Ashes 2017/18

[Nightmare Walking]

the first test and same old england you just know england will fold tomorrow and be all out under 300 and then the aussies will bat for 2 days and roast our bowlers and get over 500 and the 2nd innings england will fall like a pack of cards

the batting order is a joke and cook should have not toured this winter england had 2 summers to sort out the batting order and did not do anything but change the captain and kept cook in the squad cook days are numbered and he is the weak link and puts the team under pressure know he is coming back in after a couple of min

this could be a 5.0 to them and only the fact they are not a good team holds court for me and england could win one

What are you basing any of that on? There is absolutely nothing to suggest a 5-0 margin for any team. I don't get the typical England thing either. You may have been right 20 years ago but since the Vaughn era we have been arguably the most consistent test team team in the world. You lambast our batsmen for some reason but the Aussie batsmen are far worse than ours. Their strong point is their 3 quick bowlers. Yes they can zip it through but none of them have the raw unpredictability of Mitchel Johnson, who tore us apart last time. They are all pretty much staight up and down off the pitch with a bit of reverse. If the ball is not zipping through and bouncing dangerously head height then all 3 are nothing our best batsmen can't deal with.

Now if you had said you fancy Australia to win then fair enough. It is a tough plave to go and play cricket. Yet there is absolutely nothing to make anyone feel as despondent as you do. This Aussie team has no Warnes or Gilchrists to really make us suffer. The only area where Australia have the edge is that their quick bowlers are quicker than ours. Yet our fast bowlers are more skilful and experienced, our spinber may not be as consisent at holding up an end but he is more threatening and our batsmen are better.

Don't believe the hype and bullshit that has gone before this test series. This Aussie team is just like the rags, one trick ponies whos bark is worse than their bite.

That was a solid start by England. It will be the Aussies who will be having a rethink tonight.

 

[meeesh]

Was reverse psychology, hindsight is a wonderful thing. I’m sure it was great replying to my post when you saw the score this morning....

It's called having a bit of faith,you,like me,should have plenty of that supporting City,I thought I would have a scroll through the thread,to see who was up overnight watching it,I also noticed you swayed onto the cost of BT when it was becoming apparent your earlier prediction was looking daft,ah well enjoy the rest of the test match

 

[ell]

BT's coverage of this is abysmal, it's so dour and lifeless.

I genuinely enjoy listening to Sky's Cricket commentary team. There's good analysis, plenty of humour and Bumble is great to listen to.

Same here, but I was watching on the app which has a delay otherwise id have turned the sound off and put TMS on.

Its a disgrace that BT have got the highlights show too, should always be on terrestrial telly.

 

[ancoats]

What are you basing any of that on? There is absolutely nothing to suggest a 5-0 margin for any team. I don't get the typical England thing either. You may have been right 20 years ago but since the Vaughn era we have been arguably the most consistent test team team in the world. You lambast our batsmen for some reason but the Aussie batsmen are far worse than ours. Their strong point is their 3 quick bowlers. Yes they can zip it through but none of them have the raw unpredictability of Mitchel Johnson, who tore us apart last time. They are all pretty much staight up and down off the pitch with a bit of reverse. If the ball is not zipping through and bouncing dangerously head height then all 3 are nothing our best batsmen can't deal with.

Now if you had said you fancy Australia to win then fair enough. It is a tough plave to go and play cricket. Yet there is absolutely nothing to make anyone feel as despondent as you do. This Aussie team has no Warnes or Gilchrists to really make us suffer. The only area where Australia have the edge is that their quick bowlers are quicker than ours. Yet our fast bowlers are more skilful and experienced, our spinber may not be as consisent at holding up an end but he is more threatening and our batsmen are better.

Don't believe the hype and bullshit that has gone before this test series. This Aussie team is just like the rags, one trick ponies whos bark is worse than their bite.

That was a solid start by England. It will be the Aussies who will be having a rethink tonight.

the base is set on cook opening the batting its a free wicket for them and then we are in the shit how many can you count on in that line up to make big runs NONE england will be bowled out for cheap runs tomorrow with a new ball only a couple of overs old its easy pickings for them in the morning england need 400 runs every first innings to have any chance in winning a test over there and just sitting in makes me think england are weak in the batting order you have to score heavy and quick and put them under pressure and england just played into there hands with slow runs and just staying in

seen to much of the same old england to see it happening again this winter and its too late now to do anything about it england should have built a new team last 2 summers but just went for the old guard and hope to god cook and root make runs its not good enough even facing a bang average australia who will just bounce england out on there pitches its set in stone

 

