Ashes cricket

McCullum quoted saying...."This is not a country where you can expect to be anything other than fully committed to what you're doing."

Seems a bit weird as a statement when the side is then about to go off and play golf for a few days.

Both McCullum and Stokes coming out with stoic and dour statements that you would expect from a Nasser led side.....when they have played like Gower, ....just without his level of success down under (against even stronger bowlers).......I'm not against aggressive players, but the truth of it has always been that successful players who can do that are pretty rare and they still play the conditions.
 
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Gower was giving his take on the radio this morning. Something along the lines of tactics and mentality need addressing. They are all good players, but test cricket needs strategy and a stronger mentality.
Personally, I think England have given up. Which is a shame, because the Aussie's really wanted some decent opposition after all their training.
 
Forest Hillbilly said:
Gower was giving his take on the radio this morning. Something along the lines of tactics and mentality need addressing. They are all good players, but test cricket needs strategy and a stronger mentality.
Personally, I think England have given up. Which is a shame, because the Aussie's really wanted some decent opposition after all their training.
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I agree that they have mentally given up now....which might actually see them playing better.

As a nation, we don't build the same kind of men that we once did.....The Boycotts, the Barringtons, the Trumans...I could go on and go and frequently do, so thank you.

But compared to that past the kind of man we build is much more sensitive to pressure and less bulldog in nature.

I'm not calling these men poor people or metosexuals or anything ridiculous like that, because that would be ridiculous. I'm saying compared to our past human product there is a difference.....I've lived in the transition from those men to now and it's as clear as day.

Technically from what I see of course England know correctly what is required to physically win in Australia and the alterations that are required, it's hardly rocket science and we've known since we first went over there.

However, because our cricket system is geared towards making as much money as possible more so than winning in Australia or India....ie having the best possible test team.....Because of that I think the debacles we see time and time again are to be expected.

It's the hype and nonsense that gets pushed before-hand that annoys me. Players get talked up before they have proven themselves in fire where it matters. Doing well on home pitches is great, but it's why you're picked in the first place, not evidence that you're some generational talent.

I think England took decisions that weren't wrong logically, but just were extremely hign risk and likely to fail. For example, it made sense to want to take Mark Wood.....the guy can hit 95 mph.....but it's unrealistic as he's a glass cannon who can't stay on the field. If your bowler can't potentially bowl thirty overs in a match then he isn't fit.....but they took him anyway.

Similar with Archer, but with him, while injuries are still an issue it's more mental. The point was well made that in Australia's second innings he was bowling 92+ but the match was already over. We needed to see that in the first innings when it mattered.
 
Mark Wood being sent home.....shocked....isn't an emotion I think anyone is feeling over that.

Nice guy but always a bit unrealistic picking him.

Matthew Fisher from the lions squad has been brought into replace him.......He's just played in the Lions v Australia A test (which we lost by an innings). He didn't take a wicket.
His stats are on the line below for those who know what they are looking at.
31 3 105 0

Best of luck to him....he was the big hope a few years back....but he never seemed to kick on. Here is his big chance.


 
Stirlingsays said:
Mark Wood being sent home.....shocked....isn't an emotion I think anyone is feeling over that.

Nice guy but always a bit unrealistic picking him.

Matthew Fisher from the lions squad has been brought into replace him.......He's just played in the Lions v Australia A test (which we lost by an innings). He didn't take a wicket.
His stats are on the line below for those who know what they are looking at.
31 3 105 0

Best of luck to him....he was the big hope a few years back....but he never seemed to kick on. Here is his big chance.
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We need spin at Adelaide
 
chris123 said:
We need spin at Adelaide
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Bashir played in the lions game and didn't take a wicket either.

Rehan should be out there but apparently he's injured and back in England.

We haven't really got a wicket taking spinner out there.

If you appreciate a bit of dark humour it's all a bit amusing really.

If only you could fail so badly at other professional jobs and get paid so well.
 
Stirlingsays said:
Bashir played in the lions game and didn't take a wicket either.

Rehan should be out there but apparently he's injured and back in England.

We haven't really got a wicket taking spinner out there.

If you appreciate a bit of dark humour it's all a bit amusing really.

If only you could fail so badly at other professional jobs and get paid so well.
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It's more bowling lots of overs.
 
Eaglehamster said:
Hopefully there's a happy medium. CT was brain numbingly boring. Go back a bit further; Ken Barrington would be ideal IMO.
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Jonathan Trott didn't often give his wicket away and would Alastair Cook have bought into Bazball whole heartedly? Pietersen played like that anyway and was pretty good at it on his day.
It could just be that trying to smash the ball is the pragmatic approach when the players are so used to playing shorter forms that, except Root, they're losing the technique and mindset to bat all day.
 
I always like to keep an eye on the Lions and on the upcoming talent.....playing here is where you sort the young men from the boys talent wise.

As a team it's not been great but individuals have impressed.

Asa Tribe has batted impressively and personally I would have chosen Gilchrist instead of Fisher from the bowling ranks.....though as he's so young maybe they are looking to protect him psychologically.

Rehan should have been in the line up this Ashes.....I see him as a shoe in from the summer.

Bethall is someone they are really invested in, so we hope that works out.

The Rew brothers are still raw and play too aggressively but I see them coming through in the next few years.

Looking at the bowlers is difficult as they are all so injured so often.....yet we get told they are so well handled these days.
 
chris123 said:
We need spin at Adelaide
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You need a spinner on every Aussie pitch in general. The pitches are usually hard and dry out over two-three days. If England last until day three or four then the spin comes into it. Also, a spinner can change the momentum by tight bowling at one end. Or making players go for shots. The England spinners are part time or crap currently. There are better and younger prospects who have already emerged, or are emerging.
Australia know that they are better in the spin department - but that is a selection rather than a player issue. Other than that, Bashir is not of a test standard. It's not his fault, it's just the way it is. He doesn't play for his county much in fairness so it's hardly just me who thinks it. He looks decidedly tame when he bowls.
 
You know the 5-0 is coming. Players will now be ducking out with injuries, as the defeat mentality sinks in. A few players will want to fight, and string a match out to maybe 3 or 4 days, but we were never at the races. A complete farce of a series.
 
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