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

Surprised there's no batting cover to put Bell under pressure.

Have Woakes and Jordan slipped out of the picture?

dan08 wrote:Surprised there's no batting cover to put Bell under pressure.

Yes, why has James Taylor not been called up and then left out. What happened to tradition.

Been thinking about how England should deal with Australia coming hard and nasty at them this series. After their disgraceful antics in the World Cup final it's patently obvious they'll be trying to stick it to the Poms again, and I think I have the perfect solution.

Stare them down.

Every time Brad Haddin or Mitchell Johnson tries to sledge the English player, that player just turns round and stares them down. Right in their eyes. See how quickly they back down then. If the umpires have to step in to calm things down then the Englishmen won't have done anything, they've just drawn the attention of everyone to it. It's also the sort of thing which can get a crowd going, especially a raucous one. Something not dissimilar to this;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdiBfEeH1Js

"Oi Rooty, prepare for a broken f*ckin' leg, ya Pommie b*stard."
**Stares**
(10 minutes later)
"Alright, Rooty's lost it. Guy's a mad man."

Won't happen but would be fantastic theatre.

Just try and embrace a KIWi style inclusiveness. Be friendly.

Trouble is, a lot of this England Test side concedes nothing to the Aussie WC team in terms of generating poor spirit on the field.

ianp1970 wrote:

from_the_stands wrote:Warner
Rogers
Smith
Clarke
Voges
Watson
Haddin
Johnson
Starc
Harris
Hazlewood

Surely Lyon is going to picked?

Heard somewhere that he has played more tests than any Aussie since taking over from Agar on their last Ashes tour...

I've had a few days to think about this, and the only way to get everybody in is to replace Shaun Marsh with Ryan Harris, only when Harris bats, he opens with Warner and looks strikingly like Chris Rogers. Job done!

The Australians are playing four (count 'em) warm up games against the counties. Pity they aren't playing England Lions. Would be worth Rashid, Plunkett, Finn having a game.

Arthur Crabtree wrote:The Australians are playing four (count 'em) warm up games against the counties. Pity they aren't playing England Lions. Would be worth Rashid, Plunkett, Finn having a game.

We've just had two in the West Indies.

yorker_129-7 wrote:Been thinking about how England should deal with Australia coming hard and nasty at them this series. After their disgraceful antics in the World Cup final it's patently obvious they'll be trying to stick it to the Poms again, and I think I have the perfect solution.

Stare them down.

Every time Brad Haddin or Mitchell Johnson tries to sledge the English player, that player just turns round and stares them down. Right in their eyes. See how quickly they back down then. If the umpires have to step in to calm things down then the Englishmen won't have done anything, they've just drawn the attention of everyone to it. It's also the sort of thing which can get a crowd going, especially a raucous one. Something not dissimilar to this;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdiBfEeH1Js

"Oi Rooty, prepare for a broken f*ckin' leg, ya Pommie b*stard."
**Stares**
(10 minutes later)
"Alright, Rooty's lost it. Guy's a mad man."

Won't happen but would be fantastic theatre.

Or wear one like Brendon McCullum, receive some treatment, then hit the next ball for four.

I think its to England's benefit that Australia seem so confident coming into this series, it speaks volumes about English crickets state since the last Ashes begun that England find themselves a strong underdog to a team that has quite a large amount of current question marks over it. In a way, I agree with the assessment that we write this Ashes off to lose. If we can get a team together in some form of order and can progress from this series without the widespread mental blow that could take some time to recover from, we look at the state of this Australia team moving into the very near future, and there is a lot of names I don't expect to be around for long, no people on the horizon to take over, so if England escape without being routed again, they could dominate the next few series after this.

Michael Clarke, aside of 2012, has not had the best of ends to his career. His back is playing up, he hasn't recovered, his long term form suggests that England can get into him. With his previous injury issues, he is almost certainly not making another Ashes after this at 34. Will he be able to raise his level at this stage in his career to consistently average over 40? Only 2 of his last 6 years he has been able to do that, and as his fitness deteriorates and his eye sight starts to flare, he surely cant have long left?

The choice of second opener should also encourage England. Rogers has hardly looked a world beater, and bowling at Shaun Marsh should keep England's new ball attack up all night with excitement. The very fact Marsh and Rogers are there is indicative of the quality behind them.

