There’s an interesting theory going round that this was an excuse to drop Paine and that Alex Carey will come into side, potentially as captain.

Or the salvation of Steve Smith? Do agree it’s harsh on Paine.

With just over seven days to go, what are the thoughts of the resident STW cricket fans for The Ashes?

I’m not confident of England doing much to be honest. Yes, two day-night pink ball matches does play towards England’s strengths, but the Aussies aren’t totally clueless about swinging the ball and they don’t have to move it as much as they are quicker through the air.

Carey is as good a keeper as Paine and there is no way Wade is good enough to keep to Lyon through a long test innings.

England’s only recognised spinner is Leach and he has been tonked out of the attack too often for my liking. With Archer and Stone missing, only Wood has real wheels and he won’t play more than three tests if England are trying to keep him fit.

Looking at the batting lineups I can’t see many games lasting more than 4 days if weather doesn’t intervene. Root and Smith are in a different class to the other batters on show, but Australia also have Labuschagne and a much shorter tail.

I hope covid doesn’t bollocks the tour up.

Man of the series prediction – Josh Hazlewood.

Looking forward to it, but like you more in hope than expectation.

Different matter – this is an interesting proposition.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/nov/30/cricket-toss-proposal-could-give-each-side-coin-equal-weight-the-spin

And in the long game, I’d like to see test series share the toss – toss before T1 and then alternate. In a 3 or 5 game series you still have the advantage for winning the spin but the chances of being tossed out of the series is reduced.

I like the idea of one coin toss for the series. Although it could lead to pressure on home groundsmen if you know that, in a month’s time, the oppo will be batting first in the 4th test of a series!

TMS Ashes podcast was pretty depressing listening tbh. Weather is shite, quarantine rules getting tighter for family/friends and general restrictions getting tighter too. No preparation.

Chances of all games getting played without disruption seem pretty slim. Not sure what the situation is on crowds.

Hopefully things will pick up. Looking forward to Cummins as Captain but I don’t like seeing Steve Smith as vice captain tbh. Not even because of cheating I just find him intensely irritating!

Difficult to see us doing well as the batting is too reliant on Root as usual.

Cummins as captain could be very interesting. He’s already pretty handy with the bat, I wonder if the responsibility will turn him into a genuine all-rounder. He deserves it, by all accounts he is a brilliant competitor, hard but fair and he had a lot of injury problems when younger.

Smith as VC opens up the Cape Town issue again for me. The thing that bothers me about that incident is this:

If, as a quick bowler or group of quick bowlers, you are trying to make a ball reverse, you are on top of that ball conditioning effort like a fly on shit. There is no way you’d let anyone do anything to the ball without your say-so. But hey-ho, that is done now.

England rely on Root more than Australia rely on Smith. Australia have the better attack. I just hope the tour doesn’t degenerate into a round Australia last minute covid cancellation trip. But I think it might.

I like the idea of one coin toss for the series. Although it could lead to pressure on home groundsmen if you know that, in a month’s time, the oppo will be batting first in the 4th test of a series!

That is a consideration. I’d suggest ‘neutral groundsmen’ – not completely, you need the local knowledge and manpower to prepare good tracks in local conditions, but with oversight by ICC to make sure that pitches are not being unduly doctored.

I like the idea of one coin toss for the series. Although it could lead to pressure on home groundsmen if you know that, in a month’s time, the oppo will be batting first in the 4th test of a series!

I don’t think that is he proposal – it would be the captains would get alternating choices so if they chose to the opposition could elect to bowl first in the 4h if the ground looked like it had been prepared to last the full 5 days when you got there.

I think I’d like a system where the captain that lost the previous match automatically got the choice (with a previous draw meaning it switched from whoever chose last time). Might help to keep the losing team in the series in with a chance. Like snooker break offs I guess.

The runs handicap system feels a bit too contrived.

Yes, effectively the win of the toss alternates so the captains have alternating choice. But even then, if the toss has gone in a way that the home captain has choice in T4, then you order a raging green top safe in the knowledge you won’t be batting first, and then ask for a road in T5 so that it’s inevitably a draw, etc.

Hence you need the neutral groundsman to ensure good, fair, pitches are prepared.

The runs handicap feels a bit contrived

Not as contrived as the tournament in the example where chasing sides won 12/13. The tournament effectively became a toss the coin competition.

The handicap is only for single game T20’s (poss 50 over) and it’s essentially a ‘negotiated’ not a fixed handicap. The toss winner gets to choose what to do. But before they do, the losing tosser proposes a handicap for the less favoured option (in the example, the dew speeds up the pitch making it easier to bat on in the second innings). And then back to the winning tosser to decide.

