The Ashes: Adelaide.

[Durhamfootman]

A new Tresco?

When Stoneman scores a series winning 180 at the Wanderers, vs an attack of Pollock,Steyn, Ntini and Kallis, we can give him that tag.....

might have to settle for Perth. He might like perth actually

no time to think about moving his feet

[bigfluffylemon]

Urg. Apart from rain arriving at a fortuitous moment at the end there, that couldn't have gone a lot worse.

It says a lot that Australia's lowest partnership was 17, there were 7 partnerships of 32 or higher. Every breakthrough was hard fought, England just couldn't take cheap wickets and take the momentum. There's already a lot of talk about a lack of penetration in the bowling, and it seems justified. It might be a little harsh for Overton to be booted after I think he bowled reasonably well (better than Woakes, for sure), but Woakes will probably stay because he can bat a bit, even though his bowling so far in the series has been awful. Which says a lot about the mindset of the England selectors.

I think England were pretty unlucky a lot of the time. Apart from the first hour or so, they didn't bowl that badly most of the time (Anderson excepted - he seemed to be pretty off colour. I don't know how a bowler that experienced can get his length so consistently wrong, but he did), but edges didn't carry, lbws were close but not quite (or not given on umpire's call), bats were beaten without edges being taken. But having four medium-fast right arm seamers probably doesn't help - no variety or real cutting edge.

Despite being only 7 days into the series, it really feels as though today is last chance saloon for England. Collapse today and concede a big lead, and the series is gone without a doubt, mentally the players will be shot, and the only question is how big a drubbing it will be (5-0 or not 5-0?). But if England can somehow miraculously bat out today and into tomorrow and get close to Australia's score, they should be able to get a draw (as there won't be time for Australia to set a total and bowl England out), or even put some pressure on in the third innings. The latter scenario seems considerably less likely

The sad thing is, it really doesn't seem as though there should be much separating these two teams. England aren't great but they're not THAT bad. Australia are pretty ordinary by international standards and the standards of their past (how many of this XI would get into the 2001-05 vintage? Smith, and maybe Warner. That's it). 5-0 doesn't feel to me as though it would be a fair reflection on the differences between the teams.

Still, I'd have said that in 2013, even after Brisbane.

[bigfluffylemon]

There's a fair amount of sense here, and notes that England have come back from tough defeats before (albeit mainly at home)
https://www.cricket.com.au/news/feature ... 2017-12-03

The one thing I question is the Mark Wood issue. I don't think that parachuting a semi-fit bowler in is suddenly magically going to solve all the problems with the England attack. Even if he can be quick, if he's not match fit or had decent practice, he'll lack consistency of pace or accuracy.

Still, I expect he, Mason Crane and Gary Ballance will all be playing by Sydney, one way or another. Probably Liam Livingstone too.

[GarlicJam]

that's a lot of people to make way for them

who are they?

[Arthur Crabtree]

Far too early to write off England in this series. Batting on day three at Adelaide shouldn't be beyond them. There's still a game on here. Australia will win the series, but there's no vibe going on about a whitewash.

[GarlicJam]

Valid point he makes about Stokes. I have thought that there has been too much stock placed in Stokes' return - at least by the media. One, is he that good, and two, will he be able to just rock up, join the team and play well?

Such a distraction can't be good for the team - and should he be slotted in straight up, will this cause tension in the team, especially for the jettisoned player?

[bigfluffylemon]

that's a lot of people to make way for them

who are they?

Slightly tongue in cheek of me, based on the lineup in Sydney last time (Stokes, Borthwick, Rankin, Ballance and Bairstow had replaced Trott, Root, Prior, Swann and Bresnan). Still, I'd say that any and all of Stoneman, Vince, Malan, Moeen, Woakes and Overton could be in danger of being dropped. Hell, even Cook and Anderson might decide to call it a day on their England careers if things go badly enough.

And sure enough, they start badly (or well, depending on your allegiance) - Vince goes for 2

Come on Cook, Root et al. Give us something to cheer with the bat. AC's right, England should be capable of batting on a day 3 Adelaide wicket.

[backfootpunch]

Outfield is very slow

440odd is a massive score

Cook would have had 3 boundaries in that over off hazelwood on a normal outfield

[backfootpunch]

Hopefully il wake up in a minute and this was just a nightmare

Careless batting so far

[bigfluffylemon]

My prediction:

Cook gets a start, out in the 40s
Joe gets a 60 or so, fails to convert
Malan makes a scratchy 15
Moeen and Bairstow both get starts and play ok for around 30 or so, but don't reach 50. Bairstow gets out trying to marshall the tail
Woakes makes about 20 and hangs around for a bit, ensuring he gets selected as a bowler next time because he can bat
Overton makes a duck, making a mockery of his selection because he can bat too, and ensuring he'll be dropped for Wood
Broad and Anderson don't make double figures

All out for about 250 sometime after dinner, for a lead of 200. Australia bat until dinner tomorrow for a lead of 450, then declare again giving England four sessions (including two under lights) to survive.

England collapse in tomorrow's evening session under lights to 4/5 down, a brief fightback on Wednesday from the middle/lower order delays the inevitable for one session, before being all out shortly after tea for about 180.

EDIT: Too optimistic. Root out while I was typing

[backfootpunch]

Need a miracle now or the series is basically already over

[bigfluffylemon]

Cook out for 37, I'm claiming that one as near enough

We're not even going to avoid the follow-on, are we?

How is it that one team can make batting look so easy and make it so hard to prise out wickets, and the other team can't even string together a single decent partnership?

What makes this even more depressing is the inevitability of it all.

[meninblue]

Anything over 350 was always doubtful for England on this ground considering the opponent bowlers, form of English batters, outfield and bounce issue.
Now it seems England may not even get 250.

[bigfluffylemon]

This is almost making me nostalgic for Mitchageddon.

A least Mitch was genuinely unplayable for some of those spells. None of the dismissals today have been jaffas, although Malan's was a good ball. The Australians have bowled well today, but not well enough to have knocked England over this cheaply. Poor technique and mentality from the batsman.

Revenge for Trent Bridge?

[meninblue]

I think Aussies will not enforce follow on. This is only 4 bowlers attack. 3 more tests are remaining for bowlers to be fully fit to perform in 4 bowlers attack.