England v Australia - Test 1, Cardiff 8th - 12th July

First topic message reminder :

England

Lyth
Cook
Ballance
Bell
Root
Stokes
Buttler
Ali
Broad
Wood
Anderson


Australia

Warner
Rogers
Smith
Clarke
Voges
Watson
Haddin
Johnson
Starc
Lyon
Hazlewood



Officials

Umpires - HDPK Dharmasena and M Erasmus
TV umpire - CB Gaffaney
Match referee - RS Madugalle
Reserve umpire - NGB Cook



Toss

Won by England who choose to bat.

That 430 is far better than England would have dreamed of at 43 for 3. I think they would have settled for 430 before they started batting.

I love how England are just packing their side with bowlers. It's humorous how captain conservative is leading probably the most proactive, first strike English cricket team of all time.

Then the question would be why pick one of Stokes/Ali and not have Bairstow in whos scoring ludicrous numbers of runs? He can catch too which would be quite handy for this england.


Bells place does need questioning though. As much as Im surprised by Australias continued love of Watson (given half the population has always hated him) you have to wonder if Bells place is partly down to the new guy not wanting to rock the boat too much. It shoulddnt be forgotten that hes had spells as englands best run scorer and is trade marked as the "most talented english batsman of his generation" but this run of poor form is taking on epic proportions now.
I cant help but wonder how good englands total wouldve been if it was a non bellendish version of KP batting at 4 with Root in those revival overs rather then bell ending so quickly.

Rogers seems to be riding his luck a bit so far, runs coming easily though.

Quite like the way Anderson and Broad have bowled so far , though they haven't made a break yet. Broad very close to getting an lbw - for once his call for a review was reasonable , only for a thin edge to deprive him of the wicket.
Sun shining but the ball is swinging for them. Australia will be happy to see lunch.

guildfordbat wrote:

... The one thing I would add here and emphasise again is that I rate Moeen as a batsman more highly than many posters. He did well in the final session and imo wouldn't necessarily be out of place in the top 6 - perhaps food for thought if anyone should need to be replaced there.

As no one else has mentioned the end of my midnight post, I thought I would!

Seriously though, I've been quite taken with Moeen as a batsman for a little while. He impressed me when I saw him score a century for Worcs at the Oval last summer - he took on and hit Batty (Gough's choice then and now as England spinner) out of the attack. Sure, he rode his luck at times today but the situation called for some risks to be taken and he also played some excellent shots along the way.

I view him as a good batsman - a particular strength is his ability to adapt to match circumstances and those batting with him - and a very useful second spinner. Interestingly perhaps, his county side appear to be of the same opinion. That doesn't really solve the main problem as to who should be England's number one spinner; however, if it is not to be Moeen (many here want Rashid- I'm not so sure but leave that aside for now), it doesn't do any harm if Moeen can genuinely belong in the top 6 and provide spinning support at a level above that of Root.

Tidy from England. Good to see them pitching the ball up, mostly, and producing some swing and decent carry on this pitch.

Thought they were mugged of a wicket, in truth - was there truly a thin edge from the batsman on Broad's LBW shout?

It was more than a thin edge Duty.

Stuart Broad must be a nightmare for a Captain........Think it's time Cook and Butler left him out of any review discussions..

Peak broad in the morning session

We must remember funny cricket is the best cricket

England did well to get to a score of 430. Good knock of 77 from Ali. 5for for starc,

The openers looked comfortable in the brief session. Nothing happening for the bowlers.

England mugged of a wicket there, as Warner took longer than the allotted 15 seconds for a review (I think).

VTR wrote:

PaulHv2 wrote:

VTR wrote:Mooen's batting is giving the selectors a bit of a headache here, in a nice way I suppose. Let's hope he bowls well so he can justify being the lead spinner. If he bowls like a drain though, how on earth could he be dropped after this?

If he does bowl crap, you could possibly bring Rashid in for Bell. Won't happen, but Rashid will probably score more runs than Bell would.

Yes that would be a fair change, and would you certainly would not lose anything without Bell's contribution of less than 5 runs and a couple of dropped catches per match

I'd agree that it would be fair given Bell's form. To go in with only four specialist batsmen would be a hell of a risk though.

A good review by Warner after a poor call from umpire D. Though I must admit I didn't realize how far outside leg it pitched until I saw the Hawkeye.
Wouldn't say it's been as easy for the bats as all that though : several balls have beaten the bat , two or three near things on lbw...
Ball is still swinging ; but England will be disappointed they haven't struck yet. You'd think batting will be fairly comfortable once the new ball is done.

Duty281 wrote:England mugged of a wicket there, as Warner took longer than the allotted 15 seconds for a review (I think).

When we are desperate, we look at every bit of an inch.

I think he took appropriate time.

subhranshu.kumar.5 wrote:

Duty281 wrote:England mugged of a wicket there, as Warner took longer than the allotted 15 seconds for a review (I think).

When we are desperate, we look at every bit of an inch.

I think he took appropriate time.

I think England are far from being in desperate circumstances; I'm merely saying that Warner seemed to take longer than 15 seconds.

alfie wrote:A good review by Warner after a poor call from umpire D.  Though I must admit I didn't realize how far outside leg it pitched until I saw the Hawkeye.
Wouldn't say it's been as easy for the bats as all that though : several balls have beaten the bat , two or three near things on lbw...
Ball is still swinging ; but England will be disappointed they haven't struck yet.  You'd think batting will be fairly comfortable once the new ball is done.

May be umpire was busy looking at the stumps. And yeah its going to be bit easy for aussies if they get past these new ball overs.

Superb catch!

Good take, skipper. Anderson has deserved that, he's bowled well since the resumption.

