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

New ball is doing something, there is a bit of help for the bowlers at the end of play.

I'm not sure if England should even be bowling Ali now. His overs today have been expensive. Are England going to be short on the overs front here?

How can England not bowl 90 overs, especially considering that 13 overs have come from spinners?

88,000 plus have bothered to turn up today.

yuppie wrote:How can England not bowl 90 overs, especially considering that 13 overs have come from spinners?

88,000 plus have bothered to turn up today.

Shush overrates are not allowed to be spoken in this forum.

Seems that Warner tonked the bowlers by playing an ODI like innings. Aussies might set a mammoth target yet again in first innings unless there is a collapse tomorrow.

Averages at the MCG (minimum 500 runs).

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine ... pe=batting

I see Curran got his first Test wicket with Wee Davie on 99 but had to give it back because he'd overstepped.

Bit of a heartbreaker.

Broad averaging nearly 40 this year.

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine ... pe=bowling

Another day, another rather toothless performance with the ball.

In England, this attack works. The ball is always likely to do something and we have four bowlers who can all swing / seam the ball which brings Ali more into the game as batsmen take more risks against him.

In conditions like these, we have four right arm quickish pace bowlers and spinner who doesn't do much. We badly need some sort of variety in the attack, as soon as a good batsmen gets set, all of our pace bowlers are essentially identical.

Not sure there's anyone outside the tour that's going to offer much variety unless they can find a spinner. It's starting to look like a specialist spinner might have been a least worst option- Broad and Woakes are bowling well over 100 balls per wicket.

Suspect Crane and Overton will come in for the SCG.

The bowling attack is just not able to break the partnerships often. Today there were two 100 plus runs partnerships.

Correct me if im wrong, all the England quicks are right handers as well.

There is a real lack of variety with the attack

So were the WI great pace attacks. I don't see that the right handedness matters. Just the quality in the conditions. Pace might be nice, but Devon Malcolm played in a lot of Ashes defeats.

Anderson leads at home (more so now Broad seems to be in decline or out of form) but here he is playing a supporting role reasonably well to a bowler who doesn't exist.

Arthur Crabtree wrote:Averages at the MCG (minimum 500 runs).

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine ... pe=batting

I doubt that our Wee Stevie would get such adulation in another five decades.

Far from being my favourite Paul Kelly song - check him out, Arthur - but there are two things I love about it: the subject matter - and how important he is in the Australian Psyche; and the fact that it was Paul Kelly who would write and sing it - also very important in the Australian Timeline. (the song that played straight after on youtube is an excellent example of this - From Little Things)

I don't think the bowling is flopping throughout the series because all are righties. SA with Morkel, Steyn, Philly and Rabada are very successful.

Even Jimmy and Broad are world class. But then they have flopped here. Same bowlers will win tests for England in other series after this.