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...

Decent recovery that from England, at 316-3 it was looking ominous yesterday. It's still way above what Australia should have been getting.

Think we'd have taken 416ao at the start of the day. 77-5 this morning.

Finally an end to the debate that England only lost 23 runs by declaring at Edgbaston

king_carlos wrote:

alfie wrote:Cummins is a handy chap to have coming in at nine...

I reckon he's a better bat than Starc , who is more of a hitter with a decent eye than a proper batsman.  But probably fair enough to let Starc in first to try and whack a few.

Cummins certainly had the more natural as a batter when both were young but his performance with the bat had been really dreadful for a long time until those two useful scores in T1.

Whereas Starc has arguably kept improving with the bat. He's gone from a bit of a slogger against all bowling to a very good hitter of spin and more competent against seam. 10 Test half centuries for Starc to Cummins 2 would tend to back it up as well. Starc averaging nearly 5 runs more as well.

No doubt having both strengthens their batting compared to Boland though.

Cummins has improved with the bat immeasurably in the white ball game - which is a bit weird. He can now play some really destructive innings, whereas he was more of a ‘proper’ batter when younger. Maybe he should adopt the Nighthawk mantle for Australia.

416ao then. At least 60 better than par, I'd say, very good from Australia. From where they were this morning, I'd say England are pleased to keep Australia below 450.

Should be better for batting today, so we'll see how England go about it, but certainly advantage Australia for the moment. Tricky few overs before lunch for the openers. Will Pope be able to bat? Prognosis seemed optimistic this morning, although nothing confirmed.

416 then. Last seven wickets went down for exactly 100 ; represents a decent fight back from England. Still a very good score though.

Hearing Pope intends to bat which is good news. They'll need all hands on deck to try and hunt down that opening score.

About as good a morning as could have been expected , I think. But now they have a nasty little short session to bat before lunch...

JDizzle wrote:

king_carlos wrote:

alfie wrote:Cummins is a handy chap to have coming in at nine...

I reckon he's a better bat than Starc , who is more of a hitter with a decent eye than a proper batsman.  But probably fair enough to let Starc in first to try and whack a few.

Cummins certainly had the more natural as a batter when both were young but his performance with the bat had been really dreadful for a long time until those two useful scores in T1.

Whereas Starc has arguably kept improving with the bat. He's gone from a bit of a slogger against all bowling to a very good hitter of spin and more competent against seam. 10 Test half centuries for Starc to Cummins 2 would tend to back it up as well. Starc averaging nearly 5 runs more as well.

No doubt having both strengthens their batting compared to Boland though.

Cummins has improved with the bat immeasurably in the white ball game - which is a bit weird. He can now play some really destructive innings, whereas he was more of a ‘proper’ batter when younger. Maybe he should adopt the Nighthawk mantle for Australia.

Very true, JD. KKR using Cummins as a 7 at one point definitely aided that development a lot. Consistently batting up the order in such a high standard of white ball cricket will do that. Sam Curran has seen similar improvements as a white ball hitter IMO. Though Surran started with a higher ceiling as a batter.

GSC wrote:Finally an end to the debate that England only lost 23 runs by declaring at Edgbaston

It proves Cummins should have declared earlier and had a few more overs at the England openers before lunch. More valuable than the 23 runs

Interesting stats re Cumins and Starc , KC. Hadn't realised the figures were so marked in favour of the latter. I appreciate Cummins has rather regressed as a batsman in recent years ...though he seems to be bouncing back this series ! Just reckoned he always looks to be technically sounder than Mitch. And as you say , both better than Bolsnd.

Though as a night watchman

Personally looking at the pitch and conditions with hindsight, 416 seems a par score at best for me.

Looks a decent batting wicket to me, despite the green top, and ball hasn't really moved around.

A very good fightback from England considering Australia were 316-3 at one point. I do think this is actually a good batting track but there's enough there for damage to be done with the new ball. Particularly with Australia's attack.

Robinson once again doing his trick of bowling badly and ending up with decent figures. Almost the exact same figures as Tongue but I thought the latter bowled much better throughout.

king_carlos wrote:. Almost the exact same figures as Tongue but I thought the latter bowled much better throughout.

Saw this on the BBC earlier

11:17
How's stat?!

