Re: England v Australia, 3rd Test, Headingley, 22-26 August, 2019

by skully Tue 20 Aug 2019, 10:58

Nath wrote:Smith ruled out

Fark it.

by Red Tue 20 Aug 2019, 11:11

Disappointing. Interesting that the modern players seem to take their eyes off the ball. Is this more the problem than the pace of the deliveries?

The players facing those fearsome bowlers of yore sans helmet had to learn how to watch it.

by Bradman Tue 20 Aug 2019, 11:15

And England roar into favouritism.

by Fred Nerk Tue 20 Aug 2019, 11:40

Never fear, Smith is he......OH S#@&!!

by tricycle Tue 20 Aug 2019, 11:44

So who'll England play against?

by skully Tue 20 Aug 2019, 13:21

A very fragile looking Aus side.

by beamer Tue 20 Aug 2019, 18:13

Bowled, Schagne looks a half decent replacement...

Could be up there with the McGrath treading on the ball moment though. Langer says they won’t get into a “bouncer war”, which I guess would be counter-productive with pacemen who are more effective pitching it up (and England middle-order batsmen who would more than likely thrive on the short stuff by comparison).

by Dello Tue 20 Aug 2019, 18:39

Henry wrote:

Curran took 1/90 against Hants on a flattish oval pitch. If the pitch isn’t green, and the sky isn’t grey, he’s fodder. Just like Woakes only 3-4mph slower. Weather forecast for Leeds is pretty good, and Headingley with good weather is one of the flattest pitches in England.

He’s basically being picked because he plays good cameos of 40 and 50, and nips out the odd wicket if it’s swinging whilst never likely to be a top-line fast bowler. So very Bayliss era.......

Notice Curran's been batting three for Surrey in the T20s and now the latest championship match. I think that's smart - he can only potentially be a successful international cricketer as a batsman who bowls a bit, Paul Collingwood-esque.

78mph with his trajectory means he can only bowl full, which is hankering for a spankering in anything other than early morning English conditions with the new ball. I just don't see him putting on the 10mph or so he'd need to be effective in most conditions. I know he's young and possibly still growing, but that's a big gap to bridge.

In other news, Ollie Pope - who I'd completely forgotten about - is currently 176*.

England obviously haven't forgotten about him. It turns out the nominated concussion subs for the last Test were Dominic Sibley, for a top order batsman, and the young Pope for the middle order. So I guess there's your next two cabs off the rank.

by beamer Tue 20 Aug 2019, 18:47

Yeah, Pope looked a bit flaky and Belfy in his couple(?) of Test appearances last year, but a young Belf beats an ageing one (Denly) or a mid-career one (Vince) I suppose. Back the young players and let them grow into Test players, as long as they show the right sort of attitude. It’s the only option we’ve got really.

by Dello Tue 20 Aug 2019, 19:02

Pope was one of the rawest debutantes we've ever had, no? Played something like 15 FC matches.

Small sample size, but 7 hundreds, 5 fifties @ 58 from 28 FC matches is a very tasty return from a 21 year old. Sort of begs the question why Joe Denly is in the team, but to be fair, Pope has only just returned to fitness after an injury lay off.

If Stokes is going to be a responsible number five, Pope could bed in nicely at six and learn his trade slightly out of the firing line, as Bell did.

by beamer Tue 20 Aug 2019, 19:18

He may have been much derided in his time, but how valuable would an Ian Bell in his prime be right now? Or any of his erstwhile top-order team-mates, for that matter.

A top seven of Strauss, Cook, Trott, KP, Bell, Colly, Prior. Or, for that matter, Strauss, Tresco, Vaughan, KP, Bell, Freddie, G Jones? Let us never be dismissive of a batsman averaging above 40 in England whites again. Even if they’re dull, or scrappy, or occasionally reckless, or frustrate us when they have the talent to average 10 runs more... we will remember the side that got bowled out for 80-odd by Ireland, and think ourselves lucky.

by Blackadder Wed 21 Aug 2019, 00:09

Showers forecast for the opening day , looks like a win the toss and Bowl sort of Test.

by skully Wed 21 Aug 2019, 00:40

Without Smith, Paine would be silly to expose the very fragile batting line up to Archer and Broad.

by horace Wed 21 Aug 2019, 02:09

skully wrote:Without Smith, Paine would be silly to expose the very fragile batting line up to Archer and Broad.

