My dear old things, it's STW TMS!

What did Broad do to the bails during the Labuschagne dismissal?

hahaha

Just seen a clip now. He went in and swapped the bails over. Nothing illegal, totally irrelevant and unnecessary, but maybe just disrupted concentration. Just as captains do all the time by randomly holding a bowler at the end of their mark while they move a fielder two feet closer and 8″ to the left, to break the batter out of their routine.

Whatever @stuartbroad8 did, it worked! ?#BBCCricket #Ashes pic.twitter.com/InV6MSKQXF

— Test Match Special (@bbctms) July 28, 2023

aussies batted themselves into a cul-de-sac this morning now they are stuck 🙂

aussies batted themselves into a cul-de-sac this morning now they are stuck 🙂

England have scored nearly half of what the aussies did in yesterdays morning session in 3 overs 😂

seems England have decided to take some time out of the game and play a little more conservatively :/

….

or perhaps not 😀

Conservative = still 5 an over over a prolonged period.

They’re just saying now, that apart from the Lord’s bouncer-fest they’ve not been mad (at least until the tail thrash starts), but just what you can do by positive intent makes a huge difference. Compare to AUS yesterday that had no intent, got becalmed, eventually you get a good ball, and you’re done.

At the risk of starting an old fight – whether ODI or Test Match, singles are vital. It keeps scoreboard ticking, rotates the strike and makes the bowler adjust – left to right, what is a good length, where a batter’s strengths and weaknesses are. Labuschagne scored 9 off 82 balls. If every run was a single, that’s still 73 dot balls. That is by any measure, just crap cricket (and not necessarily by Labuschagne, Khawaja didn’t make any effort to help him out)

I wonder what’s to come…. with a lead of 300, another 90 mins of play tonight could be another 100-odd runs, so with an eye on the forecast and an approach of whether losing 3:1 is any worse than 2:1 really, we might see the gas pedal pushed, another risky declaration and 20 mins at them.

that spun a long way!

we want another test!!! bring back the 6 test series don’t think i could ever get bored of watching England smash the aussies round the ground for nearly 400 runs a day (and only 80 overs!). 😀

Broad has retired from test cricket…..

his finest bowling….

well played sir!

David Warner’s going to have a sleepless night…… of course Broady’s going to go out with his wicket in the morning, charging in, all the crowd behind him!

Absolutely one of the best. Going out at the top most wickets in this test and with India next where it will be tough.

He will be ripping it tomorrow

Well played Stuart

He has to get Warner out for a first ball duck, nipping off to slip

Didn’t think Broad would retire before Anderson.

Well played sir, great cricketer.

Hopefully this will be the nudge Jimmy needs! Well played Broad, some truly memorable spells.

My money is on Broad either having or wanting a pact with Anderson to go together. When Anderson made his statement yesterday (or was it the day before) about not wanting to retire any time soon Broad went solo with his retirement announcement. His feels like the right way to bow out….I just have a sneaky feeling its not going to be a fairytale match finish.

I was hoping for both Broad to hit 600 wickets and Anderson to hit 700 (maybe even pass Warne) then for them to both retire at end of this series. I still want Anderson to get 700 before he goes.

It’s Jimmy’s birthday tomorrow. I hope him and Broady have a proper celebration.

I hope they all do. If they win tomorrow (or Monday) it should feel like an effective series win to them and a loss to the Aussies. They may have retained the ashes, but if they lose this test they should feel like they’ve lost the series.

We should have won it really.

Warner be like a shitting dog in the morning.

Lovely scenes for Stuart Broad walking out, guard of honour from the Aussies.

Now Mitchell Starc will attempt to hit him on the head in traditional manner.

was Tuffer’s admitting to have a toke in the Ovals groundsman shed ? 😀

I’ve never liked Broad – yes as a player he is good but as a man quite honestly a bit nasty.  Was the key part of the ring of bullies that wrecked a few careers.

KP certainly alleges that from 10 years or so ago – and I think it was probably true.

Whether that still persists; whether the last 10 years he has grown up and matured, I don’t know but I’m prepared to give some benefit of the doubt. He was 5 years into a career that has now lasted 16 years, and seems to be a markedly different character now.

Some stunning bowling this morning. I was beginning to lose hope yesterday afternoon but if we carry on like this they could be 5 or 6 down by lunch.

It certainly changes the complexion doesn’t it.

Head is living a charmed life here :/

Ben Stokes has just ‘dropped’ Head – clear catch that he then seems to have fumbled in starting to celebrate.

Yep, nice catch but in “celebrating” he then drops it 🤷‍♂️

I’ve mixed feelings on the Stokes ‘drop’. Yes the ball left his hand as it hit his thigh and therefore wasn’t under control, but could you not argue that it was part of a post-catch celebration and not part of the act of catching the ball?

Edit: What about Harry Brook catching it from Stokes’ fumble?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/cricket/66360852

My view is that he landed on his bad leg and the pain he felt caused him to drop it

You could, but that enters the same territory as Starc, and you need total control of ball and yourself. If you aren’t under control and fall out of the field of play, it doesn’t matter if the ball was under control, it’s still not out (and 6) I<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>f you haven’t controlled the ball in your hand and arm sufficiently when you hit the ground and jolt it out, it’s not out. Why’s it then different if you jolt your hand against yourself. </span>

<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>The celebration is incidental as the cause for losing control, the fact is he didn’t have control of both.</span>

Having watched it again (several times), I agree. Not Out.

Edit: What about Harry Brook catching it from Stokes’ fumble?

It bounced before he took it – it’s quite clear in the first angle on the BBC clip (none of the other angles shows it).

Nicely poised now!!

Hang on, bangbangbang, that’s 3 in 14 balls

Game on! I was worried this was going to fizzle out but it seems like we’re in for a final session to match the rest of the series.

And as I was writing that, Marsh is gone!

What a catch!

*almost* makes up for the rest of the series

Boom! I do love it when wickets start falling like this and the crowd get going. 😀

And another.