England v Australia, 1st Test, Edgbaston, 1-5 August, 2019

Well, 1-3 August unless it rains, but let’s go by the official schedule

About time we had an official thread, anyway. England going with the same squad who performed so admirably against the Irish, with the addition of King Joffrey and the omission of their best opening batsman.

Which side will be bowled out before lunch on day 1?

Australia's best hope of making lunch on Day 1 is if Marsh pulls. Heartstring and does not play.

horace wrote:Australia's best hope of making lunch on Day 1 is if Marsh pulls. Heartstring and does not play.

he's not making the XI anyway

I'm  gonna be somewhere over Pacific on Day 1 on the return leg from Colombia.

Maybe that'll be a good thing.

skully wrote:I'm  gonna be somewhere over Pacific on Day 1 on the return leg from Colombia.

Maybe that'll be a good thing.

Hola Skully.

Probably a small mercy in transit. Safe travels in the meantime

and we all hope you get through customs OK

lardbucket wrote:and we all hope you get through customs OK

Especially given the "shopping list" we all gave you before you left.

https://www.news.com.au/sport/cricket/channel-9-confirms-todd-woodbridge-as-host-of-ashes-2019/news-story/cb50b29b2375515afe55f0bf1dd49bfe

remind me of Woodbridge's cricket credentials again...

He's just hosting. Someone to steer the ship. Be refreshing. The actual commentarys coming from the host anyway.

JGK wrote:

lardbucket wrote:and we all hope you get through customs OK

Especially given the "shopping list" we all gave you before you left.

headphones, mostly

lardbucket wrote:

JGK wrote:

lardbucket wrote:and we all hope you get through customs OK

Especially given the "shopping list" we all gave you before you left.

headphones, mostly

"headphones" right

So, for potential fantasy game purposes, what is the likely Aussie XI?

beamer wrote:So, for potential fantasy game purposes, what is the likely Aussie XI?

GCS
NKWL2
Koaja (Bangers if his hammy is still farked
Smudge
Blowie
Toss up between Labbershane Sharapova (and Puddle just to piss off the Eozzies)
Token captain
2nd
Koo
Purple
Gaz

OzPatto will need an injury or one of the quicks being awful (Haze and Koo a chance for the awful option)

Who they will pick.
Warner
Bancroft ( as a FU and coz it's justified by his form and n the pub league)
Kwaja (Harris county f not fit because Bancroft must play and drop to three because we've been blessed by gutless skippers who didn't want the responsibility)
Smith
Head
Marsh ( joking, no way Langer risks the love child until a road is in the offing)
Paine (who hopefully won't consult Smith who couldn't lead a bunch of toddlers to a candy store)
Bowler's depending on track
Lyon

The Pic
Harris
marnus Lasagna
Smith
Head
Wade
Paine
Pattinson
Cummins
Starc
Lyon/Siddle depending on deck

Even tho Burns and KP2 were incumbents and scored tons in the last Test and have been added I think Harris will play.

The POC will play. cbnlg will select him regardless of his dire record in Pomgolia.

Marnus is the form batsman. Took a CC contract and has scored. 1000 runs plush bowled a lot of overs.

Smith. Who knows what sort of form he'll find. He's not great in Pomgolia.

Head picks himself at 5

Wade is in form. Oz A form must mean something. Adds genuine mental toughness in what I expect will be a nasty series.

Paine. Won't drop many catches and will scrabble a few runs. There for the handshakes and fatuous homilies.

Pattinson. Oz needs a nasty bowler who can swing the Duke.

Cummins. Picks himself.

Starc will be hit and miss.

Lyon or Siddle depending on the deck.

Those who miss

Uber has been injured at the wrong time.

Haze has been rubbish for twelve months and was shyte in the last series in Pomgolia. McGrath he ain't.

Neser might get a Test when Oz is 0-4 down.