So in example above, the losing tosser might suggest that the effect of the dew is worth 20 runs. So they propose a 20 run handicap. So the choice in front of the winning tosser is now between batting first and setting a target, or batting second and chasing the target plus 20.

It’s very clever because you can’t substantially over or under propose, otherwise the winning tosser will call your bluff. Same example above, if the proposer suggested say target plus 50 – then the winning tosser would just bat first and make you chase it

Looking forward to the Ashes, albeit, I can see some disruption on the horizon.
The Aussie’s seem to have 3 decisions to make:
Who bats 5 – Head or Khawaja
Who keeps – Inglis or Carey
Who bowls – Starc or Richardson

England have similar choices:
Who bats 3 – Malan or Crawley
Who bats 5/6 – Bairstow or Pope
Who makes up the bowling unit

I personally think it’ll be closer than we think, but the Aussie’s should win it.

The Aussie choices:

Khawaja. Travis Head is one of these players who looks nailed on to score runs, but pretty much never delivers.

Carey. They need someone of some seniority in the job.

Starc. They can afford a luxury bowler given the rest of the attack. He creates rough for Lyon and he is an x factor bowler.

England’s choices.

Malan. He’s got more nous than Crawley.

Pope. He’s the best prospect we have and an edge from Hard Hands Jonny never falls short of the cordon.

Bowling – first three seamers have to be Anderson, Broad and Wood, but age counts against the first two for a whole series and Wood is such a bust a gut bowler I don’t think he can play five tests.

Yorkshire cleaning house

Anyone following India NZ? First game was a cracker – NZ taking a beating rn though.

https://www.google.com/search?q=india+new+zealand&oq=india+new+zealand&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i61j0i131i433i512l4j0i3j0i131i433i512.3950j0j4&client=ms-android-xiaomi-rvo3&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8&chrome_dse_attribution=1#sie=m;/g/11ry2y9hhd;5;/m/021q23;dt;fp;1;;

10-fer

I personally think it’ll be closer than we think, but the Aussie’s should win it.

Hmm, I reckon we’ll not win a single Test. Not saying we’ll lose 5-0, but I have a feeling the Aussies will hit some form, especially when they’re playing an England side that’s been so bedraggled this calendar year. Hope I’m wrong.

It’s on BT sport 😣

Oh well, TMS is it then.

resting the worlds greatest swing bowler, better win the toss! 😉

England to bat.

Australia XI: Warner, Harris, Labuschagne, Smith, Head, Green, Carey (wk), Cummins (c), Starc, Lyon, Hazlewood.

England XI: Burns, Hameed, Malan, Root (c), Stokes, Pope, Buttler (wk), Woakes, Robinson, Wood, Leach.

Will watch the start. Fingers crossed 🤞

ffs!

hope this does turn into “Trent Bridge Revenge”

🙈🙈

That wicket is very green

Time for bed!

And so it begins… 🥺

Root didn’t look comfortable from the moment he came to the crease.

20-3. Time for bed. Reckon the Aussies will have chased down our total by the time I get up for a pee in the night.

Well that could have been a lot worse after a dismal start!

147 is the maximum in snooker so there is that.

I woke at 01:00, turned on TMS, heard Zaltz say “Englands worst start”, turned it straight back off and went back to sleep without hearing the score.

Green pitch, gloomy conditions, rain around. Let’s leave our two best swing bowlers on the bench and bat first.

i’m not pretending it’s a good start, but as one of my experienced captains always said, you can’t judge a score or a pitch until both sides have batted on it.

Lets be positive.
Hameed looked good, and 25 in your first Ashes knock is not disastrous, particularly when the rest of the team has collapsed around you.
Pope looked good too, and if he fires we at least have some runs in the middle order, add Buttler to that comment too.
Finally, the pitch is a green top and we have in Chris Woakes one of the finest bowlers on that kind of pitch.

Anderson is injured, hence him being left out. But Broad’s omission is baffling, unless he has a niggle too?

Coukd have been worse after the start I guess and the non existent preparations. Pope. Butler and Hameed coped ok.

Rain for 3 days please

11:30pm start tonight then. Not a good start yesterday but let’s see how our bowlers go. Don’t forget Jimmy pulled up in the 1st Test in 2019 which I still believe cost us victory. They’ll have been mindful of that considering the recent injuries to both Broad and Jimmy, especially coming in to the series so cold.

Smashed round the park? I swear that track is even greener

Decent start from Robinson/England so far but they need wickets asap.

Edit: Got one! Harris gone from Robinson’s bowling.

arse!

Yup the no-ball wicket was a real gutter. England have bowled well could easily have a couple more wickets.