It Thursday - it is Lords – It is the Second Ashes Test
A brilliant win by England in Cardiff to go one up in the series – It is difficult to reconcile this team’s performance against what has gone before – totally stripped away the Aussies cloak of invincibility through positive batting and disciplined bowling performances – and they caught a few catches as well
I cannot see the Aussies lying down and taking it – Both as a team and individuals they are too good for that – I expect that they will have learned from their mistakes – Particularly over-attacking when Root and Stokes were going well and taking Moeen too lightly - The Aussies bowled well in periods without much luck – If they had had a little more rub of the green the result might have gone the other way - You might say England rode their luck – but it was more a case of England making their own luck.
The pitch today will be faster – not super-fast – but will suit the likes of Johnson more – However, how they cope with the slope may have an impact on the outcome - England will I hope continue to play in a positive but not reckless manner – moving the game on at a rate that renders the draw unlikely – however, it is an approach that will not be successful all the time and we must not be surprised or dismissive should it go wrong – It is a five test series – the measure of how successful it has been will be the scores on the doors at the end of the series.
Notwithstanding the result of the last game England’s top order need to sort themselves out – in the two inning the top four scored only just over a quarter of England’s runs – 197 out of a total of 738 – not good enough
A brilliant win by England in Cardiff to go one up in the series – It is difficult to reconcile this team’s performance against what has gone before – totally stripped away the Aussies cloak of invincibility through positive batting and disciplined bowling performances – and they caught a few catches as well
I cannot see the Aussies lying down and taking it – Both as a team and individuals they are too good for that – I expect that they will have learned from their mistakes – Particularly over-attacking when Root and Stokes were going well and taking Moeen too lightly - The Aussies bowled well in periods without much luck – If they had had a little more rub of the green the result might have gone the other way - You might say England rode their luck – but it was more a case of England making their own luck.
The pitch today will be faster – not super-fast – but will suit the likes of Johnson more – However, how they cope with the slope may have an impact on the outcome - England will I hope continue to play in a positive but not reckless manner – moving the game on at a rate that renders the draw unlikely – however, it is an approach that will not be successful all the time and we must not be surprised or dismissive should it go wrong – It is a five test series – the measure of how successful it has been will be the scores on the doors at the end of the series.
Notwithstanding the result of the last game England’s top order need to sort themselves out – in the two inning the top four scored only just over a quarter of England’s runs – 197 out of a total of 738 – not good enough
caught Anderson 38
