Being in Australia at the moment (not for the cricket) every Aussie is enjoying this and brings it up when possible.
25 mins played and both openers have been missed by the keeper/first slip. Bairstow left one that was his catch all day and Cook's dropped a dolly. I might just go to bed.
Yes and no. Obviously the poor batting performance gave Australia a chance but England weren't out of it. This will still be the highest fourth innings chase at Melbourne for over 50 years. If England had held onto those two catches this morning then the pressure would have been back on Australia but as it is the Aussies look to be cruising to victory.
Nah, Aussies are so full of confidence, they would have knocked off the total with ease, even if those catches had been taken. Cook looks utterly lost to me, plus the team doesn't seem able to gee itself up with most of the side navel gazing.
Weak, weak, weak England...this series was a throwback to the "Aussie whipped" years of the 1990s. I think that there was a lack of leadership on the field and Beefy on Sky was suggesting that the players were "scared of their own shadows and appeared to be batting to order and not playing their natural game" in a clear dig at Andy Flower. Mitchell Johnson is fast and hostile, but he is just one man and he should've been seen off and then make hay against the other bowlers...this was basically the same attack that they faced in the summer. The worst thing about this mauling is that it has damaged the team psychologically and some players may not recover for a while or ever at test level, it would appear to be a good time to try some new blood as Ben Stokes was about the only positive thing to come out of this debacle.
Depends how he does in the ODI's (if selected). Probably new to him having the media attention, Robert Key on Sky this morning pretty much said the first test defeat was Carbs fault for dropping Haddin. Harsh!
Very harsh whole team has under performed. Carbs has arguably done his job and seen off the new ball most matches. Just hasnt made that big score.
Possibly but it would have changed the feeling of the game and given England a confidence boost. Watson can be a bit suspect and would have had a bit more pressure to deal with etc etc Carberry has just done okay but the Aussies seem to have found something of a weakness when bowlers come round the wicket. I'm not sure why Panesar was picked here. He can't bat or field and only bowled 17 overs in the whole game, with about half of those being bowled when the game had gone. If Cook is reluctant to use him (Root was bowled ahead of him in the second innings) why is he even in the team?