Does not matter whether we bat first or second - The poc and Bancroft will fail again. My confidence is shot. Overnight I heard Haddit bigging up how confident the poc is and putting the Poms on notice. Had to get up and have a durrie, thinking "make it stop, make it stop, make it stop". It won't stop.

by skully Wed 21 Aug 2019, 04:15

Looking positively, if Shrapnel steps up like he did in T2, then he could lock in the no 5 or 6 spot.

If it's a flat deck one of the openers has to fire, as well as Ooze for us not to be snotted.

by skully Wed 21 Aug 2019, 08:39

This article brings up a point I'd forgotten about and I don't recall being discussed in Ashes selection discussions (apologies if it was).

"How David Warner and Cameron Bancroft are exacerbating each other's Ashes misery.

"It's untenable ... he's buried Dave Warner."

Michael Slater's grim verdict on Cameron Bancroft and his partnership with Warner appears to have come true.

Yet it's transpired in an entirely different fashion to what Slater imagined. And both men may finish this Ashes series underground.

When Bancroft confirmed in an extraordinary Boxing Day Test interview that Warner had talked him into using sandpaper on the ball in Cape Town, Slater - himself a former Australian opening batsman - figured that their personal relationship was shot. That as a consequence, they would never open the batting for Australia together again."

-------------------------------------------------

Bancroft indeed threw Warner under a bus in the aftermath of the bannings and yet here they are opening together.

One wonders what the chemistry is like.

by Bradman Wed 21 Aug 2019, 09:41

I'd forgotten about that aspect of it. I guess someone at the top was that keen to get the banned back together, they overlooked it.

by PeterCS Wed 21 Aug 2019, 10:06

The good news for Poms is that it's now officially outrageous to predict Australia winning 5-0.

by PeterCS Wed 21 Aug 2019, 10:09

beamer wrote:He may have been much derided in his time, but how valuable would an Ian Bell in his prime be right now? Or any of his erstwhile top-order team-mates, for that matter.

A top seven of Strauss, Cook, Trott, KP, Bell, Colly, Prior. Or, for that matter, Strauss, Tresco, Vaughan, KP, Bell, Freddie, G Jones? Let us never be dismissive of a batsman averaging above 40 in England whites again. Even if they’re dull, or scrappy, or occasionally reckless, or frustrate us when they have the talent to average 10 runs more... we will remember the side that got bowled out for 80-odd by Ireland, and think ourselves lucky.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

by PeterCS Wed 21 Aug 2019, 10:11

skully wrote:This article brings up a point I'd forgotten about and I don't recall being discussed in Ashes selection discussions (apologies if it was).

"How David Warner and Cameron Bancroft are exacerbating each other's Ashes misery.

"It's untenable ... he's buried Dave Warner."

Michael Slater's grim verdict on Cameron Bancroft and his partnership with Warner appears to have come true.

Yet it's transpired in an entirely different fashion to what Slater imagined. And both men may finish this Ashes series underground.

When Bancroft confirmed in an extraordinary Boxing Day Test interview that Warner had talked him into using sandpaper on the ball in Cape Town, Slater - himself a former Australian opening batsman - figured that their personal relationship was shot. That as a consequence, they would never open the batting for Australia together again."

-------------------------------------------------

Bancroft indeed threw Warner under a bus in the aftermath of the bannings and yet here they are opening together.

One wonders what the chemistry is like.

It's quite an achievement for two people to throw each other under a bus.

by Bradman Wed 21 Aug 2019, 10:43

How good is this weekend. Three tests almost one after each other, business end of the footy in two codes and a shedload of other sports in between or concurrently. Beer and dangerously unhealthy food ordered. If I could shit in bed I wouldn't leave it.

by PeterCS Wed 21 Aug 2019, 10:50

Yes, it'd be better removed & the bed cleaned, all things considered.

by Bradman Wed 21 Aug 2019, 11:01

Couple of opening college football games and the NFL preseason getting serious as well. Well the room does have an ensuite, so I spose I'll just have to make the effort.

by skully Wed 21 Aug 2019, 11:41

Bradman wrote:If I could shit in bed I wouldn't leave it.

England v Australia, 3rd Test, Headingley, 22-26 August, 2019 - Page 3 Shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcS7Br1Vug0IDrA_bVb0yxl3wZMS_tJvb0CoA8uun-Tg_kEI5xMLa1K9mRKXeGUQvkZeNKNsxoo&usqp=CAc

by JGK Wed 21 Aug 2019, 12:46

Currently on the train to Leeds from London. Quite a few Australians on it as it turns out.

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