England's Summer of Cricket 2023, Featuring The Ashes

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Well done to Scott Boland, a very tidy job and added precious runs.

Another fantastic day in a fantastic test in a fantastic rivalry in a fantastic sport. Fantastic.

And just as the pattern has been throughout, when one team looked to be taking control, it just got yanked back. And it was Broad yanking it back with a brilliant spell. Labuschagne is the new Warner, as far as Broad's concerned.

174 to get. Seven wickets left. Still favouring Australia, but it'll be interesting to see how the bowling conditions are after the expected rain tomorrow. If they're anything close to what England's top order had to face yesterday, it could be curtains for Australia, but I'm not anticipating it to be that bad.

Will almost certainly be a delayed start. Hopefully the BBC's more pessimistic forecast doesn't come to fruition.

It'll probably go to the wire, that's the way the whole test has been shaping up. Might even be a tied test...

Cricinfo no clearer on who will start between Starc and Boland. Seems Australia were pretty set for Starc, but the apparent greenness and lots of cloud cover through the test might persuade them to stick with Boland.

England's choice of XI we know. Stokes very openly saying he wanted to pick Wood, except there were doubts over his 'durability'. Will those doubts be dispelled by the time of Headingley? Surely Wood should have played a four-day game to test his durability, rather than going in a bit blind?

Not much rain around according to the forecast, perhaps only on Thursday will we see it, but there is going to be plenty of cloud cover and not much sun throughout the test. Tomorrow, in particular, seems very overcast so that, allied with the green and Lord's usually being better to bat on during days two and three, might mean a bowl-first morning?

Not very optimistic about England's chances. I think Australia's middle-order underperformed at Edgbaston and will do better at Lord's. Their openers are in good nick, especially Khawaja. Cummins had a slow start at Edgbaston, but grew into the test, while Hazlewood was barely asked to engage second gear. Lyon was in top form.

England's bowling attack looks very underwhelming. Concerns over Anderson and Robinson's form, plus does Broad ever have two good tests in a row? Usual concerns over the batting and the Bazball nonsense.

Duty281 wrote:Scroll past it, sweetie.

I think the broadly expressed consensus is we're all a bit bored of scrolling past the same debate, darling.

I'm far from convinced by the 4 man seam attack.

Personally, I'd have got Woakes in with his fantastic record at Lords. He is also notably faster than Anderson, Broad and Robinson these days who are realistically all medium-fast now. Whereas Woakes is fast-medium and can nudge that 90mph barrier at times.

Tongue getting his arm past the perpendicular gives him that odd release and delivery angle that batters can struggle with when they first see it. We've seen that with Boland recently. Stokes also has a similar release. I'm just not sure Tongue is quick enough against top batters to do the role they would have wanted from Wood and used to get from Stokes. It remains to be seen if he will keep his pace up across a bigger workload too.

A green pitch should bring Anderson, Broad and Robinson into the game but should certainly assist Boland if picked whilst Cummins and Hazlewood have the skills to excel in England too.

It should, theoretically, nullify Lyon a bit more. Whilst he bowled really well in T1 England were guilty of giving him wickets through poor batting at times though.

As said previously, I really hope England have assessed their delivery angles to the Australian lefties better. Khawaja batted really well of course but I didn't feel England came at him with good plans.

If it is a green pitch we will get to see how the more aggressive shot selection and batters using their feet more to knock the bowlers length works against a top attack on a helpful surface. Boland in particular really struggled with the batters moving around the crease in T1. During that mini spell after the rain and under dark cloud he looked lethal getting his wobble ball to move massively though.

It feels set for another engrossing Test match.

Duty281 wrote:...

Not very optimistic about England's chances. I think Australia's middle-order underperformed at Edgbaston and will do better at Lord's. Their openers are in good nick, especially Khawaja. Cummins had a slow start at Edgbaston, but grew into the test, while Hazlewood was barely asked to engage second gear. Lyon was in top form.

England's bowling attack looks very underwhelming. Concerns over Anderson and Robinson's form, plus does Broad ever have two good tests in a row? Usual concerns over the batting and the Bazball nonsense.

Hi Duty - although the beauty of our game is that we never know what will happen, you highlight some of the main concerns I also feel and was planning to flag in reply to Alfie's ''reasons to be cheerful'' type post earlier today.

In addition:
1. Boland was surprisingly poor at Edgbastion. He (if retained) or his replacement Starc is likely to be better at Lord's.
2. Stokes' fitness is a continuing concern whilst Robinson's isn't too clever either.

