England's Summer of Cricket 2023, Featuring The Ashes

First topic message reminder :

June 1st-June 4th: One Test v Ireland (four days)
June 16th-July 31st: Five Tests v Australia
August 30th-September 5th: Four T20s v New Zealand
September 8th-September 15th: Four ODIs v New Zealand
September 20th-September 26th: Three ODIs v Ireland

England try to wrest the Ashes back from Australia, in a series which could be the greatest since 2005. Australia have currently held the urn for just over five years, which is the longest spell of urn-holding since the 1989-2005 period.

Ireland also visit for a test before that, and then there's some limited-overs games squashed into the last days of summer.

Got a sense on stops raining, umpires look at the outfield 7 times in an hour, play is scheduled to resume and it starts hammering down for the day

Duty281 wrote:Gillespie opining that England might set Australia 250 and declare.

Such idiocy wouldn't surprise me, particularly with the chance of rain around on day five.

If rain limited play so they got into day five with England still batting : possible. But they aren't going to declare on day four with that kind of lead : Stokes is only as mad as the average redhead...

You really don't like declarations unless they come with a cast iron guarantee of safety , do you ?

alfie wrote:Some sympathy for Guildford in having super sub Boland for the irreplaceable Starc...

And to my consternation I have just realised that I ended up with Boland too ! Had thought I'd have had Cummins as usual but must have had a brain fade  

Might have to make a declaration myself with this rain break. Nearly midnight here.

Funny, I had to retire last night at the tea break. Friday night had finally caught up with me.

Switched on the radio (lowish volume) and started hearing lovely English dulcet tones. It's very comforting drifting off to sleep with that sound in your ears. Someone was talking about the "field" but the rest was a bit muffled.. I could the hear sound of a crowd in the background.

Then some raucous chap came on and was blaring out the odds. Turns out I was tuned to the wrong station and was listening to a bloody horse race!

The cricket was just a little bit to the right on the dial...

alfie wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Gillespie opining that England might set Australia 250 and declare.

Such idiocy wouldn't surprise me, particularly with the chance of rain around on day five.

If rain limited play so they got into day five with England still batting : possible. But they aren't going to declare on day four with that kind of lead : Stokes is only as mad as the average redhead...

You really don't like declarations unless they come with a cast iron guarantee of safety , do you ?

Don't mind dangling a carrot depending on circumstance, but if Stokes wants to give Australia a 250 chase on this, because it may or may not rain on day five, then that's lunacy.

Hey lay off the Leadbeaters Possum , PJ ! Poor beggar may be endangered but he's much cuter than that weird aquatic echidna of yours.

You can keep that noisy bloody kookaburra too : just because he features on coins and other memorabilia he doesn't have to cackle away morning noon and night...

We don't have an official State Snake , do we ? I'd nominate the Carpet Python for ours just for the name...

If no more rain restart at 3:30

Surprised they've got on so quickly. Imagine conditions will be very murky for the remainder of the day, plus bad light may be a factor.

Duty281 wrote:

alfie wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Gillespie opining that England might set Australia 250 and declare.

Such idiocy wouldn't surprise me, particularly with the chance of rain around on day five.

If rain limited play so they got into day five with England still batting : possible. But they aren't going to declare on day four with that kind of lead : Stokes is only as mad as the average redhead...

You really don't like declarations unless they come with a cast iron guarantee of safety , do you ?

Don't mind dangling a carrot depending on circumstance, but if Stokes wants to give Australia a 250 chase on this, because it may or may not rain on day five, then that's lunacy.

You misunderstand me I think. Declaring with a (nominal) full day or more left with a 250 lead would have even me calling for the men in white coats ! I'm considering a situation where the game is down to its last few hours and something like a challenge to score 250 in sixty overs was possible. I can't actually see that arising here.

But how about , say , 330 in a day plus twelve overs ? Depending on conditions of course. Would you risk that ? I bet Stokes would.

I just find it slightly amusing that for years everyone has moaned about England skippers (Strauss , Cook ) declaring too late : and now when we have a captain who likes to roll the dice opinion seems to have swung around to conservatism.

The rain has just stopped but it is stifling - hot and 100% RH - and there is thunder in the clouds above.

3.30 restart ? So I have to forsake sleep at least for a while...

Not going to go to the normal finishing time though you'd think. So if time is indeed destined to be lost on Tuesday the chances of a result might be receding slightly. Still plenty of time for Australia if this innings were to fold up quickly ; but may indeed present a dilemma for Stokes if England have to try and set a target.

Not going to rain at all tomorrow is it ?

alfie wrote:

Duty281 wrote:

alfie wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Gillespie opining that England might set Australia 250 and declare.

Such idiocy wouldn't surprise me, particularly with the chance of rain around on day five.

If rain limited play so they got into day five with England still batting : possible. But they aren't going to declare on day four with that kind of lead : Stokes is only as mad as the average redhead...

You really don't like declarations unless they come with a cast iron guarantee of safety , do you ?

Don't mind dangling a carrot depending on circumstance, but if Stokes wants to give Australia a 250 chase on this, because it may or may not rain on day five, then that's lunacy.

