England Australia Ashes 2019

[davidge]

Review of the 4th Test v Australia

by Dan Whiting

“Oh Manchester, so much to answer for” lamented the Smiths back in 1984 but it was a couple of other Smiths who grabbed the headlines during this absorbing contest at Old Trafford. Steven for Australia scored a double hundred, Ed for England, picked the same batting line up. This was where England lost the Ashes in Manchester but the reality is that they were lost from the moment that England persisted with a side, that was as fragile as the cotton that gave this city its Victorian wealth. It was a selection that showed myopia, that culminated in this loss down the road from Longsight. Our Prime Minister had less of a humbling defeat in the Commons this week. This is the review of those bloody Australians beating us again…

England brought in Craig Overton to a few raised eyebrows from the cricketing cognoscenti. I was more interested to see if he reviewed a decision – I wanted to see an Overton overturn. The batting positions were changed so much, that even John Bercow would have been shouting "Order". Denly and Roy were swapped, Overton watched the flocks by night and England were all at sea, on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal.

 

It started with rain, wind, freezing temperatures and general misery – a typical summer’s day in Manchester then really. The rain fell down, on a humdrum town as The Smiths said, before Warner departed early. Stuart Broad will go home and empty his trousers out every night – house keys…check, car keys…check, money…check, David Warner…ah yes. The problem is this brings in Steve Smith to the crease earlier. 

 

All series the Aussie has been different league. Not just to any of his peers currently but to any batsman that I have seen ever. Weight of runs outweighs aesthetics in the case of Smith, he’s frustrating to watch because he is such an ugly batsman but you just cannot take away his contribution in the scorebook. When his luck is in, he goes large. Here, he rode his luck – he was caught off a no ball from Leach but he scored a magnificent 211 before getting bored and reversing Joe Root to short third man. Leach’s overstepping of the mark was the most expensive seen in the city since Joey Barton was fined two week’s wages for stubbing out a cigar in a team mate's eye. There was even time for the returning Mitchell Starc to grab a fifty as the Aussies declared on 497. Archer was down on his pace. Let’s hope he isn’t another England bowler that we have turned into an 82mph medium pacer. His role in the side is to bowl quick. 

Everything and anything went wrong for England. It was like they were watching our politicians in Westminster and said, “Hold my pint…”

 

England batted and lost Denly and Overton early. Hazlewood and Cummins have been outstanding. Hunting in packs, they’ve been like outback dingos hunting down the weaker sheep in the England line up. Smith has been a difference but having three quality seamers here who chuck it down at 88 or 89mph made a massive difference, especially on a slow pitch where you needed to bend your back. Burns and Root batted well against them. The Surrey man was particularly impressive, dropping his hands and weaving the short stuff before Hazlewood pinned Root in front. Cummins pumped the tyres up, Hazlewood rode the bike. Buttler chipped in with a few before Starc blew the tail away. The follow on was saved but England were up against it.

 

Warner was out for his customary duck before Smith got his lowest score of the series. He scored a paltry 82 before holing out to long off from Jack Leach. Archer was back up to full pace, riled by some poor chat from Wade. The Aussies declared on 186, leaving England 383 to win. A draw was the best they could hope for.

So it came to Sunday and England had to bat all day to keep the Ashes at 1-1. Root had been castled first ball by a beauty from Cummins the previous evening but on the Sabbath, it is the day that the Rev. Ben Stokes goes to work. Could he keep the series alive? Sadly he was soon out but a rear guard action gave us all a bit of hope. Leach enthralled his fan club before popping the part time Labuschagne to short leg and finally Overton was out lbw. It was Ashes to Ashes and Dust to Dust for England’s Ashes hopes. 

 

This isn’t a good Australian side by any means. The 2005 side would have been all over them. Smith is a top player and their seam attack has been outstanding. However, they do have a lot of dead wood in their side including probably four or five players who are not international standard. 

They’re still better than us though and that is what is so disappointing from an English viewpoint. Take away the Ben Stokes magic in Leeds and it would be 3-0. I don't care if we have won the World Cup this summer, this is the Ashes. A home Ashes series should matter, prep or no prep. If the players are tired, get in some who aren't. It's not like the Aussies didn't have a World Cup either. We've been crap all summer, save Stokes knock, Burns ton or the odd Archer spell. Too many England players have gone missing.

 

When things have gone against the Aussies, Cummins and Hazlewood have run in hard and made things happen. When things go against England they lack ideas and look forlorn. This side looks beaten. Beaten up.