PS and Edit: Knew there was one more!
3. The England tail which was ordinary last time is further weakened as a result of Moeen's replacement by Tongue.

Afro wrote:For what it's worth Craig Overton has been bowling very nicely. Got a nice rhythm at the moment, bowling consistent line and length and economy has been good too.

That's a more than decent call, Afro. COve doesn't seem to get featured that much nowadays by the cricket media although I know he ran Robinson very close for the final seamer's spot before Robinson's Test debut only two years ago this month against New Zealand at Lord's.

Duty281 wrote:Cricinfo no clearer on who will start between Starc and Boland. Seems Australia were pretty set for Starc, but the apparent greenness and lots of cloud cover through the test might persuade them to stick with Boland.

England's choice of XI we know. Stokes very openly saying he wanted to pick Wood, except there were doubts over his 'durability'. Will those doubts be dispelled by the time of Headingley? Surely Wood should have played a four-day game to test his durability, rather than going in a bit blind?

Not much rain around according to the forecast, perhaps only on Thursday will we see it, but there is going to be plenty of cloud cover and not much sun throughout the test. Tomorrow, in particular, seems very overcast so that, allied with the green and Lord's usually being better to bat on during days two and three, might mean a bowl-first morning?

Not very optimistic about England's chances. I think Australia's middle-order underperformed at Edgbaston and will do better at Lord's. Their openers are in good nick, especially Khawaja. Cummins had a slow start at Edgbaston, but grew into the test, while Hazlewood was barely asked to engage second gear. Lyon was in top form.

England's bowling attack looks very underwhelming. Concerns over Anderson and Robinson's form, plus does Broad ever have two good tests in a row? Usual concerns over the batting and the Bazball nonsense.

Get you are down on England Duty, but the bowling attack looking underwhelming is a little bit nonsensical/hyperbole. "Does Broad ever have two good tests in a row?" is just silly. You'd have to go back to India at Edgbaston last year for his last poor one for me, was very good against SA last summer, in NZ this winter and has started off the two tests this summer very well.
Would also back England's greatest ever bowler and the bloke averaging 21 to bounce back from a poorer game (I would also note despite the poorer performance and pitch, they still created more than enough chances to win the last game if the keeping/fielding was better)

Glad to see Olly at least is maintaining the faith ...

Honestly don't know how this one will go . (In truth no one really does ) But I do wonder why a lot of people are so down on the England bowling attack. As I pointed out above (and Olly also noted) , they certainly created enough chances at Edgbaston to do the job - even with two of the five struggling with injuries and two others appearing short of match practice.

If the pitch and weather info is correct the toss may be important. Or it may just be more of a bowler's Test throughout.

For the time being we can all predict what we like. But then it will be all up to the players...

Robinson did take 5/98 on a pitch that offered little to the pacemen, I think most be delighted with that being considered a poor game.

Does sound like Starc in for Boland

England win toss and bowl

Soul Requiem wrote:Robinson did take 5/98 on a pitch that offered little to the pacemen, I think most be delighted with that being considered a poor game.

Probably fair to say it wasn't his best so those figures are not too awful for a "bad" day.

Think the main concern was that he seemed to tire and go off the boil a bit as the game progressed. I have him as one of England's main weapons so would love to see him step it up today...he might fancy these conditions !

Same again for England, a very good toss to win. Let's hope this test they make it count and bowl Australia out today.

Duty281 wrote:Same again for England, a very good toss to win. Let's hope this test they make it count and bowl Australia out today.

The aussies bowling at the england openers for 4 overs tonight? Just without a declaration this time round

Duty281 wrote:Same again for England, a very good toss to win. Let's hope this test they make it count and bowl Australia out today.

Indeed. Conditions look favourable so have to use them well. Get the lengths right from the start , please.

Hope this light rain isn't going to delay us too long.

C*NTS

Well done to Bairstow for dealing with that moron. Did better than the actual security at the ground.

Shame he wasn't at The Crucible a few weeks ago!

Probably could have done without that interruption...

back to business. The flip side to bowling in these "good" conditions , is that if you don't strike early a bowler can start to feel a bit pressured - and sometimes can start trying too hard.

Surprised to see those balls from Broad hardly bouncing at all ?

Yeah, there's supposed to be more bounce in the pitch, but early indications are it's another slow and low offering.

Bit early to say theres no bounce, England will make sure with 20 overs of Robinson bouncers

Duty281 wrote:Yeah, there's supposed to be more bounce in the pitch, but early indications are it's another slow and low offering.

wait till the younger chaps have a go on it

anderson have to bowl a warm up over again now

Probably saved Mo some money before he got fined for rubbing the orange powder into his finger

Another one falls a bit short.