Shane Watson? Why Australia are picking a 34 year old that hardly bowls anymore, and who has proved now that he is no great batsman is clueless to me.

Nathan Lyon? It was only at the end of 2014 that people were saying he was ready for the chop. Far from improving he seems to be getting worse.

Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris? Can the latter get through a 5 match series even now? At 34 and 35 respectively, are either going to be around after this series for much longer, and if they are, still have the pace?

Haddin and Voges? One's 37 the other 35 on debut? What does this say about the batting and keeping stocks?

Effectively, Australia's future lies in Hazlewood and Starc, both who still have a lot to prove and large shoes to fill. In Cummins and Pattinson, who are made of glass and are never fit. Steve Smith looks the part, but a drop in form at any point (which has to occur unless he is literally the new Bradman) would seriously expose this middle order.

All the youngish batters they have picked have failed miserably, maybe the exception of Burns, but he is getting a canning at Middlesex in County cricket and is so off form, it would be crazy to pick him.

Take a probable 11 v 11 from recent line ups....

Openers
Ali Cook/Adam Lyth v Shaun Marsh and Warner - Pretty equal. Warner has played well but will the swing in England be a struggle for him. Will Lyth and Marsh be able to score against the respective new ball attacks? Can Cook continue his recent up in form? I think the openers cancel each other out on paper. Cooks long term form and up against a brilliant new ball attack v Warner against the swinging ball. Lyth's inexperience against top class bowlers v Marsh's lack of technique for the top level.

Joe Root v Steve Smith - Pretty Equal again, both are in brilliant form, both are quality young players who are expected to carry their line ups. In English conditions and with confidence, I expect Root to score well, I expect Smith to score the most in the series, but not by much.

Middle order - Ian Bell/Gary Balance/Ben Stokes v Shane Watson/Michael Clarke/Adam Voges - Australia win here. Bell is out of form, Balance has technical issues, Stokes is yet to be a consistent force. Voges has waited his life for this series and will be fired up, Clarke is obviously still going to trump an out of form Bell and in a different league to Stokes. Watson is a real weakness, but his opposite numbers have a lot to prove. Id be surprised if Australia's engine room don't score more runs.

Keepers - Buttler v Haddin - England win. Haddin has never been a great keeper batsman ad is getting older. Buttler will want to make his mark and could be a dangerous hitter down the order. Haddin maybe the slightly better keeper at this point, but the inferior batter.

Spinners - Mo Ali vs Lyon - England win. As spinners, Lyon is expected to be better, but a net effect on team having a county opener as opposed to an 11 in the batting line up more than makes up for the bowling difference imo. Ali has proved he can take wickets, and against quality players of spin. Lyon coming off the back of a poor year too.

Fast bowlers - Australia win, by a long way. Johnson and Harris are better than their English new ball counterparts, it remains to be seen if Wood can step up and what an emerging Starc and Hazlewood can do for a 5 match series. Yet, you feel with injuries and fitness, the English attack will narrow the gap if Harris doesn't make it through a 5 match series (which I consider nigh on impossible) and Johnson tires as the series gets older.

I give Australia two points for the gap in bowlers.... Australia 4 v England 3

The middle orders look similar to me. Clarke, thanks to age and injury issues isn't quite as great as he was. Bell is out of form, but that can return at any time.

The big question is. Can we bowl them out twice?

Gingerfinch wrote:The big question is. Can we bowl them out twice?

The Aussie top 7 hardly makes me think that England will struggle to take 20 wickets. I think the major question is, can England score enough runs against this bowling attack.

I think if England score 700 runs per test, they can win the series.

Blimey, I think Lyon is the best spinner in international cricket (not seen the new Pakistani spinners). Question mark over his bowling in Asia,but that won't matter here.

With Ballance and Bell concerns, and Cook normally struggling against the Aussies (averaging below 30 in four out of five series), the batting is unpredictable. Cook may be under pressure from the feelgood gathering around the ODI side if the Test team starts badly. The Aussie batting isn't a huge strength, by their standards, but it's better than England's. And the Aussie attack is way better than England's. They murdered they WI batting. England made them look good. 5-0 is on.

I can't see us winning 5-0? Rain will no doubt intervene at some point!