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

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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.

400 is miles away, for sure. But Warner is the wild card. If he's in for four hours... Aus have an outside chance. Hard though, England have played, without jinking it... the Perfect Test up to here.

Lol, I tried to send that post ten minutes ago... I don't know why it chose to only send three wickets late

Well alfie Australia will need to set perhaps a record for the highest run chase on this ground. And look at the scores here 430, 308 and England will struggle to post 300+ so you see scores have been heading downwards in the match. Makes it look less likely Australia will post a high score in the fourth innings - well high enough to win.

Olly wrote:How dare they continue playing the attacking shots that have got them in this position

Don't mind the aggressive shots , Olly. Just the overdoing the reverse sweeps ; when they were doing well with "normal" strokes.
And perhaps not getting set before teeing off.

Certainly losing five wickets after tea to an attack which looked on its knees a while back. Perhaps they reckon they have enough already ? And perhaps they have ; but I'd have liked a little more ruthlessness

Lyon again proving his worth to this Australian team.

Not far off the horror session I mentioned at lunchtime that could derail us. We're actually still in a good position but nowhere near as comfortable as it was.

CaledonianCraig wrote:Well alfie Australia will need to set perhaps a record for the highest run chase on this ground. And look at the scores here 430, 308 and England will struggle to post 300+ so you see scores have been heading downwards in the match. Makes it look less likely Australia will post a high score in the fourth innings - well high enough to win.

Oh I don't disagree , Craig. Likely the lead will suffice . But there is a lot of time left in the game ; and I think they could have set a bigger target than they now will , with a little more care. The thing is ; when you are playing Australia , you want to make a dent in their confidence as well as outscore them , no ?

Hopefully Moeen and the rabbits can add a few more...

Good position? They need to chase 350+ in the 4th innings - more than they got in their first innings.

We're in a commanding position

alfie wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:Well alfie Australia will need to set perhaps a record for the highest run chase on this ground. And look at the scores here 430, 308 and England will struggle to post 300+ so you see scores have been heading downwards in the match. Makes it look less likely Australia will post a high score in the fourth innings - well high enough to win.

Oh I don't disagree , Craig.  Likely the lead will suffice .   But there is a lot of time left in the game ; and I think they could have set a bigger target than they now will , with a little more care.  The thing is ; when you are playing Australia , you want to make a dent in their confidence as well as outscore them , no ?

Hopefully Moeen and the rabbits can add a few more...

There is that but if you had offered England this position at the start of the match I am sure they would have ripped your arm off at the shoulder for it. In terms of mental damage/confidence blow I think the Aussies have dealt that to themselves already. Best way to describe their performance so far with bat and ball - sloppy and inconsistent. Almost like their minds are elsewhere.

Olly wrote:Good position? They need to chase 350+ in the 4th innings - more than they got in their first innings.

We're in a commanding position

Yeah I suppose we are. Maybe I'm just greedy

But at tea I expected a lead of about 420 by the close , if they got all the overs in ...which might have rather demoralized Australia . Now they will be telling themselves they are still in the game.

Besides I like watching Moeen bat and I don't want to see him left high and dry ...

Wood's looking very tasty with the bat. Just hammered Lyon into the Taff for six!

Lead of 400. Top stuff from Wood.

Over on BBC , 42% voted for a 450 lead before declaring...

(I went for 400). And they're getting close to that as Wood smashes Lyon twenty rows back !

Another all rounder ? As a Bell-like nudge to third man goes for four more ...

When does he do the horse dance ?

Woods a rather cheeky chap!

Ah well : seems it was all a Cunning Plan . Gift them a few wickets , get them all excited - then have the Number Ten come out and whack 'em all over the place

Seriously though : Wood looks quite handy with the willow !

Get the block out Jimmy, Wood's on for a ton here!

Ali gone, and you would suspect that one way or another, Warner and Rogers will be padding up to start tomorrow

Well alfie you nearly have your 420. England bowled out and Australia need 412 to win.

You called it GSC, Anderson gets bowled by Lyon. Aussies need 412.

But Moeen has gone so the plan to come back out in the morning for a frisky twenty seems to have gone , alas.

Still a good day for England. Would like twenty more but can't have everything I suppose...and all out in the last over.

Australia need 412 . Two days to get them ; but clearly England reckon they have enough. Can't complain about the attacking approach !

Good night all.

If England lose, they have to say, fair play and take it on the chin, because this has been nearly faultless cricket from them. They've scored 700+ and took ten Aus wickets in less than 100 overs. It's gonna take something really special from Aus. You'd have to think two of Warner, Clarke and Smith are gonna have to come off.