Duty281 wrote:Well done to Bairstow for dealing with that moron. Did better than the actual security at the ground.

Some people reckon Foakes would have caught him better

May have just carried. Now Warner tries some T20 shot.

If Guildford's gone to Surrey, he may be returning somewhat early...

Nearly ! Tough chance. Slips may need to come closer...

Anderson looking dangerous.

Off for rain. The openers doing their job well again. They've needed a little bit of luck to survive, I think that's inevitable in conditions like this, but they've done as well as they possibly can.

Robinson looked incredibly gentle in his one and only over.

looking like a short rain break, might be a good thing for england. aus batters will have to start again

Hasn't exactly hooped but it's done enough. Warner and Khawaja have done well, albeit England will feel unlucky not to get one. Will need to regroup

After a humiliating defeat for the home side in the main match, I'll now concentrate on this one when the weather allows.

More annoying rain. No oil , at least

Aussies will be happy to have survived that opening spell. Couple of play and miss but they've handled it pretty well overall. Will have to start again though...

Looks like a quick resumption

Robinson looks knackered already and he's only in his second over.

Yes he does seem down on pace . A worry. To be honest I wondered if he'd be rested here for Woakes ; but presumably they reckoned he was fully fit to go.

Warner playing some unusual shots early ...

Duty281 wrote:Well done to Bairstow for dealing with that moron. Did better than the actual security at the ground.

Yeah, Bairstow also got the idiot Jarvo at the Oval Test a couple of years ago. With thousands of spectators at the ground paying well over a quid for each over of cricket and they've lost at least one over today as a consequence, selfish morons like Jarvo and those today should have that factored into their fines and prison sentences.

Duty281 wrote:May have just carried. Now Warner tries some T20 shot.

If Guildford's gone to Surrey, he may be returning somewhat early...

Cheers, Duty. Thankfully, I only watched online from the sofa. Travelling to London and back for that 45 minute debacle would have increased the awfulness beyond my endurance levels.

England's fielding continues to cost them

What a terrible drop. What a terrible morning. England are terribly flat in the field and that'll be a further puncture.

Bad miss. Both openers on their second chance now.

Going to have to start taking these chances . Can't keep giving good players free passes.

Khawaja brought up his 1st innings century at Edgbaston in 199 balls. Since then he's scored 113 off 363 balls as his rate of scoring has hit a wall.

He's definitely not winning style points out there!

guildfordbat wrote:After a humiliating defeat for the home side in the main match, I'll now concentrate on this one when the weather allows.

Look on the bright side, it keeps the County Championship race alive for a bit longer.

Time for a bit of Tongue I think

Afro wrote:Time for a bit of Tongue I think

You have to resort to Tongue when you don't have Wood or Willey.

alfie wrote:Nearly !  Tough chance. Slips may need to come closer...

Anderson looking dangerous.

Poor effort and bad drop by Pope. My immediate thought - and also mentioned on comms - was that he snatched at the ball and was not properly positioned to take it.

Going back to the one at first slip by Root - certainly ''tough'' as Alfie says above - I did wonder if Bairstow should have gone for it. The ball was some distance from the keeper but did seem on first viewing (and subsequent ones) that it was likely to die upon reaching Root.

That bouncer looked like a no ball. Not picked up by the umpire.

Broad might be getting a bit frustrated. Beating the bat enough but they just aren't taking the edge - except the one that was dropped of course.

Tongue up now . Robinson didn't look at his top so think this is a good change. But he's not started too well I'm afraid...

Contrasting pair of bats . Both managing to survive despite not looking exactly comfortable: if they can get to lunch they will be giving Australia a wonderful start after being sent in. 49/0 is a pretty handy first 18 overs.

Is Anderson off the field, because I've noticed Ahmed is on as a sub fielder? Or is it someone else?

Warner's been threatening a proper score for a little while. A 43 v India, 36 in the last test, not kicked on yet, but that drop might mean it becomes his day. Think he liked the extra pace of Tongue.

Duckett

Duty281 wrote:Khawaja brought up his 1st innings century at Edgbaston in 199 balls. Since then he's scored 113 off 363 balls as his rate of scoring has hit a wall.

He's definitely not winning style points out there!

But he is still out there.

Meanwhile, Tongue going for 10 in his first over. Concerning as with only 4 main bowlers, we need all to be on the money. Whether he would be able to do so allied to doubts about Robinson's fitness were main factors behind my doubts about this seam attack.