The Ashes: 1st Test, Brisbane

First topic message reminder :

1st Test Brisbane, November 23-27, 2017

Australia:
Bancroft, Warner, Khawaja, Smith *, Handscomb, S Marsh, Paine †, Starc, Cummins, Lyon, Hazelwood

England:
Cook, Stoneman, Vince, Root *, Malan, Ali, Bairstow †, Woakes, Ball, Broad, Anderson

guildfordbat wrote:My work is done for now. Hope to be back for some of the final session. Go well all.

PS Craig - you're meant to be at work.

I am. Thankfully, all is quiet.

CaledonianCraig wrote:

guildfordbat wrote:My work is done for now. Hope to be back for some of the final session. Go well all.

PS Craig - you're meant to be at work.

I am. Thankfully, all is quiet.

Long time no speak Craig.
HAve you movement to Australian or has Scotland voted for an independent time zone

The Loaded Dog wrote:I just walked in the door when the wickets started falling. After checking the score earlier on the mobile app I was thinking a score of around 400 might be on the cards.

Craig, can you please let me know your 2 bowlers from both teams for the tipping comp. I tried sending you a PM and left a post on that thread as well. You are missing out on valuable points.

Sorry I thought I did. Starc and Lyon and Anderson and Woakes.

It Must Be Love wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:

guildfordbat wrote:My work is done for now. Hope to be back for some of the final session. Go well all.

PS Craig - you're meant to be at work.

I am. Thankfully, all is quiet.

Long time no speak Craig.
HAve you movement to Australian or has Scotland voted for an independent time zone

No just working another nightshift. An independent time zone would be a start.

Australia will want to make this a bat once, bat long job, and then let Lyon wreak havoc on a thoroughly demoralised England.

i too think the aussies are going to get a game winning lead here. think any lead over 150 will be enough

Duty281 wrote:Australia will want to make this a bat once, bat long job, and then let Lyon wreak havoc on a thoroughly demoralised England.

And England will want to remove them as quickly as possible and get their fast bowlers back in the field before they have had a decent rest...

We will see now whether your jinxing is in Trebell's class

Broad! Crucial early breakthrough.

CaledonianCraig wrote:

The Loaded Dog wrote:I just walked in the door when the wickets started falling. After checking the score earlier on the mobile app I was thinking a score of around 400 might be on the cards.

Craig, can you please let me know your 2 bowlers from both teams for the tipping comp. I tried sending you a PM and left a post on that thread as well. You are missing out on valuable points.

Sorry I thought I did. Starc and Lyon and Anderson and Woakes.

Thanks mate.

i like the early ali shout, especially when theres two lefties. one of whom has struggled against spin

compelling and rich wrote:i like the early ali shout, especially when theres two lefties. one of whom has struggled against spin

there you go!!

Aye, good call, and Australia are in early bother.

The two main men at the crease now.

Duty281 wrote:Aye, good call, and Australia are in early bother.

The two main men at the crease now.

breaking this partnership is the key, both by comfortable distance Aus best batters. lots of ? after these two

Come on Australia sort it out

Going to have to give in here, I’ll try a shout again before i go in the hope it works again

Ali will break this partnership by getting warner out

Just hope it’s soon and not when I wake up

Wrong man but that’ll do!!

Crikey. The Aussie boys are having a shocking first batting innings. Be all out for less than 200 at this rate. Pick it up fellas

Beautifully poised test match. Just when one team seems to be getting on top the other bounces back.

Australia 63 for 3. Impressed with Root's captaincy here. Got Ali in early recognising Khwaja's weakness against spin and it paid off. Also rotating his bowlers well. Ball getting the key wicket of Warner.

Australia will be desperate to get through to tea with no more wickets down. At present 400 for Australia looks a long long way off.

So far so good for England. This pair are key : Smith is Smith ; and I rate Handscomb - especially in terms of temperament.

This is turning into a bloody disaster

Hmm. Jimmy did well to remove Handscomb ; but the (controversial selection ?) Marsh has apparently settled in to support Smith so there is work to do if England wish to maintain their grip.
Unfortunately , your man Woakes is having a bit of a 'mare , Olly. Has been a bit loose so far in this spell...though he's in the middle of a much better over now ...
Moeen enabling Root to rotate his quicker men ; and offering problems of his own. Impressive today.

Fifty stand for these two...Marsh looking more assured now , and Smith , despite having to dead bat a lot of Moeen , seems to be flowing .