If a team chases down over 400 in the 4th dig, think you have to take your hat off and say well played. 99 times out of a 100 we should win from here...

A chase of 412. Even though there are 2 days remaining, even though the range of chases and scores in all formats have been increasing, this will be a very demanding one for Australia. They would need something really, really special to win this, perhaps a Shane Watson double hundred without getting smashed on the pad ones!
If the weather doesn't play spoilsport on the last day, the draw goes out of the window.

Maybe Shane Watson needs to take a leg stump guard. He can everything except play around his pad. So it couldn't hurt.

If Australia end up losing this one as they are very likely to, then the player under most pressure would be Shane Watson unless of course he can produce a career saving performance. Has to be the most crucial innings in Watson's test career.

So England lost their way a bit, but there is no need to fret. Slight disappointment that Australia won't be chasing upwards of 450, yes, but...

It's a huge total. England are 99% certain to get the win. Two new balls, if need be. The uneven bounce will become more prevalent as the match wears on. And Australia probably won't go into a defensive shell - if the weather remains clear, an Australian win is more likely than the draw. So they will be positive.

And England will be fine. What a monumental effort it has been from them to fight back from 43/3 on a cloudy morning.

Okay then it is road map time for tomorrow's play.

Australia don't need to go crazy with the run rate as they have gallons of time to knock off the 412 runs they need. Even allowing for rain erasing a session on Sunday the they will still have around 150 overs so can afford to score at under three runs an over. They'd settle for getting to lunch on 100 for 1 (or at worst for 2). At Tea they would still be on track if they are around 220 for 3 (or 4 at worst).If they close on 325 for 6 they will be on course for the win.

England, of course, will have different ideas. If they can force 3 wickets in the morning and have Australia on 110 for 3 they'd be happy I reckon. At Tea they'd be looking to have Australia on no more than 225 for 6 and they could be in a position to force for the extra half hour and bowl Australia out for around 300.

Craig's roadmaps have been pretty near to the mark. This time though, I think you've underestimated the Aus desire to dominate and front up. So for Aus, Warner will be key. If Warner is in four 40-60 overs... while Aus lose one or two wickets while he goes beserker, then the target will probably be less than 200 by then. And then it becomes interesting.

The key for England is to attack. Hard.

I was really disappointed with Jimmy today. You could argue that Moeen gave his wicket away but that was fine in the context of the game. What I consider unacceptable was the capitulation of Jimmy Anderson.

Yes he's a national treasure and all that, but he is experienced enough to know how important it was not to get bowled out in the last over of the day. He hadn't faced a ball against Lyon and had survived only four balls previously, yet he though he could slog sweep him first up when accomplished batsmen had failed.

England wanted to get the Oz openers out on the field first thing tomorrow not sure when they would be starting - now they can psyche themselves up and plan in the nets how to face the opening salvo. It was only six balls to navigate and Jimmy fluffed his lines to hand Australia an albeit minor victory, but this is the ashes where you don't give the opposition anything.

Worse still Mark Wood was going well and firing up the crowd, so all Jimmy had to do was stay in and get that mood recreated on Saturday morning. For a guy who spent so much time as a night watchman he should have known how important it was that he didn't give Australia that moral victory of bowling England out in a day.

On top of all that England now don't get the choice of roller first up, and that might be a deciding factor in this result. Aggressive cricket is good provided it is smart cricket. Do whatever your opposition least want but Jimmy unfortunately did exactly what the Australians wanted by capitulating so tamely.

It's 412! I have more chance of scoring with Alex Pettyfer and Theo Walcott in one night than Australia do of winning this test!

412!

Uneven bounce, two new balls (if required), bit of cloud cover, the skill of Anderson/Broad/Wood/Stokes, a little touch of spin on the wicket, a slow pitch making quick scoring difficult against accurate bowling, the psychological strain of chasing anything over 300 in a test - all the factors on England's side!

412! Should be a 120+ run win for the English.

And one step towards landing the 921/1 shot of England winning/winning 3-0/Root being the highest run scorer of the series for England...One magnificent step closer!

Obviously I hope Australia get the score required but it looks unlikely. England win at Cardiff again. Gutting or what

Think you're making a mountain out of a molehill there great aukster....

Like duty says everything is in our favour

Everything is in favour of England winning this test, providing Cook doesn't bottle his attacking fields at the first Aussie onslaught. If he goes too defensive too soon that is the only way England will lose this test.

I am taking a big risk writing this now, but win, lose or draw I feel we should make one change for the second test.

I have been a huge Ian Bell fan, ever since I saw him play for the U19s. I have resolutely defended him whenever he has seemed to be one innings away from being dropped. However for me his time is now up, and we should be looking forwards, and a 50 today should not be saving him.

