Ashes Cricket in England 2013

[cove]

Awful joke doing the rounds this morning:

What is the difference between Cinderella and the Aussie cricket team?

Cinderella knew when to leave the ball.

 

[drross]

awful only because it's true!

 

[SeatBackForward]

I was listening to the radio commentary at about 2am (the joys of a 10month old who can't self-settle), the commentators were already to call it Australia's victory, just a matter of which day. Geoff Boycott was lambasting the English team for their poor batting performance.

I wake up this morning and my jaw dropped.

 

[samh004]

I was very surprised to see "England won by 74 runs" on ESPNcricinfo this morning. Not because I didn't have faith in England, but because there's a day to go

 

[QF WP]

Agree - even at 3/168 we looked like we were on the way. Giving Warner the ability to play his shots was the right thing to do. He got a third of our runs - he and Rogers got over half.

Some soul searching is needed.

God knows we need to claim back the Ashes in Australia

 

[kelvedon]

I'm astonished, went to bed at 0 for 100 and woke up to this! Test cricket is never predictable.

 

[anat0l]

Guess the question is did we collapse and die, or did the English team come back from the dead (or rather, Broad did)?

I think about another test match where Australia had its own "lucky escape" and we heralded the team a hero; certainly wasn't that the opposition simply folded like a house of cards:

Australia amazing win over Pakistan 2nd Test 2009/10 - YouTube

 

[spudseamus]

I was going to sta up and watch ! Glad I didn't !!!!!

 

[TonyHancock]

The focus has been on the batting collapse, and rightly so, but am I the only one to see shades of "Thicky" Ponting in Clarke's on field captaincy? His field placing seemed poor considering the morning situation. He allowed runs to flow way too freely from the tail.

 

[Warks]

This game was pretty much lost on the third morning when the last 5 wickets added next to nothing when there was a chance of a significant lead. Then they let the foot off the accelerator after having them 3 for not much and Bell (who has been the biggest difference between the sides) went to town. Australia was still in it if they could clean up the tail at the start but only Ryan Harris bowled with the skill needed - and what skill! - but Bird was hopeless. Starc should have played really - he can bat at least.

Even with the target of less than 300 we were still in it and all it takes is one bad session to ruin all the work of the Test. What was the rush? They had another day to score the runs.

People are slagging off Australia as "the worst ever" etc but it really is a game of inches. A side doesn't have to be that much worse but will still lose 9 times out of 10. Look at the series Australia has won in the past few years. A few decisions the other way, a few bad shots not played and the result is turned on its head. The sign of the top teams is that they win these small battles consistently and get away with it. The great Windies side of the 70s and 80s didn't smash every team every game - they drew a lot of Tests they might have lost and drew a few series when they were down and out.

The wheel turns full circle.

 

[JohnK]

Went to bed with Australia around 130/1 thinking they were making this run chase look easy and should win.

Woke up to read about the carnage.

What happened? Did they throw in the towel?

 

[kpc]

Went to bed with Australia around 130/1 thinking they were making this run chase look easy and should win.

Woke up to read about the carnage.

What happened? Did they throw in the towel?

I went to bed when Aust were 0/100 thinking we should win this, then woke up to find we lost by 74 runs. Hopeless! Disgraceful! What other adjectives are there??

 

[JohnK]

Hopeless! Disgraceful! What other adjectives are there??

Disgraceful.
Appalling.
Disappointing.
Awful.
Nightmare.
Incompetent.
Traumatic.

 

[a330j]

What is becoming more apparent as the series progresses is how weak the batting lineup is. While you could argue some of these blokes need to have a long hard think about their careers, a quick look at the Sheffield Shield batting averages shows there is nowhere else to look for replacements. With the exception of Ricky Ponting (who topped the batting averages last year including the most centuries) others high up in the batting averages are in the team. So sadly the reality is this mob is as good as it is going to get. Selectors could maybe look at Australia A, but many in that team are already Test Team rejects.

Maybe its time Cricket Australia enticed all the overseas based Australian trainers and coaches working (very successfully) for other cricketing countries to come back and develop Australia's cricketing talent. In the meantime Australian cricket might be in for a long drought.

 

[TonyHancock]

What is becoming more apparent as the series progresses is how weak the batting lineup is.

I don't think it is just Australia though. The reality is Bell is the big difference. The batting averages on both sides, Bell excluded, don't make for good reading.

 

[a330j]

True, but England is or has just been No1 in the world (I don't know whether they still are). They are proven players out of form. Cook Pietersen Trott and Bell all have lots of runs under their belt and healthy averages approaching 50. Its a batting lineup that you would allow time for them to turn it around. Different to Australia (with the exception on Clarke) who are trying to prove themselves, without success. I mean is that 8 or 9 straight losses now?

 

[Warks]

Eight matches without winning - they drew the last Test, remember? And deserved to win it. But a draw is as good as not losing I guess.

I read somewhere that in October the Australian one day team (which includes many of the Test team) is going to India for seven (7) totally meaningless ODIs. Great preparation for the forthcoming Ashes when there is all that Sheffield Shield to be played and runs to be scored. Batsmen would have a chance to get a bit of form on the board on home wickets. But it seems CA is only interested in revenue. At the end of this Ashes tour they'll be slapping themselves on the back for the great crowd numbers - boosted by visiting Poms - and go back to business as usual.

 

[JohnK]

But it seems CA is only interested in revenue.

Not just CA. The players obviously want to play more matches to increase their take home pay.

 

[Rallo]

Australian players are the highest paid players in the world , go figure :shock:

 

[JohnK]

What happened? Did they throw in the towel?

The general consensus on TV appears to be the Aussies choked.

Quite famous for that one aren't we?