The Cricket Thread

[Ken 119]

History will suggest that the first test will be a draw given the flat wicket in Brisbane. But given the weakness of this England team I think this could end in four days. I hope I am wrong, unlike others I relish a genuine contest and series.

[Alex 35667]

[Ken 119]

Just playing it safe until I get a gauge of your lot. Haven't heard of let alone seen more than half your side.

[Dr Gloom 22200]

10 minutes ago, Ken said:

Just playing it safe until I get a gauge of your lot. Haven't heard of let alone seen more than half your side.

 

we have an aggressive middle/lower order - even without stokes. the problem is they come in too often with too few runs on the board. stoneman, malan and vince are three players with it all to prove. 

 

no one genuinely expects us to win - all the english pundits are going for an Oz series win. so i reckon the pressure is on your lot and particularly your pace attack - are they as good as they're being made out to be?  and can they all stay fit? 

[Ken 119]

19 minutes ago, Dr Gloom said:

 

we have an aggressive middle/lower order - even without stokes. the problem is they come in too often with too few runs on the board. stoneman, malan and vince are three players with it all to prove. 

 

no one genuinely expects us to win - all the english pundits are going for an Oz series win. so i reckon the pressure is on your lot and particularly your pace attack - are they as good as they're being made out to be?  and can they all stay fit? 

Starc and Cummins will murder your lot although I doubt Cummins will play all five tests given his history of injuries. Hazelwood will pile on the pressure with his line and length all series. The most intriguing match of the test series will be the day/night match in Adelaide which will bring your seemers into it and your best chance at a result.

[Dr Gloom 22200]

so you're saying believe the hype? 

 

i think you will win, comfortably, probably 4-1. i'm hoping it's a closely contested series though to make it interesting. there hasn't been a closely fought one since 2005 really. 

[Tooj 17]

 

[wykikitoon 20920]

Never been a cricket fan.  A lot of the lads in the office are so going to have a watch of this and see if I can enjoy it.  With some poeple to tell me WTF is going on it should help.

[David Kelly 1260]

Fuck

[Ken 119]

8 hours ago, Dr Gloom said:

so you're saying believe the hype? 

 

i think you will win, comfortably, probably 4-1. i'm hoping it's a closely contested series though to make it interesting. there hasn't been a closely fought one since 2005 really. 

I believe in the hype of our bowling attack, yes, but as you have mentioned if England are stubborn and make our bowlers do a lot of work it could tell in the latter part of the series.

 

Good toss to win but bad start for your lot with Cook gone btw.

Let's see how these 'new' players in your top order do...

[Ken 119]

Slowish wicket, nothing by the way of swing or movement off the pitch. Vince and Stoneman look set, solid without looking great and they hadn't needed to tbf. Our bowlers bowling a lot of wasters hence the low run rate.

[David Kelly 1260]

Stoneman batted really well. Had never looked in trouble before that last ball. 

[Gemmill 46205]

It's gone a bit tits up after the second wicket partnership got broken. Could go either way here now -an England collapse isn't out of the question. 

[David Kelly 1260]

Would feel a lot happier if Root was still out there. But it's been a decent day for us really.  The three inexperienced lads have all been positive in defence and attack albeit on a slower track than we're likely to see going forward. Should be good for their confidence though. 

[Tooj 17]

Apparently Cook hasn't had an Ashes hundred since 2011.

[Dr Gloom 22200]

Good day that. Nicely poised.

 

The pitch had a lot to do with it but the Aussie pace attack didn’t look all that to me. I only watched till 1.30 then the last 45 mins this morning but Lyon looked the pick of the bowlers by far. Might be a different story in Perth but good to see the new boys all get starts. Gutted for Vince to run himself out with a maiden Ashes ton looming. 

 

And what’s with the Aussie quicks and their pube taches? Not exactly Merv Hughes. I’ve seen more intimidating bum fluff on a 12 year old boy’s upper lip.

[Ken 119]

The wicket is predicted to be soft and slow again tomorrow and maybe on day 3 as well. Evenly poised, yes, but England need to get keep batting until after lunch still to avoid a certain loss for me. I've got tomorrow off so I will get a closer look at it.

[PaddockLad 17743]

1 hour ago, Dr Gloom said:

Good day that. Nicely poised.

 

The pitch had a lot to do with it but the Aussie pace attack didn’t look all that to me. I only watched till 1.30 then the last 45 mins this morning but Lyon looked the pick of the bowlers by far. Might be a different story in Perth but good to see the new boys all get starts. Gutted for Vince to run himself out with a maiden Ashes ton looming. 

