Ashes to Ashes

[Antepli Ejderha]

Anderson officially out of the series

Does this also mean the end of his test career?

[Nocturnal Submission]

So, Denly to open with Roy coming in at four.

I suppose that whatever happens can't be any worse than what we've experienced so far.

Can it?

[ad hoc]

Overton in for Woakes, Denly to open with Burns, Roy shunted down to 4.

[ad hoc]

So, Denly to open with Roy coming in at four.

I suppose that whatever happens can't be any worse than what we've experienced so far.

Can it?

Sorry, just realised you;d already said much of what i just said. I think moving Roy to 4 makes sense. Though the main problem, that is to say having no trust in either opener, remains.

[ursus arctos]

The other lot have dropped Khawaja

[Kevin S]

Feels a bit harsh on Woakes, this, but I appreciate opinion is divided on him. To my eyes his strike and econ rates are not far behind Broad's this series:

POS	PLAYER	TEAM	MATCHES	BALLS	RUNS	WKTS	4-FERS	5-FERS	STRIKE	ECON
1	Pat Cummins	Australia	3	697	315	17	1	-	41.0	2.71
2	Nathan Lyon	Australia	3	894	447	14	-	1	63.9	3.00
3	Stuart Broad	England	3	655	355	14	1	1	46.8	3.25
4	Jofra Archer	England	2	451	176	13	-	1	34.7	2.34
5	Josh Hazlewood	Australia	2	473	216	12	1	1	39.4	2.74
6	Chris Woakes	England	3	468	261	9	-	-	52.0	3.35
7	Ben Stokes	England	3	506	297	8	-	-	63.3	3.52
8	James Pattinson	Australia	2	390	167	5	-	-	78.0	2.57
9	Jack Leach	England	2	231	102	5	-	-	46.2	2.65
10	Peter Siddle	Australia	2	402	182	5	-	-	80.4	2.72

[Etienne]

I think he's not quite fully fit.

[Kevin S]

Here's the top 20 run-scorers so far. Cricbuzz the source for these, by the way.

POS	PLAYER	TEAM	INNS	RUNS	AVG	SR	Fours	Sixes
1	Steven Smith	Australia	3	378	126.0	64.40	44	2
2	Ben Stokes	England	6	327	81.8	60.22	35	11
3	Rory Burns	England	6	242	40.3	42.23	29	-
4	Marnus Labuschagne	Australia	3	213	71.0	51.20	26	-
5	Joe Root	England	6	176	29.3	43.56	19	-
6	Travis Head	Australia	6	160	32.0	45.71	24	-
7	Matthew Wade	Australia	6	151	25.2	58.08	24	-
8	Joe Denly	England	6	147	24.5	39.30	22	-
9	Jonny Bairstow	England	6	136	27.2	52.71	15	2
10	Usman Khawaja	Australia	6	122	20.3	64.89	17	-
11	Chris Woakes	England	5	112	28.0	49.12	12	2
12	David Warner	Australia	6	79	13.2	54.11	10	-
13	Tim Paine	Australia	6	78	13.0	45.09	6	1
14	James Pattinson	Australia	4	69	23.0	65.09	4	4
15	Pat Cummins	Australia	6	58	14.5	36.48	7	-
16	Jason Roy	England	6	57	9.5	44.19	9	-
17	Jos Buttler	England	6	55	9.2	28.80	6	-
18	Peter Siddle	Australia	2	53	26.5	45.69	5	-
19	Cameron Bancroft	Australia	4	44	11.0	27.16	6	-
20	Stuart Broad	England	5	44	11.0	48.89	5	-

[Kevin S]

I think he's not quite fully fit.

Weird to say it, but I hope that's the case as I'd rather he wasn't dropped!

Looking at the bowing figures altogether there - Archer really is exceptional, isn't he.

[Ray de Galles]

The other lot have dropped Khawaja

Labuschagne batting at 3, I presume? Starc in the squad with Pattinson rested too.

[ursus arctos]

That's the expectation, yes, with Smith coming back at 4

[Kevin S]

So, Denly to open with Roy coming in at four.

I suppose that whatever happens can't be any worse than what we've experienced so far.

Can it?

Roy and Buttler are averaging 9 runs each for the series, so there probably is very little chance of that part of the team getting worse.

[Kevin S]

That's the expectation, yes, with Smith coming back at 4

Well they've got two of the three best batters in the series with Labuschagne and Smith, having them both available may well be decisive.

[diggedy derek]

I love Khawaja, but this looks a bold and decisive team selection by Australia – Marnus, Smith makes for a tough heart of the batting unit, and Starc will be a threat. Denley at the top of the order is best of a bad job right now, but I would have liked to see Roy dropped. A triumphant win would have been a good time to politely usher him out, without any blame games. Overton sounds uninspiring but if Woakes is not fit then it's a logical step. I'm surprised they haven't gone for Sam Curran though, I thought they might be gagging to get him in the team.

[ad hoc]

Yes, that was my thought. Why haven;t they picked Curran?

[Satchmo Distel]

Any clues on whether Starc will get the nod over Siddle?

[ursus arctos]

The expectation is that he will, given his performance against Derbyshire.

[Satchmo Distel]

Good. I would like to see how he compares to the other three in these conditions. If he gets significant swing on a good length, it could be another series changer.

[Ray de Galles]

Given that the apparent reasoning for Starc not featuring yet was the concern that he might prove too expensive, I can't work out if bringing him in after England have made a record run chase is contrary or justified.

[ursus arctos]

He wasn't fully fit at the start of the series

[Ray de Galles]

I wasn't aware of that, there has been an awful lot of comment like this (to pick a random example) that his absence until now has been tactical.

This is an interesting article suggesting Starc's return is a direct response to the events of the last day at Headingley.

[jameswba]

It does seem that Langer's plan for Australia to win in England has been to bowl economically and concentrate on drying up England's run-scoring opportunities. Cummins, Lyon, Siddle and/or Hazlewood are all fantastic bowlers capable of carrying such a plan out, freakish heroics from Ben Stokes notwithstanding. Langer has clearly been worried about Starc having one of his off games, spraying the ball around and putting extra pressure on his other three bowlers. Pattinson, they seem to believe, is less likely to have a game like this.

I'm not convinced by this thinking personally because a) Starc has a fine test record, b) he doesn't have that many real off-days and c) he offers things that Pattinson doesn't, such as his left-arm angle and ability to skittle the tail. His inclusion at Headingley might have made the difference since Pattinson didn't bowl much towards the end of the 2nd innings, while Cummins and Hazlewood were wasteful by their standards when bowling at Jack Leach. Starc would have kept bowled and lbw in play more than the other two did.

I also think Starc would have started ahead of Pattinson in previous games if the side had had someone to do the job Shane Watson used to do, ie bowl 8-12 overs a day of economical medium pace. Then they could have used Starc in shorter spells, as they did with Mitchell Johnson in 2013/14, and could have afforded his occasional waywardness. They obviously don't think Mitchell Marsh is up to this task - but Watson's bowling was a little-discussed, but still important, factor in that 2013/14 series.

If Starc is chosen for the Old Trafford, it might signal a slight change of thinking - that the England batting line-up is fragile enough that it can be got out for 150 or so, and that it doesn't much matter if you do this in 30 overs or 45.

[ad hoc]

Australia win the toss again. I thought Root was good at toss winning. Bloody rubbish

[Kevin S]

Harmison said this morning the moisture made it a good one to lose.

[Nocturnal Submission]

Decent start. A brace for Broad. Aussies 29-2.