Australia v England, 1st Test, Brisbane, 23-27 November, 2017

horace wrote:

skully wrote:And probably hard on Cummins. His 42 was crucial and he was easily the best of the quicks on the slow 1st innings pitch.

Suspect Lardy rates the improvement in Bird's batting.

I thought Cummins was the pick of the quicks. I also thought he batted with intelligence and application.

My ratings of the Test have absolutely nothing to do with Bird, and obviously the 7 I gave Cummins is a pretty good mark when only Bancroft (who made a very good performance under pressure on debut) and Smith were rated more highly. I'm quite happy to acknowledge that my mark to Bancroft was probably generous on account of it being a debut performance. Starc bowled some rubbish, but he also took crucial wickets and a very good catch to push the nail in Cook's coffin in a little more firmly. Still a 7 for me, better than Heazlewood, but probably not quite as good as Cummins in this Test. Not up with Bancroft or Smith, though.

This Heazlewood chap you talk of, is he related to Cat Heazle?

From a Aus viewpoint, pleasing to see them chase down the total for the loss of 0 wickets , especially when chasing small totals has been and Achilles Heel in the past.

skully wrote:This Heazlewood chap you talk of, is he related to Cat Heazle?

No, but Josh is often mentally related to an acquaintance of mine with that name, spelled that way. Bah.

Must admit I am puzzled about the Test and how it finished. Yes Oz are renowned flat track bullies, but?

The Poms gritted it out in the first dig on a dodgy track. Yes they benefited from some missed chances but a number of batsmen inc the Ashes newbies got starts. Starc and Purple bowled poorly at times.

Seasick aside, Oz in the main batted without skill and application but the lack of depth and variation in the Pom bowling cost them dearly.

I think the turning point was the Cook dismissal late on Day 3. Despite the cameos from Root, Bairstow and Ali they were toast from the point Chef sauntered off.

In the Oz run chase, Jimmeh looked at the hated Kookaburra in his hand and went through the motions. That was pretty much it. A ten wicket win was inconceivable on Day 3.

So on reflection, what to make of it all? Two ordinary teams with the home town flat track bullies having the advantage?

skully wrote:This Heazlewood chap you talk of, is he related to Cat Heazle?

All I'm hearing now is Sheane Wearne, Deavid Wearner, etc etc.