People will assume that I will now be calling for Jonny Bairstow, the form CC batsman, to be called up - but no. Thing is I have seen nothing to make me change my mind that Moeen is a classy batsman and good part-time spinner. Now this is where I am taking a big risk and could end up with egg on my face, but I have not seen Ali bowl the sort of spells that will spin us to victory on a turning pitch. He demonstrated he was a clever bowler by his reaction to Smith and Clarke's aggression - but other than that he bowled far too many loose balls and nothing that really threatened anyone who was not being over-aggressive.

So, I would like to see Ali moved up the order and told to accept full batting responsibility, while bowling as a second spinner. then we bring in an attacking spinner of the sort who can bamboozle the tail and take advantage of turning wickets in the 4th Innings. Rashid is the name currently in the frame (though I want to see him up at Scarborough instead, as I am that selfish).

We would then have a lot of options bowling wise, yet still bat pretty deep.

Olly wrote:Think you're making a mountain out of a molehill there great aukster....

Like duty says everything is in our favour

Not sure how important you rate the Ashes - they aren't one match but a series. If one team loses they will take any crumb of comfort they can from anywhere in defeat because this is a war not one battle. I was disappointed with Jimmy today because he should have known better. Australia aren't going to be an easy team to beat, and when you're on top you need to grind them down.

LondonTiger wrote:I am taking a big risk writing this now, but win, lose or draw I feel we should make one change for the second test.

I have been a huge Ian Bell fan, ever since I saw him play for the U19s. I have resolutely defended him whenever he has seemed to be one innings away from being dropped. However for me his time is now up, and we should be looking forwards, and a 50 today should not be saving him.

People will assume that I will now be calling for Jonny Bairstow, the form CC batsman, to be called up - but no. Thing is I have seen nothing to make me change my mind that Moeen is a classy batsman and good part-time spinner. Now this is where I am taking a big risk and could end up with egg on my face, but I have not seen Ali bowl the sort of spells that will spin us to victory on a turning pitch. He demonstrated he was a clever bowler by his reaction to Smith and Clarke's aggression - but other than that he bowled far too many loose balls and nothing that really threatened anyone who was not being over-aggressive.

So, I would like to see Ali moved up the order and told to accept full batting responsibility, while bowling as a second spinner. then we bring in an attacking spinner of the sort who can bamboozle the tail and take advantage of turning wickets in the 4th Innings. Rashid is the name currently in the frame (though I want to see him up at Scarborough instead, as I am that selfish).

We would then have a lot of options bowling wise, yet still bat pretty deep.

Maybe Bell has had his day, but Moeen isn't in the side as a batsman - there are better batsmen in England. The problem is who is the best Test spinner that England can field? Rashid has impressed with the white ball in a run containment game, but few leg spinners can command the first spinners spot in test cricket. Test spinners need to be returning economies of about 2/3 per over and if your name isn't Shane Warne that's all but impossible. Brad Hogg who was great in the short form couldn't nail down a Test spot, neither could Stuart MacGill. In fact apart from Warne and Anil Kumble there have been few in the modern era who have enough control to get the nod.

Rashid for me is a second spinner for the Oval, so the question is whether there is anyone better than Ali as a first choice. No one is standing out so England may as well back Moeen as a decent option and for his batting (a la Emburey).

guildfordbat wrote:Indeed, Dummy.

I don't know if you've seen my earlier posts on this thread in praise of Moeen and, particularly, his batting which I feel too many under rate (or did at least until yesterday ). Although I didn't name Bell, it was very much him I had in mind concerning my thoughts of Moeen moving into the top 6 and assuming the role of second spinner / all rounder which would allow a number one spinner (if there is such an English creature) to come in lower down the order.

London Tiger - serving notice that you are in breach of my copyright.

The Great Aukster wrote:

Olly wrote:Think you're making a mountain out of a molehill there great aukster....

Like duty says everything is in our favour

Not sure how important you rate the Ashes - they aren't one match but a series. If one team loses they will take any crumb of comfort they can from anywhere in defeat because this is a war not one battle. I was disappointed with Jimmy today because he should have known better. Australia aren't going to be an easy team to beat, and when you're on top you need to grind them down.

Aukster - I guess the feeling was that the lead was already more than enough so it didn't matter if Saint Jimmy got out at the end having a swish. That's understandable although I appreciate your point that it would have been better still if we could have seen it through to stumps. One thing Test and County openers don't like is not knowing when they will be batting. That element of uncertainty has now been removed for Rogers and Warner. I doubt that it'll have much significance in this Test but the importance of getting the small things right shouldn't be underestimated.

