The Ashes 2019

riffmongous

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Sorry if this isn't the best thread for this question, but just wondering if anyone had any experience in getting tickets to England test games? Thinking of getting the father in law tickets to a 5-day test next year for his 70th. Eyeing up one of the Pakistan test matches in August (Lords/Trent Bridge/Old Trafford) but not sure really how much it might be.

Just copying this over here before this thread dies off, anyone?

Stevieluvsye

riffmongous wrote: »

Just copying this over here before this thread dies off, anyone?

https://www.ecb.co.uk/tickets/england

Don't buy off ticketing websites. They'll rip you off.

Stevieluvsye

Lords is very pricey, tickets and everything else. Especially food and drink.

I'd recommend Old Trafford. Great connection to ground, everything fairly reasonable priced. I'm guessing you could get a ticket for roughly £40 for 3rd or 4th day's play.

BarryD2

Stevieluvsye wrote: »

I'd bring back Moeen as he has been in great form the last few weeks and i feel he is a confidence player. Leach bowled terribly and doesn't offer much with the bat.

Leach is kinda stubborn with the bat, isn't he? That can be useful in the long game, even just to hold up an end. And did he not take a century off us or close to it.

Stevieluvsye

BarryD2 wrote: »

Leach is kinda stubborn with the bat, isn't he? That can be useful in the long game, even just to hold up an end. And did he not take a century off us or close to it.

He averages 12 in FCC and doesn't offer anything more than Mo with the ball.

I'd have Mo back in after watching his century is the T20Blast the other night

Adamcp898

Talk of Stokes not bowling in the final test. Who will be the batsman to be dropped in that case, Butler/Roy? Would rather give Buttler a go with the gloves and drop Bairstow but don't see it happening.

Stevieluvsye

Adamcp898 wrote: »

Talk of Stokes not bowling in the final test. Who will be the batsman to be dropped in that case, Butler/Roy? Would rather give Buttler a go with the gloves and drop Bairstow but don't see it happening.

They have named the squad. There are no additional batsmen to bring in. They'll go with Curran for Overton

Adamcp898

Stevieluvsye wrote: »

They have named the squad. There are no additional batsmen to bring in. They'll go with Curran for Overton

If Stokes is picked but won't bowl then they'll surely have to drop a specialist batsman for Woakes or Curran

Stevieluvsye

Adamcp898 wrote: »

If Stokes is picked but won't bowl then they'll surely have to drop a specialist batsman for Woakes or Curran

Too long of a tail

Denly
Burns
Root
Roy
Stokes
Buttler/Bairstow
Woakes
Overton
Archer
Broad
Leach

They won't go down that road

Adamcp898

Stevieluvsye wrote: »

Too long of a tail

Denly
Burns
Root
Roy
Stokes
Buttler/Bairstow
Woakes
Overton
Archer
Broad
Leach

They won't go down that road

They won't really have a choice if the man can't bowl..........

Adamcp898

Adamcp898 wrote: »

They won't really have a choice if the man can't bowl..........

Aussies only have a four man bowling unit. Even if Stokes doesn't bowl, England still have Broad, Archer, Leach and Overton/Woakes.

Stevieluvsye

Adamcp898 wrote: »

They won't really have a choice if the man can't bowl..........

They can go with 4 frontline and use Root & Denly

Anjobe

Stevieluvsye wrote: »

They can go with 4 frontline and use Root & Denly

You mean leave Leach out? A good spinner would usually come in handy at the Oval.

Stevieluvsye

Anjobe wrote: »

You mean leave Leach out? A good spinner would usually come in handy at the Oval.

No, leave Leach, Archer, Broad & Curran/Overton and use the part time stuff when required.

Adamcp898

Ward J. Littell wrote: »

Aussies only have a four man bowling unit. Even if Stokes doesn't bowl, England still have Broad, Archer, Leach and Overton/Woakes.