England now need to make wholesale changes. Whilst the series was alive, I advocated changes at opener and four with experienced players. Now it is gone, it is time for us to invest in youth. The side needs a rebuild. Having a seven who has got one Test hundred and fulfils no other role in the side is luxurious at best. The lack of red ball specialists has hurt us and too many of our batsmen get bowled. Things will only get worse whilst the powers that be at the ECB chase the dollar and invest in a second short format game to the detriment of players who spend time occupying the crease. It’s time for Bayliss to go, after the longest notice period in history. Ed Smith needs to follow him out of the door too. The captain and the coach have to be involved in selection, so they are accountable, along with a head of selection. The new coach needs to be strong and not let Ed be the judge and jury. As the Smiths said, "Stop me if you’ve heard this one before". It’s the same mistakes being made over and over. 

 

This was misery in Manchester. A new era surely beckons? How soon is now?

 

 

[bukone]

10 hours ago, jollygumpster said:

Comedy gold from the England selectors as they name an unchanged squad for the final test. 

The Aussie bowlers should let Roy get a few runs just to keep him in the team.

Obviously the selectors are in advanced planning how best to secure a four or five nil defeat when we go down under in a year and a half. 

Thing is apart from smith and stokes no other batsman has scored a hundred, it’s been a bowlers dream this series, when they lost Anderson they should have asked the groundsman to prepare batting pitches, because let’s be real here England only had two decent bowlers who could take wickets.

[mikeyboy]

21 hours ago, bukone said:

Thing is apart from smith and stokes no other batsman has scored a hundred, it’s been a bowlers dream this series, when they lost Anderson they should have asked the groundsman to prepare batting pitches, because let’s be real here England only had two decent bowlers who could take wickets.

Burns and Wade both scored tons , but i think the wickets have generally been fine , with overhead conditions being a factor in many dismissals

This is what makes Smiths aggregate even more outstanding

Batting Roads where 500's are par , make for fairly tedious matches .

Mikeyboy

 

Edited September 10, 2019 by mikeyboy
addition

[davidge]

England make two changes to team for final Ashes Test

Sam Curran and Chris Woakes have been named in the playing eleven, with Jason Roy and Craig Overton left out

[davidge]

 Mitchell Marsh replaces Travis Head for Australia

[mikeyboy]

2 hours ago, davidge said:

England make two changes to team for final Ashes Test

Sam Curran and Chris Woakes have been named in the playing eleven, with Jason Roy and Craig Overton left out

Sanity prevails , either Curran or Woakes more likely to score runs than Roy , but the elephant in the room is  , how do England or anyone else for that matter ,  get Steve Smith out  ?   

Mikeyboy 

[davidge]

33 minutes ago, mikeyboy said:

Sanity prevails , either Curran or Woakes more likely to score runs than Roy , but the elephant in the room is  , how do England or anyone else for that matter ,  get Steve Smith out  ?   

Mikeyboy 

I think they’ve only done it because Stokes isn’t fit to bowl so he’s playing only as a batsman. As a result they’ve gone for another bowler.

Smith: full swingers early on - or head high beamers 

[jollygumpster]

replacing roy with a bowler should strengthen the batting 

[Ah dinnae ken]

If you include Leach as an allrounder (555) how many does that make in the side, too many I would have thought.

[Jebb]

You could say the same about the Aussies. Marsh continually fails at Test level with bat and ball yet the selectors always seem favor him. They say he was bought in to rest and share the workload of our bowlers. Remember the days when Lillee and Thompson played every test and most county games on tour? Never complained and never suffered for it.

[Ah dinnae ken]

On 03/08/2019 at 22:44, froddo said:

People keep saying this but if you look back at the good sides they tended to pick 4 front line bowlers & a part timer unless you had a Flintoff Sobers Miller & the South African whose name escapes me who could do anything. What you see below is the Ashes bowling 17/18.

Aust basically had the same 4 bowlers with J Bird playing one as a replacement for a injured player & M Marsh playing as an allrounder taking  0 wkts & scoring as many runs.

 

Great game poised at lunch

 

Most wickets

Player	Mat	Inns	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	5	10
PJ Cummins (AUS)	5	9	197.1	43	567	23	4/39	8/119	24.65	2.87	51.4	0	0
MA Starc (AUS)	4	8	162.3	32	518	22	5/88	8/137	23.54	3.18	44.3	1	0
JR Hazlewood (AUS)	5	9	190.5	49	544	21	5/48	8/140	25.90	2.85	54.5	1	0
NM Lyon (AUS)	5	9	260.1	61	614	21	4/60	6/105	29.23	2.36	74.3	0	0
JM Anderson (ENG)	5	8	223.3	70	473	17	5/43	6/117	27.82	2.11	78.8	1	0
SCJ Broad (ENG)	5	8	195.0	55	525	11	4/51	5/95	47.72	2.69	106.3	0	0
CR Woakes (ENG)	4	7	167.0	32	495	10	4/36	5/120	49.50	2.96	100.2	0	0
C Overton (ENG)	2	3	59.0	4	226	6	3/105	4/116	37.66	3.83	59.0	0	0
MM Ali (ENG)	5	8	169.2	27	575	5	2/74	2/97	115.00	3.39	203.2	0	0
JE Root (ENG)	5	6	28.3	6	78	2	1/1	1/1	39.00	2.73	85.5	0	0
TK Curran (ENG)	2	3	66.0	14	200	2	1/65	1/82	100.00	3.03	198.0	0	0
JT Ball (ENG)	1	2	26.0	4	115	1	1/77	1/115	115.00	4.42	156.0	0	0
MS Crane (ENG)	1	1	48.0	3	193	1	1/193	1/193	193.00	4.02	288.0	0	0
SPD Smith (AUS)	5	4	9.0	1	33	0	-	-	-	3.66	-	0	0
DJ Malan (ENG)	5	3	21.0	3	54	0	-	-	-	2.57	-	0	0
JM Bird (AUS)	1	1	30.0	5	108	0	-	-	-	3.60	-	0	0
MR Marsh (AUS)	3	5	32.0	4	132	0	-	-	-	4.12	-	0	0

