England Cricket Winter 2017/18 - Ashes & NZ

ArmchairCritic

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So in conclusion, our batsmen are stupid, our quicks are too slow and we need a proper spinner.
 

Xaviesta

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So in conclusion, our batsmen are stupid, our quicks are too slow and we need a proper spinner.
I'd add a disciplinarian coach who is also more hands on. You'll have next time you're in Australia as Bayliss won't be here coaching England then.
 

KM

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Cummins, if he stays fit will overtake Starc and become Australia's best bowler. It's literally incredible that he hasn't lost his pace inspite of being out for 3-4 years.
 

NinjaFletch

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I'd add a disciplinarian coach who is also more hands on. You'll have next time you're in Australia as Bayliss won't be here coaching England then.
They need to find the right balance.

Flower lost the plot towards the end, but Bayliss's hands off laissez faire attitude is the other extreme. There has to be someone who can input some discipline in the team without denying them all freedom.

No idea why Bayliss has been allowed to choose his own departure date after this tour either. If he's not sticking around for the long haul then there's no harm in seeking fresh ideas now.
 

Xaviesta

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They need to find the right balance.

Flower lost the plot towards the end, but Bayliss's hands off laissez faire attitude is the other extreme. There has to be someone who can input some discipline in the team without denying them all freedom.

No idea why Bayliss has been allowed to choose his own departure date after this tour either. If he's not sticking around for the long haul then there's no harm in seeking fresh ideas now.
Darren Lehmann announced his departure would come after the next Ashes series. Luckily for him, he's done that on the back of a successful series.
 

ArmchairCritic

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No idea why Bayliss has been allowed to choose his own departure date after this tour either. If he's not sticking around for the long haul then there's no harm in seeking fresh ideas now.
I imagine that Bayliss & the ECB will argue that the main reason Bayliss was brought in the first place was to sort out the team in the shorter formats with the end goal of winning the World Cup in 2019 and that he is currently on track on to do that.

With the increasingly divergent skill sets required across the longer and shorter formats and the amount of cricket England play I think the ECB should consider separate coaches for the test and shorter format teams. There's no other way for a coach to be able to get around the county circuit and start identifying and developing test players without it.
 

ArmchairCritic

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Squad for the New Zealand tour is announced tomorrow. Would like to see Hameed, Lawrence, Wood and Jack Leach in the squad.
 
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ArmchairCritic

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Curran, Ballance, Ball out. Stokes, Livingstone, Wood in for the New Zealand tour. If Stokes can't play I'd imagine his place will be taken by whoever scores the most on the Lions tour in the West Indies.

Guessing Livingstone will bat at 5 or 6. Didn't look great vs. SA in the T20s but he is rated highly and he did score a fair few runs in SL with the Lions last year, so lets see.
 

Melbourne Red

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Some of the Aussie posters may have caught Channel 9's "Forged in Fire" Ashes documentaries when they were on last month, but I thought I'd draw attention to them for those who've not seen them. They sweep across all the Ashes contests from 1970-71 to 2010 with particular focus on the 74-75, 89 and 2005 series. Definitely worth watching IMO, albeit a bit repetitive and cringey in its attempts to convey the scale and meaning of the rivalry.

The English are surprisingly well represented among the talking heads, and what stands out is how blunt and forthright some of the commentary from the former players is. Most of the stories are quite familiar ie. aeroplane drinking records, Bumble's destroyed box, the Botham/Chappel fued, but there's some fresh yarns you might not have heard before as well. What really stood out was the contrast between the reserve of some of the English interviewees and the brashness of some of the Australian ones. It probably reflects the archetypal differences in character between Poms and Aussies, although I'm aware those differences are magnified by the fact that England more often than not draws its cricketers from white collar families, whereas in Australia the game is played more universally.

Jeff Thompson is particularly memorable, with stories that are so expletive-laden and full of braggadocio that you sort of hope he's polished off a bottle of Bundaberg rum before the cameras started rolling because although it starts off funny, by the end it feels like there something vaguely tragic about seeing a man his age behaving the way he does.

Ian Chappell also proves himself to be a surprisingly good storyteller when he's released from his more usual practice of stating the obvious in a plodding monotone in the commentary box.



 
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DOTA

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Looking forward to giving those a watch, cheers!

In present news - Australia are bowling appallingly here. I started watching when Roy had just passed fifty. I've watched him trying to get himself out ever since but he is, somehow, currently on 113.
 

ArmchairCritic

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Nothing like watching England chase down a big score with a big ton in the ODIs after being unable to do either for an entire test series.
 

Xaviesta

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Right, if Australia bat first again, 330 or more is what is required. If i were Steve Smith, i'd actually bowl first if i have the choice. England will feel confident chasing but i wonder how good they are at defending a total. I'd fancy Australia to win batting 2nd. Mark Wood bowled well today but i feel Australia's batsmen should feel confident against the other England bowlers. Just need to get it right.
 

ChrisNelson

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England despite a wobble look like going 2-0 up in the ODI series in Australia. 17 runs needed from 47 balls with 4 wickets in hand and Root at the crease.