I just can't see a four man attack made up from those bowlers being capable of the workload tbh. Not least with the murmurings around Woakes/Overton's fitness this Summer. Curran would have a better chance and I think is the player more likely to come in but even then I'm not sure they can keep up any sort of sustained pressure as a unit.

dinorebel

Adamcp898 wrote: »

I just can't see a four man attack made up from those bowlers being capable of the workload tbh. Not least with the murmurings around Woakes/Overton's fitness this Summer. Curran would have a better chance and I think is the player more likely to come in but even then I'm not sure they can keep up any sort of sustained pressure as a unit.

Just shows how much Anderson has been missed think things would of been a lot closer if he'd been fit.

Adamcp898

Adamcp898 wrote: »

I just can't see a four man attack made up from those bowlers being capable of the workload tbh. Not least with the murmurings around Woakes/Overton's fitness this Summer. Curran would have a better chance and I think is the player more likely to come in but even then I'm not sure they can keep up any sort of sustained pressure as a unit.

I get your point but I'm not sure it's wise weakening the English batting order, which is already dodgy enough, combined with the fact that the Australian batting lineup, Smith and to a certain extent Labuschagne apart, isn't functioning well either. I think England could do with the extra batsman rather than the extra bowler.

Stevieluvsye

dinorebel wrote: »

Just shows how much Anderson has been missed think things would of been a lot closer if he'd been fit.

Yep! Not only that he never usually goes for more than two an over or thereabouts, plus the form Broad has been

Rjd2

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/27571263/england-not-good-think-are

Excellent if somewhat obvious from Dobell.

England have a lot of "dangerous" players but ultimately they don't really score enough runs,,,Buttler especially looks like the English version of Yuvraj. A beast in the white ball stuff, but just not able to cut it in test level.

The selection of Roy while discussed in detail was absurd.

For England's sake you'd hope they don't persist with him for a few years hoping he can figure out how to play this format, let him bash him it in the other format instead.

But England's selection requires attention. For asking players to fulfil at Test level roles they do not fulfil at county level is irresponsible and foolish. The failure of Jason Roy, a man who has never batted for two sessions in his entire first-class career, as opener was not just predictable but raises questions about the judgement of the selection panel. His technique - his hands pushing in front of his pad offering the hope of an edge to the slips and a gate onto the stumps - was apparent long before it was exposed so brutally by this Australian attack. It's both weird and worrying that the selectors couldn't see it.

Anjobe

Rjd2 wrote: »

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/27571263/england-not-good-think-are

Excellent if somewhat obvious from Dobell.

England have a lot of "dangerous" players but ultimately they don't really score enough runs,,,Buttler especially looks like the English version of Yuvraj. A beast in the white ball stuff, but just not able to cut it in test level.

The selection of Roy while discussed in detail was absurd.

For England's sake you'd hope they don't persist with him for a few years hoping he can figure out how to play this format, let him bash him it in the other format instead.

Buttler's never going to give you much coming in at 7 and trying to eake out runs with the tail when England are deep in the brown stuff. If he ever gets to bat with bit of freedom when England are ahead of the game he might be a different player. England's issues are higher up, speaking of which...

Roy's selection was always a gamble but its easy to criticize when you don't have to suggest an alternative - the selectors might have thought Roy probably won't be up to opening in Tests, but at least there's a chance and that's better than any of the guys they have tried in the recent past who have proven absolutely that they are not.

Stevieluvsye

The Roy selection was driven by Root. He made no secret about how highly he rated him. Bayliss wasn't that keen. Ponting even said yesterday that he didn't think that Roy would be succesfull as an opener.

Anjobe

Stevieluvsye wrote: »

The Roy selection was driven by Root. He made no secret about how highly he rated him. Bayliss wasn't that keen. Ponting even said yesterday that he didn't think that Roy would be succesfull as an opener.

I think England knew from the start that Roy was not an opener, but it was an opener they needed not another middle order player, Bayliss himself said this before Headingley, and promoting one of the young guys from the Lions would have been just a big a gamble.

As I said, its easy to criticize the selection, but that criticism is not worth much without a credible suggestion of someone likely to have done better.

Rjd2

Sibley should have opened alongside Burns. Specialists.

Roy was an absurd risk, the last thing this side needs was another hitter at the top when the rest of the batting line up is full of volatile aggressive batsman.

I can't recall the last dasher who transitioned from a limited overs basher to a test opener as its to much to ask of anyone.