The cretin coach will be desperate to play Marsh probably in T1. The player is void of character and talent and is the worst Australian player in Test history, given the number of Tests he's already been gifted.

Bancroft. Two cheats shouldn't prosper, a third us too much. Will get a go after the POC fails in Ts1-4 and is finally dropped.

If this goes to Day 5, I will be mightily surprised.

So this is being shown ONLY on channel nine here in Aus? How infuriating, mainly because it means no highlights or ability to watch it on demand the next day.

I’ve got Kayo sports and one of the best features is the ‘Kayo minis’ which give you a solid 30-40 minutes of highlights of a day’s play.

How did fox, with all their money, supposed promotion of cricket, and a dedicated cricket channel, miss out on this one to a free to air station that doesn’t even show the game during the Aus summer anymore? And furthermore, why did nine, and not seven (Who DO now show the game during summer) , get the rights?

It’s still on the anti siphoning list isn’t it?

Yup. More or less untouchable.

Henry wrote:So this is being shown ONLY on channel nine here in Aus? How infuriating, mainly because it means no highlights or ability to watch it on demand the next day.

I’ve got Kayo sports and one of the best features is the ‘Kayo minis’ which give you a solid 30-40 minutes of highlights of a day’s play.

How did fox, with all their money, supposed promotion of cricket, and a dedicated cricket channel, miss out on this one to a free to air station that doesn’t even show the game during the Aus summer anymore? And furthermore, why did nine, and not seven (Who DO now show the game during summer) , get the rights?

deal was done a while back when ch9 had the rights to include away Ashes series (and World Cups?).

https://tvtonight.com.au/2013/11/nine-secures-2015-2019-ashes.html

deal done in 2013. Seven offered to swap their Wimbledon rights for the Ashes but ch9 refused.

looks like Khawaja and Pattinson will play.

Henry wrote:So this is being shown ONLY on channel nine here in Aus? How infuriating, mainly because it means no highlights or ability to watch it on demand the next day.

I’ve got Kayo sports and one of the best features is the ‘Kayo minis’ which give you a solid 30-40 minutes of highlights of a day’s play.

How did fox, with all their money, supposed promotion of cricket, and a dedicated cricket channel, miss out on this one to a free to air station that doesn’t even show the game during the Aus summer anymore? And furthermore, why did nine, and not seven (Who DO now show the game during summer) , get the rights?

Ask an SA mate for their DSTv password and watch on Supersport

Interesting to see if Patto can withstand the rigours of test cricket again.

the scribes suggesting that Starc might be left out for Hazelwood.

So, who's for the predictions? Not just teams, but outcomes?

Not a betting man, so money stays away.

It's strange. Generally before the Historic(al) Big One comes round again, I feel either the suspense it might be close, dread at a coming marmalisation, or a more chipper "may the best team win". But I don't know ...

It's partly that wider realities (political) take the sting if not the meaning out of it for me. I am not unpatriotic, but I've never felt like a nationalist, and for the last three years less than ever. So no ya, boo, hurrah etc from me in any case.

But also, I've no idea really what might happen, with two potentially decent bowling attacks and two potentially tenuous batting line-ups. And England all over the place, including some ups. Australia not a hell of a lot more solid, it seems.

Seems a wild thing to say, after all these years of "GCS", but could Warner be the difference between the sides? Oz have Smith too, who might come up trumps - England Root, likewise, though he usually needs an early dropped catch to make a good score against Australia. But it's hard to see where England are going to get either decent opener from. Warner will fail a couple of times, maybe more, but he's likely to strike at some point. And that might be decisive.

But I've no idea.



Putative England XI*

Bairstow (... or Alex Davies)
Sibley
Curran S (yes, that desperate - not me, but England's top 3)
Root *?
Hain
Stokes
Buttler +
Moeen or Woakes (depending on conditions)
Leach
Archer or Broad (depending on fitness)
Anderson or Stone (depending on fitness)

*not the one that's going to play