Josh Tongue was the pick of the bowlers on day one for England, but his numbers were actually rather poor. He ranked the second worst on percentages for line, length, line and length and deliveries that were hitting the stumps. His average deliveries were almost 4mph faster than that of Broad and Anderson, which looks to be the key difference.

GSC wrote:Important to see Bairstow taking responsibility for that catch after the last game. If in doubt, go get it

A much improved performance from Bairstow the keeper in this dig compared to the opening Test.

Good pace and swing to start from Starc as you'd expect.

Interesting that Cummins sticks with himself opening though. Usually with these three in the side Cummins would bowl first change and is, last I checked, the second best first change bowler ever after Joel Garner.

I expect all three seamers will get a bite with the new to new-ish ball though.

king_carlos wrote:A very good fightback from England considering Australia were 316-3 at one point. I do think this is actually a good batting track but there's enough there for damage to be done with the new ball. Particularly with Australia's attack.

Robinson once again doing his trick of bowling badly and ending up with decent figures. Almost the exact same figures as Tongue but I thought the latter bowled much better throughout.

Definitely agree. Supported by the quality of Tongue's 3 wickets comprising Warner, Khawaja and Smith. In contrast, 2 of Robinson's were number 10 and Jack, Lyon and Hazlewood.

The thing about "balls hitting the stumps " as a measure is that it doesn't mean all that much. If they're all met with the middle of the bat then they are probably just playing the batsman in. Bowling to really good bats you really need to test the edges ...vary things , length pace and direction - and of course trying to get lateral movement. And then depending on the pitch you may have balls bouncing too high ...

I do agree Tongue bowled a few loose ones , certainly. But I reckon he challenged the batsmen far more than Robinson - who , while he bowed some good stuff , mixed it with too many "free hits" - especially to fresh batsmen . Notably to Head. Got the figures by cleaning up the tail.

Tongue still raw. But a pretty promising follow up to his effort against Ireland .

I know that looking athletic doesn't necessarily make someone athletic but I can't help but see the marked difference in conditioning between the Australian and English seamers.

Robinson, frankly, looks like he's put back on that extra timber he shed. Tongue bowled really well I thought but again doesn't honestly look in peak physical condition. Whilst Stokes is so blatantly injured. Then Jimmy and Broad are, sadly, showing the signs of their age when getting into those later spells in an innings.

Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood meanwhile look in peak condition.

Anyway, outside of me using the Ashes as cricketing Baywatch. Good job from Crawley and Duckett to get through those 4 overs without loss.

There was plenty of swing on offer from Starc but Cummins also got that in swinger to Crawley to absolute hoop. He clearly tried to set Crawley up for that with a few wobble balls then switching to swing. Similar to that yorker to Pope which went late and big. Cummins can still really swing the ball at pace when he wants to. He's a remarkably rounded bowler.

Pope's been netting today and looked fairly comfortable apparently. Good news.

Yes I reckon Cummins is the biggest threat on this. Pitch has quickened up today , as expected. But it remains basically a very true surface so batsmen can play their shots on it - provided they choose them wisely !

Be pleased to have got through that mini-session. Makes it England's morning , I guess

Lot more to do to get back on terms . But a start ...

king_carlos wrote:I know that looking athletic doesn't necessarily make someone athletic but I can't help but see the marked difference in conditioning between the Australian and English seamers.

Robinson, frankly, looks like he's put back on that extra timber he shed. Tongue bowled really well I thought but again doesn't honestly look in peak physical condition. Whilst Stokes is so blatantly injured. Then Jimmy and Broad are, sadly, showing the signs of their age when getting into those later spells in an innings.

Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood meanwhile look in peak condition.

Anyway, outside of me using the Ashes as cricketing Baywatch. Good job from Crawley and Duckett to get through those 4 overs without loss.

There was plenty of swing on offer from Starc but Cummins also got that in swinger to Crawley to absolute hoop. He clearly tried to set Crawley up for that with a few wobble balls then switching to swing. Similar to that yorker to Pope which went late and big. Cummins can still really swing the ball at pace when he wants to. He's a remarkably rounded bowler.

Looks can be deceiving though KC. Bairstow has always looked to be carrying a bit of extra timber but aside from Jadeja is one of the fittest and quickest cricketers out there.

alfie wrote:Yes I reckon Cummins is the biggest threat on this.  Pitch has quickened up today , as expected. But it remains basically a very true surface so batsmen can play their shots on it - provided they choose them wisely !