[Nightmare Walking]

the base is set on cook opening the batting its a free wicket for them and then we are in the shit how many can you count on in that line up to make big runs NONE england will be bowled out for cheap runs tomorrow with a new ball only a couple of overs old its easy pickings for them in the morning england need 400 runs every first innings to have any chance in winning a test over there and just sitting in makes me think england are weak in the batting order you have to score heavy and quick and put them under pressure and england just played into there hands with slow runs and just staying in

seen to much of the same old england to see it happening again this winter and its too late now to do anything about it england should have built a new team last 2 summers but just went for the old guard and hope to god cook and root make runs its not good enough even facing a bang average australia who will just bounce england out on there pitches its set in stone

It will be interesting mate but I think you are goibg over the top a bit. Last 5 test series Austrlia have been beaten off Sri Lanka, India and South Africa, drawn against Bangladesh and beaten Pakistan. That is not exactly fantastic. They have 3 injury prone quick bowlers who are very good but absolutely nothing after that. Our lower middle order is extremely strong in batting terms. They are not going to just roll over. Whens the last time the lower middle order and bowlers capitulated. Its been our top order which has been the worry, 2, 3 and 5 yet they have got off to a good solid start.

In regards to cook, he got a good un eary on and did not get forward quick enough. It happens. I still fancy him to do alright though. Maybe not the big hundreds anymore but enough to blunt their attack.

Don't be so pessimistic. 350 plus and we are well in the game. The Gabba is their fortress. They usually put teams to the sword there and then teams are on the back foot. If we can escape from here without getting beat then it is definitely game on.

 

[Lancet Fluke]

BT's coverage of this is abysmal, it's so dour and lifeless.

I genuinely enjoy listening to Sky's Cricket commentary team. There's good analysis, plenty of humour and Bumble is great to listen to.

It wasn't great, early days though and they may improve as the series goes on, I suppose. I was particularly disappointed by how low the sound from the crowd and pitch was and how loud the commentary was. Completely lost any sense of atmosphere.

 

[Super Joey Hart]

the base is set on cook opening the batting its a free wicket for them and then we are in the shit how many can you count on in that line up to make big runs NONE england will be bowled out for cheap runs tomorrow with a new ball only a couple of overs old its easy pickings for them in the morning england need 400 runs every first innings to have any chance in winning a test over there and just sitting in makes me think england are weak in the batting order you have to score heavy and quick and put them under pressure and england just played into there hands with slow runs and just staying in

seen to much of the same old england to see it happening again this winter and its too late now to do anything about it england should have built a new team last 2 summers but just went for the old guard and hope to god cook and root make runs its not good enough even facing a bang average australia who will just bounce england out on there pitches its set in stone

Fuck me fella I wouldn't have wanted to be sat next to you in the trenches lol

 

[manimanc]

BT's coverage of this is abysmal, it's so dour and lifeless.

I genuinely enjoy listening to Sky's Cricket commentary team. There's good analysis, plenty of humour and Bumble is great to listen to.

When did michael Owen start doing cricket commentary?

 

[PistonBlue]

It will be interesting mate but I think you are goibg over the top a bit. Last 5 test series Austrlia have been beaten off Sri Lanka, India and South Africa, drawn against Bangladesh and beaten Pakistan. That is not exactly fantastic. They have 3 injury prone quick bowlers who are very good but absolutely nothing after that. Our lower middle order is extremely strong in batting terms. They are not going to just roll over. Whens the last time the lower middle order and bowlers capitulated. Its been our top order which has been the worry, 2, 3 and 5 yet they have got off to a good solid start.

In regards to cook, he got a good un eary on and did not get forward quick enough. It happens. I still fancy him to do alright though. Maybe not the big hundreds anymore but enough to blunt their attack.

Don't be so pessimistic. 350 plus and we are well in the game. The Gabba is their fortress. They usually put teams to the sword there and then teams are on the back foot. If we can escape from here without getting beat then it is definitely game on.

Nice to see some perspective on here!
I've got a few quid on us winning this first one, and the first day has gone as well as expected. I would have liked a few more runs on the board but I still think we'll get 350+. Looks like the ball will swing a bit too, so a bit in it for Jimmy to go at.

Re BT coverage, it's much better than I thought it would be.

 

[meeesh]

Nice to see some perspective on here!
I've got a few quid on us winning this first one, and the first day has gone as well as expected. I would have liked a few more runs on the board but I still think we'll get 350+. Looks like the ball will swing a bit too, so a bit in it for Jimmy to go at.

Re BT coverage, it's much better than I thought it would be.

Probably would have got more if they hadn't lost around an hours play,but like you say it went as well as expected