You misunderstand me I think. Declaring with a (nominal) full day or more left with a 250 lead would have even me calling for the men in white coats !  I'm considering a situation where the game is down to its last few hours and something like a challenge to score 250 in sixty overs was possible. I can't actually see that arising here.

But how about , say , 330 in a day plus twelve overs ? Depending on conditions of course. Would you risk that ? I bet Stokes would.

I just find it slightly amusing that for years everyone has moaned about England skippers (Strauss , Cook ) declaring too late : and now when we have a captain who likes to roll the dice opinion seems to have swung around to conservatism.  

250 in 60 overs on this pitch - no, absolutely not. Precious little chance of getting the ten wickets, and Australia can have a tilt at victory, or put up the barricades if they lose a few. I rarely see a point in declarations like that, unless the need for victory is desperate, or the pitch is a complete minefield.

330 in 102 overs? On this pitch and with these line-ups? No. If England had a Swann/Lyon type figure, then yes, but they have 50-average Moeen (with a split finger) and a part-timer in Root. If there were the old style Dukes balls, which did things, then I'd chance it, because you'd have the three seamers doing plenty with two new balls.

alfie wrote:3.30 restart ? So I have to forsake sleep at least for a while...

Not going to go to the normal finishing time though you'd think. So if time is indeed destined to be lost on Tuesday the chances of a result might be receding slightly. Still plenty of time for Australia if this innings were to fold up quickly ; but may indeed present a dilemma for Stokes if England have to try and set a target.

Not going to rain at all tomorrow is it ?

Completely dry for tomorrow. BBC going for a 27%-42% chance of rain throughout Day Five; Met Office going as high as 80%.

Doesn't look as though they'll be on for long with that filthy cloud, so could be an unpleasant little session for England.

Boland beating Crawley's edge and getting an LBW shout in. And another! Cummins showing sensible restraint on the reviews.

Duty281 wrote:

alfie wrote:

Duty281 wrote:

alfie wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Gillespie opining that England might set Australia 250 and declare.

Such idiocy wouldn't surprise me, particularly with the chance of rain around on day five.

If rain limited play so they got into day five with England still batting : possible. But they aren't going to declare on day four with that kind of lead : Stokes is only as mad as the average redhead...

You really don't like declarations unless they come with a cast iron guarantee of safety , do you ?

Don't mind dangling a carrot depending on circumstance, but if Stokes wants to give Australia a 250 chase on this, because it may or may not rain on day five, then that's lunacy.

You misunderstand me I think. Declaring with a (nominal) full day or more left with a 250 lead would have even me calling for the men in white coats !  I'm considering a situation where the game is down to its last few hours and something like a challenge to score 250 in sixty overs was possible. I can't actually see that arising here.

But how about , say , 330 in a day plus twelve overs ? Depending on conditions of course. Would you risk that ? I bet Stokes would.

I just find it slightly amusing that for years everyone has moaned about England skippers (Strauss , Cook ) declaring too late : and now when we have a captain who likes to roll the dice opinion seems to have swung around to conservatism.  

250 in 60 overs on this pitch - no, absolutely not. Precious little chance of getting the ten wickets, and Australia can have a tilt at victory, or put up the barricades if they lose a few. I rarely see a point in declarations like that, unless the need for victory is desperate, or the pitch is a complete minefield.

330 in 102 overs? On this pitch and with these line-ups? No. If England had a Swann/Lyon type figure, then yes, but they have 50-average Moeen (with a split finger) and a part-timer in Root. If there were the old style Dukes balls, which did things, then I'd chance it, because you'd have the three seamers doing plenty with two new balls.

That's fair enough. Obviously would depend on how the pitch was playing by then - and I agree the lack of a fully fit and functional spinner would dictate more caution. But that sort of situation just might arise : so perhaps you need to have some tranquilizers on hand just in case

Duckett goes. First proper bowling-friendly conditions of the test and Australia take advantage. No doubts about that grab from Green.

I'm sure England would like to go off!

Oh rats ...Duckett caught by the brilliant Green low down to his left. Low but it's a fair catch.

Batting hasn't looked so much fun since the resumption. Will be very annoying if they lose cheap wickets in a brief session now...

Well the rain is here - spitting

Duckett is gonna have to start going after it a bit more if he’s gonna play that shot - the little dab is pointless. Either leave it or really swing at it, not in between!

If only we hadn’t declared early we wouldn’t be playing under these conditions

And Crawley doesn't last long, which isn't exactly a surprise after Boland gave him a right going over.

I'm somewhat surprised they're still out there. If Australia get Root out in this little session, it's massive.

Two gone now...

That wretched rain break has worked wonders for Australia. British weather not very patriotic I'm afraid

And Boland has decided to start racking up points for Guildford...

Tough period for the England bats.

compelling and rich wrote:If only we hadn’t declared early we wouldn’t be playing under these conditions

.

This one is going to run and run , isn't it ?