 

And what’s with the Aussie quicks and their pube taches? Not exactly Merv Hughes. I’ve seen more intimidating bum fluff on a 12 year old boy’s upper lip.

 

Movember appears to be big in Oz... my mate posted a picture of his own Merv Hughes stylee effort from the train an route to the Gabba, the silly looking fucker

 

[Dr Gloom 22200]

9 minutes ago, Ken said:

The wicket is predicted to be soft and slow again tomorrow and maybe on day 3 as well. Evenly poised, yes, but England need to get keep batting until after lunch still to avoid a certain loss for me. I've got tomorrow off so I will get a closer look at it.

 

i think the scoring rate will pick up tomorrow, with the batsmen we have to come in, but that will also create more chances for wickets. 

 

i liked moeen's approach with lyon. get on top of the spinner and there isn't much for the quicks on this surface - and you only have three of them. if we're still batting after lunch, we'll be well ahead in the game. anything north of 350 will give us plenty to bowl at. bit more rain forecast too, which will suit our lot. 

[Alex 35667]

14 minutes ago, Ken said:

The wicket is predicted to be soft and slow again tomorrow and maybe on day 3 as well. Evenly poised, yes, but England need to get keep batting until after lunch still to avoid a certain loss for me. I've got tomorrow off so I will get a closer look at it.

[Ken 119]

30 minutes ago, Dr Gloom said:

 

i think the scoring rate will pick up tomorrow, with the batsmen we have to come in, but that will also create more chances for wickets. 

 

i liked moeen's approach with lyon. get on top of the spinner and there isn't much for the quicks on this surface - and you only have three of them. if we're still batting after lunch, we'll be well ahead in the game. anything north of 350 will give us plenty to bowl at. bit more rain forecast too, which will suit our lot. 

New ball means you'll either score more or lose wickets quickly. The latter is more likely.

The wicket is offering very little, you've had a good day,  but your big wigs are gone so thinking of 350 is a bit premature atm. Rain imo just means a better chance of a draw.

[Dr Gloom 22200]

7 minutes ago, Ken said:

New ball means you'll either score more or lose wickets quickly. The latter is more likely.

The wicket is offering very little, you've had a good day,  but your big wigs are gone so thinking of 350 is a bit premature atm. Rain imo just means a better chance of a draw.

 

if we escape from the gabbatoir with a draw then the series is very much alive, especially going into the day/nighter, which is probably our best chance of winning a test in the series. 

 

we all assumed your quick bowlers would blow our fragile top order away, setting the tone for another series like the last one. but i wonder how significant psychologically the 120 stand between stonewall and vince will be for the rest of the series. 

 

root and cook failed but the newbies stood up well. our real threat comes from our middle order, even without stokes. if moeen and malan can see off the new ball they, along with bairstow and woakes, can go through the gears very quickly - it will be a very different day's play tomorrow. 

 

that said, a bog standard england collapse is never a million miles away either....

 

my prediction for tomorrow: england all out for 320 after entertaining knocks from moeen and bairstow. aussies closing on 100-2

 

 

Edited November 23, 2017 by Dr Gloom

[Ken 119]

47 minutes ago, PaddockLad said:

 

Movember appears to be big in Oz... my mate posted a picture of his own Merv Hughes stylee effort from the train an route to the Gabba, the silly looking fucker

 

For a worthy cause. I couldn't grow one if I wanted to tbh, luckily enough though I have enough on head.

[Ken 119]

4 minutes ago, Dr Gloom said:

 

if we escape from the gabbatoir with a draw then the series is very much alive, especially going into the day/nighter, which is probably our best chance of winning a test in the series. 

 

we all assumed your quick bowlers would blow our fragile top order away, setting the tone for another series like the last one. but i wonder how significant psychologically the 120 stand between stonewall and vince will be for the rest of the series. 

 

root and cook failed but the newbies stood up well. our real threat comes from our middle order, even without stokes. if moeen and malan can see off the new ball they, along with bairstow and woakes, can go through the gears very quickly - it will be a very different day's play tomorrow. 

 

that said, a bog standard england collapse is never a million miles away either....

 

my prediction for tomorrow: england all out for 320 after entertaining knocks from moeen and bairstow. aussies closing on 100-2

 

 

Well, yes, it will still be 0-0.

 

I think, psychologically, your batsmen had a leg up today, but it wouldn't have deterred our bowlers. It will make them more determined tbh.

 

Bring on day 2 and your middle order.

 

[David Kelly 1260]

Hazlewoods tache is one of a fifteen year old kid. Me gran has more hair on her top lip. 

 

I guess the predictions about the pitch must be very different on channel 9 to BT. Pontin, Fleming and Gilchrist were all saying they expect it to get quicker tonight.