Ashes 2021/22 and other cricket through the winter of 2021 thread

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

First topic message reminder :

Thought I'd start a new thread for the winter cricket of 2021 that we (covid depending) have ahead of us. Obviously the World T20, but that has it's own thread...

The main event being the Ashes, with the dates below

Men's Ashes schedule
First Test: 8-12 December - Gabba, Brisbane (00:00 GMT)
Second Test: 16-20 December - Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (d/n - 04:00 GMT)
Third Test: 26-30 December - MCG, Melbourne (23:30 GMT, 25 December)
Fourth Test: 5-9 January - SCG, Sydney (23:30 GMT, 4 January)
Fifth Test: 14-18 January - Optus Stadium, Perth (02:30 GMT) (subject to change)

Women's Ashes schedule
Test: 27-30 January - Manuka Oval, Canberra (23:00 GMT, 26 January)
First T20: 4 February - North Sydney Oval, Sydney (08:10 GMT)
Second T20: 6 February - North Sydney Oval, Sydney (08:10 GMT)
Third T20: 10 February - Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (08:10 GMT)
First ODl: 13 February - Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (23:05 GMT, 12 February)
Second ODl: 16 February - Junction Oval, Melbourne (23:05 GMT, 15 February)
Third ODI: 19 February - Junction Oval, Melbourne (23:05 GMT, 18 February)

India have a busy winter, with New Zealand touring in November/December and then India head to South Africa for the boxing day test/January.
There's an interesting test series between Bangladesh and Pakistan in Bangladesh in Nov/Dec, which should be an entertaining watch. Unfortunately I don't see much cricket on the schedule for Pakistan/Sri Lanka (unless I am missing something!)
A few others on the future tours programme, but not confirmed yet as far as I see...

[alfie]

Head not looking too secure ...very edgy , got four with one that went wide of all five slips ! Can see why Robinson has five posted for him...

Woakes back for Wood now. Needs to keep the pressure on these two new bats. One more and you are into the bowlers - albeit Cummins is no mug with the bat.

[alfie]

Stokes going to have a go , despite the niggle. Hope this doesn't do him more damage...

Anyway he's bowling short rubbish so this looks a mistake. Afraid they're going to have to go to spin ...two left handers so I'd prefer Root to bowl , to be honest , rather than Leach.

Love Ben's courage but this just gave away twelve easy runs.

[alfie]

And Root it is indeed. Head and Carey appear to have weathered the storm so England are in need of some magic from somewhere.

Head reckons spinners are rubbish and launches one into the crowd...
At 236/5 Australia seem to be back in charge...

[alfie]

Carey gone though...misfits a Woakes short ball and picks out Pope at short mid wicket.

236/6

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Do the Aussies really not have a better keeper bat out there than Paine/Carey

[alfie]

In comes the new skipper...

Will Cummins' magic match continue ?

And will Root keep bowling or bring back a pace man ?

[alfie]

England still trying to get to the new ball by bowling (harmless) spin... Leach now.

Sort of forced I guess due to Stokes being injured ; but it's hobbled their fightback because only the pace bowlers are presenting any threat. By the time the (suitably rested) seam bowlers get back with a new ball it will be way too late.

If you'd known in advance Stokes was going to get injured Broad would definitely have played instead of Leach. Arguably should have anyway but then they weren't planning to get bowled out for 147

Fifty for Head which won't do his career any harm. Has been solid since those early edges - doing a good job for Australia after that sticky patch after tea.

262/6 . Heading for a 200 + lead. Which should be plenty , barring a Strauss Cook Trott type marathon or a heck of a lot of rain...

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Robinson is pretty much out on his feet here - slightly grabbing at his hamstring too

[alfie]

Oh dear...now Robinson looks to be struggling in his run up... and walking off the field. This is going from bad to worse.

Dropped catches are mistakes and you rightly suffer for them : but apart from that it's fair to say some undeserved bad luck has helped bury England today. I think we can say they're buried now at 289/6.