Be pleased to have got through that mini-session.  Makes it England's morning , I guess  

Lot more to do to get back on terms . But a start ...

For sure. Just a shame we started today so far behind. However, we've played and done as well as we reasonably could this morning. Alert in the field, sharp catches taken, no noballs, each of the 4 seamers getting something in the end column and no wickets lost. Australia obviously have a decent score but I reckon they'll be feeling they left 50 or 60 runs out there. I was expecting a few more from Carey and Starc plus Smith, having made a ton, to add more to it.

Looks like the cloud has returned for the afternoon...

Duty281 wrote:Looks like the cloud has returned for the afternoon...

If there’s a cloud, Duty’s going to find it!

20 or so miles south of Lord’s, it’s a lovely sunny afternoon- proper batting weather.

Soul Requiem wrote:

king_carlos wrote:I know that looking athletic doesn't necessarily make someone athletic but I can't help but see the marked difference in conditioning between the Australian and English seamers.

Robinson, frankly, looks like he's put back on that extra timber he shed. Tongue bowled really well I thought but again doesn't honestly look in peak physical condition. Whilst Stokes is so blatantly injured. Then Jimmy and Broad are, sadly, showing the signs of their age when getting into those later spells in an innings.

Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood meanwhile look in peak condition.

Anyway, outside of me using the Ashes as cricketing Baywatch. Good job from Crawley and Duckett to get through those 4 overs without loss.

There was plenty of swing on offer from Starc but Cummins also got that in swinger to Crawley to absolute hoop. He clearly tried to set Crawley up for that with a few wobble balls then switching to swing. Similar to that yorker to Pope which went late and big. Cummins can still really swing the ball at pace when he wants to. He's a remarkably rounded bowler.

Looks can be deceiving though KC. Bairstow has always looked to be carrying a bit of extra timber but aside from Jadeja is one of the fittest and quickest cricketers out there.

True, but YJB isn't trying to bowl 15-20 overs a day as a seamer is the issue. Batters, keepers and spinners have often seen players on the stouter side.

With seamers I can think of very few who haven't performed significantly worse when carrying that extra weight. Plenty of seamers have at times played whilst heavier of course. I just think it negatively affected them. Beefy got bigger and bigger as his career goes on but you can basically trace the decline in his performance with that! Philander carried extra timber towards the end but again I thought it knocked him. Stuart Clark was very similar to Philander in that regard too.

Mo Shami I can think of who's consistently been in great condition without looking it. I'm struggling beyond that in the recent years though.

If we go back to the 90s and before there were more of course but the game was more amateur. Bowlers on average were slower and tended to have bigger variances in their pace across games. Loose balls from frontline bowlers were also more normal. It's an area the games improved a lot in recent years. It's pretty rare to see Test seamers bowl genuine drag downs now for instance. Whereas even going back to that wonderful '05 series there were multiple seamers in both sides who would do that as they tired.

guildfordbat wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Looks like the cloud has returned for the afternoon...

If there’s a cloud, Duty’s going to find it!

20 or so miles south of Lord’s, it’s a lovely sunny afternoon- proper batting weather.

I was reading up on this between Tests as it was mentioned by Geoff Lemon (cracking pundit and writer!) but there's a growing consensus that cloud cover doesn't actually cause the ball to swing.

Thoughts among some coaches and players is that the ground being darker when overcast maybe means batters pick up swing later, which might have caused that particular consensus to spread.

Evidence is repeatedly pointing to overcast conditions and humidity not affecting the amount the ball swings though.

Magnificent on drive by Crawley as I typed that. One of the hardest shots to play, that's done without overbalancing at all by Crawley there.

This phase here is where several England batters need to be smarter about how they 'Bazball'. Crawley has got a few boundaries, put the pressure onto the bowlers slightly and just pushed the field back. This is now prime time to rotate the strike, keep the board ticking without risking the big drive on the up. It's where Root still sets himself apart from the other England batters by an absolute mile.

Interesting that Labuschagne is at mid-off for Crawley. Not the place you'd usually put your best outfielder. Likely a plan to cut off as many runs as possible from Crawley's drives.

Duty must be hating every minute of this England innings.

It just looks like it should be a really good batting surface on D2 and 3 to me. Like many Lords pitches it's flattening out after a lively start. England are looking at having the best of the conditions here, they have to take advantage of it.

