ICC have said nothing as of yet Bazza let’s see if the wicket is different in the final test next week at the same ground

Root 5 for 8 says it all. Problem seems to be that the Indian Cricket Board are very rich and all powerful. If the ICC do anything at all it will probably just be a slap on the wrist.

I never saw a ball bowled live in the Test as the BBC never mentioned it had started and only mentioned it after the first days play had concluded. Their cricket coverage is fuckin appalling for what is the national summer sport. Of course they do wank themselves silly over Wimbledon when tennis appears for its annual fortnightly airing. Cliff Richard is a massive tennis fan which says it all really.

I never watched it either but did you know channel 4 are showing this series live ?

Yes I watched some of the First and Second Tests on Channel 4. I knew the Third Test was a Day/Nighter but what with the time differences and the random days the matches start I lose track. So I would have thought that on BBC Breakfast Sports News they would at least announce the England squad before the Test started. No fuckin chance.

Watching the current Test at Edgbaston, I hope that's the Test batting line-up that England brings to Australia at the end of the year. Cummins & co will have a field day. Other than Stokes who is missing? Will they go back to the likes of Bairstow & Buttler?


Will Anderson & Broad come again to spearhead the attack? Hope so or will the speed guys Archer & Wood be the main men? :clueless:


It must be a bit of a worry when the South Sea Poms play their near second side and probably beat you on your home ground in just over three days.









Some of the press was rather scathing. Look at this from CricInfo that can be viewed here




:pokey:

No concerns at all bairstow butler and stokes give us a load more runs archer will be fit hopefully got a 5 test series against India to sort it out top order being priority I’d try hameed again in that series he’s in squad now not played for England in 5 year but came away from India with 42 average back in 2016 which isn’t too bad
Think broad and Anderson will both go Australia depends on fitness of others if they play in all the tests

The squad for the Ashes will probably be based on who has made the most PC tweets on Twitter.

Bazza's Fearless T20 World Cup Predictions





Australia to flog Pakistan in the semi-final. Look to Lords 1999 WC final. We always hammer the Paki's.


Kiwis or the Curry Munchers to beat England in the other semi. England has started a losing streak now that will continue to the end of the Ashes. They peaked too early


Australia to win T20 final probably against the Kiwis. Kiwis only beat Australia in NZ. Source? 2015 WC final.


With a team that contains my heroes Mitch Marsh, Steve Smith, and Dave Warner, how can we lose!!!! :ausflag:



And if we lose it doesn't really matter, as we are having ANOTHER Men's T20 World Cup in Australia next year





dancing dancing dancing

:lmao:

:sadwalk:

What can I say?? Even old fools like me get it right every now & then.



Actually, I put it all down to Fozzie. He was in Pattaya in 2015 when Australia won the ODI World Cup. He is back there now and we win again. He is our lucky charm.

I hope he goes to Oz for the upcoming Ashes. The last time he went, the Aussies won 5-0





:haha:

Just pyjama cricket though Baz nothing to get excited about. Of course I wouldn't have wrote that if England had won, as then T20 would have been the No 1 sport in the world.

Been all hell let loose in the UK over former Yorkshire cricketer Azeem Rafiq's racist allegations. Rafiq even appeared before a UK parliamentary committee on Tuesday to face questions from MPs. BBC all over it as you would expect. Questions also being asked as why the ECB is a closed shop full of white ex Public School types. Hopefully they will get their arses well and truly kicked and they will have to be more open and inclusive. No more champagne, foie gras and caviar more like John Smiths, tripe and black pudding.

Where is my old mate, The Bagman?? We have a serious issue and we need to throw in our two bobs worth.


The Australian Test cricket team needs a new captain as our man Timmy has fallen by the wayside for doing what 99% of men have done in one form or another over the years. Years ago nobody would have cared but we are now in a different era.


Time to put on our thinking caps

The following would have probably been the First Test line-up (not that I agree with it)


1. Warner
2. Harris
3. Labs (coz I still can't spell his name)
4. Smith
5. Head
6. Green
7. Paine
8. Cummins
9. Starc
10. Hazelwood
11. Lyon


Lots of talk in the media about pretty boy Cummins being named as captain. I hope not. He is way too nice. The last bowler to captain Australia was Benaud, 60 years ago and he was a leggie. Australia does not have fast bowlers as their captain. So that leaves out No.'s 8, 9, 10. Lyon used to shag other women while being with his former partner so no chance for him.