Poor Jack Leach is heading for a very fast century : 1/95 off eleven

[msp83]

So the England bowlers have put up some fight. But with the terrible batting display, they were playing catch-up even before the first ball. Then even in between the fightback, the no-balls, dropped catches and missed run-outs, along with some decent batting efforts from Labuschagne, Warner and Head have put Australia in charge.
And now Cummins and Head are motoring away, and Australia are about to double the England score.

[kingraf]

Head on track for an 80-ball ton here. England have, quite literally had no luck.

[alfie]

Stokes trying again. Guess he can't be too badly damaged ; though he certainly didn't look at all comfortable bowling a little earlier. He's not worrying Head anyway...he's having a picnic now as he goes to 81 off 66 balls !

Could have done with a storm to wipe out this last hour or so again today

[alfie]

Head on track for an 80-ball ton here. England have, quite literally had no luck.

That's true. But I suppose one might say that if you get bowled out for 147 you don't deserve any luck.

That would be harsh. The almost total loss of pre Test match practice really set them up for a tough start. But it was still disappointing. In Australia, you really need a lot to go right if you're going to compete. I hope they don't completely lose heart from what is likely to be a very heavy defeat as I think they're a bit better than that.

Root at least gets Cummins so he has some fantasy points - if not the ones expected

[VTR]

Wheels seem to be off again. Potentially two seam bowlers injured, and Jack Leach with figures that even the aforementioned Simon Kerrigan would laugh at. By the 5th Test the bowling attack might have to include Silverwood himself

[msp83]

What an innings this has been from Head. Destroied England, just when it seemed they are fighting some ground back.

[alfie]

Hundred for Travis Head ! Must admit that wasn't high on my list of expectations for this game.
Guess that justifies his selection ahead of Khawaja

He's been fortunate to feast on some much easier bowling than earlier in the day , with the injuries and all : but it's been a very important innings for his team after that mini collapse... He's quite rightly chuffed

[alfie]

Blimey ! Nasty moment as an accidental full toss from Wood hits Head in the face ...thank heavens it glanced off the glove and hasn't done him serious harm . Feared the worst when I saw that ...no fun copping one like that at 140 kph !

[msp83]

Jack Leach, back in as England's led spinner, has had a terrible day. Had it not been for Labuschagne's generosity, how much more worse it could have become?
. Is Kevin Pietersen doing some commentary in Australia, perhaps they can persuade him to unretire, and unleash that offspin of his?

[kingraf]

Head on track for an 80-ball ton here. England have, quite literally had no luck.

That's true. But I suppose one might say that if you get bowled out for 147 you don't deserve any luck.

This is partially true, but my instinct watching the English innings was that they didn't seem to play and miss more than normal, everything just seemed to either beat the inside edge, or get the outside edge, and this was backed by the stat that England induced more false strokes than Australia did in the first session, and yet England were five down, and Australia were one stick down. Some of it, of course, was the fact that England put down chances, but much of it is also that England have had no luck outside of winning the toss.

[alfie]

Jack Leach, back in as England's led spinner, has had a terrible day. Had it not been for Labuschagne's generosity,how much more worse it could have become?
. Is Kevin Pietersen doing some commentary in Australia, perhaps they can persuade him to unretire, and unleash that offspin of his?

Pretty hard to imagine it being any worse than 95 off 11 ! He will probably be relieved if Australia win by an innings so he doesn't have to bowl at them again...

The Australian left handers have totally destroyed him , I'm afraid. Hard to see England picking him again here after that.

Everyone said England had to deploy a spinner rather than another fast bowler. But with full hindsight , that was wrong.

[alfie]

343/7 at the close. Aussies will sleep well tonight . Root & co rather less so.

Well played Warner , Labuschagne and Head

Hope the England medical staff are on the ball...

[msp83]

Jack Leach, back in as England's led spinner, has had a terrible day. Had it not been for Labuschagne's generosity,how much more worse it could have become?
. Is Kevin Pietersen doing some commentary in Australia, perhaps they can persuade him to unretire, and unleash that offspin of his?

Pretty hard to imagine it being any worse than 95 off 11 !  He will probably be relieved if Australia win by an innings so he doesn't have to bowl at them again...

