Ashes 2017/18

The Light Was Yellow Sir said:
Thing with cricket is, unless you’re a top, top test team, you almost always win home test matches and lose away ones. It’s always been the same and I’m not sure why people expect it to be different. Australia lost away to India and Sri Lanka and drew in Bangladesh recently.
If these test teams met in England, next summer, I dare say England would win the series. That being said, the blame for playing as poorly as we have must rest with the selectors as much as the players, if not more.
I don’t think it can be a great surprise that Broad and Anderson don’t take wickets in Australia, they never have so I’m not sure why they would now. Only 2 bowlers we’ve got capable of 90+ mph bowling are Plunkett and Wood-not there. Leg spinners crave some bounce, which there’s plenty of over there, Rashid not there. Nathan Lyon has a great recent record against left handers, England’s top order is packed with them! The batters don’t play county cricket so, even if there was a pitch with some life and bounce in it, they never see it. Finally, the Kookaburra ball is known to be what they use, why don’t our lads use it the summer before they go?
What we are guilty of, as with many sports England play, is failing to prepare and not being prepared to pick ‘horses for courses’. The sports where we do it properly, we are pretty successful at. Rowing, cycling, swimming (now), rugby union to name a few.
Click to expand...

One thing with England conditions it’s a better contest because there is something in it for all bowlers in Australia if you ain’t 90+mph your mainly cannon fodder like Anderson and broad have been in all there test matches in Australia.
 
waspish said:
Yep your right been watching since 5 would just like there to be something in the pitch to make it a bit more competitive like the day night game was even though we got beat.
Click to expand...

and any half decent batter can score on that wicket its always the same at the waca very hot and flat wicket and dip your bread stuff they are playing with us and and only to take one wicket the ECB should be but up against a wall and shot for sending out this squad of players we had no chance without 2 7ft bowlers and spin bowlers and why is cook still in the team he is making a point and taking the piss out of root

the tour was over in the first morning of the first test the ashes was won that morning we was never in any shape to face them on there own wickets even in early summer over there for test cricket england did not have the right people down under and we should have sorted it out 12 months ago but the ECB just kept messing about with a partner for cook and the bowling was just swing and without pace and bounce also adil rashid leg spin was over looked ???? for moeen ali that a in itself was a joke down under even batting moeen ali is a duck when they bounce it around his ears

so the jolly boys' outing of 2017 is in full swing 3 months of sun sea and drink is in its early stage and the barmy army are the only ones having a bad time
 
On one hand Smith is easily the best batsman in the world so it's always gonna be tough to skittle him in home conditions but on the other hand all our bowlers are the same. If there is no movement they just get smashed all over the ground and we have a spinner that can't spin the ball. Gonna be 5-0 this.
 
lancs blue said:
As you've played first-class cricket what is your opinion of ECB central contracts, have they actually improved England or was it just a coincidental alignment that the likes of Strauss, Cook, Pietersen, Prior, Anderson and Broad all peaked at roughly the same time and that that could have happened regardless of central contracts?
Click to expand...
I think it made the England team even more 'elitists' to be honest. The guys that got the contracts were on so much more money than the standard county cricketer that a lot of resentment happened within the game at first. But I do think it got the best out of the names you mentioned as they got the best coaching and probably in some cases thought they were a bit better than they actually were, which in some cases had a positive effect on their play as 90% of the game at the top level is in the head. We had a centrally contracted player at my team and when he played occasionally for us I don't think he tried very hard. It just didn't matter. He was only judged on his test record. Why would he bust a gut playing for his county an risk getting injured? Can't blame him really. I think it's more accepted now and actually the big money is in 20/20 so more and more players are going down that route and ignoring the fact that they might get a test cap one day. Who can blame them? The central contracts are peanuts compared to some of the money you can make at 20/20. I just missed out on that era unfortunately lol.
 
ancoats said:
and any half decent batter can score on that wicket its always the same at the waca very hot and flat wicket and dip your bread stuff they are playing with us and and only to take one wicket the ECB should be but up against a wall and shot for sending out this squad of players we had no chance without 2 7ft bowlers and spin bowlers and why is cook still in the team he is making a point and taking the piss out of root

the tour was over in the first morning of the first test the ashes was won that morning we was never in any shape to face them on there own wickets even in early summer over there for test cricket england did not have the right people down under and we should have sorted it out 12 months ago but the ECB just kept messing about with a partner for cook and the bowling was just swing and without pace and bounce also adil rashid leg spin was over looked ???? for moeen ali that a in itself was a joke down under even batting moeen ali is a duck when they bounce it around his ears

so the jolly boys' outing of 2017 is in full swing 3 months of sun sea and drink is in its early stage and the barmy army are the only ones having a bad time
Click to expand...

Agree with all that but pitches shouldn’t be flat as that there needs to be something more in the pitch for the bowlers and it seems there is a click above regarding certain players not getting a chance like Rashid.
 
waspish said:
Agree with all that but pitches shouldn’t be flat as that there needs to be something more in the pitch for the bowlers and it seems there is a click above regarding certain players not getting a chance like Rashid.
Click to expand...

the thing over there its the bounce on the flat wickets you need to be fast and 7ft tall the bounce is so hard to see on a good to short length it jumps when you think its ok you have to get off the back foot to score and when you think its there to hit it jumps and your first through is to defend or duck or do nothing the english batters can not pay on the back foot with cricket in england all about swing you just have to bat outside of the crease and get to the ball early give you a better chance of taking the swing away

now we all know the conditions over there and it never changes and the ECB are clowns sending over this squad of swing bowlers and batters who can not bat on the back foot and also we don't use a full time spinner we have a good leg spinner and if anybody with half a brain cell picks to go on the tour with there pitches and it always turns after the 2nd day when the cracks open up its crazy and was there any other outcome than losing the ashes early

many on here could have picked a better squad to face them and we are only part time watchers of crickets and we are clued up on the tour to a australia its not rocket science cricket over there in fact its simple cricket basic stuff but england just over think it and send swing bowlers and part time spin
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top
✖
  AdBlock Detected
Bluemoon relies on advertising to pay our hosting fees. Please support the site by disabling your ad blocking software to help keep the forum sustainable. Thanks.