The Ashes (Australia tour of England)

[LiveLoveABD]

I know there is a lot of chatter about Steve Smith and in India some people could climax at the name of Virat Kohli but this Ben Stokes fellow is some cricketer.. I really believe from the core of my heart that he is the best cricketer in the world.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Funny to see English crowd continuing to boo Warner Nothing much to cheer for I guess

Brilliant stuff from the Aussies. This is England's 3rd less than 100 score in the last 6-7 games right? 1 each against WI, Ire and now Aus

I don't know if you follow F1 but there's a Grand Prix coming up at Monza, Italy which Hamilton who is a Brit (and an absolute legend) will probably win or at least be in the top 3 for and I'm sure he will get boo'd out of oblivion there and you will suddenly see the Brit pundits brag about how they're the most educated and sensible viewing public.

Their behaviour in the World Cup and now the Ashes has been absolutely pathetic.

 

[asprin]

Excellent Test match so far. Though Australia have the upper hand, I think England should not lose heart. Sure, the first innings was a disaster but that could very well prove to be a blessing in disguise.

 

[Deleted member 193590]

And there we go,Archers injured can this series get any worse?

 

[wasteyouryouth]

And there we go,Archers injured can this series get any worse?

Review a possible wicket and have it turn out to be a no ball and lose your last review.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

England should thank their bowlers. Still in this test match. They need to thank Stokes and Archer a heap for even having a chance!!

 

[Bevab]

Stokes looks completely gassed out there. Is Root totally obsessed with burning out a bowler somehow per game?

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Australia's number 4 has scored 550+ runs this series already![DOUBLEPOST=1566583182][/DOUBLEPOST]I don't think there's a keeper in world cricket who has worse footwork than Bairstow! England need to get the gloves off him and ask him to bat at 4 and focus on that!

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Got to have respect for Ben Stokes. Bowling 85+ swinging it in and out and late after bowling a mountain of overs at full throttle!

 

[Ed Smith]

Reckon we need to burn the whole test team down and start again

 

[Bevab]

Reckon we need to burn the whole test team down and start again

That was a shambolic performance with the bat from England. Most of them just gifted their wickets away as a result of some sustained bowling pressure from the Aussies. It seemed like the Aussies have found a way to get their batsmen out at will, the field settings were spot on and every batsman was the target of a successful bowling plan tailor-made individually. How can you perform well when the opposition have completely figured you out and you are battling your own inner demons? This side truly needs a better captain, better coach (a separate one for tests perhaps?) and some extensive rethinking about their batting plans in test cricket.

The saddest thing has been the decline of Root and Bairstow. Root was initially the best among the 'Fab 4' in test cricket and averaged nearly 57 once. To see him not even be the best batsman since the previous Ashes as @Aislabie showed is incredibly poor for a player of his class. For the sake of England, I hope he relinquishes the captaincy after the Ashes and focuses on becoming a match winning batsman. The same goes for Bairstow too, he needs to return to county cricket and work on his numerous technical issues.

 

[Dutch]

And what is the ECB’s answer to England’s obvious red ball batting woes: Lets have another white ball tournament but make it even shorter than Twenty20 to really fine tune those slogs and smashes......test cricket will be dead in ten years or less like this.[DOUBLEPOST=1566593717][/DOUBLEPOST]And Yes @Jalen I admit it you were more than right!

 

[Aislabie]

And what is the ECB’s answer to England’s obvious red ball batting woes: Lets have another white ball tournament but make it even shorter than Twenty20 to really fine tune those slogs and smashes......test cricket will be dead in ten years or less like this.

If the ECB wants to push short-form white-ball cricket (which I think it ought) then the answer is a Football League style competition to cover every part of the country. Move away from the county structure and embrace the format that gets people in the ground and cricket on televisions (Match of the Day highlights show is a MUST); hand-pick Test-suited players and groom them for Test cricket.

If Test cricket is the priority though, then the County Championship has to be at least as much of a priority as what I've just described

 

[wasteyouryouth]

And what is the ECB’s answer to England’s obvious red ball batting woes: Lets have another white ball tournament but make it even shorter than Twenty20 to really fine tune those slogs and smashes......test cricket will be dead in ten years or less like this.[DOUBLEPOST=1566593717][/DOUBLEPOST]And Yes @Jalen I admit it you were more than right!

