Bairstow missing a stumping and catch and then Broad with the no ball has cost us. We might not have a first innings lead.
On a positive note, we haven’t yet had the bit of magic we come to expect from Anderson AND they have to bat last ( assuming we don’t totally mess up the second innings ) Bookies have only slightly brought in the price of an Aussie win since the start and you’ll get 6/5 if you want to back ‘em.
I’m pretty sure that the stats will clearly show that Foakes is quite a bit better than Bairstow. It is generally accepted that Foakes is one of top stumpers in the world certainly for tests. Limited over games are different and I agree that there isn’t much between them with gloves on. Only my opinion but the selectors seem to agree with you for the time being anyway.
Can’t help but think a year out of cricket has not helped his keeping at all. Hopefully he improves as the series goes on. The no ball wicket was the big killer today for me, far too many no balls bowled all day.
That is my hope as well. His keeping was pretty good in the morning but then missed chances as the day went on. Maybe a lack of match fitness with the gloves. The no balls are unforgivable. It’s not like the line moves.
The declaration could be costly too. Have Aus 15 runs that we could easily have added to our total , if not more.
Hero to zero from Bairstow. 1st innings runs and the catch from Labuschagne superb, but he's had a bit of a nightmare since. Costing them dearly.
Never had a problem with Bairstow coming straight back into the team, but giving him the gloves in test match cricket having barely kept wicket for a few years was a poor decision. There needed to be a change to the top order to accommodate his return.
A little bit off the subject. Has anyone heard from DWLC? He was a big contributer, especially on English cricket . I know his wife had some health issues around the pandemic. Hope they're both OK.
This test has shown that Bairstow should only be played as a batter. Flakes should be behind the stumps.
Game on. People understandably questioning the early dec, but this is why people love 'Bazball'. It's balls out, win or lose cricket on the biggest stage. I love it.
Great end to the session. England went from 3/1 to evens in 20 minutes or so there. Some of the best captaincy you’ll ever see from Stokes.