4th Ashes Test Durham

First topic message reminder :

They're all at it again on Friday. Just as England are likely to chuck in a bad performance when everyone expects them to win (Leeds 09, Perth 2010/11, Manchester 2013) they usually bounce back next Test (Lord's and Oval 09, Melbourne 2010/11).
I'm taking England to win one of the last two Tests to ensure a series victory. Onions, it seems, will come in and that could be a good move. Still think this is not a very strong Australia team. It's just that they were an average team playing poorly in the first two Test while at Manchester they were an average team playing well.
Before Manchester, we were asking if Australia could improve/get back into the series. Well they certainly achieved the former if not the latter. Now we could ask - Can England start firing on all cylinders ?

JDizzle wrote:First innings scores at Durham 2013: 253, 267, 259, 237, 250.

Second innings scores at Durham 2013: 113, 209, 196, 177, 132.

Interesting note, in CC matches this year everytime Durham have won the toss (and bear in mind they know the conditions the best) have chosen to bat whilst every visiting team who have won the toss have chosen to field. Local knowledge.

Optimism is looking for a silverlining in the darkest of clouds

Duty281 wrote:

subhranshu.kumar.5 wrote:Looking at today's comments on this thread I was wondering how days changes and with that people do. Though Duty only remained firm on his stance before and recently also.
A much lowly rated Australian team is now considered ahead of skilled English team.

Besides all, I must say it was Aussies day apart from losing the toss, but that too came in their favor at the end of the day. It was total negative batting from England, bit of poor shots and then a very dominating effort from Aussies bowlers.

I hope tomorrow Australians will not bat like the way the did in the first two test matches. Series has turned a lot and I feel a scoreline 2-1 in favor of England looks better than 4-0.

Who on earth thinks that? Bar the knee-jerkers of course, and they don't really know what they mean.

Who so ever think that, is not an issue.Let knee-jerkers go their own way. I just made a remark there.
Above all Aussies team played brilliantly and I feel they will go to win this test match. England batting was just pathetic.

subhranshu.kumar.5 wrote:

Duty281 wrote:

subhranshu.kumar.5 wrote:Looking at today's comments on this thread I was wondering how days changes and with that people do. Though Duty only remained firm on his stance before and recently also.
A much lowly rated Australian team is now considered ahead of skilled English team.

Besides all, I must say it was Aussies day apart from losing the toss, but that too came in their favor at the end of the day. It was total negative batting from England, bit of poor shots and then a very dominating effort from Aussies bowlers.

I hope tomorrow Australians will not bat like the way the did in the first two test matches. Series has turned a lot and I feel a scoreline 2-1 in favor of England looks better than 4-0.

Who on earth thinks that? Bar the knee-jerkers of course, and they don't really know what they mean.

Who so ever think that, is not an issue.Let knee-jerkers go their own way. I just made a remark there.
Above all Aussies team played brilliantly and I feel they will go to win this test match. England batting was just pathetic.

Average, not pathetic. Pathetic would be Australia at Lord's. And I fancy England to win this Test.

I think the draw has gone out the window and England will be favs for the win. the 4th innings will be brutal. England on par first innings

Bairstow has to go. Not up to standard at all yet

Who would you call up then Olly?

Taylor.

Scoring runs galore in the county champ Div 1 this year, and a hundred against the Aussies in the warm up game.

