My dear old things, it's STW TMS!

Dear Lord….do they never learn….

Earth to England, you don’t have to thrash at every short ball!

This could well be Stokes’s captaincy going down in flames here.

If he is no longer a bowler this is putting all sorts of pressure on him as a captain and player.

Block 5-6 overs out, FFS.

Lyon missing too (Finn just made the exact point), so Aus only have four quicks and one of those is Green. Bat some time, put some miles in their legs.

Jesus H Christ.

Exactly, they can’t bowl like that all day.

Somebody slap Harry Brook..🙄🙄

FFS Harry Brook thinks he’s playing baseball now. Bonkers!

I’m beginning to wonder if ‘Bazball’ is actually just modern terminology for what used to be called ‘batting like a ****’.

🤷‍♂️

I know what I’d be chirping Stokes with.

“Jeez the skipper is a shit bloke. Sends the lads out to have a thrash and get out, then bats for his average”.

Just watching the highlights. Can someone remind england that it’s the ashes they are contesting.

I’m happy for them to carry on playing like this. It gives them their best chance to win. Live by the sword, die by the sword.

Duckett as an example did all that work to throw his wicket away .

You can’t defend harry brook at all. Jo root was a 50/50 I’ve seen them go both ways.

Stokes could do with a score, if he can’t bowl. Hope he can dig in and anchor things, maybe then some JB fireworks, and a handy lead. Reality – probably scrape towards parity and then another one innings shoot out.

England do like a run chase though.

scrape towards parity and then another one innings shoot out

Sounds fine by me.

At 200-1 or whatever it was, England should have been eyeing a brilliant first innings lead. But we gifted the Aussies three wickets for nothing and brought them back into it when they had implemented their last plan. All we had to do was not take the bait, look them in the eyes and say “what have you got now?”

But hell, they could well prove me wrong (again), but if they do win, it will have been made harder by that brainless spell yesterday. 🤷‍♂️

Duckett as an example did all that work to throw his wicket away

He scored 98, set a great platform up and batted really well. He should be getting huge credit for a great knock in my view.

Somebody slap Harry Brook

You can’t defend harry brook at all.

Absolute rubbish, he’s not out overnight against a cracking Aussie attack, of course you can defend hi.. They’ve picked a player who plays shots, that is literally his whole game, why do we suddenly expect him not to?

I’ve been really frustrated with a lot of the views on England at the moment from the media and a few on here, we have such short memories. 2 year ago Joe Root was coming in at 3-2 and we’d have have been chuffed if we got to 250 all out. Today we’re at 278-4 with a quick run rate and still have Stokes and Brook batting with Bairstow still to come. Yes, they’ve played some bad shots but they’re in a great position and the cricket is brilliant to watch. I’d rather they play a few bad shots and be in that position than the old world where they played bad shots and were all out for 200.

I read a tweet that said the essence of this England team is being in a constant limbo between “well, that could be much worse” and “well, that could have been much better”, and that is the sweet spot where great sport happens.

We’re watching a brilliantly coached and captained England side, they make a few mistakes (show me an England side that didn’t (I’ll give you a clue, Michael Vaughan’s sides made plenty…)), but they’re winning games and even those they don’t are close run thrillers.

Rant over.

I’m happy for them to carry on playing like this. It gives them their best chance to win.

I agree mostly, but it felt like a few of them walked into an obvious trap yesterday.

Well said Lunge.

It’s a published policy, no apologies, they are going to play Bazball for good and bad and so far the record says it comes off more times than not (79% win rate under Stokes and two of the losses were thrillers, one run vs NZ and 2 wickets last week)

Michael Vaughan (51% win rate) can moan all he likes, loved him as a player and skipper in his time but that was in his time. He used to go on about the wenwees (‘when we used to play…..’ etc.) and is becoming the biggest wenwee of them all now.

Get over it. It might not be how it was done in the past, it’s how this team does it and it is MAGNIFICENT in it’s balls-out, don’t-care-what-you-think, seat-of-your-pants ness. It’s Jens Voight in whites.

