are back. No issues there. A year ban for ball tampering felt a bit steep to me, but there you are.
However, the notion that the bowlers did not know what was going on is risible. There isn’t as much mystery to reverse swing as a lot of people think. On a very dry pitch on a hot day with a dry outfield I used to be able to get a ball to reverse after about forty overs in club cricket. It was actually pretty straightforward. You got hold of the ball and wet the shinier side a lot, then polished it up on the trousers in the standard way. You then just remembered which way to orientate the ball. No need to angle the seam, just bolt upright and straight and it would ‘go’. The one golden rule was that no moisture whatsoever could get on the rough side. If you got one drop of sweat on it and it stopped ‘going’.
The point of my story above is that as a bowler who was trying to get the ball to reverse you tried to get it thrown back direct, without going round the infield where sweaty hands or someone who didn’t know what they were doing would ruin the effect. You examined the ball like a stamp collector and if someone had taken a piece of sandpaper to it, you would know.
Also, the Cape Town incident only happened because the ball (and a kookaburra which normally don’t reverse much) started to ‘go’ after about thirty overs in earlier tests and Fannie De Villiers suspected something, so was watching closely. It was unlikely to be a one-off.
I reckon Smith, Warner and Bancroft were so obviously bang to rights that the ACB chucked them under the bus as quickly as possible to keep the bowlers out of it.
I'm not so sure reverse swing is as simple as that, but you do have the bit about looking after the ball correct.
Seam angle and wrist position play a big part as does the pace you can bowl it. I only worked out how to do it in the later part of my career and sadly to late to exploit.
Uh oh... Fearing this could be over by lunch.
Saw a comment on cricinfo yesterday -
England will see if Roy can knock this total off himself by tea time. If he gets out they'll just bat for a draw
🙂
Phew.
I’m not so sure reverse swing is as simple as that, but you do have the bit about looking after the ball correct.
Seam angle and wrist position play a big part as does the pace you can bowl it. I only worked out how to do it in the later part of my career and sadly to late to exploit.
Honestly, I never had to angle the seam to do it (and in both directions although it usually 'went' a bit more as an inswinger to a leftie (I was a left armer)). We played with Dukes balls and so long as the ball kept its shape and you could get a 'heavy shine' back on one side on a hot dry day with dry ground conditions, it would 'go'.
I only worked it out in 2006 and it was an accident. I had a rare very good day with the new ball ending the league game we were playing early as a result (a good thing as we had a cup final on the Sunday). We went back to our ground (we were away that day) and some of our second teamers were having a net. As I hadn't exerted myself much in our game I picked up an old ball, shined it a lot and it just happened.
After that it was a matter of recognising when conditions in a game were advantageous and then letting the rest of the fielders know not to muck around with the ball. I also used to carry an old ball with me to winter nets so that for the second half of the session I could practice it. It was way easier for me to control than conventional swing.
Argh
Not looking good approaching lunch.
Talk to me about Joe Denly.... Averages 35 in FC cricket, 25 in Tests.... Surely there are better options?
Some quality sledging against Stokes here too 😂
Looking even worse after lunch.
Stick a fork in 'em. They're done.
So, what's the team for the second test? Anderson is obviously out, I would assume Moeen too, and the persistence with Denly baffles me, but then so does picking an unfit fast bowler and an all-rounder completely out of form. We could bring in Archer, Leach and Foakes (Bairstow to play as specialist batsman).
Oh dear. it does make the Aussie 2nd innings look very impressive. And the English bowling selection look a bit silly. Any word on why Woakes bowled so few overs yesterday?
(Bairstow to play as specialist batsman).
Would his recent red ball form in any way justify that?
Would his recent red ball form in any way justify that?
Not really but I can't think of an obvious replacement.
Looks like the whitewash is on this year then.
Well I packed my bag this morning with supplies with the plan to leave work at 2pm and have a nice afternoon at Edgbaston. That plan went out of the window quite quickly
Oh, Broad has gone. Don’t bring Jimmy on
What is the point of Anderson batting?
What is the point of Anderson batting?
Maybe get the deficit under 250?
Otherwise, none.
Someone needs to tell them that they don't have to stop at 50 overs.
Bah
Why is it so difficult? Each batsman just needed an average of 36 runs and bat for 9 overs
That wasn’t even a contest. I’m going to use the word ‘pathetic’ again. And probably ‘capitulate’, with an ‘inept’ thrown in for shits n giggles.
I dislike smug Australians too. Particularly if their surnames are Warner and Lyon.
I think the bowling is OK, they really missed Jimmy but with him they’d have been fine. Even if he’s out for the next test, the seamers are fine.
Moeen is a conversation. His batting is poor at the moment, there must be better options, though I don’t know who they are.
Batting wise, we need an opener and arguably have since Strauss retired. I’m not sure Burns is the answer, in fact I’m pretty sure he’s not, but he gets a stay of execution. Roy should be nowhere near the test team.
Bairstow needs to just bat and give the gloves to either Butler or bring back in Foakes. His footwork when keeping is terrible, and I think all day behind the stumps is affecting his batting. In fact, sod it, can we use Sarah Taylor?
Roy should be nowhere near the test team.
I don't agree, but he's not an opener. He should bat at 4 instead of Denly, but I have no answer to who should open instead.
Found the cricmetric site and England's much vaunted middle order has actually been pretty poor since 2016. Now it doesn't help if your first three keep getting out cheaply but you could argue that they could all be replaced. Foakes for Bairstow, Curran for Stokes or Buttler, Leach for Moeen. Move Woakes up. But England won't make drastic changes.
I knew there was a reason Test matches shouldn't start on Wednesdays - very grumpy.
looks like it will starting on thursday after all 😉
well that's put the mockers on it!
Morning everybodeeeeeeee.
Four down by lunch, then?
good grief !
Flashy - after Roy's departure.....
Roy is not a test match opener
https://twitter.com/cricvizanalyst/status/1161943860098011136
Burns ain't doing much better !
Roy is not a test match opener
True - he looks like a number 4 to me. So who opens?
recall Cook
12 Essex 10 17 2 701 125 46.73 47.40 1 5 14
^short of a massive injury crisis, I don't see him being interested.
make him an offer he can't refuse.
recall Cook
Won't be long before Geoffrey gets a call, at this rate.
Oh. Right.
25 Test matches without a first innings century for Root. Captain is struggling
MY Mrs ( who knows far more about cricket than I do) keeps on saying " Whatever the question is Denly is not the answer"
She also thinks the sun shines out of Roots backside
Any suggestions for a free stream of the match?
MY Mrs ( who knows far more about cricket than I do) keeps on saying ” Whatever the question is Denly is not the answer”
She also thinks the sun shines out of Roots backside
Your Mrs speaks sense.
Root has easily enough credit in the bank as a captain and a batsman to be safe well past the end of this series.
She is also right on the Denly point - however, even though he is not the answer to the question "who is a better bet than Denly?", I don't know that there is an answer to that one.
Roy is not a test match opener
Nope. The trouble with Roy is that if he nicks it, it is going to carry to slip. Cook and Root both nick a lot short of slip as they basically let go of the bat if they realise the ball isn't quite there for the shot.