Cricket thread

[swee'pea99]

And what of the wicket keeper?

Buttler cannot be the best we have.

Some of Buttler's misses were the kind that used to have my dad grumbling at the set 'My gran could have caught that - and she's been dead thirty years.'

But in truth, apart from some of the bowling England underperformed horribly at pretty much every aspect of the game. As another Aussie commentator said after yet another failed runout on day four of the second fiasco "Have England actually hit the stumps this series?"

 

[matticus]

after yet another failed runout on day four of the second fiasco "Have England actually hit the stumps this series?"

Probably Root's fault too.

 

[Chromatic]

New Zealand are collapsing against Bangladesh right now.

 

[Grant Fondo]

Well, lost the blinkin toss in Sydney .... here we go again. Think its bedtime.

 

[matticus]

Quiet here, guess the cricket fans have been too busy riding in the snow etc. So a recap:

4th Test
Day 1: England lose the toss, but restrict Australia to less than 200 runs in the day.
Day 2: after a long day in the field, England's openers solidly survive to the end of play; the doubters eat their hats.

What will Day 3 bring??

 

[jowwy]

Quiet here, guess the cricket fans have been too busy riding in the snow etc. So a recap:

4th Test
Day 1: England lose the toss, but restrict Australia to less than 200 runs in the day.
Day 2: after a long day in the field, England's openers solidly survive to the end of play; the doubters eat their hats.

What will Day 3 bring??

Rain lol

 

[Grant Fondo]

Quiet here, guess the cricket fans have been too busy riding in the snow etc. So a recap:

4th Test
Day 1: England lose the toss, but restrict Australia to less than 200 runs in the day.
Day 2: after a long day in the field, England's openers solidly survive to the end of play; the doubters eat their hats.

What will Day 3 bring??

Er, Hameed, Crawley & Malan eating shrimps on the barbie for lunch and not going back out?
Just a thought.

 

[Chromatic]

Quiet here, guess the cricket fans have been too busy riding in the snow etc. So a recap:

4th Test
Day 1: England lose the toss, but restrict Australia to less than 200 runs in the day.
Day 2: after a long day in the field, England's openers solidly survive to the end of play; the doubters eat their hats.

What will Day 3 bring??

Crawley needed a no ball to survive though, it'd have been yet another 0 otherwise.

 

[Grant Fondo]

I bet covering the Ashes cost BT Sport a fortune, the studio vibe with Matt Smith has been awful, and talking over Michael Vaughan's commentary a joke. I just don't get a lot of the abbreviated anachronisms that the Aussie commentators use. As a long time test cricket fan this has just been p*ss poor.

 

[jowwy]

Good job we have bairstowe playing……

 

[matticus]

Crawley needed a no ball to survive though, it'd have been yet another 0 otherwise.

Good point. I'll try again:

4th Test
Day 1: England lose the toss, but restrict Australia to less than 200 runs in the day.
Day 2: after a long day in the field, England's openers solidly survive to the end of play, helped by the Aussie bowlers making basic errors.
Day 3: Jolly Johnny Bairstow gets another effortless hundred, assisted by Wood hitting 39 with mostly sixes.

Who knows how many runs England's doughty tail will harvest on Day 4? Tune in later ...

 

[Grant Fondo]

Good point. I'll try again:

4th Test
Day 1: England lose the toss, but restrict Australia to less than 200 runs in the day.
Day 2: after a long day in the field, England's openers solidly survive to the end of play, helped by the Aussie bowlers making basic errors.
Day 3: Jolly Johnny Bairstow gets another effortless hundred, assisted by Wood hitting 39 with mostly sixes.

Who knows how many runs England's doughty tail will harvest on Day 4? Tune in later ...

My prediction yesterday wasn't bad - although gloomily it was four down after 21.5 overs (I had, not unreasonably, factored Jolly Joe getting a few runs)
So, to tomorrow - maybe a Bristling Bairstow can get to 150+ if he protects the last three a bit? Seeing 300 up would be nice, so think I shall stay up and (rain permitting) indulge in the majesty of English world class cricket

 

[matticus]

By all accounts Day3 was really interesting - 3 very distinct periods of play!

I wouldn't bet my house on AUS winning this one, mainly due to the draw possibilities. But unless you give me astronomical odds, I won't be betting a penny on ENG either.
"Will plucky England avoid the whitewash? It's all to play for down in the colonies this weekend ... "

 

[swee'pea99]

I come to this late, after watching the highlights on iplayer, and I for one feel a massive is due Ben Stokes and Bairstow, who both clearly played through serious pain to take the fight to the Aussies, and at least make some kind of a game of it. It was "If we're going down, let's at least go down fighting" at its best, and for me at least the first thing positive to emerge from this truly dismal series.

You have to feel for Joe Root. He looks a broken man.

 

[matticus]

Day 4: England post their 2nd highest total of the series, then after skittling AUS in barely 2 sessions, set a record opening partnership to kick-off the final chapter of Test4.
Meanwhile, Leach is deprived of a hat-trick (and a 5-fer) by a frankly ungentlemanly Aussie declaration, but will be pleased with his return to spinning form.

All 4 results are on the table - and some rain is possible - so tune in tonight for Day5 👍