The fact that four of the top seven played no red ball cricket all summer doesn't help either. Meanwhile Australian players have played an A game or a couple of tour games, or like Labuschange more county games than any English player this summer.

Scheduling an Ashes after the World Cup seems to be something of a greedy misstep.

Who knows, maybe someone will produce a Shai Hope style match winning knock at Headingley. In the event that doesn't happen it'll be interesting to see which way England go. I'd imagine it'll be 'we have lost the Ashes but can still draw the series' and maybe make one change at most. There's at least three or four players I'd send for a 'rest'. Denly, Buttler, Bairstow and Roy (unless they stick him down to six).

If the ECB wants to push short-form white-ball cricket (which I think it ought) then the answer is a Football League style competition to cover every part of the country. Move away from the county structure and embrace the format that gets people in the ground and cricket on televisions (Match of the Day highlights show is a MUST); hand-pick Test-suited players and groom them for Test cricket.

If Test cricket is the priority though, then the County Championship has to be at least as much of a priority as what I've just described

The crazy thing is, unlike a lot of countries, there is a huge appetite for test cricket in this country from spectators. Every match would sell out, depending on the price points against lesser nations. Yet, if the team starts to underperform that appetite will slowly shrink.

They could have pumped all this money they've spent on The Hundred into the Blast. Help teams get some bigger stars (look at how many big name players were off playing in an exhibition tournament in Canada or going to the Euro Slam instead of a stint in the Blast), market it better. Maybe work out some agreement with the BCCI that might get the likes of Kohli across, even just for a few games. GET THE ENGLISH WORLD CUP STARS INVOLVED FOR GOD'S SAKE. The big names won't even be in most of The Hundred which is the most laughable thing of creating an entirely new format.

 

[Aislabie]

They could have pumped all this money they've spent on The Hundred into the Blast. Help teams get some bigger stars (look at how many big name players were off playing in an exhibition tournament in Canada or going to the Euro Slam instead of a stint in the Blast), market it better. Maybe work out some agreement with the BCCI that might get the likes of Kohli across, even just for a few games. GET THE ENGLISH WORLD CUP STARS INVOLVED FOR GOD'S SAKE. The big names won't even be in most of The Hundred which is the most laughable thing of creating an entirely new format.

I mean obviously a hundred times this, but it's not the ECB's strong point.

A smaller but no less stupid example can be found in scoring software; for years, Total Cricket Scorer had been de rigeur for scorers up and down the country. Unfortunately it wasn't profitable for the guys who ran it, and as a result the IP rights, software licences, employees - everything was available for sale at a fraction of the market value for anyone prepared to keep the company going. Like perhaps a national governing body?

But the ECB passed on that, and decided instead to create Play Cricket Scorer Pro. For just four times the cost of buying an existing, working system, they were able to rush through an incomplete and buggy system in time for just after the start of the new season this year. They have also outsourced it to a company in New Zealand, which is an added cost.

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Similarly, the MCC Universities scheme is flawed in all manner of ways. Genuinely awful in many ways, but still a valuable stepping stone into the professional game for guys who want to get a degree first and even as it declines, it still accounts for something like 30% of county pros. And it did all of this on a budget that was less than the salary that Ben Stokes gets paid as per his Central Contract. And to all intents and purposes, it got axed last year; a shadow of it will continue to exist, but the budget for running an entire MCCU scheme for a season is now to be approximately 1.5 times the salary of Anuj Dal. No slight meant to Anuj Dal, but that's not going to be enough to maintain a value, and employ a coaching staff that will be of any value to young players. The system that has developed 30% of county cricketers, and offered many a safety net for after their careers, is dead in the water.

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I'm not saying that Ben Stokes shouldn't be paid well by his Central Contract. Nor am I saying that innovations in cricket scoring software won't ultimately prove to be useful. But I am saying that the ECB is woefully myopic with regards to its budgeting and planning. And this translates into the present state of the Test team, which appears to have lost the ability to play Test cricket. It feels like the best way to persuade the ECB to invest in the Blast would be to convince them that it is the fiscally senseless option.