Danger period for England . Need to either grab another wicket quickly or strangle this run rate...

Fifty for Smith . Inevitable , but

England right in this one despite a below par batting effort today - could do with getting Smith asap!

Hoping Smith gets on a role here. I remain sceptical though

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:England right in this one despite a below par batting effort today - could do with getting Smith asap!

Smith looks as if he intends to bat until January...

Technique is a little unusual ; but once he gets in , especially on an essentially flat pitch , he just looks invincible.

The concern for England is that Marsh is looking pretty good now. England clearly had plans for most of the Aussie bats : perhaps they weren't expecting S Marsh as they don't seem to have found his weak spot - or maybe it is just his day...

Really need to break this pair soon. Not sure about Paine ; but we know Starc and Cummins can hit the ball. Don't want them getting at very tired bowlers later tomorrow.

Jimmy coming back : good move I think.

So far this match seems intention on confounding expectations.

The Australian pace men were supposed to slice through the shaky England top order ...didn't happen. Then the England late middle order was expected to cash in on some tired bowlers - but it didn't.

Plenty of doubts re the England bowling in Australian conditions : but they did a good job to see Australia 80/4 . And then the Australian batting after five was considered dead dodgy : but here is Marsh batting smoothly and well...

Game is poised again. I really haven't a clue where it is going over the next few days . But if these two bat through I'd say Australia are slightly on top ...a wicket - or two - tonight would make it England in the ascendancy.

I don't think this pitch is going to fall apart so batting last won't be a nightmare for the home team. That third innings for England will probably be decisive one way or the other...

So no breakthrough - 165/4 and once again the morning session will be big.

The difference is that England won't get their hands on a new ball until well into the day...though of course it wasnt the new ball that collapsed England earlier today.

In truth this is pretty even. Early wickets and England could still take
a handy lead ...but if these two settle in again they could set up the locals for what England ought to have done today : cash in when the bowlers get tired.

Thought Root handled his attack quite well today (perhaps he kept Moeen on a little too long ?) wasn't much wrong , but with the ball getting older it was hard to prise out two determined batsmen. Bit disappointed with Woakes who leaked more easy runs than he'd have liked... Kind of expect Ball to go for a few but need the rest of them to keep the pressure on. The two old timers were excellent : hope they can bounce up again tomorrow after a night's rest as they still look the main threats.
Two days , fourteen wickets. If the pitch stays easy , could this end in stalemate ?

If Smith is still batting at lunch tomorrow we’re going to be in trouble - England must win the morning session tomorrow. If they don’t i don’t see how they can really win this one.

Still fairly evenly poised. If Australia bat through until tea tomorrow they will be firmly in the box seat. England must keep the run rate down and get a minimum of three wickets tomorrow morning I feel. If they can take any sort of a lead into the second innings they have the edge.

Glenn Maxwell blazed an unbeaten 213* for Victoria against NSW, penny seems to have finally dropped. Khawaja, no more than a flat track bully, will be under pressure if his struggles against England continue

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:Glenn Maxwell blazed an unbeaten 213* for Victoria against NSW, penny seems to have finally dropped. Khawaja, no more than a flat track bully, will be under pressure if his struggles against England continue

Khawaja might be the worst player against spin bowling I have ever seen

At the moment I'd put the advantage very slightly with England, as the Aussie line up has quite a tail and I wouldn't say Paine is a proven Test batsmen - seems to be a quite difficult wicket to get started on as well, so the key will be how quickly we can remove Smith in particular. It's one of those positions where I'd marginally favour having the runs on the board.

Over the course of the day the advantage certainly swung around - England looked to be building a reasonably good position while Malan and Moeen were in, then a good spell for Australia limiting us to 300. England back well ahead for the loss of the first 4 wickets in the Aussie innings, and then Smith and Marsh bringing them back to almost parity.

alfie wrote:So far this match seems intention on confounding expectations.

The Australian pace men were supposed to slice through the shaky England top order ...didn't happen. Then the England late middle order was expected to cash in on some tired bowlers - but it didn't.

Plenty of doubts re the England bowling in Australian conditions : but they did a good job to see Australia 80/4 .  And then the Australian batting after five was considered dead dodgy : but here is Marsh batting smoothly and well...
If
Game is poised again.  I really haven't a clue where it is going over the next few days .  But if these two bat through I'd say Australia are slightly on top ...a wicket - or two - tonight would make it England in the ascendancy.