Stevieluvsye

Rjd2 wrote: »

Sibley should have opened alongside Burns. Specialists.

Roy was an absurd risk, the last thing this side needs was another hitter at the top when the rest of the batting line up is full of volatile aggressive batsman.

I can't recall the last dasher who transitioned from a limited overs basher to a test opener as its to much to ask of anyone.

Warner was probably the last

VillaMad

Roy was put up there and just asked to bat like he did in ODI but obviously Test Cricket is about technique and temperament and so he was always going to be found out eventually. They hoped he would have the same impact as Warner, who ironically has had an horrific series but he seems to be an outlier in having an aggressive opener transitioning to Test Cricket.

Nasser Hussain in a list of his first eleven ahead of the Ashes put in 'A.N. Other' for the opening two batsmen as England over the past few years have tried different players and it hasn't worked, so he said it doesn't really matter which two you pick as it's a lottery with them. Carberry, Lyth, Robson, Hales, Duckett, Jennings, Stoneman and probably a couple more that I have missed have been tried over the last few years and they simply haven't worked. A weakness has been exposed by test matches bowlers and they have then had to be replaced.

Sibley and Crawley seem to be the next two off the list but it isn't as easy as say pick one of them and it will work. Both have average enough first class records and test cricket is a massive step up. You are always a better player when you don't play.

The bottom line with England really is that they just don't have the quality. Whichever batsman you want to pick out would still have struggled against a quality Australian attack.

Mysterypunter

VillaMad wrote: »

Roy was put up there and just asked to bat like he did in ODI but obviously Test Cricket is about technique and temperament and so he was always going to be found out eventually. They hoped he would have the same impact as Warner, who ironically has had an horrific series but he seems to be an outlier in having an aggressive opener transitioning to Test Cricket.

Nasser Hussain in a list of his first eleven ahead of the Ashes put in 'A.N. Other' for the opening two batsmen as England over the past few years have tried different players and it hasn't worked, so he said it doesn't really matter which two you pick as it's a lottery with them. Carberry, Lyth, Robson, Hales, Duckett, Jennings, Stoneman and probably a couple more that I have missed have been tried over the last few years and they simply haven't worked. A weakness has been exposed by test matches bowlers and they have then had to be replaced.

Sibley and Crawley seem to be the next two off the list but it isn't as easy as say pick one of them and it will work. Both have average enough first class records and test cricket is a massive step up. You are always a better player when you don't play.

The bottom line with England really is that they just don't have the quality. Whichever batsman you want to pick out would still have struggled against a quality Australian attack.

I would go back to James Vince, looks too good to be bad. Its amazing they have so many who fail, Joe Denly did OK a few times, I thought Michael Carberry was an unlucky man, opened in Australia and batted well, but had to contend with illness and fell away. Stylish player, enjoyed watching him.

Anjobe

Mysterypunter wrote: »

I would go back to James Vince, looks too good to be bad. Its amazing they have so many who fail, Joe Denly did OK a few times, I thought Michael Carberry was an unlucky man, opened in Australia and batted well, but had to contend with illness and fell away. Stylish player, enjoyed watching him.

How many chances should Vince be given? Every innings he plays is exactly the same - a few nice looking shots and then out playing loosely outside off stump.

The problem is that there is much less emphasis on the county championship in English domestic cricket (and there will be less still next year) and they are just not developing test class players. They do seem to have some young bowlers coming through now, although they all have trouble staying fit, but batsmen have been a problem.

Its not just England though is it. Smith has obviously been excellent and Labuschagne has done well, but the rest of Australia's batting has been garbage too.

Stevieluvsye

I worry for England over the next 3 to 5 years. Broad and Anderson will be gone. No quality spinners coming through. There doesn't appear to much strength in depth in the county championships.

They put too much emphasis on one day cricket over the last 4 years and i can see England really struggling in their away series coming up over the winter.

Personally i'd bin Root as captain and give it to Buttler and let Root focus on his batting.

BarryD2

Stevieluvsye wrote: »

I worry for England over the next 3 to 5 years. Broad and Anderson will be gone. No quality spinners coming through. There doesn't appear to much strength in depth in the county championships.

