Ashes in England 2023

123-3 at lunch.

Crawley not walking so it's going to be that like eh lol? Umpire having a bit of a mare too.

Australia will take that session on a flat pitch. Cummings seems a bit too defensive because of it but it's paid off so far.

Wiil be interesting how we approach 1st session tomorrow, It does suggest to me there is movement to me but we need to exploit as much as possible tomorrow morning. Not only that we need to keep Warner tied down. So I would imagine Ali will bowl in last few overs before lunch.

(16-06-2023 13:31 )KerrAvon Wrote:  Crawley not walking so it's going to be that like eh lol?

To be fair, Australia haven't walked for years..

In these days with the review process I'd never walk as well.

England v Australia 1st Test Edgbaston Day 1 Cose
Toss England
England 393-8 dec (78 overs) Root 118 no Bairstow 78 Crawley 61 Brook 32 Lyon 4-149 Hazlewood 2-61
Australia 14-0 (4 overs)

I don't mind this attacking style of batting but I'm not a fan of charging down the wicket when the keeper is up.

Crawley set the tone, Root reeled off another hundred, & Bairstow got in his zone. The declaration was no surprise, a good chance to make inroads, which didn't pay off. With 1st innings runs at a premium, I can't help but think that we had more on offer with Robinson looking untroubled.
England scored at 5 an over, but I believe that Australia are more than capable of scoring at 4 an over, whilst taking less risks. If England struggle to take wickets they could be faced with a 150-200 run deficit at some point on day 3, with a mountain to climb to stay in the match. The pitch is dry & Lyon will be in the game & not just get wickets by over aggression, as he did in the first innings.

(17-06-2023 07:45 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  England v Australia 1st Test Edgbaston Day 2 Cose
Toss England
England 393-8 dec (78 overs) Root 118 no Bairstow 78 Crawley 61 Brook 32 Lyon 4-149 Hazlewood 2-61
Australia 311-5 (94 overs) Kawaja 126 no Carey 52 Head 50 Green 38 Broad 2-49 Ali 2-124

The philosophy is absolutely fine and I have no problem with it. To a degree those I see on Twitter who don't like the aggressive style and declarations will just have to suck it up.

Where I was and remain a little concerned is about leaving the best keeper in the country if not the world out of the team namely Ben Foakes. A decision that today at least looked decidedly dodgy and possibly will do again as this series progresses.
A keeper in cricket is to my mind just as important as a keeper in football.
It's a niche position but a critical one.

This is not a reflection of the worthiness of selection in respect of Bairstow per se.
For me he should be in the team purely on his batting to open the innings with Duckett or Crawley.

Missed catches and stumpings behind the wicket however are an absolute no no in my book.

This is not hindsight, last night's declaration made less sense due to the nature of the pitch, which was flat, with little swing or seam movement, or pace & carry.
England worked hard for their wickets but can ill afford keeper errors such as the Green stumping chance, & Carey dropped twice. The wicket of Kawaja which was overturned as Broad had no-balled, was another big opportunity missed.
Early breakthroughs are vital tomorrow morning. The Aussie lower order aren't the best with the bat, Cummins can bat, but they will miss the runs that Starc often offers.
as much as his wicket taking.
Robinson looks down on pace, not match fit & I think he could've benefited from playing for Sussex in the Championship this week. Potts was a better option for me in this match.
Really impressed with Moeen who bowled well with very few loose balls, considering he is just a T20 player these days.