There's still a little bit there for the bowlers but nothing extravagant. A much better cricket wicket than Edgbaston that's for sure.

I've been impressed with both openers here. They are playing the attacking strokes to push/keep the field out but are also rotating the strike better. Much improved shot selection from Duckett in particular. Hazlewood 31 from his first 4 overs. If they can keep putting that pressure on without playing rash shots then England could have a terrific platform for their middle order.

England making perfect use of prime batting conditions. This was the other benefit of winning the toss - batting is best at Lord's on days two and three. Still a long way to go, mind, but can't ask for a better start.

So frustrating. In complete control. It's spinning but it's quite slow turn and he's playing it well from his crease. There just isn't enough going on to need to come down the wicket so early. Especially to a bowler such a Lyon who everyone knows gets significant dip from his overspin, hence it's a risk to come down the track.

Good keeping from Carey though.

Zaltz wrote:England's 91 is their highest opening stand in the Ashes since Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook in 2011 at the SCG. This is the 36th Ashes Test since.

Good stat from Zaltz to sum up just how poor England's opening partnerships have been for a long time!

It's still a good foundation of course but could have been a lot better with how good it looks for batting.

Why do they keep running past deliveries from Lyon, no need! Runs were flowing nicely as with previous instances. They really are gifts

145-1 at tea. Definitely England's session still but still frustrating to see Crawley throw it away in ideal conditions.

A fifty partnership in 11.2 overs from Pope and Duckett to 'settle' things back down. Duckett is looking very solid indeed. Pope meanwhile is very fluent. Pope's record on good batting decks is outstanding, good middle order players need to cash in when it's playing like this.

It's a great base but given they've got fantastic batting conditions England simply have to make this count. Wickets in hand going into tomorrow, bat as much of D3 as possible, get some overs into the Aussie seamers legs.

Absolutely. Batsmen not converting good starts was a theme of England's defeat in the previous test, but hopefully Duckett and Pope can buck that trend.

Not surprised at Starc going for a few, but Hazlewood's figures surprise me. At this current run rate, England will still be at least 80 behind by stumps, so still a lot of work to do. It remains a long tail, also, Aussies only five away from it. Should be a great session coming up.

A typical Ben Duckett innings; 84 balls and zero leaves.

Another good session for England. Always enjoy watching Crawley bat when he's on song - pity he became the fourth England bat this summer to make the mistake of running down the pitch at Lyon...

Pope has had his sticky moments ; but still there and glad to see him on deck at all ! And Duckett - well , hope he can carry on.

Lot more to do

Very lucky from Duckett for that to loop over the slips. Interesting that they've started with Green. That extra bounce he gets noticeable there. Duckett was clearly expecting that to be an easy clip off the hip.

160-1 from 33 overs

They need those big partnership and innings as duty says. At Edgbaston they threatened to put big partnerships together but failed to make that match defining one.

Lyon got a calf problem. Could be a big moment in the test

Lyon injured? Could be huge for the test and series.

Doesn't look good initially

Lyon is struggling just walking round the outfield to get back to the changing room. You can see how cutup Lyon is. It doesn't look good at all.

It's never nice to see a player struggling but unavoidable to think how huge that could be for the Test and series. Lyon was their best bowler in T1, bowling well here and glues their attack together. If he can't bowl England have every chance to make the Aussie seam attack bowl a lot of overs today and tomorrow. Or force them to turn to Marnus, Smudge and Head for part time spin.

That said Pope is playing the short ball pretty darn poorly here. You've got the opposition on the back foot Ollie. Please, don't throw it away. Be greedy, go big.

Good call to get Starc on for me given how Pope is playing the short ball.

Bat on ball gives you a single Ollie. Just bat on ball.

Basically backing away then wafting at one ball from Starc then ducking one short of a length!

That's just rubbish. Giving your wicket away. Good take from Smith in an unfavourable position.

That's atrocious batting. I'm a Pope fan, have been since he was a youngster but that's dire. He'll be targeted with the short ball relentlessly now for the rest of the series after that spell.

big let off

Oh crumbs, now Root's gone....no, he hasn't! No-ball. How big will that no-ball be?

idiotic batting though by both, england batters getting themselves out with being over aggressive

Hmm. An eventful over , that

field all back, just milk singles. still go at 4 a over

Oh no, Ben Duckett