England v Australia, 3rd Test, Edgbaston, 29 July - 3 August, 2015

I was thinking more along the lines of pot holes and oil, but yeah that might work.

taipan wrote:

Bradman wrote:You'd have to think they'll rethink the pitch.

They did. It is now 24 yards.

A Pineapple on Stokes to be Run Out. :

Well KP has spoken but he was reluctant to comment after Cardiff.

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/the-ashes/ashes-2015-kevin-pietersen-labels-his-omission-as-ridiculous-20150721-gigsvq

It's so, so, so, so, silly...

Ballance out

Bairstow to 5

Bell and Root up to 3 and 4

Finn and Radish still in the squad

Lyth luckier than Mick Fanning

Where does Bairstow bat for Yorkshire?

Bairstow's pretty much always been at 5 for Yorkshire this season.

Guess it was the predictable change, with three failing batsmen you have to do something more than rearrange the deckchairs on the Titanic... Lyth benefits from lack of alternatives and not having had that much of a run in the side yet, but surely last chance saloon for him at Edgbaston. The Belf will presumably get the rest of the series to prove himself, or otherwise, in his new position - expect perhaps the Oval if the series is lost and he's still not performing.

I expect Ballance will be back, anyway - if he's willing to work on his technical issues and isn't mentally scarred by this summer's experience. Most young players have a setback early on, even following a good start. He's clearly got something about him with what he did last year, it's all about if he can knuckle down and tackle his weaknesses. As I said before, I'd say don't let him play any more county cricket this summer, just put him in front of the bowling machine set to Johnson Cycle Maximum, and maybe send him to play some Aussie domestic cricket next winter?

You're probably right on all that, though Ballance's plans of course remain to be seen.

Only thing I'd wonder about is - with all forbearance etc on grounds of Test tyro status (think most of us said at the time he'd have been better blooded in the Caribbean?) - whether there really is such a dearth of alternatives to Lyth. It's not just that he has mostly got out cheaply, it's that he looked completely shot and clueless at Lord's. Beginner's errors. Lees, Hales, Compton (yes, humble pie problem as much as doubts about the signals his limited shot repertoire sends), ... it's not that there is absolutely nobody left to fill the breach of the Shellshocked.

I can only suppose they've looked him squarely in the eye and at least seen fight there.

Too much military metaphor in that last lot. And when I'm usually the first to discourage any such comparison. But anyway. A fiasco can do that to ya.

embee wrote:Ballance out

Bairstow to 5

Bell and Root up to 3 and 4

Finn and Radish still in the squad

Lyth luckier than Mick Fanning

Official?

Seems so.

lardbucket wrote:

embee wrote:Ballance out

Bairstow to 5

Bell and Root up to 3 and 4

Finn and Radish still in the squad

Lyth luckier than Mick Fanning

Official?

chocolate teapot official

So Belf doesn't like 3, Root doesn't like anything but 5 (wasn't he an opener once?), and Jimmy Bear comes into the Test with a 14 Test 26.95 ave (6 Test 22.90 ave v Aus), Lyth is shaky as hell and nobody else is lighting the world on fire. Let's see how this goes.

All those who had Ballance in their Fantasy team will have to swap him out now. Oh.

skully wrote:So Belf doesn't like 3, Root doesn't like anything but 5 (wasn't he an opener once?), and Jimmy Bear comes into the Test with a 14 Test 26.95 ave (6 Test 22.90 ave v Aus), Lyth is shaky as hell and nobody else is lighting the world on fire. Let's see how this goes.

''

No surprise that Root likes five, it is where most batsmen who have batted in a number of spots average their highest.

So has anyone been listening to TMS with McGrath? I've been boycotting (no pun intended) it this year due to him being on, I imagine he is totally partisan and boorish. Just caught highlights of the tied ODI in 2005 and was reminded by what an odious human being he is (if the hunting pictures weren't enough).

Hopefully it won't be a regular gig with him on the air. Ponting has been alright on Sky from what I've seen, still a little bit bias of course but not on the same level.

