in fairness brook getting 50 after yesterday is a good return. Shocked but not shocked. as i said do you dig in and try to score off the weaker balls and get 90 odd until the new ball or do you just go gungho and go do exactly that the Australians want? in short: stokes is not fit. he can't bowl and his batting is rusty. He is playing cos he is captain. He's caught an edge here and its flown up. brooks is out to short stuff he can leave all day. they have basically beaten him down but again 50 is a good return from a scrapping performance. Bairstow is basically abdicating responsibility as the main man and caught giving away his wicket. Firmly into the tail of a tail and hoping to close this to a 50 lead now. Its not impossible form broad, robinson and anderson but its a big ask as anything more thans say 10 a piece is asking a lot. theres 6 overs til the new ball and my vote as of now would be to clatter it and hope. they'll be out the second a new ball is taken anyway.
This isn't Bazball, it's Bollocksball. The conditions just didn't suit this. 188 for 2 to 317 for 7. 5 wickets down for 130 runs, and all of them recognised batsmen. Lose this test and we've lost the series, and even if we draw it we'll have an uphill task of winning the remaining 3 tests 2-0. Pfft.
The openers was bazball. It was about 5 an over and positive, good play. Add pope to that. The problem is Australia swhoed you can be as positive at 4 an over without being reckless. The rest is not. the issue here is Australia actually had their own collapse to 416 all out after a century from smith. england have basically seen Root, bairstow and stokes all fail and now robsinson has gone for 9 which is about all i'd expect. Someone has to stick about to anchor an innings at times and I has hoped after roots failure that stokes would do this but he's insta gone and then the next main man in has thrown his wicket away. England got Khawaja early day 1 but then couldn't make inroads and thats where australia have got to 416. the aussie tail was crap. Our issue is our middle order have thrown the best of the batting conditions and ball away chasing short stuff that can only be hit to fielders. We are sat here hoping anderson can get 10 or 15. as broad just got done lbw and now tongue gone too. 47 runs for 6 wickets. As i said get 5 and over and have nobody left to go to new ball. Actually they failed to even get the 60 odd i calculated by just slowing it up and going 4 and over for 15 covers. at some point the tail needs to be brave to hack at poor stuff but sensible enough not to play into the obvious trap set for them by the opponent. 416 plays 325. its a big old lead and massive pressure now on the bowlers Australia won't make the mistake of declaring too early.
6 -48 in 90 minutes. Utter ****. All started yesterday when Duckett, Pope and Root had the tired Aussies on the boundary and a feed-yourself buffet of 1s and 2s for every delivery - and decided to twat the ball in the air to boundary instead. Makes you ****ing weep - this is the Ashes, not a frigging 100 game.
Too far behind, needed to be in front or within 20. Ashes gone imo, Aus win here and I can't see England winning the last 3
Although at least they weren't all out for 150 like many matches before Stokes. They need to find a balance between the fast scoring and not falling into traps to get them out.
surely that is only recognising the trap. All borrks say had to do was look over his shoulder at fould men fielding for the short ball pull and well.. not play the short ball and let them wear themsevles out. If stokes and brooks stood there today with the attitude ot let the aussies quicks bash that ball in any way they like for an hour and then start playing thier shots they want to play we'd be talking differently. Sadly i fully expected exactly what they did. why? Its all about pressure. this england side won lots in a row agains mixed opposition but they won them so everyone is fawning over them right? Well its all good til you have someone playing a scoop shot to a premier bowler first show and then boasting on it but you lose the game after declaring. the media turn in this country instantly. the pressure is on not to back down in face of irate critiques from the likes of Pietersen and the press but its also on big time as you are 0-1 down. it now looks like the ashes could go away so the pressure in this second innings will be absolutely immense.
hopefully they can use the break to put the session behind them. Broad looks on it for the moment anyway. anderson still not. The problem is you get a short burst from both and then its over to the others. England need regular wickets throughout the day.
it's all over. just the mopping up exercise now. no sign of aussies collapsing here and no sign of England bowling. Anderson slow and unfit. Robinson very slow. don't know what's wrong there Wood out unfit leach injured alli has soft fingers. broad is basically carrying them
desperate stuff from england. really just playing very negative, 9ld ball bouncing to slow aussie score and hope for a catch maybe. New ball has been available for 13 overs and we are being treated to Broad now being wasted on bumpers that barely rise to chest height and stokes limping in getting no ball catches lead of 350 and 2 wickets plus an injured lyon left. last full ball is 2.5 hours ago. utter and total negativity. bazzball? seems to me they've just adopted the Australian tactic and are just hoping for a mistake or glove.
