This score seems vaguely familiar with the last time we played here in the ashes.... I wonder how Anderson's batting is
Feck me- I don't know why England bother turning up- a decent first innings score made at a good pace and already being written off- lets suck all the positivity out
First we're not allowed to criticise the new club shirt, now we're not allowed to have an opinion on England's performance in the cricket.
not at all- I'm just surprised by the lack of enthusiasm for a decent day especially when we could have been completely fecked by lunch but then I'm the twat who thinks Norwich could still get something out of the game when they're 2-0 down at Chelsea with 5 minutes left
I didn't see it that way to be honest. I think most on here were pretty pleased with the outcome of yesterday. Hard one to judge really. A slow pitch which should suit a higher score but overcast with swing and the unpredictability of the bounce made it reasonably equal to both sides I suppose. Be interesting to see how Aus deal with it later today if the weather stays the same. Don't think the West Australian's will be looking forward to it... It's definitely not a WACA pitch.
New attitude helps. I see that even with four players in the England squad, Yorkshire thrashed Warwickshire and are well clear at the top of division one.
There's a bravery and a belief in this England side, as well as a nice combination of youth and experience, that I think will hold us in good stead for the rest of this Ashes series, . If we can push on to 420+ today I can see us putting real pressure on the Aussie batsmen early on. Besides Anderson must be licking his lips watching that ball swing around.
The wickets over here are slower than in Oz which suits our canny bowlers, but thankfully doesn't suit bowlers like Mitchell Johnson who destroyed us in the previous Ashes Test Series down under!
Michael Holding showed a graphic yesterday of comparative number of wickets taken and Mitch J is far more threatening and penetrative on hard wickets, such as Australia and South Africa than he is over here or on the subcontinent. So, presumably, our groundsmen have been told to prepare pitches to negate him? Joe Root's innings was an absolute joy to watch yesterday . Plus, the longer it went on, the more Ballance stopped doing his Trott / Boycott / Tavare impression! In fact his 60 runs, albeit painfully slowly scored, were equally critical in wearing the bowlers down and allowing Stokes, Buttler etc to profit later in the day. Pietersen in for Bell at Lord's next week?
The other thing I noticed yesterday was how all 3 of the Aussie quicks - and Watson, were spraying the ball around and unable to bowl a tight off stump line? Haddin was diving left right and centre all day long? Glenn McGrath, in the comms box, must have been wincing as he watched that. At least the groundsmen can't be accused of 'doctoring' the pitch to cause that!!
Lol Saurabh Bhargava @catchbhargava Its official @StuartBroad8 has got more reviews than @TripAdvisor.
After the one-sided mauling here down under, it's good to see a proper contest now. Advantage England but not by much I'd say. @goldeneadie How do you feel about the Ali / Rashid debate now? He's paid back the selectors' faith in him already. Would you keep him there?
I will admit that I expected the Aussie batsmen to hit him out of the attack early on. Pleasantly surprised.
TBF Ali's batting yesterday morning really kept the momentum going England's way and he showed no little skill in getting his wickets although both Aussies contributed to their downfall by giving him the charge too early. Good to Andersen bowling a couple of lovely spells building pressure up and making all the Aussie top order play and miss. With a bit of luck he could easily have had a couple more. Just need to keep our foot on their throats and try to take as big a lead as possible into the second innings.
