English cricket thread

ChrisNelson

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Absolutely embarrassing. How is a spinner leaving his foot so close to the line that a no ball is even in question?

That really does sum things up, so disappointing and it almost feels like the boost it will give Australia is equivalent to us having to take an extra couple of wickets.

I imagine Mr Leach will not be the most popular person in the dressing room later, unless of course we can get him again or wrap things up around him.
 

prateik

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I walked away for a couple of minutes after Smith got out... missed the replay..

Smith looked like he was losing focus with the wild shot in the previous over from Stokes too..
looks like he still isnt totally there..

If he gets his concentration back, he'll score another century.
 

sammsky1

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No-ball outed Smith is indicative of Stokes and Leach using up a lot of luck at Leeds.
 
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cesc's_mullet

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If all England can hope for is to take wickets around Smith and let him finish not out then we have no chance of winning the series.

At some point, someone at the other end will dig in too and our batting line-up just isn't good enough to allow them a score over 350 if we want to win this match, especially with the weather forecast.

It's so frustrating to watch as an England fan but on the other hand we are admiring one of the greats of the game at work.
Relax. You just won the un-winnable test.

We just can't rely on Smith to bail us out every single time. It's not sustainable.
 

KM

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Relax. You just won the un-winnable test.

We just can't rely on Smith to bail us out every single time. It's not sustainable.
Not sustainable my ass :lol:
Smith is a fecking freak in test matches.

Look at the state of this record ffs.
 

TMDaines

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England need to start their rain dances. Can't see them winning this test.
 

KM

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This pitch is quite flat tbh.
 

Annihilate Now!

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England need to start their rain dances. Can't see them winning this test.
If we can get the Aussies out for around 350 (unlikely) , bat competently throughout the order (highly unlikely) and hope Steve Smith suddenly has become bored of facing all these balls/the idea of batting in cricket in general and instead wants to become a full-time spinner (most likely of these 3 scenarios) then we have a chance I reckon.
 

JohnnyKills

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No excuse for a spinner to overstep.

We're fecked.
We're still a rabble aren't we. Run-outs, dropped catches, now no-balls... All adds up to a disorganised and poorly run team doesn't it.

We've got some great players but doesn't look like the coaching or on-field leadership is up to scratch.
 

ChrisNelson

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Not sustainable my ass :lol:
Smith is a fecking freak in test matches.

Look at the state of this record ffs.
Averaging a century, and over twice as many runs as the next best is just insane.

I mean granted we won the seemingly unwinnable test but a cynic would say with Smith in the team, Stokes would have had to score another 200 runs!

We are going to need another miracle in this match.
 

JohnnyKills

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Averaging a century, and over twice as many runs as the next best is just insane.

I mean granted we won the seemingly unwinnable test but a cynic would say with Smith in the team, Stokes would have had to score another 200 runs!

We are going to need another miracle in this match.
Tbf it looked like we'd found the answer in the last game, but Archer has been (literally) miles off the pace so far. You wonder if he's still feeling that injury he picked up at Headingley.

Smith's run is ridiculous but we haven't made him answer that question against the short ball.
 

Ish

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Smith is apparently the leading run scorer in this calendar year in test matches, if I heard the commentator right :lol:

I’m not sure how many tests he’s missed/or the others have had, but that’s still insane considering he finished his ban in March iirc & didn’t play any test cricket until the Ashes now - iirc.
 

Skills

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If he didn't get hit in the second test, I think he could've broken the ashes record for runs in a series (I think it's close to 900 by Bradman obviously)
 

sammsky1

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This is so depressing, does anyone want my ticket for tomorrow?!
Aussie attack will also be blunted by this dead pitch.

So long as England bat sensibly, this game should end as a score bore draw. Though the likes of Roy, Bairstow and Buttler are not renowned for batting out time.

Surprised as all the pre match noise was expecting a fast track.
 

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I can't remember an aura around a batsman in a test series like there is for Smith here.

It feels like he is obviously going to get at least a 100 in every innings. Not just, "he's the danger man" or "he's the one to get out" but like, he is definitely going to get 100+ runs, and everyone knows it.
 

JohnnyKills

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I can't remember an aura around a batsman in a test series like there is for Smith here.

It feels like he is obviously going to get at least a 100 in every innings. Not just, "he's the danger man" or "he's the one to get out" but like, he is definitely going to get 100+ runs, and everyone knows it.
Yeah I don't think we're going to see anything like this ever again. The run he's been on since 2013 is absolutely incredible.
 

JohnnyKills

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Steven Smith is one of the very best
He must have incredible hand-eye coordination. All cricketers have it in spades but his must be something else.

He's basically found a cheat where he bats on off-stump, which means he can leave all the balls outside his eyeline and not have to worry about nicking to slip. 99% of batsman couldn't do this, as it leaves them massively exposed to LBW, but his eyes are so good he never misses the ball.

You wonder how steep his decline will be when his eyesight starts to go, but for now yeah, it's incredible. This must have been what Bradman was like.