Ashes 2025/6

[nat]

How do Key and McCullum spend 3 years planning for this series and end up with Brydon Carse opening the bowling?  He's so ordinary it's untrue.  The comparison between him and the Australian bowlers is ridiculous.

Because they're snake oil salesmen. Many people bought it.

[Oldhasbeen]

I'm beginning to think that Joffra would make a better Test number three than Ollie Pope

When Archer started out he was a genuine all-rounder - in 2017 scored 638 f/c runs for Sussex with five 50s at an average of 45.

Unfortunately - and this is something that irritates me - England quicks these days get so little time batting for their counties that their batting goes downhill simply due to lack of opportunity. Atkinson already seems to be heading down the same road.

Not great when modern cricket coaches supposedly preach that players should aim to excel in all disciplines.

We really should be having nos 8, 9 who are a serious thorn in opposition's sides.

Sadly true, NAM. And while I accept the need for centrally contracted players, especially bowlers, to be rested sometimes, I don't accept that resting them between Tests should be the default, as it appears to be now.

[Oldhasbeen]

"...If the runs dry up he'll be left out but it wont be Foakes who gets picked."

He will 'cos it won't be Stokes/McCullum doing the picking. The adults will be in charge again.

So - back to the "good old days" days of Root & Spoons?
Time to move on, but let's not throw out the baby with the dirty bathwater. Pre-Baz we'd won one Test in 17 and were playing the most boring cricket imaginable.

[nat]

"...If the runs dry up he'll be left out but it wont be Foakes who gets picked."

He will 'cos it won't be Stokes/McCullum doing the picking. The adults will be in charge again.

So - back to the "good old days" days of Root & Spoons?
Time to move on, but let's not throw out the baby with the dirty bathwater. Pre-Baz we'd won one Test in 17 and were playing the most boring cricket imaginable.

There's a middle way. Root is/was a poor captain. If Stokes is to continue to play for England then you'll need a strong captain. For me, I'd tell Stokes it's all over, go play franchise cricket. A total reset is needed.

Out of the current team/squad only Root, Brook, Archer are good enough.

[NotAMember]

There's a middle way. Root is/was a poor captain. If Stokes is to continue to play for England then you'll need a strong captain. For me, I'd tell Stokes it's all over, go play franchise cricket. A total reset is needed.

What do I know but I just can't see Stokes wanting to soldier on through six Tests against New Zealand and Pakistan next summer.

He will be 35 then and as we all know he has looked physically spent for some time. It constantly looks as if he is running on fumes.

Not to mention the mental toll which he may not show but is very much there for all England captains, however resilient.

A new captain will be needed, probably very soon and definitely soonish. Will it be Bazzer Brook or will they go for a more cerebral option such as County Championship-winning captain Haseeb Hameed, who could come straight in for Crawley, or bat at 3?

Also Asa Tribe for Test debut next summer?

What will happen?

[Cartero]

"A new captain will be needed, probably very soon and definitely soonish. Will it be Bazzer Brook or will they go for a more cerebral option such as County Championship-winning captain Haseeb Hameed, who could come straight in for Crawley, or bat at 3?"

McCullum and Key, especially the latter, despise the CC and probably haven't even noticed that Notts won it, so while they are in place I don't think there's any chance of that happening.

[JasonP]

There's a middle way. Root is/was a poor captain. If Stokes is to continue to play for England then you'll need a strong captain. For me, I'd tell Stokes it's all over, go play franchise cricket. A total reset is needed.

What do I know but I just can't see Stokes wanting to soldier on through six Tests against New Zealand and Pakistan next summer.

He will be 35 then and as we all know he has looked physically spent for some time. It constantly looks as if he is running on fumes.

Not to mention the mental toll which he may not show but is very much there for all England captains, however resilient.

A new captain will be needed, probably very soon and definitely soonish. Will it be Bazzer Brook or will they go for a more cerebral option such as County Championship-winning captain Haseeb Hameed, who could come straight in for Crawley, or bat at 3?

Also Asa Tribe for Test debut next summer?

What will happen?

Obviously the disasterous Ashes may have altered his plans but it was only 6 weeks ago he extended his England contract until the end of 2027.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/articles/crl2ex83j4eo

[Slogger]

Very astute of Stokes' agent to negotiate an extension before the tour. This sort of outcome was more than likely. At the ground in September my Suffolk pal was of the opinion that you would get found out with a makeshift keeper and no proper spinner. At the time England had one bowler in the test top 20 (Atkinson) and the Aussies had four. Of course an extension increases any mutual consent payment.

Once the white ball team come badly unstuck in the world T20 I can see wholesale changes taking place.

[spirali]

How do Key and McCullum spend 3 years planning for this series and end up with Brydon Carse opening the bowling?  He's so ordinary it's untrue.  The comparison between him and the Australian bowlers is ridiculous

Yep. England have been so poor that it's maybe unfair to zero in on one player, but the sight of Carse lumbering in and bowling short wide pies over after over has been particularly grim viewing. I think it'll end up being my enduring memory of this series.

[bwildered]

 Same again repeat for England, keep making the same mistakes, while the Aussies do the basics brilliantly.
Only positive for England would be to prevent a whitewash and deny a Aussies victory.

[Bath Hammer]

Yep. England have been so poor that it's maybe unfair to zero in on one player, but the sight of Carse lumbering in and bowling short wide pies over after over has been particularly grim viewing. I think it'll end up being my enduring memory of this series.

The disappointing thing was that he was shaping up well in tests back in England & like every one else is clearly doing his best, he doesn?t want to faill, but that is what is happening with so many of them & the coaches are incapable of addressing it. They are now probably shell shocked & feel nothing is going their way but to be this bad is astonishing.

[JasonP]

Same again repeat for England, keep making the same mistakes, while the Aussies do the basics brilliantly.
Only positive for England would be to prevent a whitewash and deny a Aussies victory.

If England were batting against an attack of Carse, Tongue, Jacks and Root then they?d be scoring plenty of runs too.  See of Archer and there?s pretty much nothing there.  I genuinely can?t understand how we?ve got to this stage of having such a poor attack.

[nat]

Same again repeat for England, keep making the same mistakes, while the Aussies do the basics brilliantly.
Only positive for England would be to prevent a whitewash and deny a Aussies victory.

If England were batting against an attack of Carse, Tongue, Jacks and Root then they?d be scoring plenty of runs too.  See of Archer and there?s pretty much nothing there.  I genuinely can?t understand how we?ve got to this stage of having such a poor attack.

you get there by not watching county cricket and dissing anyone who performs well in it.

[spirali]

The disappointing thing was that he was shaping up well in tests back in England & like every one else is clearly doing his best, he doesn?t want to faill, but that is what is happening with so many of them & the coaches are incapable of addressing it. They are now probably shell shocked & feel nothing is going their way but to be this bad is astonishing.

Agreed. Carse did look the part, more or less, during the English summer - made some useful contributions with the bat too - and had seemingly earned the right to be part of England's first choice attack. And yes he's giving it plenty, it takes tremendous physical effort to keep banging it in short in that heat. But the end result is just woeful. 

Then we have the ridiculous fantasy that Will Jacks can act as a frontline international spinner. This is the Bazball "reach for the skies, believe and it will happen" stuff taken to the level of delusion. I feel sorry for Jacks, he showed a lot of guts batting in the second innings at Brisbane, but pitting his part-time bowling against the likes of Head and Carey was only ever going to have one outcome.

[bobw]

I feel sorry for anyone headed out to Aus for the iconic last two test at the MCG and SCG. Both great grounds but with nothing to play for it must be a downer.