Second Ashes Test

Thursday 4.00 am start and Hazlewood is injured.

Also Anderson and Broad are fit and almost certain to start.
Have we a chance ?

Is it to be a pink ball ?

 

Yes pink ball.

I can remember Goughie and Harmison asked in an interview how we could possibly win the Ashes. They both said 'just score runs'.

We can have the best bowling attack available but if we don't get those runs its a fruitless exercise.

147 all out. A decent reply but then 8 wickets lost for 77 runs. Nobody deserves to win a test with those stats.

And to answer your question........ we've a boxer's chance.

 

Is the boxer Julian Clary?

 

Two bowlers in, but if we can't score over 300 in our first innings its all a bit fruitless.

 

We need to bat first and get 400+ to put some pressure on, but that won't happen. Anderson and Broad for Woakes and Leach I would imagine. Root can do a bit of part time spin.

 

No........ Graham Norton

 

Rumours Broad won't be picked again. Bonkers if true.

 

We don't do ourselves any favours do we? Broad and Anderson are our best two bowlers, winners and experienced and have been in enough teams who have beaten the convicts. Robinson might be decent over a period of time, and the rest are just fill ins, but you have to pick your best bowlers.

Given that, its still not going to give you a huge advantage if you can't score 300 runs in an innings. I've not given this series much thought, because we're in the same position as every series. A few decent bowlers. A weak captain but talented world class batter in a desert of talent. Bizarre team selections and dreadful build up and preparation.

If we manage to lose by less than 5-0 against a very average convict side, it will be a bonus.

 

Let’s just hope that Broad and Anderson swing it round corners and Root gets a double…. maybe the only conceivable chance we’ve got !

 

Joe Root is a world class batter but every team feeds off its captain and we're just soft especially the top order. This tour seems to be some kind of HR exercise with resting players for certain tests . It's a nonsense, play your best team available for every game, not rest and rotate. We seem to think that the day/night match will suit our bowlers but I'd take Cummins and Starc all day long on any surface .

 

We won our first day nighter against a poor Windies side and have lost the next 3 or 4

 

Where you heard that?

 

The Ashes: Joe Root says England have 'a lot more optimism' than on previous tours https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/59648220

My original statement may have been a bit far, but it sounds like they are considering not playing him which is still bonkers.

I’d go with Woakes, Robinson, Anderson, Broad and use Root as a spinner.

Robinson was our best bowler in Brisbane and seems a genuine talent. The conditions should suit Woakes more and we need his batting at 8.

 

Joe Root trying to put a positive spin on things but in my opinion this tour has all the hallmarks of previous tours where we've lost comprehensively. If we had given Australia a game in Brisbane then fair enough I could understand his optimism but we were hammered. Australia's day/night record is good, ours I believe is pretty poor. Put it this way, if we lose in Adelaide the lot of them may as well board a plane and come home for Christmas.

 

Wood is left out of final twelve and Leach remains.
Seen it suggested that it’s between Broad and Leach being final omission.

I can see Broad throwing his teddy out if he ain’t picked again

 

And quite rightly so.

If Leach is England's best spin option then we are in big trouble.

 

Unfortunately I think Leach and Bess are our best options which reflects the poor standard of others.

Bess is coming on though after a good summer

 

Who was it that got Steve Smith out in the first test?

 

I really don't get this chopping/changing/resting/rotating policy of the bowlers. Picking a spinner for a certain wicket or dropping them for another, thats all well and good. But this constant change for change sake makes little sense and its not like we can say its translating into wins galore either.

It's not too long ago the strategy for going to Australia was a mixture of bounce and pace. Indeed, our only success which was planned to death had us with tall quicks. I mean granted, we had people who could bat for longer than 3 overs then.

I quite like Wood, and his injuries haven't helped him, but on his day, he's a handful and offers something different. To omit our fastest bowler seems another mistake unless he's carrying a strain.

But again, our issues aren't in our bowling group.