I don't think this pitch is going to fall apart so batting last won't be a nightmare for the home team. That third innings for England will probably be decisive one way or the other...

The one thing or person going as expected is Smith. If Australia lose him early on day 3, we're in a good position.  If they don't, we're not.

Meanwhile, a poor Ashes start for Woakes. As some of us have mentioned in earlier posts, his role and effectiveness with bat and ball is going to be important this series and especially so given Stokes' no show. My concerns have already been voiced although I hope I'm wrong and have been around too long myself to make too much out of one bad day at the office.

Great test match. Smith digging in superbly.

Advantage narrowly with England, as they have runs on the board, but it’s so delicately poised.

I can't think of anything worse than watching a cricket match in a pool (likely to be filled with p1ss after half a day) with loads of other blokes and women.

But

Somehow a guy thought that the Gabba pool was the ideal situation to propose to his girlfriend today.

What a world we live in

guildfordbat wrote:

alfie wrote:So far this match seems intention on confounding expectations.

The Australian pace men were supposed to slice through the shaky England top order ...didn't happen. Then the England late middle order was expected to cash in on some tired bowlers - but it didn't.

Plenty of doubts re the England bowling in Australian conditions : but they did a good job to see Australia 80/4 .  And then the Australian batting after five was considered dead dodgy : but here is Marsh batting smoothly and well...
If
Game is poised again.  I really haven't a clue where it is going over the next few days .  But if these two bat through I'd say Australia are slightly on top ...a wicket - or two - tonight would make it England in the ascendancy.

I don't think this pitch is going to fall apart so batting last won't be a nightmare for the home team. That third innings for England will probably be decisive one way or the other...

The one thing or person going as expected is Smith. If Australia lose him early on day 3, we're in a good position.  If they don't, we're not.

Meanwhile, a poor Ashes start for Woakes. As some of us have mentioned in earlier posts, his role and effectiveness with bat and ball is going to be important this series and especially so given Stokes' no show. My concerns have already been voiced although I hope I'm wrong and have been around too long myself to make too much out of one bad day at the office.

He didn't have a great day today, but bowling wise I was encouraged to see his pace was up around 140kmph. Always think that's a sign he's generally bowling well and fit. I think it'll happen for him. This probably isn't his ideal wicket tbf...think he'll be better on the pacier/bouncier wickets personally

Also - this is an amazing thing...how is it only coming to light now?

https://www.cricket.com.au/news/feature/australia-england-2005-ashes-forged-in-fire-documentary-ponting-langer-warne-gilchrist-lords-song/2017-11-22

This wicket is steadily picking up pace and bounce as we saw today with Starc and Cummins. Tomorrow will be even more dry so maybe Woakes will get something out of it.

Think England are marginally ahead of the game, Australia probably need to go past their total to put themselves in a good position with Aus having to bat last

The difference I really see is that England have been almost entirely reliant on the Australians getting themselves out, whereas Cummins Starc and Lyon all looked genuinely threatening at times. Even on a slow pitch the quicks did trouble England when they started banging it in and packing the leg side, Englands seamers simply dont have the pace or height to do the same back. Moeens not getting the same turn Lyon did. 
As soon as a wicket fell England looked in trouble today. For all the talk they did collectively fall to aggressive bowling and didnt really seem to have a coherent plan of how to deal with it ...Malan just couldnt help wafting at deliveries that could have been left till he got out.

Woakes was a touch unlucky to leak so many runs, at least one boundary from Smith couldve been a wicket on another day coming off a horrible edge. But equally he hasnt had control. Anderson hasd been tight but is easy to defend when he cant get movement. Im still not convinced he was the best use of the new ball, the two quickest bowlers didnt get a sniff of it coming on after Moeen. By the time Ball got his secondt spell Smith and Marsh were well set and comfortable. 

Australia have a far better chance of ripping through England than vice versa come the second innings. England dont need a lot to bundle Aus out and get a useful lead.

Overall maybe margianlly Australias day but remains very even. And really a good advert for what a test should be. Theres a chance for the batsmen who can apply themsleves but equally both spin and pace can cause problems. Its a slow scorer but tense for that.

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:Glenn Maxwell blazed an unbeaten 213* for Victoria against NSW, penny seems to have finally dropped. Khawaja, no more than a flat track bully, will be under pressure if his struggles against England continue

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:

JDizzle wrote:

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:

JDizzle wrote:Please let Glenn Maxwell be playing. Cricket is just more entertaining when Glenn is involved.

reverse sweeping madly like a madman?