Harshly dropped in the first place last year

Well, missed all he action today.
So what have we got here? Another 50 for captain Cook, but ones more he failed to convert. Young Joe is taking more time than exoected to really get to grip with the opening position and Jonny Bairstow isn't scoring anything much at 6. Did England make a mistake in breaking something that was fixed and rewamping something that was functional? Jonathan Trott yet again got a start, Jonathan Trott yet again failed to kick on. Kevin Pietersen hit Nathan Lyon out of the attack but didn't last long enough to inflict serious damage, and eventually got out to Lyon himself. Ian Bell for ones, failed in this series. Matt Prior's poor recent form continues, and Swann and Broad couldn't help much either.
Ryon Harris managed to take field for 3 back to back tests for Australia, and is still in one piece after day one!. Nathan Lyon continued to show it was a mistake from the Australians to rather unfairly drop him for the first game (didn't have much of a choice for the 2nd). Peter Siddle bowled his heart out, and Shane Watson continued to offer some serious value addition with the ball. Jackson Bird looked disciplined.
At the end of the day, England ended up with an indifferent batting display and a middling score of 238-9. Not a good score at all and the batting should and could take up far more responsibility. But one innings apart, the Australians never looked in control with the bat, and Anderson, Swann and co can go the extra yard and pull England back into a position of balance. But the batting will have to do much much better 2nd time round.
A word on DRS as well. Have to say the system had a good day in office. Has generated some feel-good for itself and even the hotspot worked. If the Hotspot working for ones was a bit of a surprise, I have to say I am not at all surprised by the mediocre onfield call that led to the first overruling of the day.

So only a late flurry from Jimmy has lifted England towards 250 - clearly Australia's day.
But some people are getting a bit carried away , I think.

This score is certainly under par , and England by their own admission played poorly after lunch.  Much credit should surely go to the Australian bowlers , who read the pitch well and concentrated on bowling a good tight line - dried up the runs and profited from eventual mistakes by the batsmen.  And some of the shot selection (Bell , Bairstow , Broad ) was bizarre.

However although there were no obvious demons in the pitch , the fact that England crawled along at well under three per over for most of the day , with only Trott and (briefly) Pietersen able to break the shackles , suggests that its slowness made stroke making rather tricky. Note also the lack of full-blooded drives : the majority of the boundaries that did come were more of the well placed push or clip off the legs variety.  Throughout the agonizing Prior/Bairstow stand there were repeated front foot attempts to drive which went basically nowhere...or straight back to the bowlers.  The benefit of a good bowling line , yes , but aso indicative of a pitch on which grafting was essential.
Better batting might have seen 250/6 , say , but anyone expecting a breeze for the batting side is a fantasist.

Now tomorrow may well be different - pitch should harden up a bit and be a little quicker , so scoring may be slightly easier. Overhead conditions may play a part too.  It is certainly possible Australia will prosper , especially if Clarke and either Warner or Watson get going , in which case they may well head for a decent lead. However I fancy there will be enough there for the England bowlers to apply some pressure of their own so I do not think it wil be easy for the Aussies. Bowling accurately will be key again.  And a bit of luck with the close calls won't go amiss (Australia enjoyed some , arguably overdue , good fortune with the close lbw shouts this time . On another day both Prior and Bairstow may have got away with theirs )

I see some clowns on BBC live complaining that the England selectors were responsible for the poor day - by not picking Onions ! He would have made all the difference to the batting    But I do think Onions might have bowled rather well on this. Fortunately I have confidence Bresnan might do so too.

Enough rambling...Australia on top , but a lot of cricket left in this. Looking forward to day two.

I see little Root has been caught smoking with older boys in public on Camera...and all are being condemnded as bad role models.

England are starting to be frightened of the Aussie bowlers, which is breeding confidence. But we should judge after the 1st innings are both done. I'm travelling from London to Glasgow today, then my brother and Nephew are driving down to Durham tomorrow at 6am. No trains from London to get me there for start of play. Pathetic. But the game could be nicely balanced going into day 3....

alfie.. if the pitch does quicken and is known to then it was an odd decision choosing to bat first and get destroyed.

agree the eng players now seem to fear aussie and are getting controlled accordingly.  Something has to be done about that , this is not the aussie of old.  Good bowling but not the best and they should play with more confidence.

Hi trebs

Well it cuts both ways doesn't it ? Bat first and you might have a bit of an early struggle...but the other mob sometimes end up having to try and survive on a pitch which is starting to break up...

I'm sure Cook was hoping for a better day first up ...but Australia bowled pretty well and England made too many mistakes. Still plenty of time to get back into the game , but will want to bowl well later this morning.

Not sure they fear Australia. Perhaps they were over cautious , against some tight but not outstanding bowling. But when KP launched an attack people on here were lining up to have a pop at him...

