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Sending an offender down under? Ashes 2017-18

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    If the two wickets we'd taken included either Warner or Smith, then I'd feel confident of an England win. But if those two last any length, then we're screwed

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      At least England can't lose this match so can afford to take bigger gambles to get the win.

      The umpires did get involved in this ball tampering nonsense last night as did Mitchell Johnson with a tweet, I think England actually did nothing much and were no different to any other team.

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        An incredibly rare anti-climactic 4.30pm handshake on a draw almost certain now. It's been a while since we had one of those in an Ashes Test - the last drawn Ashes Test was 2013 at The Oval, which was a thrillingly frenetic run chase curtailed by bad light

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          E10, that stat you posted has disappeared, but I'm guessing it's the one about Cook and Broad extremely rarely, perhaps never batting together until now?

          A great fact Simon Hughes mentioned the other day is that Cook is the only opener of the top 10 all time Test run scorers.

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            Joe Root has passed 50 in 3 of the 4 matches in the series. His highest score is 67. Root's inability to kick on and Stokes ability to kick off have been the key reasons for the demise of the team.

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              Stokes absence agreed but Roots inability to score heavily isn't any more of a key reason than TRJ, Finn and Wood being injured, Moeens horrible lack of form and confidence (and the baffling reticence of the Selection Committee to ignore Adil Rashid) and the others in the top six who've hardly been consistent in their scoring and a bowling attack that at times has looked shorn of ideas and confidence.

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                It's been clear for a while that Rashid is not seen as a viable test performer, rightly or wrongly. He'd have been less of a risk than Mason Crane though - both in terms of short-term performance but, more importantly, Crane's own long-term development.

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                  Originally posted by diggedy derek View Post
                  E10, that stat you posted has disappeared, but I'm guessing it's the one about Cook and Broad extremely rarely, perhaps never batting together until now?

                  A great fact Simon Hughes mentioned the other day is that Cook is the only opener of the top 10 all time Test run scorers.
                  No Derek, the stat was something like 'this is the first time England's leading run scorer (Cook) and England's leading wicket taker (Anderson) have batted together since something like the second ever test, back in 1872.' A fantastic stat, if true - a shame it's been deleted.

                  Talking of Cook and Broad batting together, I've just caught up on highlights from the last session of Day 3. Their partnership was one to behold. Broad had to deal with a lot of bouncers early on but he did well and grew in confidence, making hay later on especially when facing Jackson Bird. Cook just carried on regardless - what a way to answer your critics. A phenomenal innings, especially in terms of the concentration he would have needed and the pressure he was under before the match.

                  What about all these England batsmen getting a slight edge and then walking? Three in the last innings. Unbelievable.

                  Regarding England's demise in this series, yes all the reasons mentioned upthread are true but we also have to give credit to Australia. They have the best and most in-form batsman in test cricket playing in a home series. Plus, their bowling attack has been streets ahead of England's. There is no real weak link in their attack hence the reasons for the failure of many of England's batsmen. Just look at how better England (or more specifically, Cook and Broad) with Mitchell Starc out injured.

                  Shame about the rain yesterday, as a draw now seems the most likely result. Still you never know, the first session at least might be interesting. Play begins half an hour earlier today/tonight.

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                    Looking forward to the play today, the ground looks empty which seems a little surprising.

                    It's down to Warner and Smith to stay in until lunch as Australia don't look to have too many players who can grind it out. Let's see.

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                      Originally posted by diggedy derek View Post
                      A great fact Simon Hughes mentioned the other day is that Cook is the only opener of the top 10 all time Test run scorers.
                      Allan Border's autobiography from 20 odd years ago was titled "Beyond Ten Thousand". That's like every (older) Kiwi cricket fan remembering Hadlee's 400th wicket, all it gets now is a shruggy "meh".

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                        Nothing doing today, nothing at all. Warner and Smith have gone in with a very defensive mindset and look extremely comfortable.

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                          Australia look to have written off any possibility of winning. E10s prediction for how things pan out sounds the most believable.

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                            30 AUS seems rather exorbitant for this

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                              I haven't seen these Trump animation adverts for the FA Cup before

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                                It's raining quite badly at lunchtime. Australia are 178 for 4. Add another 2 wickets to that etc etc.

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                                  Slow flat pitch defeating the game. Australian authorities need to sort these wickets out.

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                                    Handshakes at just before 4.50. Draw was inevitable after Smith and MM got through the new ball, which Root perhaps took too early, as it was unlikely to swing as much as the old one (although he did consult his bowlers).

                                    Smith, fucking hell, clearly now the best Test batsman of my lifetime. Averaging 63.55 from 110 innings has only ever been bettered by Bradman and he has shown in this series the patience and temperament of the greats (Viv, for example, was the best attacking batsman I have seen but I don't think he often had Smith's patience, or as good a batting record as captain; Sachin also played mostly without pressure of captaincy and had friendly home wickets). Sobers perhaps comes closest to Smith but he retired when I was 7 so I have no memory of watching him on TV (he looks fantastic on Youtube, though).
                                    Last edited by Satchmo Distel; 30-12-2017, 06:14.

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                                      The first time I saw Smith was playing for NSW in the 2009 Champions League T20 - batting 6/7 and bowling a few leg breaks. If you'd told me then he would be second only to Bradman in test averages in 2017 I would have laughed in your face.

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                                        I saw him get his maiden test century in the last Ashes test of 2013 at The Oval, clinched with a six off Trott and finishing 138 not out.

                                        Even then I recall his performance being seen as a bit of an oddity, especially as he’d made a total of 3 runs in both innings at Lord’s earlier in the summer.

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                                          He's made himself into a great batsman over a number of years of trial and error in Tests, whereas Viv had already worked it out when he played his first series (in India, 1974-75). This makes it even more remarkable that only Bradman and Gavaskar got their first 23 centuries in fewer innings.

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                                            Originally posted by nmrfox View Post
                                            TMS, which has been my only contact to this series and has been largely woeful, now plumbs new depths by blethering on about how wonderful the support of the Barmy Army is.
                                            I've listened to TMS just about every night and this has been a recurring topic. It's only got worse since Agnew went home. I don't begrudge anyone who goes around the world watching cricket and I get that many save considerable sums and bank their leave to do it but the constant parping of horns and chants that were barely acceptable in a 70s football ground make me hate them and their smug self righteousness.

                                            Folks that use phrases like barmy army are the sort that say things like wacky baccy. They think they'e all zany but are the worst sort of cunts imaginable.

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                                              There's also the hypocrisy that TMS used to whine about West Indian cricket crowds in the 70s, along with over rates that were no slower than we've seen in this series.

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                                                Saw Smith batting at 8 (in what I think was a 12-a-side game) for Australia at Derby in 2010. Made a perky 48 after Ponting and Hussey had hit centuries. Then the following day his bowling got clobbered round the park by Chris Rogers.

                                                Don't think this series has been TMS's finest hour, though admittedly they've not been helped by Aggers only doing part of the series and their pundits being raided by BT.

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                                                  Why did Aggers only do the first two Test?

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                                                    His partner has cancer (breast I think) and came home as she has gone in for chemo. It's been ongoing for a while, possibly the first two tests were between treatments.

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