Here we are, the last test of the series with absolutely nothing to play for.
It’s quite depressing really, but all England can aim to do now is take a bit of joy out of their Aussie celebrations, and give a few of the touring party a run out at the SCG.
Full ArticleWell well well, look what the cat dragged in.
Christmas had me all giddy….and drunk… and I appear to have forgotten to write a preview but luckily it only asked two days again, so I didn’t miss all that much cricket.
Full ArticleUh oh, we’ve lost the ashes away….again.
We should really have expected this though shouldn’t we? We haven’t won a test in Australia since the 2011 series victory and in the last two tours to Blighty, we have only managed to scrape series draws. So why do I feel so disappointed?
We were probably all a bit overly optimistic in hindsight, especially Broady, but this series had a very different feel about it, and for good reason.
England had been playing some good test cricket in the two years leading up to this series, we had two seriously fast bowlers in the squad and a fully fit and firing captain. The Aussies had played well at home, but not quite to their usual level of dominance, they lost a test to the West Indies….at the Gabba of all places.
This probably all played into the hope, and throughout the series, we showed some signs as to living up to it. Day 1 of the first test saw us rattled with the bat, but come back and dismantle the Australians the same day with what was probably the best team bowling performance in the last 10 years….things like that had us believing.
But, ultimately, we couldn’t live up to the hype. Nobody got going in unison, we let our egos get the better of us with the bat, and we massively underestimated just how good a few of our opposition could be at home, namely Travis Head, Mitch Starc and of course Pat Cummins on his return for the third test.
Cummins announcement after the game was quite telling, he has said he wont be playing in Melbourne and probably wont play in Sydney, as the series is now wrapped up. He said it was worthwhile taking the risk and playing in Adelaide. This tells me one thing, they knew this England side could beat them…if they pulled their finger out their arse and played properly.
We didn’t. Smith decided to have a go on day 5 and looked in great touch before getting caught in the ring going for another huge hoik. Carse, Jacks all got scores and took the chase below 100, but we all knew they were never going to chase it.
My attention now diverts to the final two games of the series, meaningless really (apart from a few WTC points) but I am very interested to see how England will approach these games.
Do they throw in a few fresh faces? I think possibly so, Bethel has been waiting in the wings to nab that number 3 spot from Ollie Pope who had failed with the bat so far. England are obsessed with Bethel, and this could be a golden opportunity to get some ashes cricket in him and prep him for the next tour.
Personally, I am not convinced. A massive talent? Of course, but a test match standard number 3? Not for me.
We need a 3 that can and will bat time, consistently, to protect Root and Brook from the new ball. My personal pick would be a little left field, but James Rew of Somerset is a technical player, capable of batting time and also acceleration, he is young but as buckets of FC runs and tons behind him in the championship and looks every bit a test match player. The difficulty is, he’s a keeper and normally bats 5 or 6 for his county.
Tricky then, lets see how we go
It’s the hope that kills you.
Well, I didn’t have much hope, but as I settled in late last night desperately hoping for another Stokes masterclass in salvation, he showed signs of doing just that.
Full ArticleI was not a happy bunny last night, an even unhappier bunny this morning, and having sat on it all day, I could now be considered a properly fucked off rabbit.
Why does the England cricket team insist on ruining any of the silly season joy I can normally indulge in the build up to Christmas? I personally think they get some sort of sick pleasure from our suffering.
Full ArticleI kid, of course, I am sure Alex Carey is a good chap, but it is quite funny how controversy seems to stick to him like a bad smell.
The stumping, the haircut and now quite possibly a blatant act of bribery to ensure the Snicko operator (former Snicko operator as updated on LinkedIn this evening) “mistakenly” used the wrong stump mic to maintain an umpires not out decision. Alex Carey has some demons….
Full ArticleYep we have royally fucked it. Two tests in and all hope of an ashes victory has slipped away through mindless batting, inconsistent bowling and god awful fielding.
I cannot see a way in which England get back into this series….unless we win in Adelaide, in which case its 3-2 England and the Aussies can drown their sorrows in the watery piss they pretend is lager.
Full ArticleWell, my intention to watch as much as I could of this series and write about it in the day that followed was pure….my actioning of that intention was poor…bit like England really.
I did manage to watch a fair bit of the days that followed, and I was disappointed to see my previous prediction after the first days play was scarily close to being true. Apart from England making it to day 4 (that’s something chaps) they actually posted an even lower total to chase than first thought.
Full ArticleWell well well, England might have got themselves in this game.
A very interesting days cricket has taken place in Brisbane, twinned with Scunthorpe. And at the end of the day, I think most publications would have England in front….I think that’s generous given our ability to fuck up from any position, but we are certainly in the game.
It started about as badly as you’d expect, England 5-2, Duckett and Pope in the sheds and everyone just waiting for Crawley to follow them back shortly afterwards.
Full articleOh dear oh dear, I’m not looking forward to this one.
Day/night test, pink ball, the Gabba. This has a Mitch Starc masterclass in embarrassing us all over it doesn’t it?
The first test massively dampened my spirits for this series, to be in a pretty dominant position, and see it squandered was bad enough, but looking back, I don’t think it was a surprise.
Full Article