| Ashes thread 17:11 - Jul 15 with 108226 views | johnhoop |
Now that the World Cup’s done and dusted we can turn our attention to the next major event.
For me the most interesting questions about team selection are;
1) Do we open with Jason Roy? For me it’s a no brainer. I know all the arguments against- he doesn’t even open for Surrey, he struggles against the moving ball etc- but I feel that he’s in such good form and the alternatives are so mediocre that it would be silly not to. If he does come off he could give us control of the game in the first couple of hours. Him and Rory Burns for me.
2) Now that Jofra Archer has to have a place in the side, who are the other two quick bowlers going to be. If fit I guess Anderson has to play and I would give the third spot to Woakes but this means no place for Stuart Broad and the 90 mph+ Mark Wood.
3) Which spinner to go with - Ali or Rashid? Ali’s batting form seems to have dipped but it’s still not an easy decision to make.
Any thoughts? | | | |  |
| Ashes thread on 15:56 - Aug 4 with 1811 views | kropotkin41 |
I'd take a rained off draw now.
We're going to have to work out how to get Smith out otherwise this'll be "Smith's Ashes". | |
| ‘morbid curiosity about where this is all going’ |
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| Ashes thread on 16:37 - Aug 4 with 1781 views | CamberleyR |
Hindsight I know but the decision to take a gamble on Anderson's fitness looks like it's going to bite us on the arse big time. I know he knows his body the best but common sense tells you, you don't recover from a calf tear in a month.
Had we a full bowling attack I think they would have struggled to get 150 in the first innings. Batting second time with a deficit of 200+ is a whole different ball game psychologically to batting again just 90 behind. | |
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| Ashes thread on 16:51 - Aug 4 with 1765 views | kropotkin41 |
Taking Anderson was inexplicable. Two spinners or put Archer in..... Shirley | |
| ‘morbid curiosity about where this is all going’ |
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| Ashes thread on 17:12 - Aug 4 with 1723 views | Snipper |
I wouldn’t count Moeen Ali as a spinner at the moment. We’ve played this test with 9 men. | | | |
| Ashes thread on 17:22 - Aug 4 with 1704 views | qprd |
What’s the point of bowling Moeen now?
He’s been very uneconomical and ausssies are going to try to slog to have enough runs to declare and force England to face the new ball in worse lighting | | | |
| Ashes thread on 17:31 - Aug 4 with 1696 views | qprd |
2 spinners w the duke ball and seaming conditions is not advisable.... | | | |
| Ashes thread on 17:32 - Aug 4 with 1691 views | ted_hendrix |
This is torture. | |
| My Father had a profound influence on me, he was a lunatic. |
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| Ashes thread on 17:43 - Aug 4 with 1676 views | johnhoop |
You’re right, the Aussies are basically taking the p-ss out of England now, possibly Smith’s response to all the booing. They had enough to win the game at least fifty runs ago. | | | |
| Ashes thread on 17:49 - Aug 4 with 1659 views | Rangersw12 |
Taking time out of the game is playing into our hands | | | |
| Ashes thread on 17:52 - Aug 4 with 1647 views | ted_hendrix |
Declaration any minute surely? | |
| My Father had a profound influence on me, he was a lunatic. |
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| Ashes thread on 17:54 - Aug 4 with 1639 views | johnhoop |
Because the pitch is turning square and they’ve got a spinner and we haven’t ? | | | |
| Ashes thread on 17:54 - Aug 4 with 1638 views | flynnbo |
Psychological battle during this last half hour. | | | |
| Ashes thread on 18:00 - Aug 4 with 1619 views | johnhoop |
Apparently it’s raining a few miles down the road from Edgbaston. The Barmy Army had better start doing a rain dance. | | | |
| Ashes thread on 18:14 - Aug 4 with 1598 views | qprd |
The pitch, as noted by the previous poster... even joe Denny was generating a lot of turn just now and he’s a part time bowler
And probably more relevantly, the pressure on the batsmen | | | |
| Ashes thread on 18:16 - Aug 4 with 1594 views | johnhoop |
I think it’s what the commentators generally refer to as “scoreboard pressure “, which you wouldn’t think would be a big thing but it undoubtedly is. Batting last with an unreachable target, when you know you can’t win but only draw or lose makes it difficult for all sides but seemingly especially so for England, who never do well in these circumstances.
Lyon has opened the bowling and Roy would probably normally try to hit him out of the attack but if he tries that in these circumstances and gets out he’ll get castigated for it- bit of a no-win situation. | | | |
| Ashes thread on 18:39 - Aug 4 with 1558 views | qprd |
ball definitely turned quite a bit for lyon
burns played well in the last little spell
jason roys footwork on the first two balls of the last over should makes me a bit nervous for tomorrow | | | |
| Ashes thread on 18:44 - Aug 4 with 1546 views | thame_hoops |
This 100%.
Looking at the positives, we will get archer in for Anderson and probably leech for Ali, making us much stronger and Australia will probably keep the same side.
No way they recover from 110-8 in first innings or 35-3 in 2nd innings with a fully fit Anderson
Hope we bat out the draw and gain confidence from this
On a side note, as a Middlesex member I just saw an incredible innings from AB de Villiers at Richmond today, wow just wow | | | |
| Ashes thread on 02:53 - Aug 5 with 2040 views | Hooparoo |
😃 | |
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| Ashes thread on 03:09 - Aug 5 with 2033 views | SydneyRs |
Regardless of Anderson they should have been all out for around 160 in the first innings even if Smith finished not out. England have thrown this one away around 3 or 4 times already and still haven't lost it yet. | | | |
| Ashes thread on 06:10 - Aug 5 with 2001 views | nix |
Can kind of see why we took a risk on Anderson, though. Jofra Archer was out with a side strain and Mark Woods out for the season with a knee injury, our attack looks a little blunt against the Aussies without all three of them. Hope Archer is fully fit for the next test, but I don't think they'll risk him if there's any doubt.
Our key issue is definitely getting Steve Smith out. Without him, they look eminently beatable. With him, we just don't like we can get twenty wickets in enough time or with a low enough score to win matches. | | | |
| Ashes thread on 06:49 - Aug 5 with 1985 views | jonno |
Exactly what I have been saying. Smith looks like the only batsman on either side who can play a proper test match innings. Even the Rory Burns innings the other day, and well done to him, he played and missed over forty times so he had a fair bit of luck. We currently seem to have no idea how to bowl to Smith to either get him out or dry up his runs. | | | |
| Ashes thread on 07:40 - Aug 5 with 1969 views | toboboly |
I hope it rains all day in Birmingham today. | |
| Sexy Asian dwarves wanted. |
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| Ashes thread on 08:03 - Aug 5 with 1956 views | Hooparoo |
Wade also made a century. We aren’t just Smith. | |
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| Ashes thread on 08:56 - Aug 5 with 1930 views | TheChef |
Exactly. Based on this I'll be delighted to get away with a draw (which is a shame, given our Ashes record at Edgbaston, say compared to Lord's...).
Has Woakes got an injury too? Seeing how little he bowled yesterday. Given the ridiculous schedules they have these days it's no surprise they're all breaking down.
Seems fairly clear that the England management were not firm enough with Anderson re his fitness, and it was ridiculous to play Moeen based on this current awful form. Archer and Leach for the 2nd Test please. | |
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| Ashes thread on 09:01 - Aug 5 with 1919 views | TheChef |
Different gravy isn't he, AB?
He played one of the most amazing innings I've seen against Essex the other week. Unfortunately he couldn't repeat the trick against Kent last week (they looked very decent), hoping to see more runs from him this Thursday evening. | |
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