Sending an offender down under? Ashes 2017-18

[George C.]

I'll give them till lunch?

[SouthdownRebel]

The feeling I get is that England are in a similar situation test wise to where they were three years ago in ODIs when they would potter along to 270 and think that was competitive then watch the runs get knocked off with 10 overs to spare. The test side feels similar in that what they think of as a competitive performance just isn’t good enough.

[tee rex]

Barring an unlikely turnaround in a dead rubber, England will be waiting until late March for their next winnable Test (Auckland). That's an awful long time to give tired, fake-positive platitudes in press conferences throughout the winter. I hope most of the test squad are going home inbetween (some permanently).

[Satchmo Distel]

Australia are far better in any conditions than English ones. They have lost wickets at a fast rate when it swings around so I am not sure they yet have enough to win in England, where they have lost four series in a row, but at home they are a classic Australian unit built around a fast opening batsman, a batting great as captain, three genuinely nasty quicks and a good spinner. England have quality swing bowling and did have two world-class batsmen, one of whom now seems to have "gone" and the other of whom is weighed down by captaincy. Stokes, it becomes increasingly clear, would reduce the gap but it would still be a 4-1 or 3-1 loss rather than the 5-0 that can only be averted by weather.

[Satchmo Distel]

Rain until about 2pm on the forecast.

[Antepli Ejderha]

Rain until about 2pm on the forecast.

Is that about 6am in the UK?

[Diable Rouge]

Yes, Perth is eight hours ahead.

[Satchmo Distel]

Odd goings on. Water got through to the pitch. Major ground staff fuck up.

[tee rex]

Ooh, controversy. They're going to restart even though the pitch clearly isn't in the same state it was.

Mind you, insisting on that regulation (how old is it?) would have changed a lot of Test cricket history. Batting on a sticky, jumpers for wickets, marvellous ...

[Satchmo Distel]

I'm not sure it's a regulation. Umpires have the final say in the laws. And, as you say, teams have had to bat on plenty of juicy English pitches down the years, including ones that 'sweat' under covers.

I think we have lost 28 overs today because there were originally 98 but are now 70

[Satchmo Distel]

Bairstow clean bowled - was that the pitch??

[Antepli Ejderha]

Ali out lbw to Lyon. He's been out 5 times to Lyon this series, out of 6.

With no wagging tail I'm surprised he didn't review as it wasn't clear but looked out.

[Antepli Ejderha]

Malan goes, tempted into a pull by a leg side delivery. Not long left for Australia to regain the Ashes.

[Kevin S]

Er... Hang in there Jimmy...

[Antepli Ejderha]

On the morning of day 2 England were 368/4. They are about to lose by an innings. So many players not grafting or fighting against a slightly better than average Australia.

Anderson took a nasty blow on the ear part of the helmet, a very unnecessary ball to a rabbit of a tailender.

[Kevin S]

Boo.

[ad hoc]

Well, England clearly deserved to lose the ashes, and Australia deserved to regain them. Sadly now we'll get loads of crowing from the Aussies, the world's worst winners, and especialy from that racist arsehole David Warner.

I hope England use this now as an opportunity to start a team revamp in the dead rubbers.

[Kevin S]

Our quicks aren't quick/deadly enough. South Africa can rock up at the WACA with the pace of Steyn, see him go off injured (with de Villiers already injured) and then let Rabada and Philander loose on them.

[SouthdownRebel]

Agreed, the bowling has been rank average, a couple spells from Jimmy aside. A combination of our main bowlers reaching the end of the line and the county game not producing good test bowlers any more thanks to endless tinkering and a limited overs focus.

[Kevin S]

Steven Finn's England Test career has been a tragedy in several parts, too.

[Guy Profumo]

Well, England clearly deserved to lose the ashes, and Australia deserved to regain them. Sadly now we'll get loads of crowing from the Aussies, the world's worst winners, and especialy from that racist arsehole David Warner.

I hope England use this now as an opportunity to start a team revamp in the dead rubbers.

I quite liked him in The Omen...

[Kevin S]

Agreed, the bowling has been rank average, a couple spells from Jimmy aside. A combination of our main bowlers reaching the end of the line and the county game not producing good test bowlers any more thanks to endless tinkering and a limited overs focus.

Steven Finn's England Test career has been a tragedy in several parts, too.

In fact, the man himself has this to say about the domestic game's impact on fast bowlers.

[Vicarious Thrillseeker]

There was an interview recently with Paul Farbrace who said he knew it was going to be a difficult tour, what with no real pace and no proper front line spinner. Why didn'tewe choose a proper spinner then, rather than praying that Moeen could do a job? Let's be honest, Crane was never going to get a look in, at least until the series was done and dusted. And the absence of true pace is a sad indictment of our current county setup, as commented on above. Some seriously muddled thinking in the selectors, compared with the Australians who seem to have got every selection bang on.

[Duncan Gardner]

Australia have announced that the next Ashes will start in Perth. Then further tests in Inverness and Stornoway.

[Satchmo Distel]

It's only 7 years ago that England had a surfeit of very good quicks, probably inspired by watching the 2005 Ashes. The wheels coming off does seem to have coincided with 20/20 plus the loss of cricket on free TV.

What couldn't have been predicted is that Cook and Broad would be weak links, and that Ali would be a walking wicket against Lyon, or that England would get into competitive positions then collapse.