England v Australia, 2nd Test: Lords, 16th-20th July

First topic message reminder :

England

Lyth
Cook
Ballance
Bell
Root
Stokes
Buttler
Ali
Broad
Wood
Anderson


Australia

Prob Team:

Warner
Rogers
Smith
Clarke
Voges
Marsh
Nevill
Johnson
Starc
Lyon
Hazlewood



Officials

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

I thought Moeen was unlucky there. Not with the review but with the original appeal - looked to be hitting / clipping leg at first viewing.

They are actually bowling slower today than yesterday, just extracting more movement and putting ball in the channel rather than wide.

Unlucky for Ali, wrong end of umps call

wouldve given out if it were watson

Duty281 wrote:Steve Smith has an atrocious record at this ground

Oh for fu...well he doesn't anymore!

Stupendous innings. Did very well to ride out the period when the runs were not flowing.

200 for Smith

Been an excellent innings ; his technique may be unusual - but it works.

Wonder how Ian Bell is feeling about putting him down on just fifty ?

Think the Aussies are about to go into overdrive...

Yep this could get ugly....

Gooseberry wrote:wouldve given out if it were watson

That's not entirely a joke ,is it ... Think they do have a tendency to expect to be giving Watson out in that manner ; whereas that appeal perhaps came rather out of the blue , and caught the umpire half asleep...

Reckon when appeals are coming every over or so there is a much better chance of drawing a favourable call on a close lbw ; in a 500/5 situation they get more conservative. Human nature , I guess.

Duty281 wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Steve Smith has an atrocious record at this ground

Oh for fu...well he doesn't anymore!

Stupendous innings. Did very well to ride out the period when the runs were not flowing.

Yeah you called that one well ,Duty .

Just don't say anything about Johnson's bowling , OK ?

I think Smiths been very hard done by there, impact certainly looked outside the line.

alfie wrote:

Gooseberry wrote:wouldve given out if it were watson

That's not entirely a joke ,is it ... Think they do have a tendency to expect to be giving Watson out in that manner ; whereas that appeal perhaps came rather out of the blue , and caught the umpire half asleep...

Reckon when appeals are coming every over or so there is a much better chance of drawing a favourable call on a close lbw ; in a 500/5 situation they get more conservative. Human nature , I guess.

No it wasnt. I may be remembering wrongly but werent both his dismalissals in the last test marginal ones?

PaulHv2 wrote:I think Smiths been very hard done by there, impact certainly looked outside the line.

reviewed and given, so maybe unlucky that the umpire gave it as england couldnt review.

A wonderful innings from Smith comes to an end ! Given lbw on field ...might think himself unlucky after Nevil's escape. Taylor on Aussie TV complaining about it because it was only "umpires call" on point of impact ...I think you've had enough go your way in this game Mark !

Probably gave him out for the shot , in truth : it was a bit unnecessary ...

Gooseberry wrote:

PaulHv2 wrote:I think Smiths been very hard done by there, impact certainly looked outside the line.

reviewed and given, so maybe unlucky that the umpire gave it as england couldnt review.

I meant on RTS, the ball didn't look in line and I was certainly surprised when it was umpires call. But there you go, swings and roundabouts with the software.

Very marginal indeed , according to Hawkeye. But I think England were about due , to be fair , after two decent reviews were lost by microns.

Aussie commentators still going on about it ...

Smith is probably happy to put his feet up for a bit. Might save them having to time the declaration.

Hell of a catch that by Ali, good innings for Nevill. Looks a very good player.

Two for Root now as Moeen takes a good low catch at mid off.

Decent debut for Nevill. Not a lot of pressure on him , of course. But better than starting with a low score.

Two Mitches now ready to tee off with the bat...

Roots showing Ali up a bit here!
Hes proven to be a very handy part time option in tests

Importnatly for England theyve kept a lid on it when Aus were looking like they might really start to score rapidly. Time could still be a factore in this game with much of sunday likely to be lost as the forecast stands.

England have battled hard today. 55 overs have yielded 211 , so could have been a lot worse.
Still they are facing a likely twenty odd overs tonight and a lot of runs to chase ; but with an eye to the later Tests this has been quite encouraging.
As I've said before , England probably have to win three Tests , regardless of the result here. So it is important the bowlers maintain their confidence.

What do you reckon now?

My guess would be Australia pretty much go hell for leather looking to declare after another 10 overs and not worried if they're all out before that. Then we have around 20 overs to face tonight.

If I was Clarke, I wouldn't declare during tea. Keep Cook and Lythe out there wondering when any declaration might be coming.

so with engs top order, are we facing a probable innings defeat here?

it was a bad toss to lose for sure.

Just bat and bat and bat and bat etc.

Bat for 180 overs (till tea on day four) must be the overall aim. And it is doable on this pitch.

Get a lead of 100+. Pin Australia into a corner.

Nothing weak and feeble.

Can't see any other result here Trebs, can see England being four down at the close.

The question wasn't meant to be rhetorical!

Anyway, Clarke declares as Starc* falls at the end of the first over after tea. Bit sooner than I expected but I can understand that. Good tactics to have kept Cook and Lyth out there wondering rather than have 20 minutes and a nice cuppa to mentally prepare.