Partisan, but not boorish. Like some other players who are/were of the "ultra-competitive" type (that's a euphemism), once away from the action, who discover a more relaxed, more generous and even marginally fair side.

Pidge very much wears his patriotism on his sleeve, but at least does not seek to hide it. And though he always roots for Australia (in the English-English sense of rooting for someone - he's tgm ,not TGM), hence beams whenever Oz are thriving and mopes and gurns a bit when things are going awry, he's not of the bitter grudging beam-in-his-own-eye-finding-a-speck-in-the-opponents'-eyes it's-all-about-us sort (e.g. Warney, once again), .... and gives credit where it's due. Even to Poms.

And I don't mean in that set-the-bar-astronomically-high-before-you-give-credit sort of manner of not a few journos (of the worst sort, who view through a murky, misshapen prism, and pretend it's clear glass).

If, say, Root bats well, or Broad is worrying the batsmen, Pidge gives every praise.

Good luck to Jonny B - nothing like getting thrown in at the deep end young fella. If you don't score a glittering hundred then be prepared for a slagging from the press (and from skanks like me).

Good thing is I'm sure during his absence from test cricket he's worked hard to iron out the technical flaws that saw him exposed at the highest level...what's that you say Mr Gillespie,

"He went back to playing as natural as possible and focusing on scoring runs as opposed to worrying about his technique."

OK let's not get too concerned about the fact that he's perhaps not looked at his technique because his natural game has already seen him become such a raging success at test level. Oh well, maybe he'll scrape a couple of 20s before they sneak one through the Loire Valley sized gap between bat and pad.

skully wrote:So Belf doesn't like 3, Root doesn't like anything but 5 (wasn't he an opener once?), and Jimmy Bear comes into the Test with a 14 Test 26.95 ave (6 Test 22.90 ave v Aus), Lyth is shaky as hell and nobody else is lighting the world on fire. Let's see how this goes.

Um, Root opened in the last Ashes series in England.

PeterCS wrote:Partisan, but not boorish. Like some other players who are/were of the "ultra-competitive" type (that's a euphemism), once away from the action, who discover a more relaxed, more generous and even marginally fair side.

Pidge very much wears his patriotism on his sleeve, but at least does not seek to hide it. And though he always roots for Australia (in the English-English sense of rooting for someone - he's tgm ,not TGM), hence beams whenever Oz are thriving and mopes and gurns a bit when things are going awry, he's not of the bitter grudging beam-in-his-own-eye-finding-a-speck-in-the-opponents'-eyes it's-all-about-us sort (e.g. Warney, once again), .... and gives credit where it's due. Even to Poms.

And I don't mean in that set-the-bar-astronomically-high-before-you-give-credit sort of manner of not a few journos (of the worst sort, who view through a murky, misshapen prism, and pretend it's clear glass).

If, say, Root bats well, or Broad is worrying the batsmen, Pidge gives every praise.

Well said, Peter.

[Has anyone posted this already (it's from Monday)? Apols if I missed it here on Bails.]

More sense from Diz, re: Bairstow and generally on this series, etc:

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/jul/20/jason-gillespie-column-england-jonny-bairstow-talent-ashes-recall

Nice touch is his tongue-in-cheek parting shot. A word to the wise (or at least to those recalling a certain farewell flourish in Chittagong, 2006 I see ... eek!)

He's a funny bugger; like him a lot.

Aye, Diz was and is a ledg.

I would have thought bringing Footitt into the squad would have been an option. For all the talk about the batting, England's bowling was hardly crash hot either. Hardly looked like getting a wicket, and when they DID look like it, the fielders dropped catches.

I would personally replace Anderson with Footitt, but obviously Mark Wood would realistically be the one to make way, seeing as Anderson is apparently untouchable.

Surely this pitch will have a bit more life in it.

Depends if Warwickshire received Strauss' email to deaden all the tracks, or if it went straight to their spam folder.

Clarke & Voges fail against Derbys after the openers retire on tons. Our middle order continues to look brittle.

Watto playing himself back in.