08-12-2021, 08:10
147 all out. Could've been worse, I suppose. 
![[Image: 2ZJuVRk.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/2ZJuVRk.gif)
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The Ashes 2021-22 - England in Australia
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08-12-2021, 16:34
The joys of winter cricket were you wake at 6.30 am to the traditional cricketing phrase ENGLAND BATTING COLLAPSE
Have you heard about the news on Mizar 5
People got to shout to stay alive 
09-12-2021, 01:54
(This post was last modified: 09-12-2021, 02:53 by Ska'dForLife-WBA.)
Decent probing spell from the England openers gets its reward: Harris edges to slip for 3 off Robinson. Australia 10-1. More of the same, please.
Oh Stokesy. Bowls Warner with a no-ball. Suspect that's one of those haunting moments that's going to get replayed for weeks to come. All feels like it's slipping away a bit now, which I may do myself at this point.
09-12-2021, 15:36
Robinson hamstring, Stokes also injured
Have you heard about the news on Mizar 5
People got to shout to stay alive 
The squad we sent out there was never strong enough to mount a real challenge to the Aussies unless a couple of individuals hit world class form throughout the series. It especially wasn't strong enough when they got no practice at all before the First Test.
It did not help that we insisted on a fieldling one opener whose idiot stance prevents him ever rising any higher than county standard, and another who tries to disguise the teenage frailty of his look with a ridiculously manly beard and holds onto his bat as if he's starring in The Life of Pi and it is his last hope against the tiger. So we select seven batsmen to give us strength in depth, but in reality we've only got five. Then to ensure failure we note the opposition is full of left-handed batsmen so we select a fairly ordinary finger spinner to tempt them to go into the attack, which they do with gusto, taking him for almost 9 an over! We achieve this by leaving out one of the most experienced and successful bowlers in world cricket, who is known for his ability to get lefties out! Joy of joys. So we've got eight men max and our best player Stokes has not only not played for months, but is also known to be mentally fragile and that fragility seems to be becoming increasingly physical ........... Our fastest bowler breaks down more often than an achey breakey heart. Our best spinners don't want to play Test Cricket now. And when we have an obviously test-class cricketer in Liam Livingstone we treat him as if he is a white-ball specialist in order to discard him. At least in the days when the team travelled to Australia by boat we'd have months in which to mull over our stupidity before the debacle unfolded before our eyes. Can't we just shovel a load of Omicron over there sharpish and organise a lavish Downing Street reception for both teams. Series abandoned at 1-0 to Australia due to Pandemic - that should satisfy Wisden.
10-12-2021, 15:29
Definitely a better third day, though realistically we're still going to have to bat through the fourth to have a chance of saving this, and probably do a raindance to boot. England being England, I wouldn't rule out an innings defeat even now.
10-12-2021, 19:14
Root and Malan did well because they are more than good enough to be there. We lost the two wickets of players who shouldn't have been there in the first place. Even if we achieved the miracle of saving the game, should we need a spinner at some point in the series we've got one guy the Aussies just destroyed and another who can't pitch the ball - so that leaves Joe Root. Of the eight players we have in this game who are good enough to be playing, Stokes and Wood are likely to pick up injuries, Robinson seems inclined to battle through the pain and we wrap Anderson in cotton-wool whether he likes it or not, so we rested him from this game. It is an almost impossible situation for the captain. Our only hope is that cricket is a team game in which individuals can carry a team. If Malan can get into the one hundreds, Root can double it and Buttler can mix his one day and test skills to shred Australian confidence then there might be a glimmer. Normally Stokes would be the one for whom we'd be crossing our fingers for and whispering England expects, but after so long out of the game we can't burden the guy with that.
My naive suggestion would be in future to pick our seven best batsmen and arrange the order from there - rather than selecting a specialist one and two whose speciality is not scoring many more than their position in the batting order. Why for instance can't Bairstow open in Test Cricket? He must think he's capable of concentrating for long periods or he wouldn't want to keep wicket. He has the reflexes to face fast bowling. He must surely have the judgement if he can keep wicket. He can defend. What he lacks is belief and the reason he lacks it is he's being self-indulgent. The flash attracts him more than the grind. Somebody should have the guts to tell him that he'll never be a world-class keeper, but if he opened the batting he could be the most destructive in world cricket. The quickest way to get on top of the opposition is for an opener to keep spanking boundaries whenever he receives a bad ball. If your determination is to freeze in the headlights, when the bad ball comes you'll most likely paddle it for a single and breathe a sigh of relief from the other end. |
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