Excellent - maybe we'll get one over on Eng so in the longer format, sooner rather than later

Anjobe

BarryD2 wrote: »

Excellent - maybe we'll get one over on Eng so in the longer format, sooner rather than later

Not sure any of Ireland's batters will fancy facing Archer on an early season green-top!

Stevieluvsye

I thought Archers attitude or the way he carried himself was pretty poor in the last test match. You could see Beefy wanted to let rip at one of the Intervals but bit his lip why he was bowling mid 80's.

The single he ambled was worse than schoolboy stuff and you could hear from Pontings voice when Archer had his jumper wrapped around his waist that he thought it looked really poor.

He'd want to knock that laid back Carribean persona out of himself pretty quick because the love in with him won't last too long

t.singh1

England is a pretty strong team now but they are gonna lose the Ashes.

Stevieluvsye

t.singh1 wrote: »

England is a pretty strong team now but they are gonna lose the Ashes.

Far from strong.

Strong ODI side. Not a test side.

If they were to travel to India tomorrow for a 5 test series they wouldn't win one

kmart6

Realistically they should be facing a whitewash going into the 5th test.

Stevieluvsye

kmart6 wrote: »

Realistically they should be facing a whitewash going into the 5th test.

3-0. The lords test they couldn't really have won

decies

Not expecting much changes in Aussies line up , Any other opener not called Warner would be dropped . The Aussies will be determined not to lose this test am hoping they get the win and series finishes 3/1.

Roy and Overton dropped for the 5th test. Woakes and Curran in for them.

Stevieluvsye

Ward J. Littell wrote: »

Roy and Overton dropped for the 5th test. Woakes and Curran in for them.

Bizarre (The first one)

Royale with Cheese

Three specialist batsmen in the team, that'll sort out their batting woes alright.

Stevieluvsye

If anything i thought Roy looked his best in the second innings of the last test.

Anjobe

Stevieluvsye wrote: »

If anything i thought Roy looked his best in the second innings of the last test.

He was certainly leaving the ball better and not being drawn into unnecessary shots, but his vulnerability to anything nipping back from just outside off has been badly exposed now.

Anjobe

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

Three specialist batsmen in the team, that'll sort out their batting woes alright.

Denly was originally selected as an all rounder too remember...

t.singh1

M. Marsh is gonna replace Travis Head.

Stevieluvsye

Anjobe wrote: »

He was certainly leaving the ball better and not being drawn into unnecessary shots, but his vulnerability to anything nipping back from just outside off has been badly exposed now.

And Woakes' vulnerability to the short ball also has been exposed. Curran has had no time out in the middle

So Englands tail is now
Woakes
Curran
Archer
Broad
Leach

Fcuking hell. This could be a massacre if Aus win the toss and bat first

Adamcp898

Roy will get another chance. This was more about looking at the available players and realising there's no way any quartet of the bowlers named could take 20 wickets when it's debatable how many of them could even stand the workload of test bowling. Lean bowling lineups are great when they're managed well from test-to-test, kept fit, and everybody has a little bit of a niche to fill. England's has been anything but well-managed or fit all Summer.

Stevieluvsye

t.singh1 wrote: »

M. Marsh is gonna replace Travis Head.

I'd drop Wade before i dropped Head but i would bring in Marsh

Anjobe

Stevieluvsye wrote: »

And Woakes' vulnerability to the short ball also has been exposed. Curran has had no time out in the middle

So Englands tail is now
Woakes
Curran
Archer
Broad
Leach

Fcuking hell. This could be a massacre if Aus win the toss and bat first

Only if Smith scores 150+ again, he must be due a failure at some stage...

Stevieluvsye

Anjobe wrote: »

Only if Smith scores 150+ again, he must be due a failure at some stage...

Warner will go out and blast a century. He won't be sitting in his crease this time around. He'll be given license

Anjobe

Stevieluvsye wrote: »

Warner will go out and blast a century. He won't be sitting in his crease this time around. He'll be given license

ROTFL!

Stevieluvsye

Anjobe wrote: »

ROTFL!

Mark my words