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?

Yes brooks is still there but some of attempted shots where reckless at best in the time frame of the innings. Stokes had toned it down last night for the reason they need to be both still batting well into this morning.

Duckett did well absolutely but a daft shot cost him 30 more runs (maybe) and they will be crucial on the last day .

Overall aus set up a plan and england fell into the trap.

I’m not knocking englands new zest because test cricket in England will die if each game is drawn over 5 days of plodding about.

I’d also note Steve Smith has been  great so far. If Lyon is to be replaced for at least the rest of this test and it appears he is aus have lost a huge skill.

Stokes had toned it down last night for the reason they need to be both still batting well into this morning.

I disagree. Look at a typical Ben Stokes innings. He has always played himself in at the start, and then when he pushes on (and of course if it works) then his s/r increases massively. He’s batting like he usually does, just as the others have stuck to their natural games.

Is it not Bazball if you replace the last 5% of dick measuring with a modicum of sense?

If (and god knows we all love an if) England were walking out to bat this morning only one or two down, but with 25 less runs on the board, Aus would be thinking they must take early wickets. It’s 24 overs to the new ball and no Lyon. That’s when you go full Bazball.

Taking on the short stuff ‘low to high’ wasn’t ever going to be that profitable in any case – it is deployed as a strangling tactic more often than not. Ironically Root started off playing it really well. Little paddle hooks/pulls for one. Then the bowlers are going at five an over and, basically, cannot take a wicket. But I feel England felt obliged to take it on as a matter of manhood or similar. Australia’s short ball tactic was not the bristling new ball machismo of Mitch Johnson, it was the tired, soft ball version purveyed by the likes of Wagner and Broad. It just needed milking at a still high run rate and treated as it deserved.

Look at a typical Ben Stokes innings. He has always played himself in at the start

Charging down the wicket first ball most of last summer and the winter would suggest otherwise.

Yes brooks is still there but some of attempted shots where reckless at best in the time frame of the innings. Stokes had toned it down last night for the reason they need to be both still batting well into this morning.

Duckett did well absolutely but a daft shot cost him 30 more runs (maybe) and they will be crucial on the last day .

But that is literally how they play. Duckett’s 98 came from playing daft shots. If you don’t want daft shots then you play Dom Sibley who plays no shots, scores slowly and still gets out for 28.
Brook is the same, he’s the player he is because he plays daft shots.

I’m not sure Duckett played many daft shots. He looked like a typical left-handed, busy, short-arsed, batter playing glides and nudges then lovely drives when it was right up to him. 🤷‍♂️

So much for Stokes being the steady hand. 🙄

He was out to a good ball and a great catch.

I may be being harsh on duckett as I wanted him to get a ton at lords if your on 98 at lords get 3 singles then play 20/20 style.

Lyons is out  for ashes it seams

Wasn’t suggesting it was a stupid wicket, just unfortunate as he was doing quite well at calming it all down. Hopefully now we’ll see Bairstow and Brook put on a steady 50ish without much fuss, then when they start getting close to parity they can start hitting it.

Lyons is out  for ashes it seams

With Lyons out then I suspect seam won’t be order of the day for wicket choice 😉

Lol auto correct

FFS.

FFS 🙄

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?

I make that four wickets from the same tactic. I bet Australians are entertained.

It’s their plan and it’s working aus are playing very well . Stokes wicket was good bowling and a better catch .

Sorry but it’s just macho bollox. Just let them go past FFS. They can’t bowl short all day, and even if they do so what? They’ll eventually get ragged and that will be the opportunity for playing shots.

wazball

Yip, it’s a plan but, as Tubbs has just said on commentary, if you just duck the bowlers soon get bored …

Of course it’s their plan, because England keep repeating the same mistake!

Definition of insanity?

FFS.

A hundred 1st innings deficit when England should have been eyeing a 70 run lead.

Ashes most likely gone and it’s not even July.