* Wrong Mitch - sorry!

Mildly surprised by the declaration. Thought he'd let them bash a few more , but I suppose with only two wickets left Clarke figured he'd rather have the extra overs tonight. Fair enough.

Test now for Lyth and Cook.

lyth gone

Oh dear . Lyth follows that and gone second ball...

Not the start you want chasing 566

Lazy, stupid, brainless cricket from Lyth.

Oh Lyth. Poor. Beyond poor.

Drop him.

PaulHv2 wrote:Can't see any other result here Trebs, can see England being four down at the close.

seems fair. haven't heard of them showing the stability needed to survive this in years.

you never know.

@duty.. hope so but they'd need Cook etc to turn up.

TightHEAD wrote:Drop him.

Who to play instead is the big question?

contrasting the start of the two we see the true talent and mentality of the sides revealed.

worlds best versus world of hurt at the mo.

TightHEAD wrote:Drop him.

Unimpressive for sure but let the guy have his second innings before getting the knives out.

That was a poor effort from Lyth - he really didn't need to play at that. Nerves.
It is early days - just his fourth Test. But so far Lyth has not inspired much confidence that England's search for a replacement for Andrew Stauss is over yet.
True he has a hundred already against NZ ; but Robson scored a century early on too - and that proved a false dawn.

Think they'll persevere with Lyth ; but he needs serious runs , and soon. Otherwise I'm doubtful of his chances of lasting the series. Not sure who is next in line.

No confidence in Ballance at all

guildfordbat wrote:

TightHEAD wrote:Drop him.

Unimpressive for sure but let the guy have his second innings before getting the knives out.

Knives come out quickly when England have a bad couple of days

Haven't looked on BBC yet but I'll warrant they've already collected comments calling for the replacement of the captain and most of the bowlers - if not imprisonment in The Tower ...

Somehow England need to ride out the storm. It will get easier to bat. But now being in at the end of play is the objective. Which makes lyth's shot all the more stupid as he could have left it alone.

Lyth needs, at least, the next three tests before one can pass fair judgement.

Of course, the attitude of the England selectors towards finding Strauss' replacement is beyond the realms of mockery; no consistency, and Lyth may just be another victim of that.

Though the England selectors are surely running out of victims.

Cook and Ballance need to soak this up, meanwhile. Australian bowlers finding much greater pace than the English seamers ever did.

Just bat, England! No more than two down at stumps, if possible. The ball will start to lose its effectiveness after 15-20 overs, so that will be of great benefit to the English top order.

Ah two down as I type. The psychology of it all.

Im never confident watching Ballance bat, it's always painful viewing, and he really does look awful at the crease..

Hate to say this, but I called it earlier.

Promising start from Ballance cut off by an excellent full ball from Johnson !
Ballance with his minimal footwork remains vulnerable to full pitched fast deliveries. it is a problem for a number three

Two down and you might say the pressure is on

...and even more now as Hazelwood skittles Bell

wisden wrote:Im never confident watching Ballance bat, it's always painful viewing, and he really does look awful at the crease..

Yet he averages over 50 #whocares

DROP EVERYONE

Excellent swing bowling from the Aussie bowlers so far

need a huge partnership from these two, don't want Ben Stokes in this early.... not against the new ball, and the fired up quicks..

Duty281 wrote:Lyth needs, at least, the next three tests before one can pass fair judgement.

Of course, the attitude of the England selectors towards finding Strauss' replacement is beyond the realms of mockery; no consistency, and Lyth may just be another victim of that.

Though the England selectors are surely running out of victims.

Cook and Ballance need to soak this up, meanwhile. Australian bowlers finding much greater pace than the English seamers ever did.

Just bat, England! No more than two down at stumps, if possible. The ball will start to lose its effectiveness after 15-20 overs, so that will be of great benefit to the English top order.

Ah two down as I type. The psychology of it all.

Agree with most of that , Duty. Except it's swing , more than pace doing the damage , I think. Though the pace doesn't hurt.

Selectors have been a bit impatient with the openers , perhaps. But , hand on heart , can you really say Compton , Carberry , Robson - never mind the re-cycled Trott or the misplaced Root - have actually looked likely to succeed at the the tough task of opening a Test innings against top opponents ?
There is giving a fair trial ; and cutting your losses.

Agree Lyth will get more time.

So yet again this England side follow up a great performance with a rubbish one.....

guildfordbat wrote:

... Real challenge though will be when it's our time to bat - maybe around 5 o'clock .... don't want us being 43/3 first dig in this one and Root giving the keeper catching practice!

Me and my gob!!

Anyway, 43 would have been better than 30!

Who was it who predicted four down ? Even Joe uprooted early ; and the nightmare is becoming reality.

I'd hoped for better ; but I did fear this after yesterday. Once the Aussies get on top they are hard to rein in. Hard to see a way for England to get out of this from here.

Fortunately the momentum theory is generally rubbish ; so Edgbaston will be another fresh start. The toss may play a big role in this series...

Unless Cook and Root can emulate Rogers and Smith you sense England are doomed to follow on some time tomorrow and suffer a humiliating innings defeat.

What the hell happened to our bowling?