England Cricket Winter 2017/18 - Ashes & NZ

[DOTA]

Let's hope Crane fares better than the last England spinner to get a debut in the 5th test of an Ashes.

Was that Borthwick, Kerrigan or have I forgotten someone?

 

[ArmchairCritic]

Was that Borthwick, Kerrigan or have I forgotten someone?

Bloody hell forgot Borthwick came after Kerrigan, I was referring to Kerrigan. There's been so many Ashes series' in recent times that they all just blur into one really.

 

[DOTA]

Bloody hell forgot Borthwick came after Kerrigan, I was referring to Kerrigan. There's been so many Ashes series' in recent times that they all just blur into one really.

They do. I'll take your word for it that Borthwick was the more recent. I really wasn't sure (nor can I remember if it was the last test of the series that Borthwick played in).

Sydney always used to be good for wrist spinners, from what I remember (not just Warne but MacGill). No idea if it still is.

EDIT - Speak of the devil - after googling MacGill to check whether or not there was an 'a' in his surname, I see he's apparently been busy.

Former Australia leg spinner Stuart MacGill has been called in by England to help prepare Mason Crane for a potential Test debut in Sydney this week.

MacGill, who worked with the England Lions earlier this winter, has become a mentor to Crane since he played in Australia last year.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/...ed-england-help-prepare-mason-crane-possible/

 

[Class of 63]

Let's hope Crane fares better than the last England spinner to get a debut in the 5th test of an Ashes.

Simon Kerrigan eh, poor lad still has recovered

 

[Zen]

Iron man Cook 150 straight test matches.

 

[KM]

Standard James Vince. Looks great for 20 odd runs and then throws his wicket away. In test matches, he's a poor man's Rohit Sharma which is pretty bad Sharma is average in test matches.

 

[DOTA]

Standard James Vince. Looks great for 20 odd runs and then throws his wicket away. In test matches, he's a poor man's Rohit Sharma which is pretty bad Sharma is average in test matches.

Sharma is pretty crap, yeah.

 

[paulscholes18]

FFS was looking good then Root and Bairstow both out leaving England 233/5

 

[paulscholes18]

Poor from Moeen, no need to try and defend that

 

[paulscholes18]

346 all out, Ali, Curren & Broad scoring 100 between them would have taken that at the starting of play

 

[paulscholes18]

Crane did a Curren would have got his 1st wicket but for a no ball

 

[zing]

This is the worst Ashes I've seen, I think.

 

[DOTA]

This is the worst Ashes I've seen, I think.

I've not watched much but it has been really dull to follow.

A pretty decent side, at home, with one brilliant player, beating a troubled but just about good enough to make matches last a few days side.

I don't know when the next Ashes series is but I expect England will win it. Home advantage has become depressingly important.

 

[KM]

This is the worst Ashes I've seen, I think.

When was the last good Ashes series. In the last five years it seems all the Ashes series have been embarrassingly one sided.

I think the Aussie tour OF India was the best series in the last three four years.

 

[DOTA]

When was the last good Ashes series. In the last five years it seems all the Ashes series have been embarrassingly one sided.

I think this is partly cause 'back in the day' players like Warner would spend their winter playing for an English county. As would other promising Australian players hoping to get in to the test side. Test cricket is no longer everything. So playing first class cricket to prepare for it is no longer as appealing etc... Especially when you can earn good money in 20 over cricket.

As far as England winning away. It's happened once in 30 years. It's not expected.

 

[KM]

England have thrown in the towel it seems.

 

[JezChan]

England just doing a bit of future-proofing for the next Ashes series by making Mitch Marsh undroppable despite him offering little with the ball and being a flat-track bully with the bat.

 

[Xaviesta]

When was the last good Ashes series. In the last five years it seems all the Ashes series have been embarrassingly one sided.

I think the Aussie tour OF India was the best series in the last three four years.

2009 in England was pretty good even though Australia handed the Ashes back.

 

[Rams]

Without a fast bowler in the side England were always going to struggle. No suprise that England failed to get 20 wickets in a match.

 

[shaggy]

What a dreadful series. Stokes wouldn't have made a great deal of difference, maybe we lose 3-0 instead of 4-0. Stoneman and Vince have done literally nothing all tour averaging just 25 so I can't imagine they'll be persisted with.

 

[Xaviesta]

All over by lunch i reckon.

 

[Sassy Colin]

What on earth are we going to do when Anderson retires?

 

[Utdstar01]

Root in hospital with severe dehydration.

 

[Utdstar01]

What on earth are we going to do when Anderson retires?

Be an average side again... If we aren't already that is.

