Australia v England, 4th Test, Sydney, 5-9 January, 2022

dropped catches were the issue here

Yup

70 lost overs

As good as the Ussie twins tons were, can milestones sometimes be millstones militating against declarations?

That’s the fight we’ve been waiting to see for four Tests… shouldn’t be used to paper over too many cracks, it’s a dead rubber after all and we still haven’t won a single Test in Australia for over a decade, but some positive signs there.

Aussies should have declared a bit earlier… I never subscribe to this “don’t captain by the weather forecast” attitude.

lardbucket wrote:dropped catches were the issue here

Yep. You can't control the weather - you can control your own fielding.

If Cummins had taken that caught and bowled off Stokes on Day 3, the match might have been over by Day 4.

too many catches dropped, not just that one

if a bail had fallen off when the stump was pummelled ...

etc etc

"Catches win matches."

Fair flogs to Creepy2 - may have suspect technique, but he has some fire and character about him. Like half the rest of the team.

Yeah, fastest England Ashes 50 by an opener since Trescothick in ‘05, apparently.

While I know some have strong views on how you should open the batting in Test cricket, it’s becoming evident that even if one-day style opening doesn’t work, scoring at two an over as per Hameed and Sibley doesn’t get you far either. There’s a case for them just taking the shine off the new ball before Root gets in if nothing else, but if you only get a painstaking 30 or 40 on a good-ish day, every opener will get single-figure scores as well by the nature of the job, so they won’t average very much. You need an outlet and a counter-attack once you’ve got yourself in, otherwise the bowlers are always in control.

Zim posted a pretty remarkable stat on another medium yesty.

Apparently* this Test match featured only the 2nd occasion in Test history where the no. 5 batsmen from each side made 50s in each innings (Ooze 137 and 101*, Stokes 66 and 50).

The other was the Durban timeless Test in 1938-39 when Nourse and Viljoen for SA, and Ames and Paynter for Eng, all made 50s.

furriner wrote:I like Bairstow but from my miserable Indian fan perspective (as applied had this been an Indian series) I’m not sure what the fuss is about and why he’s apparently roaring about.  Sure great personal accomplishment but bloody hell you’re 3 (from 3) and probably fading away in this one too.  Those team, press and individual celebrations will look a lot better if you won this one.

I stand corrected. At least he did well enough to influence a draw.

Well done Bairstow!