Australia's Test captain was normally the team's best bat. After Benaud, we have had Simpson, Lawry, I. Chappell, G. Chappell, Simpson again, Yallop, Chappell G. again, Hughes, Border, Taylor, S. Waugh, Ponting, Clarke, and Smith. So pretty close to the mark. Paine was not the best batsman but an old-school gentleman.



So the process of elimination begins

Warner & Smith? No fucking chance. That would cause a civil war.

Labs? Best bat but a bit of a hothead. Not born in Australia. No.

Head and Harris? Lucky to have a spot. No

Green? A bit young and a rookie. No





What to do, what to do? :clueless:



Normally the captain should come from NSW but no one in the team fits the bill. There has only been one Western Australian captain (Hughes) but he cried. Only one Victorian (Lawry) but he was too boring and raced pigeons. Yallop does not count as he was there by default. One Tasmanian (Ponting) but he was an off-field gambler and brawler in the Stokes mould. Both Chappells came from South Australia but that was the 70's. The place is fucked now. No real Queenslander captains Australia.




What to do, what to do? :dunno:




Then it struck me!! We have to go a bit left-field.



My New Australian Test team


1. Warner
2. Harris
3. Labs
4. Smith
5. Marsh M.
6. Green
7. J. Pierson w/k
8. Cummins
9. Hazelwood.
10. J. Richardson
11. Lyon




And the captain? My man, Mitch Marsh, of course. He is the best Australian batsman at the moment, a born leader and good mate of Langer's. He just needs to curb his enthusiasm with regards to punching walls. Punch a few Poms instead.


After he won the World Cup for Australia a week ago, it was said that he was the most popular player on the team and that everyone loved him. The natural choice.


Jimmy Pierson to be V/C. He captained QLD to a rare Sheffield Shield win and is in good form.




There ya go. I have solved Cricket Australia's problems again




Time for another Leo :3beers:




dancing

What do you make of the emergence of Mitch Marsh into a seemingly quality player Baz? Flash in the pan or after what seems ages has he now found out how to play at international level?

My man Mitch did not make the Ashes squad for the upcoming first two tests but did get named as an Australia A team player. These squads will play an intra-squad game on December 3. Ya never know, he may play a blinder and get back in.






Mitch has had many chances in the past but never forget that the likes of Langer, Hayden, both Waugh brothers, etc have all been dropped in the past but came back to perform superbly at the top level.


The eastern states media especially from NSW & Victoria (where most of the population of Oz lives) will have a field day if Mitch (from Western Australia like Langer) ever gets picked in the Test team again.




:pokey:

I think what happens with quite a few players is that they break through into Test cricket, manage to find their feet relatively quick and score some runs and initially looks quite impressive. But the more they play the more footage coaches have to analyse their technique. Then for a lot of them they are well and truly found, struggle and are dropped. However a few go away, work on their technique and return and go on to be world-class players. Graham Gooch is a prime example. Opening bat, bagged a pair on debut, dropped but came back and ended up as one of Englands all time best batsmen. Maybe Mitch is one of them?

No chance IMHO He won't get back in. He has had too many chances already.


Bloody hell, they have picked a fast bowler as captain. There is a reason no fast bowler has captained Australia before. "They have no fucking brains!!" quoting my mate Stumpy. He might be the best Test bowler in the world, looks pretty, and is an all-around nice guy but he should not be captain. His job is to breathe fire and knock their blocks off.


Most Australian captains could bowl. Benaud, Simpson, Chapelli, Waugh, Border, Clarke, and Smith started out as a leggie. No fast bowlers.


Remember when Botham was the captain of England? 12 Tests, 0 wins, 4 losses and 8 draws. Bob Willis did a bit better but remember when Flintoff captained England in Australia in 2007/08. We all know what happened


On top of that, Cricket Australia rewarded that cheating prick Smith with a leadership role again. He will have plenty of tips for Cummins :angry:


To make matters worse, young Inglis is in line for the keepers job. He is a bloody Pom!!! Born in Leeds. Might as well give the Paki, Khawaja a spot as well. Throw in the Saffa (Labs) and it's near the UN team. There are probably a few Indians and Sri Lankans playing state cricket that are next in line too.