Records includes the following current or recent matches:

Australia v England at Sydney, 5th Test, Jan 4-8, 2018 [Test # 2291]

Australia v England at Melbourne, 4th Test, Dec 26-30, 2017 [Test # 2289]

Australia v England at Perth, 3rd Test, Dec 14-18, 2017 [Test # 2288]

Agree Jebb but usually Aust goes with 4 bowlers & a batter who bowls like Duggie Walters, Waughs etc

[Jebb]

Yes true, back then they had Walker as a backup and Gilmour and Walters as all rounders, Mallet or Jenner both very average spinners but they did the brunt and were never rotated.

[bukone]

2 hours ago, Jebb said:

You could say the same about the Aussies. Marsh continually fails at Test level with bat and ball yet the selectors always seem favor him. They say he was bought in to rest and share the workload of our bowlers. Remember the days when Lillee and Thompson played every test and most county games on tour? Never complained and never suffered for it.

With 20/20 tournaments (I know they only bowl 4 overs but play every second day)  and all other forms of cricket bowlers have a big work load than the old days, hopefully they give Cummings a break as he is injury prone.

[bukone]

2 hours ago, Jebb said:

You could say the same about the Aussies. Marsh continually fails at Test level with bat and ball yet the selectors always seem favor him. They say he was bought in to rest and share the workload of our bowlers. Remember the days when Lillee and Thompson played every test and most county games on tour? Never complained and never suffered for it.

I agree about marsh, he has scored a couple of good knocks but we should try someone else, given the game is a dead rubber, think it’s his dad that gets him back in 

[davidge]

Surprised to see Siddle in the side, especially as Marsh is playing as well. Also surprised Paine opted to bowl first.

IF England can get a score then Leach could well enjoy bowling on days 4 & 5 on this pitch.

[apu nahasapeemapetilon]

And the English just about pocket another session.

[dave01]

In what fucked up universe does Siddle get more game time than Starc?? Obviously, siddle is a closet Marsh... Unbefuckinglievable.... As an Oz, I hope the Poms give it to them... ludicrous selections....

[jollygumpster]

30 minutes ago, dave01 said:

As an Oz, I hope the Poms give it to them.

the way things are going we would struggle to give it to the thai women's team.

 

[keepitfun]

Well, yesterday I figured Marsh must have some dick pics of the selector’s or higherups in the ACB.....but then 4 for 30 something.

Hope we don’t have to put up with his regular crap performance for another 10 tests until we get sick of him again.

[mikeyboy]

271-8 at close , England could easily have been rolled over for a lot less but Australian catching was poor .

Buttler did well at the end of the day , and may well be a competitive score on a pitch that offered the bowlers a fair amount .

Mitch Marsh a suprise , Sam Curran may be effective tomorrow .

Of course Steve Smith still has to bat 

Mikeyboy

[apu nahasapeemapetilon]

Another day.. another failure for the Australian openers.. Will we see another Smith special?

[mikeyboy]

3 minutes ago, apu nahasapeemapetilon said:

Another day.. another failure for the Australian openers.. Will we see another Smith special?

Yes ,  Warner and Harris seem just a minor irritation for England ,  before they come up against a couple of brick walls .

300 may well be a good score if the ball swings/reverses , extra grass on the pitch will help keep the shine .

Mikeyboy

[mikeyboy]

Australia 190 / 8   and in trouble .   Steve Smith 80 , Jofra Archer 4 wickets and San Curran 3 wickets

Just had a feeling that Curran would be effective on home ground with just enough swing to make his modest pace count .

Australia would have been looking for a decent first innings lead to offset batting last , but not likely now .

Mikeyboy

[Ah dinnae ken]

Why do Australia keep picking Steve Smith?  Blind Freddy could have scored 80 on that pitch.

Not looking good for OZ in this match

The GOAT is going off.

Think England are over bowling Archer

Edited September 13, 2019 by froddo

[moza7]

Archer is a crab. If there is nothing in the wicket he is up and down trash