England spoke at length about getting Smith in before the ball was too old. Think they've missed that particular windows a bit, but they have to go at him early

Gone now ! Great catch by Cook and Warner is on his way...well bowled Anderson

I have to say I didnt think Warner ever looked very comfortable in that innings.
Fair reward for England ...they've bowled pretty well.

Smith now ...

kingraf wrote:England spoke at length about getting Smith in before the ball was too old. Think they've missed that particular windows a bit, but they have to go at him early

Hmm...nearly ! Edge all right but falling well short of slip : good bowling again though.

Excellent over.

When you lok at Warner's record. He has 12 centuries in 38 Tests, which is a ridiculous conversion rate. But he only averages 47, and that's because he has a lot of innings like this.

Duty281 wrote:

subhranshu.kumar.5 wrote:

Duty281 wrote:England mugged of a wicket there, as Warner took longer than the allotted 15 seconds for a review (I think).

When we are desperate, we look at every bit of an inch.

I think he took appropriate time.

I think England are far from being in desperate circumstances; I'm merely saying that Warner seemed to take longer than 15 seconds.

Fifteen seconds is longer than you think , Duty. I reckon the umpires tend to be fairly generous with the timing anyway , unless the delay gets ridiculous.
Anyway we wouldn't want a wicket on a technicality , would we ?

Unless its Haddin , maybe

Smith hasn't got in as yet, England really need to get him early here.

Wood is bowling well here, getting the ball to do just that little bit.

Rogers is justifying his selection over Marsh . Has looked sound against some probing bowling , especially from Anderson.

England really want to get Smith early here as on this pitch he could make a lot of runs if he settles in. Which he doesn't seem to have done yet...

There is a little bit of swing out there and it is making it worth watching....... Rogers and Smith have had their moments of discomfort but importantly for Australia, they are still there. Smith in particular, has had more than a few troubles....... How would the number 1 batsman in the world respond?

alfie wrote:Rogers is justifying his selection over Marsh .  Has looked sound against some probing bowling , especially from Anderson.

England really want to get Smith early here as on this pitch he could make a lot of runs if he settles in.  Which he doesn't seem to have done yet...

Think Marsh is being considered for the successer
role rather than the alternative one. The only question for this game as far as Rogers was concerned was of his fitness after his issues in the West Indies.
BTW, I am not really convenced that Marsh is the answer to that successer question anyways.

Moeen Ali on now. His runs would be much welcomed, but his primary role is with the ball as far as England is concerned.
Rogers gets his 50!

7 successive test 50s for Rogers btw.

England need a wicket and fast you feel.

Smith taking the game to Ali, you feel that this could get ugly.

As feared, the England attack are pretty much impotent on this pudding of a pitch. Aussie bowling was as close to rubbish as you will ever get and that 430 isn't looking that imposing now. The Aussies bowling badly really needs to be taken for about 550, far too many wickets were gifts

2009 flashback update:

Aus were 142-1 at tea on the 2nd day. Lost their first wicket at 60. Numbers 2 and 3 went on to score big hundreds.

Smith obviously feels he is "in" now ...and going after the spinner. Test for Moeen. And an important period in the game up to tea now ... if these two stay in Australia will be well placed to bat big.

liverbnz wrote:2009 flashback update:

Aus were 142-1 at tea on the 2nd day. Lost their first wicket at 60. Numbers 2 and 3 went on to score big hundreds.

The parallels are rather amazing. End of first day and England final first innings score are almost identical, and the route to get there very similar (e.g. 3 down for not that many, late order hitting taking score past 400)

All we can hope is Mark Wood = Monty Panesar reborn

It is then quite unfortunate for England that Australia 2009 had Marcus North, where Australia 2015 have Mitchell Starc to clean up the tail

VTR wrote:

liverbnz wrote:2009 flashback update:

Aus were 142-1 at tea on the 2nd day. Lost their first wicket at 60. Numbers 2 and 3 went on to score big hundreds.

The parallels are rather amazing. End of first day and England final first innings score are almost identical, and the route to get there very similar (e.g. 3 down for not that many, late order hitting taking score past 400)

All we can hope is Mark Wood = Monty Panesar reborn

Well I hope Wood doesn't bowl like Monty did that game

Indeed this game has followed a similar course so far - I was even thinking that overnight. Not prepared to concede 674 yet though : I think England are bowling pretty well here , and if they can somehow shift these two I still wouldn't be astonished if the later Australian order crumbled - or at least got out for a more modest total.


Modem strikes

Huge, huge wicket that!

big wicket

Massive wicket for England as Steven Smith goes! Its England's primary spinner with the wicket!

Just what England but even more so what Moeen needed. A big boost for him. Australia 129 for 2.

Pretty impressive from Ali that.

Moeen , of course (damn that spell predictor !)

Another sharp catch by the skipper

And good planning , field well placed , didn't run away from Smith's aggression to Moeen...got the reward.

A big one.

Clarke in ...Broad on.

More than turn or bounce, its the presence of mind that helps Ali there. He saw Smith coming at him, bowled it down the leg for the stumping, Smith ended up playing a horrible nothing shot and gave a catch to Cook who again took it well.

I know Smith has been scoring a lot of runs, but his technique is awful.

kingraf wrote:It is then quite unfortunate for England that Australia 2009 had Marcus North, where Australia 2015 have Mitchell Starc to clean up the tail

Haha - good observation. Well we have nudged ahead of 2009 now with that badly needed wicket!

139/2 is still a decent scoreline for Australia , of course. But you feel if England can get one of these they have a real chance of attacking the later , and arguably lesser , batsmen.

Not expecting to roll them over for 250 , mind. But if they can get them out for a bit of a lead , with Australia having to bat last...