The Australian left handers have totally destroyed him , I'm afraid. Hard to see England picking him again here after that.

Everyone said England had to deploy a spinner rather than another fast bowler. But with full hindsight , that was wrong.

But looking at the NZ series and the first test against India, the unbalanced attack indeed seemed like a problem, seems like a problem now. Moeen Ali was the only decent enough test spinner they had after the Swann-Panesar era, and then rather than maximizing his contributions and living with his limitations, the Smith led selection committee and the team management mismanaged him, and now they have ended up with this.
Of the available options seen at the top level as of now, Leach seems like the least worse option. But will they stick with him? Think they should, or somehow, at least find a spin bowling all-rounder who can contribute with the bat and fit in as an overall package.

[msp83]

Didn't they have an extra hour of play today? And 84 overs at the end of the day? Think they should ban Joe Root for the next game. This is beyond pathetic!

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

The handling of Jack Leach - put that in as another chapter in the Chris Silverwood disaster class book

Whoever could’ve seen a player you’ve given literally no playing time in non-spinning conditions…being targeted and struggling in non-spinning conditions. And the best part is, they’ll ditch him now after he’s struggled largely partly because of the ridiculous way he’s been handled the last 18/24 months

[king_carlos]

Robinson is pretty much out on his feet here - slightly grabbing at his hamstring too

He's bowled absolutely marvelously but was out on his feet against India later in the summer as well. Very much a player still getting used to Test cricket which is completely understandable and not at all a fault of Robinson. It is however a bit of a worry when he looks our best bowler in these conditions.

[king_carlos]

The handling of Jack Leach - put that in as another chapter in the Chris Silverwood disaster class book

Whoever could’ve seen a player you’ve given literally no playing time in non-spinning conditions…being targeted and struggling in non-spinning conditions. And the best part is, they’ll ditch him now after he’s struggled largely partly because of the ridiculous way he’s been handled the last 18/24 months

As much as Leach has been poorly managed I do feel that he simply isn't a go to Test spinner. There are just so many holes in his F-C record. The difference between bowling at Taunton vs away. Struggles in the first innings. Struggles against left-handers. Struggles to keep it tight when not taking wickets.

That basically leaves bowling well to right-handers, in the second innings, on turning wickets. Joe's not exactly a Swiss army knife in terms of versatility!

Issues that big are ones that need ironing out in domestic cricket not Tests. Due to CC being played on wickets so different to the Test arena and frequently being played at too low a standard that just doesn't happen though.

As is usually the case with our poor performances overseas I can't help but think it comes back to the need for big change in the county system.

All that said I don't think Silverwood will survive a lost Ashes series. There are caveats to the mixed performances. We have played stronger opposition lately, covid, then too much cricket crammed into a small space and of course a pish group of batsman. He hasn't got the best out of a tough situation though.

[alfie]

I have some sympathy for Leach - as has been said , he hasn't had much of a go recently. But that has partly been a consequence of the absence of Ben Stokes and the difficulty of balancing the team without him. Whatever the management did (with Leach - or Moeen , or Bess) it really didn't work.
Unfortunately I rather doubt Leach is the right type of bowler to succeed on modern Australian pitches even if one might have expected him to do better than today. His economy rate isn't really good enough - especially against left handers : and they have a few of those keen to go after him. And he is unlikely to get the type of pitch he fancies , even on the later days of Tests here - nor , I fear , is he going to have a lot of big scores to defend. Visiting spinners rarely have a big impact here so containment is their main duty.

Not that alternatives are jumping out of trees. But I'm not sure putting him up again next week would be a smart move : his confidence is going to be pretty low and the Aussies might be rather pleased to see him after today.

Will be a lot to consider before they pick an attack for Adelaide. Who is fit will be part of it. Broad and Anderson will be well rested ; but unless the batting turns up it is unlikely to make a lot of difference who they pick...

[alfie]

Didn't they have an extra hour of play today? And 84 overs at the end of the day? Think they should ban Joe Root for the next game. This is beyond pathetic!

