The Winter Cricket Thread 2013/14 - The Ashes Down Under

[@mwooly63]

Tis ok Carbs crawling along as long as Cook isnt
IF Cook gets out I dont think he can up the rate playing as he is.

Dont think he is adding pressure to Cook tho but may well do to the next one in

[@mwooly63]

Cook gone for 51 to MJ lbw so now Carbs needs to up his game with Root coming in.
65 for 1

Root given out caught behind to Johnson but overturned on review
Phew close call that but no hotspot and nothing on snicko so god knows what umpiresawor h

Edit

65 for 1 to 87 for 4 ffs
1 run for 3 wickets in.6 balls
Carberry went lbw. Root ran out by Johnson then Bell out golden duck caught by Johnson
Can't keep.him out the game

[Stef Troll]

174-8. If Aussies can restrict them to 200 it will make for an interesting chase.

[Stef Troll]

179 all out. Going to be a good chase.

[sonicyouth]

Well that optimism was short lived

[Nick Bamosomi]

Normal service resumed. 

[Nemo]

Eh, that's a decent chase. Should have been much, much more but it would be the biggest fourth innins chase here by 60 runs or so.

[Nomoreheroes]

That was absolutely awful!

- England's bowling at the end of the Aussie's 1st innings was shameful.
- The only batsmen to come out of the match with any credit are Cook and Pietersen (both of whom look out of touch)

[cib]

Not to be too pessimistic, however that was a very depressing days' cricket that outlined how far we have fallen in 12-18 months. KP looked visibly pissed off when he came out to field this evening, clearly unimpressed with the contributions made by others, including the senior pros in the side.

We had to bat for the rest of the day - not only for runs but to allow respite for our bowlers who had put us in a dominant position - but we looked inept and defensive in our approach. Carberry hung around and was stagnant, even with captain cook at his side - yet there was no alteration in his approach until after lunch when Flower/Gooch must've been in his ear. If your captain, who has scored 8000 test runs, can't offer reasonable advice what chance have the rest of the side got?! Cook is a fantastic player but he must have seen how dominant the Aussies were over Carberry.

Root hasn't convinced (up his own arse/believes his own hype), neither has Bairstow whilst I do think Bresnan has been rushed back. Stokes reminds me of a batting all rounder version of Freddie and has shown the quality to become a better player in time, but as with Flintoff it took time.

Personally, I don't think there is the strength in depth in English cricket to warrant the hype and bluster that surrounds the team. Players who have recently stepped up (Root/Carberry/Bairstow) have been found wanting whilst for the majority of time the senior members haven't made contributions that we expect.

This may sound knee jerk from today's play, however the writing was on the wall this summer, even against the kiwi's. The performances in this series have been atrocious and it can't be expected that the public will accept this. I hope Flower commits long term, yet this is increasingly unlikely, which in a way may offer a clean slate from which we can build in the future. The side will need to evolve over the next 18 months if we are to have a realistic chance in the home ashes series, or it may be longer than 8 years that we held them before we have them back again.

N.B. This isn't a Flower/Cook out campaign more the ramblings of a fan of English cricket spoilt by recent success.

[cib]

All that, even if we manage to skittle them to win tomorrow, which would again "paper over the cracks" that Cook alluded to this week.

[leefer]

For those people trying to understand a bit more about cricket.

[Posh Red]

Just saw someone in a Swindon shirt (& pint in hand) on the TV coverage.

[Batch]

Courtesy of Mr M's twitter account:


Is that your tweet Posh?

[DMR]

Well left Bairstow you fuck

[DMR]

You are kidding me. Retire Cook you buffoon.