Shame we underperformed in the Ashes but our Limited Overs side continues to impress. It was frustrating to see us fall short in the ICC Champions Trophy last year but I'm confident this group of players will go on to win a tournament at some point.
 

Di Maria's angel

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England despite a wobble look like going 2-0 up in the ODI series in Australia. 17 runs needed from 47 balls with 4 wickets in hand and Root at the crease.

Shame we underperformed in the Ashes but our Limited Overs side continues to impress. It was frustrating to see us fall short in the ICC Champions Trophy last year but I'm confident this group of players will go on to win a tournament at some point.
There's a T20 tournament this year, right?
 

Di Maria's angel

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Next one is 2020 (the irony) in Australia apparently. England & Wales host the Cricket World Cup in 2019 and the next ICC Champions Trophy is 2021 in India.
Ah, thought the t20 was this year. Think England have finally caught up to the standards of modern day limited overs cricket and it's good to see.
 

FlawlessThaw

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Ah, thought the t20 was this year. Think England have finally caught up to the standards of modern day limited overs cricket and it's good to see.
They caught up long before the ICC trophy, the issue now is to beat the best consistently. I'm not wholly convinced by them batting first either against an extraordinary pace attack.
 

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They caught up long before the ICC trophy, the issue now is to beat the best consistently. I'm not wholly convinced by them batting first either against an extraordinary pace attack.
While Australia's bowling attack isn't extraordinary - i was hoping Smith decided to bowl first today. England can chase but I'm not sold on them setting a target then defending it. When Australia has batted first, the poms have done a good job of restricting Australia. In Australia, i think you need 330+ batting first and Australia has fallen well short of that in both games.
 

paulscholes18

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England bowlers must be loving the Finch and Marsh partnerships 1st ODI they used up 128 balls for 118 runs and today used up 93 balls for 85 runs, that’s not even close to hurting this England side (without Stokes), if Finch isn’t getting players being aggressive around him then he can’t afford being an anchor unlike Root who had Roy in the 1st ODI and Buttler and Woakes today playing the aggressive role in the partnerships
 

KM

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This is something else by Buttler. What an innings!
 

DOTA

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This is something else by Buttler. What an innings!
Was brilliant. Same from Woakes.

Think they probably just won the series. I'd be very impressed if Australia can chase this, after a partnership like that.
 

DOTA

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Commentary team keep calling Smith Australia's 'best player'. I can't recall too many one day games he's won and his statistics are pretty average. I think it's pretty unfair on Warner, who has more hundreds, in less matches, at a better average, with a better strike rate.
 

DOTA

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Good effort from Australia but always a bit behind and needing something special.
 

Xaviesta

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England too good :(. Australia were 25 or so short in Melbourne, 60 short in Brisbane and bowled two overs worth of wides today. Improvement needed or Australia will struggle to retain the World Cup. We'll see if England and a Trevor Bayliss coached team can get it right when it matters. Things are looking good now for England.
 

DOTA

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England too good :(. Australia were 25 or so short in Melbourne, 60 short in Brisbane and bowled two overs worth of wides today. Improvement needed or Australia will struggle to retain the World Cup. We'll see if England and a Trevor Bayliss coached team can get it right when it matters. Things are looking good now for England.
Looks rather unlikely.

I'm going to have a rare attempt at the English arrogance thing, here, but I think we are currently the best ODI team. I'm not sure Australia currently look likely to be the most likely to stop us, at home.
 

Xaviesta

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Looks rather unlikely.

I'm going to have a rare attempt at the English arrogance thing, here, but I think we are currently the best ODI team. I'm not sure Australia currently look likely to be the most likely to stop us, at home.
The pressure for England to win the World Cup will be big. It'll be their best chance in goodness knows how long. They're arguably the best ODI team at the moment but can they get it right when it matters? Bayliss's record coaching teams in ICC finals is 0 from 3. It may sound harsh to reference that record but is he a nearly man sort of coach?
 

DOTA

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The pressure for England to win the World Cup will be big. It'll be their best chance in goodness knows how long. They're arguably the best ODI team at the moment but can they get it right when it matters? Bayliss's record coaching teams in ICC finals is 0 from 3. It may sound harsh to reference that record but is he a nearly man sort of coach?
I don't know. I'm personally in the camp who says it was actually Farbrace who changed things for England in limited overs cricket, so I'm not the man to ask for a defence of Bayliss.
 

FlawlessThaw

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Players remaining fit (particularly Wood) and not getting in embroiled In off field matters will be truly important for England in 2019.

Today was an extremely good win for England, showed they could defend a total, even more impressive considering they were a frontline bowler short.
 
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While Australia's bowling attack isn't extraordinary - i was hoping Smith decided to bowl first today. England can chase but I'm not sold on them setting a target then defending it. When Australia has batted first, the poms have done a good job of restricting Australia. In Australia, i think you need 330+ batting first and Australia has fallen well short of that in both games.
Oops
We’re a better OD side than Australia at the moment, which is a weird thing to say, we’ve always been terrible in the limited game. Fair play to Morgan and Bayliss
 

Xaviesta

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God, there are suggestions Smith might face some questioning over some alleged ball tampering.