Bear in mind there were a lot of interruptions. Intruders on the pitch , injured players getting treatment ...

Plus they had to keep finding the ball in the crowd after all the sixes

[VTR]

Agree Silverwood is pretty much going to be gone after this. Was thinking about the planning for this series, which did start a couple of years ago. Some of this is injuries, but quite a bit investing in players who lost form completely this year. I reckon they were trying to build a team something like:

Sibley
Burns
Crawley
Root
Stokes
Pope
Buttler
Bess
Archer
Stone/Wood
Broad/Anderson

Clearly what we now have is quite different! But Silverwood is accountable for backing Sibley, Crawley and Bess if they haven't come off

[Soul Requiem]

That's Leach done for the series, might as well go for a four man pace attack with the fifth bowler being split between Stokes if fit and Root. There were some positives there today and Australia really should have been all out for about 250; the dropped catch and missed run out are not acceptable at this level. The wicket off a no ball is a bit of a misnomer to me, it might only be an inch but that drastically changes the ball and no guarantee Warner still misses it.

[king_carlos]

Agree Silverwood is pretty much going to be gone after this. Was thinking about the planning for this series, which did start a couple of years ago. Some of this is injuries, but quite a bit investing in players who lost form completely this year. I reckon they were trying to build a team something like:

Sibley
Burns
Crawley
Root
Stokes
Pope
Buttler
Bess
Archer
Stone/Wood
Broad/Anderson

Clearly what we now have is quite different! But Silverwood is accountable for backing Sibley, Crawley and Bess if they haven't come off

In terms of planning for this series with the bowling I'd guess England looked at the schedule with 4 day Tests and 1 D/N Test and thought that they want 2 quicks for the regular games and 1 for the D/N game. Which adds up to 9 appearances from quicks. With Archer, Wood and Stone that's 3 Tests each. Lovely. Then Archer and Stone go down. Bugger.

[GSC]

Very few positives for england to take from this impending loss, but Robinson and Wood justified their places I thought.

[msp83]

Didn't they have an extra hour of play today? And 84 overs at the end of the day? Think they should ban Joe Root for the next game. This is beyond pathetic!

Bear in mind there were a lot of interruptions.  Intruders on the pitch , injured players getting treatment ...

Plus they had to keep finding the ball in the crowd after all the sixes

Not even managing to get in 90 overs after an entire extra hour is criminal, and even if allowances are to be made, it still is absolutely appalling. The extra hour was added to make up for the loss of last session on day one, not only did they not managed to make up anything, but also managed to add another few overs to the lost list.

[KP_fan]

By the look on Highlights package and following on CI Eng looked like in with a chance for quite long ....edges falling short, catches dropped, clean bowled off a no ball.....triple strikes to make it 200-5..and Eng were looking like restricting to a 120 lead and in with a chance to set 150+ 4th inning chase.

And then Head ran away with the game...the CI scorecard was literally & uncharacteristically running away

The "medium-paceness" and "ordinariness" of spin was exposed, when the ball was old and Aussie batsman decided to go after them

Eng needed one more hit the deck hard seamer who can do 20 overs per day.
That Eng's 4th & 5th bowlers together bowled only as many overs as each of top-3 numerically confirms where the problem lay for Eng

In hind sight Broad for Leach might have given Eng more potency

[Duty281]

Well that was a tough day. England woeful in the field, Root's captaincy the usual embarrassment post-lunch, and only 84 overs in 7 hours with spinners bowling a few of those requires points deductions and suspensions.

Very pleased for Travis Head. I've always rated him, but he's never seemed to play a big innings at the right time. I thought he was being overlooked as a threat in this series because of the 'big three' Australian batsmen who loom large. He's played the key innings in this match that has taken it out of England's hands, a brilliant enterprising, counter-attacking effort. Australia could have been bowled out for 250, instead they're on for 350+ and have a decent chance of a three-day innings victory.

Warner's luck was unbelievable, and it was equally unbelievable that he didn't get a ton after all that fortune. Labuschagne looked superb until he gifted his wicket, he left another 50-100 runs out there. At least England shackled Smith.

