Aus v Eng ODI series

[hopeforthebest]

The ball was thrown with considerable force and was so high the only object it might have hit was Stokes. Maybe Starc should be in trouble with the match referee for dangerous play.

[from_the_stands]

If you type in "youtube ben stokes dismissal, " the still shot makes it pretty clear. I'd put the link up, but I'm on my phone and I'm a bit of a pillock with these things.

[Durhamfootman]

Well that was rather exciting

I'll ignore the Stokes/Starc thing, because whether he was taking evasive action, or wilfully obstructing the path of the ball is entirely dependent on whether you are English or Australian, and doubtless will rumble on. One thing about Stokesy.... things happen when he is around; good and bad. Controversy and Ben Stokes are never very far apart.

England lost this match first of all with their bowling. From what I've seen on the highlights they just bowled a whole lot of filth. Short and wide from the seamers.... utter dross from the spinners. Australia scored the thick end of 200 runs off the last 24 overs. Unacceptable!

Then they lost it second of all with the bat. They allowed themselves to get sucked into the whole Stokes thing and just committed sepuku from there on in.

That being said, I was very, very pleased with the way Morgan conducted himself with the bat. Far from allowing himself to get sucked into the whole injustice thing, he tried very hard to rescue the game, in a very calm, very measured, and very determined way. I have not really been a Morgan fan, over the years, but he really impressed me tonight. Impressed me enough to consider changing my view of him.

As for England?

well....... it is a bit like watching Durham playing one day cricket. You know that the talent is there, but they keep on conceding far too many runs, then get repeatedly bogged down after a bright start, and always seem to finish off in comical fashion by inventing ever more elaborate ways to get themselves out after long periods of scratching around watching paint dry.

Out of curiosity.... why 49 overs? I get that there might have been a delay somewhere along the line, but in what world would anyone feel the need to chop about 6 mins off a match? Seems slightly ludicrous.

[Durhamfootman]

Warner ruled out of the tour. Watson to open?

Watson has to go for a scan on a suspected muscle tear (or something like that) so he might be out for the series too

[from_the_stands]

With Warner out, I'd probably back Usman Khawaja to come in. Replacing Twatto will come down to a choice between Ashton Agar or Marcus Stoinis.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Wade has batted at the top before.

[GarlicJam]

I'll ignore the Stokes/Starc thing, because whether he was taking evasive action, or wilfully obstructing the path of the ball is entirely dependent on whether you are English or Australian, and doubtless will rumble on.

I only watched the first hour or so (delayed) and then went to bed. Woke up early and looked at the scorecard on Cricinfo, when I saw the reason for Stokes' dismissal, I thought 'this is going to be controversial'.

A little while later I was on facebook and was reading the BBC article on this - almost to a poster, the respondees were up in arms about the incident, with the level of vitriol being aimed at Smith incredible.

Later, I come onto this site and find a much more reasoned discussion on the matter (well done, CMS-ers) and, I think, the majority of posters (England supporting, and all) thought the correct decision had been made, contrary to DF's thoughts on how they would lean.



Of course, I will do my best to help DF out here. I will conform.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Well... I blamed George Bailey...

[GarlicJam]

You've got him blamed for the Great Silicon Shortage of 2163, Arthur, so I am not surprised.

[from_the_stands]

I heard a rumour that smilin' George was the mystery man behind the grassy knoll when JFK was shot. You never know about some people.

[Gingerfinch]

Stokes war rightly given out, imo. He may have been protecting himself, but it was technically out.

[Aidan11]

This has certainly detracted from another poor game for us.

Various players past and present are on social media to voice their opinion. Sky Sports must be ecstatic that they have something to fill on a weekend where there has been no PL footy.

[rich1uk]

a little bit concerned about buttler's current form , for all the talk about rotation and resting players we have a guy there who has been playing pretty much non-stop for the last 13-14 months being one of the few that play in all three formats now, and in a position that demands a lot more focus in the field

guy is a special talent imo and we need to make sure we don't burn him out

[Aidan11]

Ponting and Clarke were considered panto villains and it looked as if Steve Smith would be too nice to be the next captain lumbered with the tag.


Until yesterday....

[sussexpob]

Stokes war rightly given out, imo. He may have been protecting himself, but it was technically out.

Technically, he couldn't have been out protecting himself, so this post contradicts itself