 

[paulscholes18]

Root has got to his 50, after Ali got out to Lyon for the 7th time

 

[prath92]

All over. Innings defeat to lose the series 4-0

 

[jungledrums]

Pretty dull series to be honest.

 

[kotha]

Quite fitting the last wicket given out was a not out.. The state of umpiring this series has been pretty bad..

 

[Xaviesta]

Since 1990, South Africa is the only nation to win a series here more than once. In fact they've won three consecutive series here. It's no fluke, they're doing something right so maybe England should be looking at how and why they've been successful here would be a start.

South Africa have had bowlers capable of taking 20 wickets a match in Australia and their batsmen have done their job so that they make enough runs. All pretty simple stuff. South Africa have had the mental strength to deal with moments of pressure and adversity.

England need bowlers, mainly fast bowlers who look like taking 20 wickets here. Finding bowlers who can bowl with the pace and accuracy of Australia's quicks is important if they're to do well here. A top class spinner would help them too. Moeen Ali won't turn into a world class spinner so they'll need to hope Mason Crane or somebody else can do the job.

They also require batsmen turning starts into centuries. Root was dismissed for 50+ on four occasions - at least two of those 50's needed to be turned into centuries. Compare that to Steve Smith and the difference is there for all to see. With the bat, they've frequently finished with a total that was at least 100-150 short of what they needed.

They've got four years to come up with the personnel required to succeed here or what has happened in three of the last four series here will happen. They'll obviously be hoping Ben Stokes or anybody else for that matter doesn't hamper their chances of success before they get here.

 

[Rams]

Fast bowling is the key to succes in Australia. Without fast bowlers yer fecked. Because our bowlers weren't capable of putting pressure on the Ozzies, it also puts additional pressure on the batsman.

 

[Xaviesta]

England has now won 15 and lost 18 of the tests they've played under Trevor Bayliss.

 

[NinjaFletch]

Fast bowling is the key to succes in Australia. Without fast bowlers yer fecked. Because our bowlers weren't capable of putting pressure on the Ozzies, it also puts additional pressure on the batsman.

The bowling has been bad, but there's no way the batsmen should get a pass.

Cook's had an awful series bar one innings, Stoneman's been disappointingly poor, Vince is awful, Root can't convert to save his life, Bairstow has not one ounce of discipline, and Mooen has been worse than a waste of a space. The only player to come out of it with credit is Malan.

Yes, Australia's bowlers make it harder than England's on these pitches, but there are endemic and systematic problems with how English players construct their innings that the Aussies don't suffer from.

Compare Smith to Root. Smith might be the more talented batsman, but if he is it's marginal, but there's an absolute gulf in temperament, mindset, application, and hunger between the two. England spent all series bowling outside off stump to Smith who was content to leave the ball all day long; he didn't score quickly, but by god did he score. England by comparison are so fixated on AGGRESSION and INTENT that they get themselves out playing all manner of daft shots. The biggest difference for me between the sides has been the price Australian batsmen have put on their wicket compared to their Australian counterparts.

 

[ChrisNelson]

The bowling has been bad, but there's no way the batsmen should get a pass.

Cook's had an awful series bar one innings, Stoneman's been disappointingly poor, Vince is awful, Root can't convert to save his life, Bairstow has not one ounce of discipline, and Mooen has been worse than a waste of a space. The only player to come out of it with credit is Malan.

Yes, Australia's bowlers make it harder than England's on these pitches, but there are endemic and systematic problems with how English players construct their innings that the Aussies don't suffer from.

Compare Smith to Root. Smith might be the more talented batsman, but if he is it's marginal, but there's an absolute gulf in temperament, mindset, application, and hunger between the two. England spent all series bowling outside off stump to Smith who was content to leave the ball all day long; he didn't score quickly, but by god did he score. England by comparison are so fixated on AGGRESSION and INTENT that they get themselves out playing all manner of daft shots. The biggest difference for me between the sides has been the price Australian batsmen have put on their wicket compared to their Australian counterparts.

Nailed it

 

[Rams]

The bowling has been bad, but there's no way the batsmen should get a pass.

Cook's had an awful series bar one innings, Stoneman's been disappointingly poor, Vince is awful, Root can't convert to save his life, Bairstow has not one ounce of discipline, and Mooen has been worse than a waste of a space. The only player to come out of it with credit is Malan.

Yes, Australia's bowlers make it harder than England's on these pitches, but there are endemic and systematic problems with how English players construct their innings that the Aussies don't suffer from.

