The Ashes - official thread

[Gooseberry]

First topic message reminder :

SR that's not how mental fatigue works.
Also Stokes had a long break last year ...which he came back from err ...mentaly fatigued. Buttler and Bairstow haven't had that luxury.

But anyway it's not a case of "attitude" , ask Trott and Trescothick.

[compelling and rich]

one of the patchiest 61's you'll see, wouldn't count warner as being back on that innings. he was all over the shop for most parts. only let off by the dross bowled by woakes and stokes

[Duty281]

Wow, the very top of off stump. Magic delivery from Broad.

England back on top.

[compelling and rich]

jaffa!

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Wow, the very top of off stump. Magic delivery from Broad.

England back on top.

"Stu and Jof, we're gonna need you to bowl all the overs please lads"

[compelling and rich]

Wow, the very top of off stump. Magic delivery from Broad.

England back on top.

you have seen us bat havent you?

[Duty281]

Wow, the very top of off stump. Magic delivery from Broad.

England back on top.

you have seen us bat havent you?

Back on top until sometime tomorrow afternoon, when England slump to 50/4!

[Gooseberry]

The old add two wickets and how does it look strikes again.

All in its a good position for England given how little batting depth Aus have now buy you still feel it could and should have been better, doubly so if youre putting someone in.

Broads having an exceptional series so far, it's been too rare in his career that he's strung together a run of performances at or near his best.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Umpires look at the light, because 2 Aussie wickets have been taken in 10 minutes, but 10 minutes ago when the Aussies were carting it round the park the light was fine of course...

[Duty281]

Oooh, that's a freak dismissal. Three wickets for three runs!

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Oooh, that's a freak dismissal. Three wickets for three runs!

Think Davey must've used up all of Wade's luck as well earlier!

[Gooseberry]

Lambuschanges runs must be very welcome for Aus and equally emabressing for whoever decided to leave him out till Smith get noggined

Jokes aside he's the one who seems to be playing like there's no real pressure on him. Agree with the comments regarding Warner, whilst his score might settle his confidence/ego a bit the way he's got them.hardly suggests he's relaxed and playing his best or likely to replicate that score too soon.

A rest overnight for archer isn't too bad a thing but it would be nice to be into the tail proper before plays ended for light

[compelling and rich]

broad and archer have bowled 5-66 from 25 overs

really frustrating that period after tea

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Gonna need Stokes and Woakes to be a heck of a lot better here than they were earlier

[Duty281]

Labuschagne, easily Australia's best batter today, surely has to remain in the Aussie XI even when Smith returns - I presume Wade would drop out.

Now he's copped an unfortunate one, just as I type that.

[Soul Requiem]

Have to reassess my opinion of Labuschagne here, looks a more than handy batsmen, watched him during the Pakistan and India series where he looked way out of his depth.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Sir Chris!

[Duty281]

Another timely wicket and, all of a sudden, the umpires are concerned with the light.

"How can England have got a wicket, Joel? Must be the light!"

[VTR]

A bit annoying that Smith's replacement, who is supposed to be rubbish, is actually also impossible to get out

[JDizzle]

Another for Jofra! England will be hoping to shoot them out for sub 200 now.

[Duty281]

Turning into a strong England day, now, having savaged the Australian batting line-up from 5 down. Not quite Alfie's hoped-for 95, but still pretty decent!

England must be ruthless from here. Not entirely dissimilar from the Edgbaston 1st innings situation - there, they let Australia escape. Mustn't repeat that.

[Duty281]

Five for Archer! Cummins doesn't look happy, but it seemed a clear snick.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

What on earth is Ponting bleating on about here?

[JDizzle]

There were a couple of spikes on Ultraedge, but one of them was a huge one as it passed the bat and there was no gap visible. Definite edge. Another one for the book of 'the batsman doesn't always know when he has hit it'.

[Duty281]

What a weird way to go. Missed a full toss after a very capable innings. Reminded me of Flintoff bowling v the South Africans in 2008.

136/2 to 177/9! Only two batsmen have scored more than 11. Warner was fortunate to get as far as he did.

[JDizzle]

Hope that mad period from Woakes and Stokes doesn't come back to haunt England. 180odd could look very daunting with our batting!

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Weirdly, that awful hour of bowling from Stokes and Woakes post tea has probably saved England from batting today...which could be a huge advantage. Imagine if we were in now against the new ball and Aussie pacemen...

[GSC]

it looked pretty dicey this morning and parts of the afternoon but ultimately bowling first has been validated.

now the batsmen have to back it up tomorrow

[JDizzle]

Weirdly, that awful hour of bowling from Stokes and Woakes post tea has probably saved England from batting today...which could be a huge advantage. Imagine if we were in now against the new ball and Aussie pacemen...

I mean, I'd still take 120 all out and batting today versus 179 and not batting today!

Superb from Jofra. I doubt it will be his last Test 5 fer...

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Weirdly, that awful hour of bowling from Stokes and Woakes post tea has probably saved England from batting today...which could be a huge advantage. Imagine if we were in now against the new ball and Aussie pacemen...

I mean, I'd still take 120 all out and batting today versus 179 and not batting today!

Superb from Jofra. I doubt it will be his last Test 5 fer...

All out 120 and likely 30-3 tonight...? Not sure. It's meant to be a much nicer day tomorrow with the sun out...and best conditions for batting over day 2 and 3, I think this has worked out pretty well for England

[Duty281]

That's a wrap. Beautiful figures for Archer. 179 all out. Australia were fortunate to get that many. A couple of hours ago, it was looking very tough for England. Now they're in complete command.