We are giving the Ashes to the Poms on a plate.


Time for me to go back into my cave, open a bottle of Thai whiskey, and drown my sorrows.


As Wham once sang, Wake me up when it's all over




:drunk:

Apart from fast bowlers not being selected as Captains because they are too fucking thick fast bowling does not go hand-in-hand with captaincy IMO. Typically after bowling an over the fast bowler will go out to "graze" in the outfield at either Third Man or Long Leg. Obviously if he's Captain he will have to be in the infield and organising things. And this will be a huge change from the normal role and will be difficult to adapt to. Don't know what Cummings is like as a slip but he will be bowling and then having to field at least at mid-off. The pressure on him will be enormous.

nothing to see here..no ashes talk..move on...

Can this thread be locked until after the ashes? Or at least until England is winning.

I reckon the Aussies got lucky at the and of the first day when rain halted proceedings. England bowlers would have pummelled them. Thing is we will never know so I can't be proven wrong. Stupid maybe, but definitely not wrong.

Been a good Test so far but England still have a lot to do to make up for the First Innings batting shambles.

Settled down on the sofa last night, with a duvet, planning on doing the Ashes night shift. TV coverage was lost, had to listen to a load of pricks talking shite from a studio, fell asleep, woke up with Wood and Woakes batting. Thought fuck this and went to bed.

:ohno:



We have lost our main man. One of the pillars of the team. No Josh Hazelwood for Adelaide. Hopefully, Jhye Richardson will get his chance though Michael Neser also deserves a go after taking 7 wickets in the English Lions game.



Starc is still a passenger IMHO. Take away the first ball Burns dismissal and his match figures would have read 112/2.



There is still a lot of questions about some of the Aussie team. Harris needs to show something. Hoping that Head is not another one-hit-wonder. Warner was VERY lucky in Brisbane though they won't drop him. Sadly.



Young Green could be anything as long as he is not pushed too hard in these early years of his Test career though with the amount of Test cricket that Australia plays lately, he should be ok.



Poms should not be too downhearted. It must be a bastard being on the road these days living within all the CV-19 restrictions. At least they will have some warm sun in Australia. They face a tall order having to win at least two of the remaining four Tests considering that since the turn of the century, they have only won four Tests in Australia.


Stating the obvious I know but they gotta sort out their batting issues. Root can't be expected to do it all the time.


I have all the time in the world for Anderson & Broad but geez, they are not getting any younger. Their previous Ashes Tests results in Australia are not exactly stunning. Maybe I am wrong ( I usually am) but I reckon the Poms should stick with the three quicks that they used in Brisbane. I doubt that will happen though.


The Poms can also take heart knowing that Australia won the First Test in Australia last year against India but lost the series.


Plus there are also clowns like me that think that they may actually win




My usual Betfair $100 on England to win the Ashes in Australia








I should have waited until after the Brisbane Test. Can get 10s now










:lol3:

I’m assuming England are holding a lot of hope on the pink ball swinging hence them resting both Anderson and broad for first test I’d have played at least one of them in Brisbane and who do they drop tomorrow in a must win test match ?

Cummins out of the test due to covid - Bazza it looks like your worst nightmare with the VC to take on the captains role!!!

Hope they check the Australian teams pockets before they are allowed on the field

Well England are staring down the barrel again. Ever since I was a kid I always thought that the only way to go in Australia was with a battery of fast bowlers and a good spinner. Seam bowlers are practically redundant. However that's all England ever seem to take Down Under. Granted there has been a lack of fast bowlers in the past but that was mainly down to the demands of County Cricket resulting in quick bowlers being burnt out and resorting to seam up. However since the introduction of Central Contracts there should be none of this happening. But it seem the ECB are incapable of managing this. Or anything else for that matter.

I can't watch Smith & Warner wearing a Baggy Green. I won't watch Australia playing Test cricket again until neither of them is in the Test side. I just keep up to date with the scores via my phone or computer. About a half-hour past the close of play, I watch BT Sports 1 where a few people in England sit around and talk about the day's play for about 45 mins. At the start, they play about 10 mins highlights of the day play which is enough for me. After that, there is a 90 mins highlight package of the day's play which I sometimes watch.