Beautiful ground, amazing considering what a hole Chester Le Street is. Certainly no quaint little village.

Interesting, I thought, that no county side has reched 300 in a first innings this season at Durham. Perhaps things are more tricky there than they look.

That said, I would have expected better application from a Test side. Bell's dismissal was particularly poor and I also thought that the catch (admittedly decent) was overegged by SKY.

I'm sure Australia will be disappointed if they don't end today with a fair lead on the near horizon. Suspect it'll be be needed too as I fancy Swann to cut the mustard later on ....

This pitch looks tailor made for Jimmy..

Morning all. Rather ambitious shot first up from Jimmy ! All this "Burnley Lara" stuff must have gone to his head  

Ouch ! That went to his head too...thank God for helmets...

Ok all out for 238- Got to say we are 60 short. 300 would have been ok.

Still I can't see there being much in it after an innings each.

Hmm. We shall see , roakey.

Certainly the ball moved around in those two overs for Australia , so England will be hoping for some early joy. If they can get into them early , this score may turn out better than it looks.

But if Warner gets off to a flier it won't look so good. And of course Clarke remains the Big Wicket.

A bit of inward movement from Bird and Anderson got his stumps shattered. Aussies packed up the mighty England for a mere 238. No plus from the previous day.
Its time for Clarke and company to show what they are capable off. A 100+ lead and match will be 60% within their reach. Good Luck.

Rogers and Warner on the field. Change in batting order, where will Watson play?

watson in at 6

mystiroakey wrote:watson in at 6

From top to 6. Will it not hamper his batting. Hope so not.

mystiroakey wrote:Ok all out for 238- Got to say we are 60 short. 300 would have been ok.

Still I can't see there being much in it after an innings each.

Mysti - tend to agree that 300 have been ok.

I agree that conditions should suit Anderson although I'm worried that we have no 'fat' to play with. One big score together with a good partnership from Australia will see us struggling ....

Meant to say earlier that I like the look of Jackson Bird (brilliant name btw!). Certainly deserved his couple of wickets.

subhranshu.kumar.5 wrote:

mystiroakey wrote:watson in at 6

From top to 6. Will it not hamper his batting. Hope so not.

watson seems the type to just play the game.. Very uncomplicated and tbh the only Aus(bar clarke) I would like in the England tesm

That was a slick ball by broad.. lovely stuff

One down ...

Nice finish to an otherwise poor over from Broad  

mystiroakey wrote:

subhranshu.kumar.5 wrote:

mystiroakey wrote:watson in at 6

From top to 6. Will it not hamper his batting. Hope so not.

watson seems the type to just play the game.. Very uncomplicated and tbh the only Aus(bar clarke) I would like in the England tesm

Really , Watson hasn't even made a test 50 for a very long time. He bowls a tight end without taking any wickets really.
Decent enough player but that's about it for me.

Well, we didn't add to our overnight score, but at least we got Warner nice and early.

Good start, but we need to keep the pressure on, like they did to us.

Stop them scoring, frustrate them and get them to make mistakes or play rash shots.

and I starts.  England couldn't bat for crap on here and I suspect aussie are going to find it a right trudge flubler too.

expect Clarke to top score with 25.


quite fun seeing Jimmy struggle against big bird knowing that he's going to be licking his lips at that swing.

Diggers wrote:

mystiroakey wrote:

subhranshu.kumar.5 wrote:

mystiroakey wrote:watson in at 6

From top to 6. Will it not hamper his batting. Hope so not.

watson seems the type to just play the game.. Very uncomplicated and tbh the only Aus(bar clarke) I would like in the England tesm

Really , Watson hasn't even made a test 50 for a very long time. He bowls a tight end without taking any wickets really.
Decent enough player but that's about it for me.

He is a true all rounder. Very tight bowling- This aids the strike bowlers out by creating pressure. And a good bat just lacking in form..

Him or bresnan- Not a tough decision is it!!

And another- The pitch looks unplayable at the moment. Keep up the pressure England, This is a great start

Right.. thingy is on.  Lets get him

flipping gets him as I type it.

Yes! Nice one Broady!

Khawaja caught in two minds about whether to play a shot or not and ends up getting an edge...out without scoring and Aus are 12-2.

Brilliant start.

that Broad lad, he's a bit rubbish inne? why is Onions not playing?

trebellbobaggins wrote:and I starts.  England couldn't bat for crap on here and I suspect aussie are going to find it a right trudge flubler too.

expect Clarke to top score with 25.


quite fun seeing Jimmy struggle against big bird knowing that he's going to be licking his lips at that swing.

That a local saying, or are you compiling your own cricketing vocabulary?

It sounds cornish doesn't it!! Pirate talk!

Jimmy allowing the pressure to be relieved  

Ball nipping around a bit.

Nice start for Broad. Batting not looking too easy...

And 200 catches for Prior . Well done  

I am.

and Rogers is doing his usual positive stuff.

wont last longer than a stubblers bluknhorn this morning though they cheeky flubert.

When Broady gets wickets he usually gets plenty of them as well. He oftens struggles a bit on length but he's bowled much better than his figures this series and sometimes (fingers crossed) he can blow through a lineup

mystiroakey wrote:

Diggers wrote:

mystiroakey wrote:

subhranshu.kumar.5 wrote:

mystiroakey wrote:watson in at 6

From top to 6. Will it not hamper his batting. Hope so not.

watson seems the type to just play the game.. Very uncomplicated and tbh the only Aus(bar clarke) I would like in the England tesm

Really , Watson hasn't even made a test 50 for a very long time. He bowls a tight end without taking any wickets really.
Decent enough player but that's about it for me.

He is a true all rounder. Very tight bowling- This aids the strike bowlers out by creating pressure. And a good bat just lacking in form..

Him or bresnan- Not a tough decision is it!!

It's not a tough decision for me, Id pick Bresnan any day now he's over his injury. When you say he's a good bat out of form, is two years classified a being out of form because that's about the last time he made any runs.
He looked like he was going to be a great player but Watsons figures recently are pants quite frankly.

Clark getting lucky.  not here for the long haul today.

odd review that.

the danger here is that aussie are scoring incredibly quickly and will pass this score in no time so England need those wickets.

making it look much easier to score.  34 in no time.

Diggers wrote:

mystiroakey wrote:

Diggers wrote:

mystiroakey wrote:

subhranshu.kumar.5 wrote:

mystiroakey wrote:watson in at 6

From top to 6. Will it not hamper his batting. Hope so not.

watson seems the type to just play the game.. Very uncomplicated and tbh the only Aus(bar clarke) I would like in the England tesm

Really , Watson hasn't even made a test 50 for a very long time. He bowls a tight end without taking any wickets really.
Decent enough player but that's about it for me.

He is a true all rounder. Very tight bowling- This aids the strike bowlers out by creating pressure. And a good bat just lacking in form..

Him or bresnan- Not a tough decision is it!!

It's not a tough decision for me, Id pick Bresnan any day now he's over his injury. When you say he's a good bat out of form, is two years classified a being out of form because that's about the last time he made any runs.
He looked like he was going to be a great player but his figures recently are pants quite frankly.

he isn't an opener. Oz have only just worked that out.

A true all rounder is a tough find..

I am not sure what the OZ camp has been like., But given all the issues and all there players(bar clarke) being out of form I would say that is as much to do with it as the players themselves..

I would certainly stick with watson and maybe him being pushed into the typical allrounder position we may see him doing better

That was a joke of a drs decision tbh

oh hang on.. he was out lbw but survives.  what the heck is going on there?

lucky sod.

and warne calls engand smug with that grin on his face.

That was a rotten review...on a day when England might need them ! Blind Freddie could see that was pitched outside leg.

Cook losing his review mojo...

...and this time a Rogers review as he is given out ?

Lbw or caught ? What a funny one ...not out now as he was given caught , and umpires call on lbw... 

Weird. Rogers very lucky.

some of the rules are a joke.