Robinson was easily England's best bowler with a commanding line and length. If he had a few extra KPH in speed he could have had even better figures than his 3/48. Wood was misused, but still offered something and bowled tremendously to Smith. Woakes a poor selection and mostly ineffectual, at least he didn't go for a lot. Leach...feel great sympathy for him. Treated pathetically by the coaching team and then hurled into the Lions den. Unfortunately it seems the bowling unit is already cracking, with Robinson having a dodgy hamstring, Stokes looked to have been badly hurt, and Wood's never too far from injury.

Fielding was awful, another big difference between the teams. Australia on day one were ruthless, England on day two were useless. Missed run-outs, dropped chances, lack of urgency. Root needs to resign and I never want to see Burns play for England again.

Umpiring was also abysmal. Apparently the new no-ball system (using cameras which are checked by the third umpire every ball) has broken down (er...not  sure how) and it's been left to the on-field umpires to call no-balls. They missed 14 no-balls from Stokes in his first 30 deliveries. Highest level of the game, this.

In Brisbane 2010, Cook, Strauss and Trott combined magnificently to save England from a bruising defeat by putting on 500/1. I can't see Burns, Hameed and Malan doing likewise! It could be over tomorrow, the lead at 196. For England to win they'll need to keep that lead below 250 and rack up at least 450 in the third innings, which shouldn't actually be impossible given the conditions, but considering the quality of the respective batting and bowling line-ups it is rather remote. I think it'll be a struggle for England just to avoid the innings defeat.

[alfie]

Agree Silverwood is pretty much going to be gone after this. Was thinking about the planning for this series, which did start a couple of years ago. Some of this is injuries, but quite a bit investing in players who lost form completely this year. I reckon they were trying to build a team something like:

Sibley
Burns
Crawley
Root
Stokes
Pope
Buttler
Bess
Archer
Stone/Wood
Broad/Anderson

Clearly what we now have is quite different! But Silverwood is accountable for backing Sibley, Crawley and Bess if they haven't come off

In terms of planning for this series with the bowling I'd guess England looked at the schedule with 4 day Tests and 1 D/N Test and thought that they want 2 quicks for the regular games and 1 for the D/N game. Which adds up to 9 appearances from quicks. With Archer, Wood and Stone that's 3 Tests each. Lovely. Then Archer and Stone go down. Bugger.

Steady on chaps... I am no great fan of Silverwood (do not expect him to last too long whatever happens here) ; but I don't think it's all his fault they're in this position today .

1/ England have tried a heap of bats since Root's debut in 2012. None of them have averaged over 33. You can only trial so many at a time and we all want them given a "reasonable" time to prove themselves. Surely one day someone will click ; but so far it's been all potential and no sustained success. Sad fact.
2/ Nothing wrong with the pace attack today. Reasons Australia got 343/7 are threefold : Bad fielding ; Leach had a disaster ; and two bowlers got crocked. Nothing to do with the planning - or even absent friends really.

One hopeful sign for later Tests : the Aussie batting didn't look exactly impregnable. Can see them getting knocked over cheaply if England have a better day with the half chances. Still leaves the little problem of batting more than two sessions

[JDizzle]

At least the England Lions are playing in Australia at the moment and started their game vs Australia A yesterday. So hopefully a few people can get big runs and put their hands up for selection for the senior side.

Just let me check the scorecard… Oh, they are 13-3 overnight. Carry on. As you were. This is English batting heritage.

[Duty281]

At least the England Lions are playing in Australia at the moment and started their game vs Australia A yesterday. So hopefully a few people can get big runs and put their hands up for selection for the senior side.

Just let me check the scorecard… Oh, they are 13-3 overnight. Carry on. As you were. This is English batting heritage.

I see Dom Bess took 4/80. After what happened to Leach, and with no Moeen, Bess can't be too far from a recall.

Mahmood 0/37 also. Hope Foakes can get some runs later.

[GSC]

Kinda comes back to repeating the debates of summer. How are England developing quality bats for the longest format because it's been barren for a while now. Whereas we have no issue finding players in the shorter format.

