THE ASHES 2015

[Chinagirl]

HB - have you ever seen such a slips cordon?!

[honestbroker1]

HB - have you ever seen such a slips cordon?!

I'm listening to the radio ....

But Australia used to deploy pretty aggressive slip cordons when they had Lilly and Thompson ....

[honestbroker1]

Australia must be relieved Anderson has missed this Test ....

[honestbroker1]

Again, it's indicative, Australia 54-9, but scoring at about 4 an over ...

[Chinagirl]

HB - have you ever seen such a slips cordon?!

I'm listening to the radio ....

But Australia used to deploy pretty aggressive slip cordons when they had Lilly and Thompson ....

So am I, but watching TV on mute.

[Chinagirl]

All out for 60 - unbelievable!

Broad has 8/15 (is that right?)

[honestbroker1]

All out for 60 - unbelievable!

Broad has 8/15 (is that right?)

Yep.

That's right.

[honestbroker1]

Lythe off the mark with a boundary ....

[Chinagirl]

Big decision - do I go to bed, or stay up through the lunch break in the hopes of seeing Oz bowl England out for nothing?

(Glenn McGrath has just said Oz listens should switch off and go to bed!)

[Chinagirl]

Lunch. England 13/0.

[honestbroker1]

Big decision - do I go to bed, or stay up through the lunch break in the hopes of seeing Oz bowl England out for nothing?

(Glenn McGrath has just said Oz listens should switch off and go to bed!)

Well, England have made a confident enough start at the start of their innings just before lunch ....

[Chinagirl]

Just seen a tweet that says Australia's score is less than our international dialing code(61)!

[honestbroker1]

Just seen a tweet that says Australia's score is less than our international dialing code(61)!

[Chinagirl]

My bed is calling, HB, so I'll wish you good night. (Expecting England will be at least 300 when I wake up tomorrow morning!)

Thank you for sharing the disaster with me!

[honestbroker1]

My bed is calling, HB, so I'll wish you good night. (Expecting England will be at least 300 when I wake up tomorrow morning!)

Thank you for sharing the disaster with me!

Sleep well CG.

I've a hunch we may see another essential difference between Australia and England in this test, Australia showing resilience in adversity.

England seldom do.

We'll see.

[Chinagirl]

As I predicted, I have woken up to England having made a heap of runs - on the same pitch where the Aussies were demolished. Root's 124 and (name escapes me) 74 shows that it can be done.

I haven't read any of the written commentaries yet, but the debacle did lead the 7 o'clock news this morning. I wouldn't like to be in Michael Clarke's shoes today!

The South African man who does the stats mentioned a number of "first evers/worst evers/best evers" last night, which I can't remember, except for Broad's bowling (8/15) being the best ever in test cricket. Is that correct?

[Chinagirl]

Correction. The key reason Australia were bowled out for such a paltry score was the performance of Stuart Broad, who stepped up to his role of lead English paceman with incredible effect. He finished with 8-15 in front of his home crowd. Only twice in Test history has anyone taken eight wickets for fewer runs. (Sydney Morning Herald)

However, Australia's dismissal in 18.3 overs was the shortest first innings of a Test in history.

What a humiliating stat for the once-proud Australian cricket team to bear!

Talk about hubris leading to nemesis ........

[Chinagirl]

Some amusing tweets from Australians who watched last night's debacle:

Test match cricket is for the kids. I'm a traditionalist and prefer 20-20, the longer format of the game

You shouldn't judge a wicket until both sides bat on it. Which means we have to wait until Australia actually bat.

ENG has successfully avoided the follow-on

[honestbroker1]

Gallows humour at its best ....



There might be a few twists left.

Ian Botham performed a near miracle at Headingly a few decades back. ....

[honestbroker1]

England on the cusp of victory ....

[Chinagirl]

At least Australia has managed to drag the match into the third day ......

[honestbroker1]

The problem is not that Australia can't play on seaming pitches.

The problem is that they haven't had the opportunity to adapt their game to playing on seaming pitches because they lacked the preparation.

I pointed out before and I think it's worth repeating that in the 1972 Ashes series, Australia played 10 3-day matches against the counties before the first Test.

It so happens that England won that series, but 10 3-day matches were scheduled for the Australians to play before the first test.

Wisden recalls:

The weather was so bad in May and June that few matches ran their proper course and the one against Yorkshire at Bradford was abandoned without a ball bowled although both sides engaged in some unsatisfactory limited over contest considering the conditions. Consequently the batsmen took a long time to find any settled form and the real power behind the 5-man speed attack [bowling] was yet to be revealed.

It's indicative. It's not that Australia can't play in seaming conditions. It's that they lack the experience of those conditions.

Admittedly a leveller is that England players contracted to play for the national side (these days) neither play regularly in those conditions because they don't play county cricket. Still, they are conditions English players are more used to, having risen through the ranks of the county game.

[Chinagirl]

England win - by an innings and 78 runs. They are to be congratulated. An innings defeat is a huge humiliation for OZ - I have to feel sorry for Michael Clarke .....

[Chinagirl]

Some harsh words here:

Ashes 2015: Rebecca Wilson writes arrogance at heart of Australian cricket meltdown


http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 7474699290

[honestbroker1]

The Oval will be a flat track, just as Lords was a flat track.

It'll be interesting to see how the Australians go in that Test.

I think Rebecca Wilson is being harsh on her team ....