I think England were unlucky there, horrible short period of play to face before going off again

Duty281 wrote:And Crawley doesn't last long, which isn't exactly a surprise after Boland gave him a right going over.

I'm somewhat surprised they're still out there. If Australia get Root out in this little session, it's massive.

Massive already isn't it ? Two down for not many ; lot of pressure on the middle order after what looked like a pretty comfortable start before the rain came.

Some great bowling from Australia in that mini session. But I think they'd admit they got a bit of a free kick from the weather there.

VTR wrote:I think England were unlucky there, horrible short period of play to face before going off again

Yep unfortunately the weather gods have not been kind to us today - hopefully the sun will be out tomorrow…

Australia showed admirable restraint on the reviews, but they did lose one after going up for a speculative catch.

They're off now. The rain had to be heavier to go off that time, or something. Australia certainly took advantage. This is the heavier patch of rain that was on the radar; not sure they'll get back on today, especially with the light issue, but we'll wait and see.

35/2 effectively. Australia in business.

Weather evens up the game a bit after England got a good start before that, but that's life. Australia still had to make inroads. Might be it for the day now

That was a 2 for 2 session getting rid of England's openers.

Is a bit of a concern , the Duckett Dab having done for him twice. Will need to adjust his ideas for Lord's ; though in fairness he's been unlucky having to play with nothing to gain in an obviously short spell and in that poor light . Crawley going to be back in everyone's bad books for not repeating his good first innings efforts

That brief bit of play has certainly changed the odds. Reckon it was narrowly advantage England when they went off for rain : but those two wickets have Australia back in the box seats.

Are we off for the day , forecasters ?

By the looks things yeah, this is largely going to go past the close

I'm of the opinion that going out in such conditions is pointless, nothing to gain for the batting side knowing you'll be going back inside in an over or two.

Soul Requiem wrote:I'm of the opinion that going out in such conditions is pointless, nothing to gain for the batting side knowing you'll be going back inside in an over or two.

It is never good for the batting side , true. But the luck of the draw really : where do you draw the line on resuming play or just staying off ?

Certainly England got bitten then. Hope they can get back on top tomorrow . At least I should get some sleep now..

The game so far today

Very clever and astute moves by Stokes to pull Aus back and finish both team equal in first dig.

Aus folly was that they again went into a hole after gettingn50 quick runs and never came out of it.

I expected Eng to bat /last 60 to 70 overs and leave Aus to chase 275ish
And that would have been advantage Eng if Moeen was fit to bowl (and I believe he will rest , treat and heal his finger by the time second bowl starts)

However rain and overcast skies under light changed the script showing when it's darting around Bazballling evaporates and barest survival is the order of moment .

If Aus get 15 more overs in these conditions and Eng don't get bazballjng out of their head, they might fold up for a double digit score.

Also shows whey Stokes might have asked for a batting pitch and not a traditional green seaming one.....where Anderson might thrive, but Eng's desired batting style won't

Weather ruins play for England

alfie wrote:

Soul Requiem wrote:I'm of the opinion that going out in such conditions is pointless, nothing to gain for the batting side knowing you'll be going back inside in an over or two.

It is never good for the batting side , true. But the luck of the draw really : where do you draw the line on resuming play or just staying off ?

Certainly England got bitten then. Hope they can get back on top tomorrow . At least I should get some sleep now..

When the sky looks like that i'd be advocating staying off myself. It's meant to be an even contest between bat and ball.

Not sure Bazball had much to do with those dismissals , KP_fan !

Crawley - and Root when he came in - were just groping for the ball and hoping not to nick it. Scoring was far from front of mind.

Admire your optimism re Moeen's powers of recovery. Didn't look at all good to me. And I'm sure Duty will tell you what he thinks about a potential lead of 275

Also - that was another ridiculous catch by Green.

To be fair on the contest between bat and ball, probably the first time all match you'd rather be holding the ball than the bat, and most of that not even close

With regards to the conditions, it's just the way it goes. England won a 50/50 spin earlier in the test, and that allowed them best use of the wicket, plus Australia will be batting last under what could be dark skies on day five.

Sky are repeating the 1997 Edgbaston test, and when that happens it's normally just a matter of time for the day to be canned.

Gonna take a while for the outfield to dry when it stops and even then the light is gonna be pretty suspect

Rain has stopped and an inspection at 5pm. Maybe I was premature in turning off Sky Sports?

Might take a look at the puddles/clouds and head back inside

Player for player, taking into account age and fitness - are Australia the better side? It seems to me they are. Many players that could have been in this English side and who would have made a difference are out injured.

They are the newly crowned world champs for a reason

Another inspection in about 20, though I think it's a matter of time until the rain comes back

Another inspection at 17:30, despite it still being light rain. Seems to indicate the umpires have grounds for optimism.

Not sure how long play can go on until, whether it's 19:00 or 19:30. Might be aiming for an 18:30 start and go off for bad light after four balls play for an hour?

7.30 I think is the cut off. Think if another band of rain hits thatll be it

Another inspection at 6?!

Never give in, say the umpires, never, never, never.

Must get paid by the hour. Guessing the next one will be the last one