Ashes 2025/6

[Cartero]

May be the experts on here can explain why I'm wrong but I simply can't understand the obsession with banging the ball in short for over after over. It negates bowled or lbw as a method of dismissal and it's like long ball football, ok as a tactic in its place but tedious and one dimensional as a default approach. Only Stokes was bowling with any kind of intelligence.

[JasonP]

England are not a good side. Picking a combined team how many England players would be selected? Root and er, ...that's it.

Root, Brook and Duckett are all ranked in the top 10 batsmen in International cricket and would easily get in.  Weatherarld is 31 and only just been picked when they've been struggling for an opener, Labuschagne was dropped a couple of tests ago because he'd been poor for 2 years, Inglis is unproven.  Green has been as average with the bat as Stokes in the last year and Stokes offers a lot more with the ball.
Generally over the last couple of years the England batting has been a lot better than the Aussies has.

Smith should be a better batsmen than Carey.  He started incredibly well.  He made 184* from 207 balls and 88 from 99 in the second innngs against India last summer but has really faded since.

[bwildered]

Bowled like in the Carribean first session, and sadly thereafter played like the women?s team twelve months previous. Just cannot compete if only three do themselves any justice.
Positive, we made it to the third day .

[Bath Hammer]

Is an innings defeat on the cards???

[Bath Hammer]

England are not a good side. Picking a combined team how many England players would be selected? Root and er, ...that's it.

It was actually precisely the opposite before the series began. That is the tragedy of not having adequate preparation & being poorly managed.

[Bath Hammer]

So Starc scored more runs than all our batsmen except Root! He?s practically beating us single handed.

[nat]

England are not a good side. Picking a combined team how many England players would be selected? Root and er, ...that's it.

It was actually precisely the opposite before the series began. That is the tragedy of not having adequate preparation & being poorly managed.

Delusional to think that England are/were a better team than Australia.

[Oldhasbeen]

Smith should be a better batsmen than Carey.  He started incredibly well.  He made 184* from 207 balls and 88 from 99 in the second innings against India last summer but has really faded since.

Maybe the dual role is too much for him? I wouldn't be surprised to see Durham's Ollie Robinson behind the stumps next year, with Jamie S as a specialist batsmen.

[dazedpenguin]

Smith should be a better batsmen than Carey.  He started incredibly well.  He made 184* from 207 balls and 88 from 99 in the second innings against India last summer but has really faded since.

Maybe the dual role is too much for him? I wouldn't be surprised to see Durham's Ollie Robinson behind the stumps next year, with Jamie S as a specialist batsmen.

I think Smith is worth a go at 3 instead of Pope. They're wasting his batting by having him as keeper. My guess is that they'll give the gloves to one of the Rews.

[Oldhasbeen]

Smith should be a better batsmen than Carey.  He started incredibly well.  He made 184* from 207 balls and 88 from 99 in the second innings against India last summer but has really faded since.

Maybe the dual role is too much for him? I wouldn't be surprised to see Durham's Ollie Robinson behind the stumps next year, with Jamie S as a specialist batsmen.

I think Smith is worth a go at 3 instead of Pope. They're wasting his batting by having him as keeper. My guess is that they'll give the gloves to one of the Rews.

Maybe - we have a few good options for keepers. Shame I can't say the same about opening batsmen, number 3s or spinners

[Andy]

May be the experts on here can explain why I'm wrong but I simply can't understand the obsession with banging the ball in short for over after over. It negates bowled or lbw as a method of dismissal and it's like long ball football, ok as a tactic in its place but tedious and one dimensional as a default approach. Only Stokes was bowling with any kind of intelligence.

But Stokes is the captain who has masterminded our strategies?  I am beginning to think Mccullum is not delusional but deliberately trying to destroy the Test team.

[Bath Hammer]

It was actually precisely the opposite before the series began. That is the tragedy of not having adequate preparation & being poorly managed.

Delusional to think that England are/were a better team than Australia.
[/quote]

They certainly don?t look that way now but they are so up & down, more down in recent times. Someone needs to tot up the ranking points for each player, before the series started, to get an accurate assessment but I doubt if it?s clear cut as you state, though of course you?re always right!

[Bath Hammer]

This is shaping up to being one of our worst pair of Test defeats & surely seems like an ignominious final chapter for Stokes & McCallum.

[Oldhasbeen]

This is shaping up to being one of our worst pair of Test defeats & surely seems like an ignominious final chapter for Stokes & McCallum.

Agreed. And if Baz & Ben go, I don't rate the chances of Zak, Ollie & Bash of staying in the Test team
But I've no idea who the next cabs off the ranks will be.

[Andy]

Problem seems to me that the idea of playing without fear is coming from a place of fear.