I also listen to the BBC's Test Match Special with Jonathon Agnew & co who do a daily podcast summing up each day's play. I have been listening to these for as long as they have been published over the internet. More than 20 years, maybe? I wish the Australian ABC would do something similar. Maybe they do on their Grandstand network.


Australia at tea on the second day was 7/390 odd. I have never known them to bat so slowly. Why, as it goes against the grain of the way Australia normally plays. Day/night Test? Taking up time so England cannot win? Protecting their two new fast bowlers somehow? Very strange.


Anyway, play on the 3rd day starts soon. England has it all to do. If they lose this Test, the Ashes (and my money :haha:) are gone


BTW, my man Mitch scored a 60 ball 100 in the BBL the other night. He is ready and waiting for his Test team recall


dancing

I think Australia’s slow scoring was partly down to our short length bowling
A bit negative should have been pitching it up looking for the edge of the bat we didn’t bowl badly but letting Australia get a good total is not a good idea when we can’t really bat

Or Bowl/Field/Catch....
Still i think they do a half decent job on the drinks breaks

Is it my eyesight? When Robinson first broke into Test cricket he looked pretty quick. Not as fast as Wood but up around the 85mph mark. Now he just seems to be bowling line and length and plodding away around 75mph. Am I missing something? Haven't been to Specsavers for a good few years so that may be the problem.

ICC Rankings







The latest rankings are HERE





Maybe someone can explain this to me.

Labs is the new #1 ranked Test bat in the world according to the ICC. He has played about 3 Tests in 2021.

Joe Root has played plenty of Tests this year. His form has been stellar. He is getting close to the highest ever number of runs scored in Tests in a calendar year.

Why isn't Joe still number one?


Travis Head at #10 is fucking laughable. If that is true then Test cricket is in a very bad way.




Four of the top ten bats are Australian yet they have hardly played.



The same with the bowlers. Cummins, Hazelwood & Starc are all in the top ten in Test cricket. Again after hardly playing all year


India and NZ are deservedly ranked #1 & #2 Test teams yet between them they have only three bats in the top ten (Williamson, Sharma & Kohli) and four bowlers (Ashwin, Southee, Wagner & Jamieson). Ashwin has hardly played a Test yet is rated the #2 Test bowler


Don't forget that Australia lost its previous Test series against India in Australia last year.



All very puzzling to me



:clueless:

Its explained here Baz. Complete load of bollocks and that often used word algorithm crops up. Far better based on an average calculated by total runs scored divided by dismissals. Minimum of 25 Test Innings would exclude the flash in the pans.

http://www.relianceiccrankings.com/about.php

What a sad day for English Cricket!
Sorry guys couldn't resist.

Fuckin abysmal performance and thats being kind. Bowlers drag the team out the shit just for the batsmen to drop them back in even deeper. IMO the current Aussie Test team aren't even that good, however when your only playing dross it does make you look a lot better.

Stayed up Boxing Day night to watch the Test, for the second and last time this series. Wont be wasting anymore time on these wankers. Silverwood and around 6 players from the last team need to be given the bullet.

Bit of a shit storm over Langer's resignation

Sporting websites and Facebook alive with opinions & comments. Public opinion seems to be with Langer. As am I.


Ex-players really dishing it out to current players and also to Cricket Australia especially to the CEO Nick Hockley who, BTW, is a Pom


Mitchell Johnson



Interesting article from Geoff Lawson in the Sydney Morning Herald



The full article is HERE




And this one from Langer himself. Pretty classy IMHO





Whoever the new coach is, he better get results or it will all go wonky quickly. Players, new coach, and Cricket Australia are really in the spotlight now



:toot:

After winning the T20 for the first time then rolling the poms 4 zip in the ashes Langer resurrected a lame mob who fell down after the sandpaper debacle in SA. What a mob of cunts the current bunch of players and CA are to treat Langer this way. A good coach does not have to be loved by his players to get results and Langer proved that in spades. CA are a disgrace and their cowering to the players and woke mentality will be the end of cricket as we diehards remember it!

From up here Langers departure just sounds like Player Power has taken another victim. No logical reason why players in any sport should be able to dictate the direction any team goes in. So the next coach will have to be approved by the players? Probably will be someone as weak as piss and lets them do what they want.

Joey's gone!!


:ohno: