Cricket-Match-Special ... A forum for discussion

So England find themselves one Australian batting collapse away from regaining the urn. Moving Bell to 3 was a winner, along with bringing back Steve Finn. In the land down under, the talk seems to be around Michael Clarke and his form slump, and the possibility of him moving down to 5. He's under the kosh big time, with defeat here likely to result on a tap on the shoulder, I'm guessing. England will miss Anderson in this match. Can't see the Oz bowling line-up being changed. Hopefully this one lasts longer than two and a half days!

No Anderson at Trent Bridge of all grounds is a big, big blow to England. Will probably be Wood to come in unless they saw something in Woakes this week at Edgbaston.

Lyth remains the biggest worry in the rest of the England team, not only is he not scoring runs he doesn't look like doing so either. Which is a concern. Moeen Ali also badly needs to start looking like a test spinner.

Cloud and rain around on the long term forecast.

Arthur Crabtree wrote:Cloud and rain around on the long term forecast.

They call Wood a swing bowler, is that correct? If so he could do well in those conditions. We certainly need someone wo is genuine swing bowler to replace Anderson.

hopeforthebest wrote:

Arthur Crabtree wrote:Cloud and rain around on the long term forecast.

They call Wood a swing bowler, is that correct? If so he could do well in those conditions. We certainly need someone wo is genuine swing bowler to replace Anderson.

Woody noted for reverse swing rather than traditional. Claimed 5fers on each visit to TB.

England squad for fourth Investec Ashes Test

Alastair Cook (Essex)

Moeen Ali (Worcestershire)

Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire)

Ian Bell (Warwickshire)

Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire)

Jos Buttler (Lancashire)

Steven Finn (Middlesex)

Mark Footitt (Derbyshire)

Adam Lyth (Yorkshire)

Liam Plunkett (Yorkshire)

Adil Rashid (Yorkshire)

Joe Root (Yorkshire)

Ben Stokes (Durham)

Mark Wood (Durham)

Hopefully Rashid will be released. Maybe Joan Baez will sing a song to that end.

Wood's not got a lot of movement yet, though aside from the new ball, which he doesn't get, none of the England bowlers have in the games he played in.

Classic selectors non decision here. They've basically picked everyone.

I'd pick Wood, from these. Woakes, if he was ready.

Being ahead after three tests means England don't have to win again, so in many respects it's batsmen who must really stand up and be counted. Bat Oz out of this game and the next.

Pray for rain.

Arthur Crabtree wrote:Pray for rain.

Tried that but it's never worked for me yet. I'll join Adam Lyth in praying he can score some runs instead.

Still seems to be some concern over Wood's fitness. Hence two extra bowlers.

Fancy it will be Wood as long as he's judged 100%. Might well be a debut for Footitt if he doesn't come up ?

Anderson is a huge loss. With Australia perhaps a bit shell shocked , Trent Bridge loomed as an ideal place for him to get at them again...whoever comes in won't offer the same obvious threat. On the other hand they all offer something a bit different to the attack : if the batting stands up England still have a decent chance of breaking the on-off sequence.

Will be interested to see what changes Australia come up with. S Marsh presumably. And maybe Siddle ?

Anderson is going to be a big loss.

Broad will step up as the main strike bowler and share the new ball with Finn.

This is where we could have done with a better spin option. However they are not going to leave out Ali.

Anderson could be a big loss, but not unarguably. It depends on the conditions. His Ashes record isn't that good. When I was looking at the stats for an Ashes XI poll, he had the worst Ashes average of anyone to take 80 wickets, at 40. That has come down to 36 after Birmingham, still the worst. Apart from his brilliant series in the 3-1 away win, he's tended to have one good Test per Ashes. If the ball swings at TB, as it probably will, he'll be badly missed. If the skies are clear and the surface flat (as recent TB Tests have been) then he'd be better off having a rest anyway. The Anderson of the last Ashes Test at TB would be a match winner. The one of he first two Tests in this series, not so much.

Broad's Ashes average is quite a bit better than Anderson's by the way. Which is unusual, as their numbers usually break down pretty similarly.