Ashes 2013 - see mod warning in post 689

matthew8

If England declared this second it would still be an impossible task for the Australian batsmen. Bowlers aren't bad though. Better at batting than the batsmen too.

mike65

:eek: England self destructing in sympathy!

Rascasse

Pietersen not firing this series with only a single 50. Other three innings 14, 2, 5.

HonalD

Plenty of action today, felt more like an ODI than a Test.

Imagine how Ireland would perform against the Aussies at the moment, they're all over the place.

Piliger

England have been brilliant :-) Are there any highlights of the Ashes play anywhere on the net ?

booth70

Piliger wrote: »

England have been brilliant :-) Are there any highlights of the Ashes play anywhere on the net ?

Check out this website for all international cricket

http://mycrickethighlights.com/

booth70

Hopefully England get bowled out before lunch today and the match moves forward.....otherwise today will be all about whether Bell gets his second hundred of the match....boring!

37/3 in 25 overs!.....England are not batting like a team 260 ahead!!!

Beefy78

England pretty much snuffing any Australian chance out this morning. They could declare now and Australia have next to no chance but another 50-75 runs and its game over.

For the interest of the series it's a shame. As an Englishmen who grew up watching Australia grind us into the dust series after series after series I can't say that I'm not enjoying it though...

mike65

Root gets his first test 50.

Grandpa Hassan

Andrew Strauss is a really bad commentator. I swear that Nasser was looking embarrassed there

booth70

Come on Cook.....Declare and get this over with already

mike65

Root wants his first test century I imagine, once he gets it or is bowled they'll declare.

Beefy78

mike65 wrote: »

Root wants his first test century I imagine, once he gets it or is bowled they'll declare.

There's no chance England are declaring today. They'll bat through to lunch tomorrow if they can - maybe even tea. Why would they declare?

We're only half way through Day Three!

mike65

Ah c'mon give them a sporting chance! Just soaking up the clock is no fun

Beefy78

Tell that to the 20,000 people with tickets for Day Five!

Skid X

mike65 wrote: »

Root wants his first test century I imagine, once he gets it or is bowled they'll declare.

He already has one, although it's a great chance to get another

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/303669.html?class=1;template=results;type=allround;view=match

I don't think a declaration is likely any time soon. Maybe half an hour before the close.

matthew8

Gee Australia have really got no calls so far this series.

Grandpa Hassan

They will either declare tonight with a lead of 480-500 ish and give the Aussie openers an awkward 6 or 7 overs before close.

Or throw the bat at it for an hour in the morning, score fast runs, and post a ridiculous target.

Both potentially humiliate Australia.

The one thing they won't do is score at this speed for another 2 and a half sessions

Rascasse

Have Gower and Warne forgotten their glasses? Yes it carried, but then it went through his right hand and touched the ground. Lambasting the third umpire for a good call.

booth70

The beauty of DRS....If Bell had been given out by the on-field umpire and then he had reviewed it there would not have been enough evidence for the third ump to over-rule the on-field decision so he would have been out

I'll say this series will be remembered more for the umpiring decisions than the cricket played on the field

Also has been an utterly boring day of test cricket.....Even when Australia were grinding everyone to dust in their glory days they were atleast belting along at 4-5 runs an over...today has been painful to watch....Hope Bell gets out today....If not Cook will not declare until Bell gets his second hundred!

Rascasse

England are going at 4.1 at the moment (last 10 ave) so should be well past 500 ahead by the end of the day (and already past the highest successful 4th innings chase). May as well keep batting and test the fitness of Harris, Agar & Wato.

Grandpa Hassan

Looks like England are accelerating anyway.

And I thought it was a good call by the umpire....was not a clean catch IMO

mike65

Bell 50, well done.

booth70

England finally show some urgency with 21 overs left.....

I reckon Bell's been given 9 overs to get his hundred today:).....England will then have 10 overs at the Watto and Rogers tonight

RoyMcC

I recall this forum slating Bell for not getting enough runs - now he's boring people by scoring too many

Rascasse

Someone at Cricket Australia is going to be in hot water for this tweet:

spank_inferno

Bell gone.
Surely a declaration now?

Cook as a captain is cautious to a fault.

booth70

A hundred odd in the last 15 overs.....Talk about flogging a dead horse!

Bell gone.....declare now FFS!!

mike65

Rascasse wrote: »

Someone at Cricket Australia is going to be in hot water for this tweet:

that's the polite version I think. The official Aussie tweet account is also in hot water for use of Fanny.

matthew8

England should have enforced the follow-on in the first place rather than an innings in which everyone is just going through the motions.

spank_inferno

There is a possibility that Cook still thinks that with 2 dayz to go Aus could still win.

He has shown to be very cautious & conservative.

If anything,putting a tired Aus team into bat for half an hour shows a ruthlessness. It makes a statement.

