Ashes Series (inc ODI's) 2017/18

a chance of a Draw might be all we can hope for

The England and Wales Cricket Board have lifted their suspension on Alex Hales for his part in the Bristol altercation involving Ben Stokes in September.
Hales will face no criminal charges and it looks likely he will play in the one day series in January.

(04-12-2017 12:14 )babelover48 Wrote:  so there is hope..or is it way too late?

Too little too late, even if we managed to bowl the aussies out for a hundred that would still set england 300 plus and that is way beyond our ability.

An interesting decision not to enforce the follow on, since England definitely wouldn't have fancied batting again for the last session under the lights. It was probably the right call to rest the bowlers, but the way it tuned out with Australia losing 4 wickets England will be very happy with the decision.

An interesting stat from TMS Twitter feed..
Only one captain in history has declined to enforce the follow on & lost a Test.

1950. Dudley Norse. South Africa v Australia. Durban.

@stevesmith49 the 2nd?!!!

Aussies all out for 138
England set 354 to win an unlikely total
at best we'll get blown away for 250

Australia are all out on the stroke of the tea interval for 138. That gives them a lead of 353. A pity England didn't play better earlier in this match.

I think the Stokes scenario probably set the mood before we left

Without Stokes we're a different team

It's time for Joe Root to prove that he's a world class batsman

Root's got to be playing the captain's innings now