He has a very comparable FC record to some of the guys playing today! Marsh, Handscomb and Bancroft - and I just enjoy watching him bat!

Certainly more entertaining than Shaun Marsh...

I agree with you regarding Shaun Marsh, but Maxwell lacks temperament. I think Cartwright or Stonis are more deserving than Marsh or Maxwell,

Steve Smith has to be batting at 3... Khawaja is a liablity...his playing of spin is frankly awful...yes all batsmen have flaws, and yes he struggles on the sub-continenet, but it's not turning square at the Gabba, it's just normal spin and he looked all at sea...hasn't scored runs for a while, they need to bump smith up to 3, and get rid of Khawaja, he just dosen't inspire confidence at all

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:Glenn Maxwell blazed an unbeaten 213* for Victoria against NSW, penny seems to have finally dropped. Khawaja, no more than a flat track bully, will be under pressure if his struggles against England continue

Khawaja might be the worst player against spin bowling I have ever seen

The amazing thing about Khawaja's woes are a) he's of Pakistani heritage and they've produced many top players e.g. Inzaman, Younis, Yousuf etc. b) he came through the NSW youth system, therefore must have faced MacGill, Hauritz and Lyon at some stage. Yet he's totally hopeless

JDizzle wrote:

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:Glenn Maxwell blazed an unbeaten 213* for Victoria against NSW, penny seems to have finally dropped. Khawaja, no more than a flat track bully, will be under pressure if his struggles against England continue

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:

JDizzle wrote:

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:

JDizzle wrote:Please let Glenn Maxwell be playing. Cricket is just more entertaining when Glenn is involved.

reverse sweeping madly like a madman?

He has a very comparable FC record to some of the guys playing today! Marsh, Handscomb and Bancroft - and I just enjoy watching him bat!

Certainly more entertaining than Shaun Marsh...

I agree with you regarding Shaun Marsh, but Maxwell lacks temperament. I think Cartwright or Stonis are more deserving than Marsh or Maxwell,

Good to see Stoneman in the runs...had a very good tour thus far, and slowly settling into the side, hopefully we have finally found a partner for Cook, long series however..

feel the first hour is key to night, we need a early wicket. probably be marsh, then we can attack one end at least. got a feeling smith isnt going anywhere

my observations on D2

--the pitch has little lateral movement once the new ball shine is gone.... but has bounce for those who are bending their backs....
and Lyon was turning it big and getting it to bounce too...almost like an Indian pitch
and couple of hour later Moeen wasn't getting anywhere close to same spin
The Aussie pacers digging it in brought the tailender out in the Eng lower order...something that's not easily visible on English or subcontinent pitches.

--Although Moeen did get khwaja.....but it begs the question why khawaja keeps getting selected?
he's lacking temperament for the topmost level
and the answers is probably just how Ramprakash, Grame Hick types got selected and went on to play 50 and 65 tests respectively......on potential showed in FC games...flattering in Counties to deceive in tests.

--Eng's 302 is below par...and they did get early wickets but once the shine was gone, their bowling doesn't look penetrative
You really need bend your back and keep going at 140+ all the time bowlers to make difference of such pitches

--Marsh looked good and with Smith around and Paine+ 3 bowlers who can bat.....my call is a 30 odd lead for Aus

--and then Lyon may run thru Eng in second inning on a fuhrer scuffed pitch

Aus are favorites for me in this game

--and as the series progresses the inability ( or unwilingness) of Eng bowlers to bend their backs and keep digging it in at 140+ will widen the gap between sides..
Batting being +/- Equal

And Lyon is superior to Ali...although Rashid would have gotten much more out of a pitch like this
But I dunno if he's even in the squad

--Aus could though lose one of Starc / Cummins over the course of 5 tests and that could bring some parity

KP_fan wrote:

--and then Lyon may run thru Eng in second inning on a fuhrer scuffed pitch

I didn't realise the fuhrer had much of an interest in cricket.  How's life kp_fan? Still living in Switzerland?

The Loaded Dog wrote:

KP_fan wrote:

--and then Lyon may run thru Eng in second inning on a fuhrer scuffed pitch

I didn't realise the fuhrer had much of an interest in cricket.  How's life kp_fan? Still living in Switzerland?

Life Ist gut in der Schweiz
fuhrer ...further

Marsh will have a great innings and series I am sure

Then take this form into his first season with Glamorgan next year