I'm beginning to think Boycs was right you know. I'm sure QM will be back on here soon to pay a fitting tribute to Moeen
No chance of me paying any tribute to Moeen Ali. Who is to say that Adil Rashid would not have taken wickets today? The Aussies were set an achievable target because England were bowled out rather than Cook batting them totally out of the game. Clearly this is a wicket that they did not want to be batting fourth on. Ali will keep his place for the second Ashes Test because he got runs with the bat. If he fails with the bat and his bowling gets hammered all over London, his new found fans will quickly disappear.
With Leg Before Watson now back in the pavilion, surely it would need a downpour of Noah-like proportions to save the Aussies. That is why Shane Warne is in Las Vegas playing poker rather than being in the Sophia Gardens commentary box sipping tea.
The Aussies polished off by England part time spin twins Moeen and Root. Who'd have predicted that? Good performance, Broad had a good day, just wish he could have more of them. I like this fella Wood. Reminds me a bit of the Welshman Simon Jones who was a key part of the 2005 team until injury finished him. Starc nursing a dodgy ankle apparently too. Roll on the second test.
Indeed a fine performance, but what a strange game cricket is. Heck, in Australia, we were butchered, sliced, packed, and sent home by refrigerated sea freight. This win is a shock to me, although credit to Dexter, he called it spot-on.
Oh yes ...................... Carry On fiesta chez Dexter tonight with some On The Busses after midnight .......................... "I'll get you Butler"
Oddy Cheers Swanny..I couldn't fathom the betting in running in this game either. When we had 430 and they had 52-1 the odds were 4-1 England;11-8 Oz and 3-1 the draw with Skybet. England were 7/4 draw no bet...I had a bit on and have no problem after timing this . This series is so like 2005 and given the way Australia was outplayed in this opener,I cannot see a way back for them especially with Starc out for the Lords test in all probability. Ashes coming home.
I actually agree with that. His wickets came with awful shots off bad balls. The Warner lbw wasn't a flipper/topper or a doosra..it was supposed to spin but didn't have enough revs to...lucky. He can knock it about though when the pressure is off. Still,he definitely can't be dropped with those figures..despite how flattering. A plus for Australia...as will be the inclusion of Ballance who shouldn't be playing for us at all since he is a Zimbabwean..Much prefer young James Taylor who is better,English and not built like a pie shop.
Spot on Cyc and I articulated the same. Hugely underrated bowler who would have given Australia what they lacked..control.
A final point before I turn in. Cook needs to get runs. A lot is made of his captaincy and he made a couple of stunning catches and bowling changes but these field settings,changes and plans would have been made on powerpoint before the match by the back room gurus. Were it up to him solely we would have had 4 men patrolling the ropes and one floating slip despite a ridiculously unassailable lead. He needs to to get some scores and not rely on those around him. I actually don't rate him as a Captain or a batter. Discuss!
Huge congrats to England for the stunning 169 run win. After winning the toss and deciding to bat, they pretty much took the game by the throat, and never let up. If there was and doubt about Joe Root's reputation, it is now gone. He must be rated among the top handful of batsmen in the world. The manner in which he's built his game since the last Ashes series is most impressive, and is a credit to the man's commitment to improving his technique. A much deserved Man Of The Match award came his way. Living on the far side of the planet, I've had little to do with English cricket, so know next to nothing of Cook's captaincy of late. While his battle with the bat speaks for itself, it has no reflection on his command of this, the first test. A bit has been said of his cautious approach, but he made no mistake in batting on until Australia had next to no hope of salvaging the game. And the fact that he two days up his sleeve to roll Australia, just rubber stamped his leadership in the test. Australia on the other hand were awful. The much vaunted pace attack failed to materialise and the wicket taking was left a spinner who took 9 for the match. They went in full of themselves, but empty on commitment. As mentioned by other posters, the Australian pacemen lacked control, and will need to pull their socks up if they're to make an impact in the series. The Australian batting was terrible. I smelled fear. For me, they looked like startled animals caught in the spotlight. Some of the dismissals were of park cricket calibre, they had no place in test cricket. If Australia is to make a fight of this series, some serious soul searching needs to be done. Well done England.
Hear, hear, Oddy! Frankly, in spite of Dexter's assurances, I can still hardly believe it! I really got the cricket blues after their last nightmare trip to downunder. Guess I haven't recovered yet. (Say, bet old Merv H. is despatching a few hot emails to the Aussie lads here?).
A bit harsh on Cooky there Dex... His last 6 Tests / 12 innings in 2015 have produced 609 runs @ 50.75 ave with 2 tons & 4 + 50's... Aus - 20 & 12 NZ - 75 & 56, 16 & 162 WI - 105 & 4, 76 & 59, 11 & 13 You could say that he needs to get runs in this series as I don't think Lyth is the right opening partner, Alex Hales would be my choice, but its hard to say that he is under pressure for his runs. I do think however that the series against NZ has awoken him to be a bit more pro-active as a captain, as that is where I will agree with you. Maybe, when under Flower, they just wanted to make sure they didn't lose without actually trying to win the Test first. Negative Nellies really... Bell was the one I was saying had to improve, even with his past history, but like all things if your winning it hides the darker reality of your own downfalls and mistakes. I like Cook as a batter, always have, and I think he could go on to set some record come the end of his cricketing time, but I just don't see it happening any time soon... Lets give him a bit more time yet, because if he gets scoring runs against this mob this summer we could start hitting some big numbers... Fingers crossed...
Apparently on Monday some new legislation is going to be rushed before Parliament that is nothing to do with outfoxing the SNP. The government is introducing an Act to have all seagulls within a one mile radius of Lord’s Cricket Ground exterminated. The Henry “Blowers” Blofeld Act will also feature a requirement for TFL to run more London Buses passed the ground between Thursday and Monday of next week; and for all construction sites in St John’s Wood to have at least one crane.
I too do not rate Cook as a captain. He is far too cautious and England won the first Test because they were bowled out in the second innings – he would have batted until the target was out of sight as he has done before. It would be folly to rely on the Aussies capitulating again. redcgull quotes Cook’s last six Test matches but the first two in the West Indies were played on flat batting tracks that the hosts had deliberately produced to nullify our bowling attack but I would concede that he had a decent series against New Zealand. He definitely needs Ashes runs because Lyth and Ballance could easily be free wickets – if Ballance has a bad game at Lord’s, the calls for KP will start again.
