The Ashes; Second Test, Lord's, July 16-20

[sussexpob]

I see it's been overlooked how excellent Cook's captaincy was today.

Inspiring stuff from England's top man.

The catcher in no mans land on the offside before lunch when nothing had gone in the area in front of square in the air was the best example of his inspiration

Using the Kevin Costner theory that "if you book them, they will come"

[GarlicJam]

I was thinking rubbing the ball along your zip.

I was thinking that it is when the other team starts to bowl.

[yuppie]

Not that im anywhere near a TV, but which channel is showing the cricket highlights this season. Is it still channel 5?

[Arthur Crabtree]

Yup. On catch up too.

[yuppie]

Struggling to have access to that. Seems like it is not on 5 demand at present. Cant get catch up either. Dam

[Arthur Crabtree]

No, it's not there yet. The last Test is on, so it'll turn up.

[yuppie]

Yep, probably by the end of this test. Oh well. Shall be back in TV reach for the 3rd test

[alfie]

From the time the coin came down the way Michael Clarke had hoped it became fairly predictable that England were going to find things a lot tougher than Cardiff.
Anyone who actually believed that the Australians were just going to roll over because they had suffered a heavy initial defeat and a few personnel losses has presumably not been watching international cricket very long. For all the shortcomings of their current list (and I think there are indeed significant weaknesses in this team , which may yet render them vulnerable as this series progresses) their top four are a very talented group ; and presented with a road to bat on they were always likely to take advantage. On another day , Bell catches Smith at fifty - or the initial edge from Rogers flies a bit lower ; or someone chops on to his stumps ; and so the damage wouldn't be quite so heavy. But they were always likely to make big runs.
I don't think England were particularly poor ; yes a few too many short deliveries were put away - but I defy any team to suffer a day of battering away at two total professionals at the top of their game on this strip without straying into error at times. They tried plenty of different modes of attack , none of which seemed to threaten the batsmen unduly ; and held their discipline well enough that for a time they succeeded in slowing the run rate to a considerable degree. Against less composed individuals this might have resulted in someone getting out to a rash shot ; but Rogers and Smith know their games too well , and were happy to play a waiting game until the runs flowed again ; as they always do in such situations.
Rather give credit to the Australian batsmen , who gave a master class in how to bat when conditions are heavily in your favour. Less exciting than NZ , perhaps. But very effective .

The pitch is disappointing. A bit too dead for day one , in my view. Lord's has tended to produce pretty flat surfaces for some time now ; but there has usually been a little more life at least in the first couple of hours. If this is the product of a deliberate plan to negate the Australian quicks (which I rather doubt ; all English pitches have been on the slow side for a long time now , whether the opponents be Australia or India. Owes more to new drainage and perhaps the desire of the money men for five day Tests I reckon) then it may well backfire in killing off England's own main weapons Anderson and Broad before the five matches are over. I hope the remaining surfaces have a bit more for the bowlers.

Now for Friday , what can we expect ? More of the same perhaps : Smith and Rogers will hope to blunt the attack again early so that the later bats can feast on the carcass of a tired England attack with a target of around 600 and a last hour or so at the batsmen. Mr Boycott muses on the possibility that the Aussies may overreach in the quest for quick runs and lose wickets quickly. For the sake of the match I hope he is right ; but I fear the Australians are much more hard nosed than that. England's best hope is that they can grab a couple of wickets very early and the inexperience of the later order allows them to get back into the match ; but the odds are they are going to be looking at a big mountain to climb anyway.

Not giving up the game yet . Pitch should remain true ; and if England can manage a better start than in either innings in Cardiff their deep batting should enable them to bat long in reply. Difficult to see them getting up with whatever score Australia post in time to be contemplating anything more ambitious than a draw ; and in truth the evidence of past matches suggests that teams making 330/1 on day one generally end up winning : but it will certainly provide a stern test of New England's capacity to fight back from a difficult position.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Good post Alfie.

There have been a lot of results at Lord's in the past 7-8 years, but my impression is that this has been because a lot of the game has happened in the first 2-3 days, and that meant a result could be chiseled out in the last two. This game isn't going like that.

From what the commentators have been saying about Mick Hunt, he has been trying to get pace into the Lord's pitch for a long time. Usually that pace is lost over the game, but this game has started like a day 3-4 Lord's pitch. Maybe it will behave unconventionally for the rest of the game onwards. It certainly doesn't feel a typical Lord's surface to me. If only compared with the green grass on the pitch v NZ and last year against India.

[hopeforthebest]

A big concern for England maybe Lyon against seven left hand batsmen. For me he is underrated and too often batsmen take one liberty too many.
I can't imagine what our bowlers approach will be today, Anderson looked pretty forlorn yesterday and on the back of failing to take a wicket in th Oz second innings at Cardiff he must be wondering what's going wrong.

[sussexpob]

I dont buy this idea that this is anything but a grave mistake or purposeful pitches being made on delivery to deaden Australia's attack. Either way, its unacceptable to provide pitches like this in test cricket. Mick *unt should be looking for a new job, if this test pans out anywhere near like indications of conditions suggest. England might win the series 1-0 at this rate on doctorer pitches, but no one will be watching or caring by that stage. Seems typical ECB policy really.

Why have English pitches become dead? Drainage is often the main reason quoted, but not sure it is a reason. If pitches were dry then you would have cracks running through the top and the pitches would break up quickly. But these pitches dont break up, they just get flatter and slow in pace. So pitches are too dry but remain too solid??

I think personally the only conclusion I can think of is that the tendancy to artificially leave grass on pitches is the reason they slow. While this is supposed to quicken a pitch and introduce some early movement, live grass on a cricket strip does not last long in match conditions, and it simply dies and forms a layer of thatching over the top that negates any pace. They then roll that into the pitch fabric and it gets worse and worse.

[Arthur Crabtree]

I'm expecting Captain Funky to do something innovative on the declaration. After being stung by Captain Steely at Sofia Gardens, he needs a funky gimmick to impress the sports journalists that he is still on the avant garde of free thinking tactical leadership. So I'm expecting him to declare at tea on day five after feasting on English blood for nearly five days, and leaving behind a huge monument of 1500 runs on England's spiritual home. And then pick off their bowlers at Edgbaston, Trent Bridge and the Oval. No charge, Michael, Boof.

[hopeforthebest]

George Dobell on cricinfo haswritten that there are raised eyebrows in the England camp about Rashid ruling himself out due to what Dobell suggests was a very minor soreness on a finger.
He says it's likely he will be made available to play in the Yorks CC game and should he be fit to play his England future hopes could be affected.

[Arthur Crabtree]

A big concern for England maybe Lyon against seven left hand batsmen. For me he is underrated and too often batsmen take one liberty too many.
I can't imagine what our bowlers approach will be today, Anderson looked pretty forlorn yesterday and on the back of failing to take a wicket in th Oz second innings at Cardiff he must be wondering what's going wrong.

It'll be slow turn. But maybe Australia's best chance. England should be able to keep him out, but may lose wickets if they get too New England. Given Cook record on advantageous batting surfaces, I'm expecting a lot of runs from him.

[Arthur Crabtree]

George Dobell on cricinfo haswritten that there are raised eyebrows in the England camp about Rashid ruling himself out due to what Dobell suggests was a very minor soreness on a finger.
He says it's likely he will be made available to play in the Yorks CC game and should he be fit to play his England future hopes could be affected.

Sounds like Flower's England, pressuring players into playing when injured. I can at least understand Rashid wanting to be physically able to give the best account of himself on his debut, in an high profile game.

Maybe he had a look at the pitch!