I was exactly the same about Crawley, he was an absolute dud as far as I was concerned. Then again I said Alistair Cook was the week link in our team the year we won the Ashes down under and he averaged about 350. In short, I’m ****ing clueless.
Final ball ever faced with a bat struck for 6. Final ball ever bowled the winning wicket in a test match.
Agree re the bowling attack (though add Tongue to those for the first test).At the time, I was up in arms about Woakes not playing at Lord, where he averages 50 odd with the bat and 11 with the ball. And Bairstow wasn’t ready to take the gloves (rusty and unfit) though they clearly wanted same keeper for the whole series and he did little wrong after the first two tests. Bizarrely as it was played in England, we were also under prepared. Aussies had the test final vs India, while we had a warm up vs a very poor Ireland team.
I’ve just googled it and Cooky actually averaged 127 in that series, scoring 766 runs. Not too shabby.
Under prepared due to the ****ing 100....absolute waste of time **** competition.....normally we'd have had a 2 test series against someone stronger and by end of July we'd still have 2 or 3 tests left. Instead we're losing the whole month of July to a format no one else plays and anyone half decent from abroad is now sacking it off, as a result, bairstow and our bowling attack in particular were under cooked and it cost us. Imagine us going on tour in aus and having the ashes done by Xmas to accommodate the bbl or something.....mental.
100% spot on. The 100 is total dog **** and is doomed to fail. I’ve got zero interest and never will have.
I've never been a cricket fan per se but always enjoyed The Ashes when it's been on in a pub or whatever, without really knowing the ins and outs (sic) of the game. Started watching this one closely towards the end of the third test and it's really sucked me in. So many moments have made me grin like a silly bastard watching it. It's obviously not as consistently fast-paced as some sports but I don't think there's another game that provides more joyous, fun moments. Stuff like Broad finally getting Murphy's wicket after messing with the bails just as he did with Labuschagne the previous innings. How can you not just laugh at that?
Apparently ECB have realised this and have plans for a merge with the Blast. Back to 20 x 6 ball overs. Believe it’s still going to be franchises but 20 odd (inc some minor counties) teams. Unfortunately due to existing contracts, it won’t happen til 2027. Hence no major announcements. I read it on a Telegraph article.
What a tremendous series, credit to both teams, and full marks to England to win the last test to level the series. I certainly feel that was justice after the Old Trafford test being rained off, and what a finale for Stuart Broad getting the last 2 wickets. Test Cricket is alive and kicking.
I just hope the scheduling isn’t a complete cluster **** for the next series down under like it was last time. I love test cricket and have been fortunate to have watched pretty much the whole of this series. Last time we played in Australia I didn’t watch a single delivery. I knew before the series started that we were getting whitewashed and would have been but for a match drawn due to rain. I’d, honestly, rather not send a team than send one so under prepared and unfit as last time. To win in Australia is the ultimate achievement for an English Test cricketer and if we stand any chance of doing that then the preparation must be spot on. I just can’t see it happening though.
No, it’s gonna be a massive ask isn’t it. We have to pretty much rebuild our whole bowling department. I had always assumed the management would have carefully planned Anderson /Broad retirements, with the next Ashes in mind. Woakes seems reluctant to tour, as he says himself his skill set is more suited to English conditions. Sadly we can’t rely on Wood. Leaves Robinson with any experience. Pretty much means they have to get their untried replacements right first time.
We can only hope that what we witnessed over these 5 wonderful games will whet the appetite of other countries, such as West Indies/Pakistan/S Africa etc and see Test Cricket can be as exciting as the one day game.
England have been docked 19 of the 28 points they earned in the Ashes towards the World Test Championship. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/66384125 What an utter farce. Players have also had part of their wages withheld. Talk about shooting the sport in the foot. The World Test Championship hasn't taken off (it was invented to make test cricket 'more meaningful'), so let's give it a boost by ensuring the 2 best teams in the world don't get to the final. Let's fine the players so that they are forced to stop playing test cricket for financial reasons and sign up for more lucrative franchise cricket instead. You honestly couldn't make this nonsense up.
So the batsman can **** around never being ready for the ball to be delivered, and the bowling team can get docked points… Well crafted rule
I agree, it's absolute nonsense. If I've understood the article correctly players lose 5% of their match fee for each point deducted. So they stand to lose 95% of it?
You’re spot on, it totally undermines the league format plus disincentives players to play test cricket. There is a formula of points deducted for the number of overs behind the rate but it seems if the other team’s innings doesn’t reach 85 (edit: 80) overs then any penalties don’t count. The Bazball approach (which many experts believe could be the saviour of cricket across the globe) has meant we rarely batted 80 overs. Hence despite similar overrates, the Aussies only had 10 points deducted. So although we drew the series and even many of their ex-players admitting we outplayed them, we will have scored 9 points and the Aussies 18. I assume the players match fees will have been split proportionally similar. It makes a total mockery of the league. The ICC have got this so wrong.
That's how I read it but I also heard on the radio that any fines are capped at 50% of the match fee.