Instead the 'steady as she goes' day we've had is pretty boring. (20 overs after tea aside)

Rascasse

Give Root 8 or 10 overs to get his double ton in the morning then stick the Aussies in, all over by the end of the day.

While Cook is fairly conservative I think in this case he's right. It's only the third day and Australia can only lose from here, so why not tire them out while your bowlers get an extra 18 hours to rest and recovery?

2-0 tomorrow. This stat should worry Australia fans;

booth70

In all the furore about declarations and technology , Root has barely got a mention on the forum

Excellent innings.....but his last 78 runs were really against 'help yourself' tripe from the Aussie spinners.....still a first Ashes hundred and one he will remember

Australia staring at a sixth straight test defeat in a row.....Hopefully they will show some fight in the last two days.....

The number of clean sweeps recently (Eng bt Ind 4-0 , Pak bt Eng 3-0 , Aus bt Ind 4-0 , Aus bt SL 3-0 , Ind bt Aus 4-0) dosen't bode well for Test cricket:(

Dozen Wicked Words

booth70 wrote: »

In all the furore about declarations and technology , Root has barely got a mention on the forum

Excellent innings.....but his last 78 runs were really against 'help yourself' tripe from the Aussie spinners.....still a first Ashes hundred and one he will remember

Australia staring at a sixth straight test defeat in a row.....Hopefully they will show some fight in the last two days.....

The number of clean sweeps recently (Eng bt Ind 4-0 , Pak bt Eng 3-0 , Aus bt Ind 4-0 , Aus bt SL 3-0 , Ind bt Aus 4-0) dosen't bode well for Test cricket:(

I think Test cricket is fine. One sided series or clean sweeps are nothing new. The West Indies did it nicely to England and others in the past, as did the Aussies. The fact there is no one dominant team makes it much more interesting.
Even teams who have struggled for a while have shown improved performances. The Kiwis were incredibly unlucky not to beat England at home, and weren't push overs or anything like, in England.

Judgement Day

Can't believe that England are continuing to bat. I'll laugh if Australia can hang on, bat through and steal a draw.

djimi

One would assume that Root has been told that he has an hour or whatever to get to 200.

Tbh its not like there is any great urgency; even if England bat until lunch today Id still put money on the game being all but over by stumps. Cant see Australia batting for 5-6 sessions to save this one.

mike65

Clearly this is all about Root, as soon as he goes/hits 200 England will declare.

djimi

If England want to get Root to his 200 then they could do with being a bit smarter about not falling for the trap that Australia set to keep him off strike. Stopping taking singles last ball of the over would be a good start!

mike65

Prior getting away with murder

Root is caught, lazy shot.

England declare.

Lead of 582

djimi

What a stupid way to throw away a double hundred at Lords.

Fair play to him though; fantastic knock. Im still not convinced that it is wise to have him opening in this series (I much preferred him batting down the order until he gets more experience), but this is a promising sign.

KevIRL

Warne saying that Smith should have deliberately dropped Root to keep England out there a bit longer. Interesting thought

booth70

Agar's match analysis......43-6-142-0.....safe to say that he is definitely not in the team for his bowling

His batting ability will keep him in the team though:)

mike65

KevIRL wrote: »

Warne saying that Smith should have deliberately dropped Root to keep England out there a bit longer. Interesting thought

Just so Australia can then try and bat to a draw? Or am I missing something?

KevIRL

mike65 wrote: »

Just so Australia can then try and bat to a draw? Or am I missing something?

Yep every hour England were out there was one less hour for the Aussies to survive. They have zero chance of winning anyway so a draw is the best they could hope for.

Watson out and the only surprise is he didnt waste a review...

mike65

Talk about a dishonourable way to try and draw!

Shane Watson will have LBW inscribed on his headstone.

KevIRL

mike65 wrote: »

Talk about a dishonourable way to try and draw!

Shane Watson will have LBW inscribed on his headstone.

Meh, all tactics. England could have declared whenever they wanted, as it was Australia were giving Bairstow and co handy singles to keep them on strike is that dishonourable too? I dont think so.

Was a silly move by England to take the option to bat this morning to try and give Root the 200, Australia had every right to try take advantage. Granted, England would most likely have had more than enough time even over 5 instead of 6 sessions against this Australia attack but alls fair imo

Rascasse

Did Warne seriously say that? How long did he think Root was going to take to get to 200? They've as much chance of batting out 170+ overs as they have chasing 583.

KevIRL

Rascasse wrote: »

Did Warne seriously say that? How long did he think Root was going to take to get to 200? They've as much chance of batting out 170+ overs as they have chasing 583.

He did, and I'd agree with you, its most likely a moot point as England would bowl them out anyway, but every little bit longer England are at the crease make the task that little bit more attainable (even though extremely unlikely) for Australia

mike65

Root point?

Anyway Rodgers is gone

KevIRL

Aussies wont even make it to Tea...