Your comment that I liked more was the one above about the Ashes being not one match but a series. Taking a 1-0 lead into the second Test will clearly be a morale booster in itself but far more so if we can win comfortably. I felt Australia bowled a lot better - individually and as a unit - in our second innings. They will understandably take encouragement from that. It's important, not just for this Test but for the series, that they don't feel the same about their batting second dig. Given England's commanding position tonight, a narrow England victory in the next two days could in a strange sort of way give momentum to our visitors.

Any Test loss to a team that won last series 5-0 and came in as pretty warm favourites here is going to shake them to their foundations.

Steffan wrote:Obviously I hope Australia get the score required but it looks unlikely. England win at Cardiff again. Gutting or what

Depends how small minded and parochial you are I guess, especially as the side represents England and Wales.

Gooseberry wrote:

Steffan wrote:Obviously I hope Australia get the score required but it looks unlikely. England win at Cardiff again. Gutting or what

Depends how small minded and parochial you are I guess, especially as the side represents England and Wales.

... and Scotland and Northern Ireland!

I know it's the E&W CB and all that, but I'm from NI and consider "England" to be my Test team. The Test side never required residence periods from Scotland or NI and guys like Mike Denness and Martin McCague qualified straight off, so I consider it to be a UK test side. Of course if Ireland ever gain Test status I may have to revisit that position!

I'm sure Steffy would be supporting England if there was a Welsh lad in the team, all a bit daft really.

CaledonianCraig wrote:Any Test loss to a team that won last series 5-0 and came in as pretty warm favourites here is going to shake them to their foundations.

Craig - Australia must now know that they are in for a competitive series - that's good for England supporters (given the immediate background you refer to) and the series itself. It's probably also a surprise to some Australians!

I'm not so sure though that ''any Test loss'' will ''shake them to their foundations''. I suspect that will now depend upon the margin of any victory. As I posted earlier, Australia bowled much better second time out and should be encouraged by that for the second Test. I don't want their batsmen feeling the same, even assuming we win.

PS Aukster - re Jimmy's batting, I meant to also mention in my earlier post that I doubt his approach was all down to him. Thus, any criticism should probably also be directed towards skipper, coach etc.

guildfordbat wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:Any Test loss to a team that won last series 5-0 and came in as pretty warm favourites here is going to shake them to their foundations.

Craig - Australia must now know that they are in for a competitive series - that's good for England supporters (given the immediate background you refer to) and the series itself. It's probably also a surprise to some Australians!

I'm not so sure though that ''any Test loss'' will ''shake them to their foundations''. I suspect that will now depend upon the margin of any victory. As I posted earlier, Australia bowled much better second time out and should be encouraged by that for the second Test. I don't want their batsmen feeling the same, even assuming we win.

PS Aukster - re Jimmy's batting, I meant to also mention in my earlier post that I doubt his approach was all down to him. Thus, any criticism should probably also be directed towards skipper, coach etc.

I'll put it a better way then. Nothing can be taken from a Test loss when you start the series as warm favourites.

I note the Great Aukster's comments ; which are quite reasonable. However I'd suggest that all the England batting from about the 350 lead onwards pointed to a clear decision having been made to declare at close of play yesterday if not dismissed. Rightly or wrongly , they seemed to have concluded they already had a winning lead (allowing for whatever they could scramble over the last hour) and had no wish to continue batting into day four. Has they intended otherwise , surely they would not have given up the last two wickets in the last eight balls of the day ? Anderson is well capable of blocking an over of spin ; and I imagine he would take notice of any instruction given him before walking out to bat...logical conclusion is they were always going to start bowling first up in the morning.

Right decision ? You can certainly argue that. My own Cautious Captain Hat on , I would probably have preferred half an hour this morning and thirty odd more runs. But you could also say this is a statement of intent...

We'll sees shortly...

Rogers dropped by Root - got to take that, two hands comfortable height

Oops ! Catching in the first innings was excellent ...but that is a wicket they'd love to have had so early.

Fairness to Root that was far from easy , though he probably took a harder one in the first innings.

Hmm. Some excellent bowling , a lot of pressure on the batsmen...

But so far , just a dropped catch and a wasted review

Weather looks pretty pleasant.

Root was far too close then, as Boycott has pointed out on 5live the new ball tends to fly off the edge.

Evening (for you) Alfie - completely with you on your posts so far during this session; comments re Aukster's post, Root's drop and our bowling.

Even though we gifted Australia some wickets yesterday, I felt they bowled a lot better. Agree?

Broad strikes and Rodgers run of 50s are over. 19 for 1