Can they bat semi-competently tomorrow and get to 250 and beyond? They'll be hoping for brighter conditions, though more heavy cloud is expected.

[JDizzle]

Weirdly, that awful hour of bowling from Stokes and Woakes post tea has probably saved England from batting today...which could be a huge advantage. Imagine if we were in now against the new ball and Aussie pacemen...

I mean, I'd still take 120 all out and batting today versus 179 and not batting today!

Superb from Jofra. I doubt it will be his last Test 5 fer...

All out 120 and likely 30-3 tonight...? Not sure. It's meant to be a much nicer day tomorrow with the sun out...and best conditions for batting over day 2 and 3, I think this has worked out pretty well for England

100%. 60 runs is a lot of runs for both these teams, not to be sniffed at. Either way, England will still be delighted with their day.

[GSC]

Labuschagne a cert to keep his place even when Smith returns right?

looks like Australias 2nd best batsman after 2 innings

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Labuschagne a cert to keep his place even when Smith returns right?

looks like Australias 2nd best batsman after 2 innings

You'd have thought so.

The elephant in the room for the Aussies is the form of Paine, if Wade gets some runs second dig (along with his hundred in the 1st test) and Paine fails again, can they really drop Wade and keep Paine in?

[KP_fan]

--The overhead conditions were difficult and while Eng would be happy to get Aus for 180......Aus would breathe a sign of relief that they have not been blown away for a 100 odd.....which was possible in these conditions....but for Laburschagne and Warner playing really good innings....

-Why Aus are still in is because how I see it the second and 3rd innings will more or less cancel itself out.
And Eng would be left with 180 odd to chase in the last inning when there will also be some spin for Lyon

--There was too much assistance for seamers and too high a quality in Eng's bowling for the lower order to hang around today.
Archer was half a yard fuller today although half a yard slower too....but look at the diffrence it makes.

Given that even Woakes is tending to get underbowled, I doubt if Leach will bowl much either.

another good test match...that will go down to the wire and will be won by 20 runs or lost by 2 wickets I think.
And Eng would rue Woakes & Stokes giving away 96 runs in 21 overs for 2 wickets...in these conditions if they lose narrowly

[GSC]

could've been better sure, Warner had about 17 lives and Stokes/Woakes were pretty average.

that said Aus had 120 on the board with 2 set batsmen. could easily be sat here criticising root with england almost out of the game

[sirfredperry]

5.30pm - Root an idiot for putting Aus in

7.30pm - Master stroke by Root to field first.

At 130-odd for two it was looking really dicey for England. But if you put the opposition in and bowl them out for 179 on the first day then you have had a good day.

I don't trust the England batting at all, though, so I don't go along with this idea that England are now "in control". Let's wait and see what happens tomorrow.

Bit mystified why Aus are not playing Starc. Is he not fully fit?

[robbo277]

Real important job for the top 4 tomorrow. 179 isn't great, but at least it's something to bowl at. 220-250 would probably keep Australia in it. England need someone to go out and make a big ton and push us to around 280 or more. Would be a really good time for Root to announce himself in the series with a big score on his home ground.

[alfie]

Ha... so I missed all the fun... Really didn't expect that much play after they went off ; wasn't quite my all out for under 100 but still quite the collapse , eh ? Will have to look at some highlights later.

Don't suppose you can complain about bowling a team out for 179 when you send them in ; though whether this represents an England bowling triumph or a vaguely competitive total will depend on the second day weather conditions and how well England's fragile batting lineup copes with the expected fierce Australian attack. Despite the rather strange sidelining of Starc , this looks the most hostile fast bowling combination the Aussies have put out in the series to date ; though they might yet miss the steadiness of Siddle if things go a bit flat at some stage.

I see Root's captaincy was coming in for a bit of scrutiny at various stages : guess he can say he got it pretty right in the end ? But I do note that Archer did most of his damage with an older ball and Woakes did not fare so well bowling in the middle overs ...so I still wonder if he is using his resources in the optimum manner...
Sounds as if Stokes is struggling a bit with the ball. Wonder why ? They won't want to leave everything to Archer and Broad second time around...though Leach may have a part to play then. As for Archer it seems dropping a bit in pace didn't hurt him much ...not surprised he cleared the tail away pretty rapidly and his six wicket haul is only going to add to the aura he is building up very early in his career. I just hope the temptation to overuse him doesn't blunt his effectiveness before the series is over - or , worse , cause him to break down.
Warner obviously incredibly lucky but scored useful runs - vital in context ! And Labuschagne backed up his Ashes debut very nicely : did I see him emulating some of Smith's quirky mannerisms after leaving a ball ? Two innings - two top scores : a good start

And just as a side note I have counted two successful English reviews to gain wickets missed on field and one or two (?) Australian overturns of erroneous "out" verdicts (plus some grumbling about the Cummins decision ?) So the umpires are still in the gun ...

[Dolphin Ziggler]

The points on Woakes are interesting, his use continues to be notable. I just can’t see them leaving him out, even when Anderson is fit. His batting seems better than quite a few down the order and they need the numbers with how likely so many are to fail.

I suppose that Woakes’s use was different today because Broad and Archer kept getting little breaks, so kept coming back fresh for the newer ball, leaving Woakes to finally come in with a ball a bit older than usual first change?

Doesn’t excuse his bowling, him and Stokes both disappointed.

Jof is a sensation and the crowd love him. He’s going to be a mainstream star. If he wins England this Ashes, he’s going to be Sports Personality of the Year too.

[eirebilly]

Roy is going to click today and get a big score.

[Soul Requiem]

Cummins was out no doubt about that, not sure what he was complaining about to be honest, a clear noise and deviation off the bat.

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