2017 Ashes - Spoilers only

[philk56]

A couple of very close calls (Ali and Broad), both of which were probably just about correct and things now going as I feared.

 

[User482]

Just checked the score. Wish I hadn't.

 

[psmiffy]

Just checked the score. Wish I hadn't.

yup - Aussie going along nicely

 

[rich p]

Is Nicky still optimistic?
Not a drubbing though until the last day so there is some cause for hope.
Stoneman and Vince showed promise, Cook needs to show up and we need another seamer for Ball.

 

[nickyboy]

Is Nicky still optimistic?
Not a drubbing though until the last day so there is some cause for hope.
Stoneman and Vince showed promise, Cook needs to show up and we need another seamer for Ball.

Nowt wrong with being optimistic and refusing do side with the doom mongers

Not much between the sides. England batsmen got a lot of good starts but nobody converted into a big hundred unlike Smith. That's the difference

Wonder if Adelaide, as a Day/Night game, will suit our seam bowlers more?

 

[Bonefish Blues]

That's spoiled my Sunday morning...

 

[Fonze]

England will miss Stokes ..
Normal service resumes , and a good thrashing is upon us ..

 

[nickyboy]

I'm going to leave you all to it on this thread

In all seriousness, the main reason why England does so poorly at sports relative to its size and wealth is the persistent negativity leading to a lack of confidence by the players and fear of failure rather than belief in winning

I am so optimistic because I think this is the right attitude to have in support of our various sports teams. Successful sporting countries have supportive fans who understand there will be bumps in the road but what's important is to get behind the team. Not moan about individual player performance or resign themselves to defeat

Enjoy the series everyone

 

[psmiffy]

n all seriousness, the main reason why England does so poorly at sports relative to its size and wealth is the persistent negativity leading to a lack of confidence by the players and fear of failure rather than belief in winning

No - The reason why we do not punch our weight as a country is that outside of few "commercial" sports is that we do not value sports as an activity in this country - an interesting stat in this test match is that it the first England team in 15 years or so that every member was born in England - but it is much more complicated than that

 

[Daddy Pig]

No - The reason why we do not punch our weight as a country is that outside of few "commercial" sports is that we do not value sports as an activity in this country - an interesting stat in this test match is that it the first England team in 15 years or so that every member was born in England - but it is much more complicated than that

I think that you will also find that England is used to playing in damp amd wet conditions.
Take rugby for instance, we are used to playing in wet conditions which means you learn to play a certain way... if it's generally dry you have better grip and therefore play a running game.
In Cricket, you have flat hard wickets, a ball that has less swing, you tend to bowl hard and fast as this will likely get you more wickets than medium pace, such as in Oz. In England, humid cloudy conditions mean that medium pace with movement will get you wickets. You dont need to bowl hard and fast
The other problem is that batsmen won't be used to continual fast hostile bowling. The exception is the Oval which is hard and even usually, so hopefully Stoneman will fit in perfectly with the Oz way of playing.

 

[Daddy Pig]

And as for stopping Smith.... he and Root should have a roshambo contest, Root to go first...

 

[tallliman]

The turning point in the game seems to have been when we has the Aussies 200/7 and then let them recover to over 300. That put the pressure on the 3rd innings in the game and we crumbled under the pressure.

Many good points in the game but mainly we failed to build on starts and 50s.

 

[philk56]

The exception is the Oval which is hard and even usually, so hopefully Stoneman will fit in perfectly with the Oz way of playing.

Stoneman also played several years in Australia so that should also hopefully help him.

In addition to the various comments above the game is being shown on free-to-air tv over here which also raises the profile of the game and gets the public involved.

There's nothing better I'd like to see than for us to thrash the Aussies here but maybe it's my age and experience of following (from afar) most previous tours that makes me a pessimist. I'll certainly be cheering them on as much as I can at the WACA despite this result and whatever happens in Adelaide. I don't think the result of that game is a foregone conclusion....

 

[cisamcgu]

In all seriousness, the main reason why England does so poorly at sports relative to its size and wealth is the persistent negativity leading to a lack of confidence by the players and fear of failure rather than belief in winning

We actually do very well, and also compete at a high level in many, many sports, rather than just concentrating on one or two (e.g. New Zealand), or playing sports that no one else competes in (Baseball and American football ...)

 

[philk56]

Don't know if anyone is up and following back home but looking forward to the start at Adelaide. English conditions and Root deciding to bowl - could either go very well or very badly. Overton winning his first cap, well deserved I think. Here we go