Ashes to Ashes

[Satchmo Distel]

Someone else will be dropped - Labushagne has looked their only class batsman apart from Smith. It will be also interesting to see if they rest of the quicks to bring back Starc.

Fuck knows what England do: they have no batsmen worth their places at this point, but can't just drop 4 or 5 players.

[Ray de Galles]

Yeah, it was a gag. Khawaja looks vulnerable.

[Satchmo Distel]

Paine also, although Australia rarely drop captains mid-series, especially winning ones.

[Ray de Galles]

So is Paine (cross-post).

[Satchmo Distel]

171-6 at close, 283 ahead. Way beyond England's capabilities to chase, you'd think.

[The_Purple_Cow]

Presuming we lose this test and the Ashes are lost, I think it would be appropriate to try a couple of new guys for the final two tests.

1. Dom Sibley
2. Rory Burns
3. Joe Root İ
4. Sam Northeast
5. Johnnie Bairstow?????/Tom Banton???? - I dunno
6. Ben Stokes
7. Ben Foakes (wk)
8. Chris Woakes
9. Jofre Archer
10. Stewart Broad
11. A.N. Other spinner (worst case Joe Leach)

[Duncan Gardner]

1 Ben Stokes
2 Chris Woakes
3 Ben Foakes
4 Bomb Hoax
5 Dry Bokes
6 Ruman Cokes
7 Standing Jokes
8 Mini Mokes
9 Pigina Pokes
10 Johnny Noakes
11 Boycott's mother

[San Bernardhinault]

Phil Ochs?

[Satchmo Distel]

Anderson is supposed to be back for Old Trafford so presumably Woakes would make way or they would drop a batsman or the spinner. Woakes hasn't been captained very well in this match so would be unlucky, maybe.

[Ray de Galles]

Presuming we lose this test and the Ashes are lost, I think it would be appropriate to try a couple of new guys for the final two tests.

1. Dom Sibley
2. Rory Burns
3. Joe Root İ
4. Sam Northeast
5. Johnnie Bairstow?????/Tom Banton???? - I dunno
6. Ben Stokes
7. Ben Foakes (wk)
8. Chris Woakes
9. Jofre Archer
10. Stewart Broad
11. A.N. Other spinner (worst case Joe Leach)

Even if we do assume Australia win this test and regain the Ashes I don't think there will that much experimentation from England while there is still a chance of drawing the series. Both because that would be a more respectable result and because there are World Test Championship points at stake.

If the series does finish 2-2, maybe England would challenge Australia to a Super Over to settle it?

[George C.]

No...

[Lucy Waterman]

Presuming we lose this test and the Ashes are lost, I think it would be appropriate to try a couple of new guys for the final two tests.

1. Dom Sibley
2. Rory Burns
3. Joe Root İ
4. Sam Northeast
5. Johnnie Bairstow?????/Tom Banton???? - I dunno
6. Ben Stokes
7. Ben Foakes (wk)
8. Chris Woakes
9. Jofre Archer
10. Stewart Broad
11. A.N. Other spinner (worst case Joe Leach)

Vince is a much better player than Northeast, but has been hugely messed around by England.

[The_Purple_Cow]

I don't understand how people can say we have a chance of squaring the series, but even if a miracle happened it would be pretty thin gruel. We need red ball batsmen - batsmen who don't use their bottom hand and close off the bat face. As coach I would suggest to this team that if how hard they are gripping the bat with their bottom hand now is 10/10, take it down to 4/10. Then at the end of the test I would wish most of them a fond farewell.

I can see no reason to bring back Jimmy,I think he's done. I remember decades ago, listing to John Arlott comment on an England batting collapse, and saying "This is the kind of England batting performance that gets an England bowler dropped." It seems we have learned nothing in the decades since, our batting is in ruins and the main response is to drop Woakes.

[The_Purple_Cow]

Ricky Ponting is currently on The Ashes Zone saying exactly like wot I just said, about closing the bat face.

[Duncan Gardner]

I'm happy to trust the Punter- Purple Axis on this one.

How the 2 sides use their quicks is telling. Australia clearly see the need to rotate workload- so they've brought 4 experienced strike bowlers, Siddle for control plus Mike Neser from the B team as back up if needed. They're also prepared to drop the pack leader (Starc) when he sprays it around to the point where you risk losing control in the field.

Meanwhile, England just assume they have to play Anderson if he can be patched up, despite being 37 and latterly injury prone. Root has also used both Archer and yesterday Stokes in overlong spells- surely more injuries are inevitable.

[The_Purple_Cow]

Did I mention that we also need a proper wicket-keeper? These 'ball-stoppers-who-can-bat-a-bit' are fine for T20 or ODI's but just don't work at test level.

[longeared]

It's twenty years ago this week that England went bottom of the world Test rankings after losing to New Zealand. I'd like to know what Aggers suggested at the time for improving English cricket, because his solutions on TMS earlier to the current mess basically involved reverting the domestic structure to how it was in the 1990s.

[Satchmo Distel]

England have had periods of being very good this century so the structure was OK for a while but has now stopped being so because of the huge white ball dominance in the middle of the season. Keep two divisions but make them the centrepiece not the fringes of the calendar.

[Levin]

Did I mention that we also need a proper wicket-keeper? These 'ball-stoppers-who-can-bat-a-bit' are fine for T20 or ODI's but just don't work at test level.

That ship has sailed I think. Is Jack Russell the last to hold down a place in the England team?

[Etienne]

Yeah, I had to turn off TMS when Agnew went on his back to the future rant. It might benefit Leicestershire, but I can't see how it would help the England test team.

[Satchmo Distel]

What evidence/logic did Agnew use to back up his case, if any?

[Satchmo Distel]

359 to avoid Australia retaining the Ashes. England's record chase is 332 (1928), 2nd highest 315 (2001, dodgy declaration in dead rubber).

[multipleman78]

At what stage are batsmen seen to have negotiated the new ball? Is it 20 overs or thereabouts? Does it change with different conditions or types of ball?

[Sporting]

At what stage are batsmen seen to have negotiated the new ball? Is it 20 overs or thereabouts? Does it change with different conditions or types of ball?

One measure might be when the new ball bowlers are replaced.

[diggedy derek]

Is Bairstow a bad keeper these days? I find it hard to remember many dropped catches.

I'm all for specialist wicket keepers in principle. However, I'd use Bairstow as evidence that you can make a fairly effective keeper out of a decent fielder.

That's not to defend his brittle batting.