[JDizzle]

Just watching the highlights - and Head was on 6 when Robinson was bowling his 17th over. Robinson only bowled one more over and Head made 106 more runs. That injury was an absolute killer - fingers crossed he is okay.

[Duty281]

Two days of glorious sunshine forecast, so hopefully England can take it into day four at the very least.

Have to get those last three wickets first and removing the tail quickly isn't exactly an English strength. Might get an idea on the fitness (or lack of) of Robinson and Stokes this morning.

[alfie]

Well at least Robinson is bowling. But early signs are that Head and Starc are in no trouble and Australia are heading further out of sight this morning. As I feared yesterday : that period leading up to the second new ball was the last chance for England to put a brake on this innings. By the time the new ball came it was too late.
Not that Root - with his depleted attack - could do much about it.

I hope England can make a fight of it with the bat - when they eventually get back in - but I'm not very confident. Fear this is going to be another "Great Gabba Disaster" for the annals of England tours of Australia.

At least the Barmy Army are still singing...

[king_carlos]

This is looking like an absolute road now with the sun beating down. Whether it will look that way with Australia's bowlers going at England's batsman is a different story sadly.

[alfie]

Robinson trying things here but Aussie bats are nicely settled now. Starc looks set for a bit of a score just to rub it in.

Stokes bowling ...a good sign. Though since Head has contemptuously lofted him for six I'm not sure he's really firing on all cylinders yet.

386/7 . At least he's not limping.

[alfie]

This is looking like an absolute road now with the sun beating down. Whether it will look that way with Australia's bowlers going at England's batsman is a different story sadly.

Probably not. Having a three hundred run lead tends to amp up the pressure from the bowlers...

Not sure 2010 type third innings happen too often. And don't really think Burns Hameed and Malan have a lot in common with Cook & co other than being two lefties and one right hander.

Wicket at last as Starc finds an outfielder so we might not have too long to find out.

[JDizzle]

Just need to put some miles in the Aussie bowlers legs if possible. The gulf between the two sides seems more like a yawning chasm so far, but Richardson is exciting but raw and Neser I am unsure on. So just make them go away from the big three at some point by tiring them out. They aren’t machines, bar maybe Cummins.

[alfie]

Just need to put some miles in the Aussie bowlers legs if possible. The gulf between the two sides seems more like a yawning chasm so far, but Richardson is exciting but raw and Neser I am unsure on. So just make them go away from the big three at some point by tiring them out. They aren’t machines, bar maybe Cummins.

That's a good point. At least England can (and frankly might as well ) bring in Anderson Broad Overton and Bess for Adelaide for a completely fresh attack. Expect three of those changes anyway.

Only day three though so the Aussie bowlers who have mostly had their feet up all yesterday probably fancy an early finish to this match and plenty of rest before the pink ball stuff. India were able to tire them out last year , after being skittled for 36 in Adelaide ; but they had Pujara...

[guildfordbat]

Just need to put some miles in the Aussie bowlers legs if possible. The gulf between the two sides seems more like a yawning chasm so far, but Richardson is exciting but raw and Neser I am unsure on. So just make them go away from the big three at some point by tiring them out. They aren’t machines, bar maybe Cummins.

Yeah but they only bowled 50 overs in England's first dig. Plenty of life left in Australian legs yet. And that's without the lift they'll have from an almost certain victory in this opening Test, potentially the most important of the series as it may set the whole tone.

Just a mention as well to the quality and value of Australia's catching on day one. Two stunning takes running in from near the rope by Hazlewood and three decent efforts successfully grabbed and shared out in the slips. Valuable not only in skittling us cheaply but also allowing their bowlers to put their feet up early; compare and contrast with our efforts.

[guildfordbat]

I think Cummins and Australia will be comfortable about being all out just now. A tricky 40 minutes for Burns and Hameed to bat before lunch.

[compelling and rich]

Pitch looks flat............

Until England bat on it

Even if we bat well this ones gone without some Manchester’s finest weather. Unfortunately it seems like it’s still stuck here at the minute

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