Compare Smith to Root. Smith might be the more talented batsman, but if he is it's marginal, but there's an absolute gulf in temperament, mindset, application, and hunger between the two. England spent all series bowling outside off stump to Smith who was content to leave the ball all day long; he didn't score quickly, but by god did he score. England by comparison are so fixated on AGGRESSION and INTENT that they get themselves out playing all manner of daft shots. The biggest difference for me between the sides has been the price Australian batsmen have put on their wicket compared to their Australian counterparts.

I'm not saying the batsman should get a pass, England clearly still have issues to sort out in the top order. However, the Ozzie batting lineup is even worse than England's!
There is no way in the world that even Smith would be scoring centuries for fun if he was put under the same kind of pressure the England batsman were under this series. The truth is, in English conditions the English bowling attack will be a totally different kettle of fish and the Ozzie batsman are going to struggle big time. Even Smith will struggle; there is no way Smith will score a double century with that technique in English conditions! The only difference is that in England the Ozzie bowlers will still be a handful, whilst in Australia the English seam attack is completely nullified.
England need a quality strike bowler and spinner in order to succeed in Australia. I think we have the spinner in Mason Crane (although, only time will tell if I'm right). However, I'm struggling to see where the quickies are going to come from.

 

[zing]

Australia will win the return series if these bowlers stay fit. Think we'll finally have a good Ashes.

 

[Kazi]

Starc and Cummins are both gun bowlers

 

[ArmchairCritic]

The bowling has been bad, but there's no way the batsmen should get a pass.

Cook's had an awful series bar one innings, Stoneman's been disappointingly poor, Vince is awful, Root can't convert to save his life, Bairstow has not one ounce of discipline, and Mooen has been worse than a waste of a space. The only player to come out of it with credit is Malan.

Yes, Australia's bowlers make it harder than England's on these pitches, but there are endemic and systematic problems with how English players construct their innings that the Aussies don't suffer from.

Compare Smith to Root. Smith might be the more talented batsman, but if he is it's marginal, but there's an absolute gulf in temperament, mindset, application, and hunger between the two. England spent all series bowling outside off stump to Smith who was content to leave the ball all day long; he didn't score quickly, but by god did he score. England by comparison are so fixated on AGGRESSION and INTENT that they get themselves out playing all manner of daft shots. The biggest difference for me between the sides has been the price Australian batsmen have put on their wicket compared to their Australian counterparts.

Largely agree. Root changed his game after the last away Ashes and I have full confidence he can make the next step after this one, he needs to find a medium between the accumulator he was when he first came into the team and the strokemaker he is now.

The coaching team have talked about turning 60s into 160s and taking inspiration from Smith but none of this chat has manifested in anything visible on the pitch. Either the coaching staff are inept at getting their message across or the players are just really thick. There's been better players than James fecking Vince who have said to themselves 'you know what I'm not going to play any cover drives, I'm just going to pick off anything on the pads', but neither the coaching staff nor James Vince have managed to twig this in 12 tests.

 

[Rams]

England failed to get 20 wickets in a match the whole test series. And that wasn’t the strongest Australian batting lineup up I’ve ever seen in an Ashes series. Go figure.

 

[Skills]

Since 1990, South Africa is the only nation to win a series here more than once. In fact they've won three consecutive series here. It's no fluke, they're doing something right so maybe England should be looking at how and why they've been successful here would be a start.

South Africa have had bowlers capable of taking 20 wickets a match in Australia and their batsmen have done their job so that they make enough runs. All pretty simple stuff. South Africa have had the mental strength to deal with moments of pressure and adversity.

England need bowlers, mainly fast bowlers who look like taking 20 wickets here. Finding bowlers who can bowl with the pace and accuracy of Australia's quicks is important if they're to do well here. A top class spinner would help them too. Moeen Ali won't turn into a world class spinner so they'll need to hope Mason Crane or somebody else can do the job.

They also require batsmen turning starts into centuries. Root was dismissed for 50+ on four occasions - at least two of those 50's needed to be turned into centuries. Compare that to Steve Smith and the difference is there for all to see. With the bat, they've frequently finished with a total that was at least 100-150 short of what they needed.

They've got four years to come up with the personnel required to succeed here or what has happened in three of the last four series here will happen. They'll obviously be hoping Ben Stokes or anybody else for that matter doesn't hamper their chances of success before they get here.

They have the GOAT. Dale Steyn

 

[EdWeatherall]

England failed to get 20 wickets in a match the whole test series. And that wasn’t the strongest Australian batting lineup up I’ve ever seen in an Ashes series. Go figure.

Of the 100 available wickets
They took 53

Anderson is the only one I give any kind of credit to as at least he kept an end tight.