The Cricket Thread

8 wickets and batting us to victory - not bad for a shit Moeen Ali!

If we are going to talk about missing chances Bairstow has a lot to answer for on that front

This is the most exciting England test team for years (in our lifetime?). There’s quite a few coulda/shoulda/woulda’s from that game. But equally there’s a lot of “WTF: did they really just do that????” (From Root and Bairstow in particular). You can’t have one without the other.

Cricket is about bums on seats and TV revenue. Test cricket is becoming obsolete in the face of T20/one dayers/other slog’n’giggle. The Ashes remains one of the few 5 test series left. It won’t survive if it’s processional (like it was when we regularly lost 5-0 and 4-1 in 3-4 days) so entertainment is critical. Who really remembers the matches from 2015? And we remember Headingley 2019 for one innings (Stokes) in what was effectively a dead rubber (Aus had already retained).

Guru talks sense. A lot depends on how you consume cricket. Not being massively tribal about it I thought it was an excellent test which ebbed and flowed over 5 days, regularly chucking up some decent individual battles. Put me down for aggressive declarations and ramp shots.

In general, fuck the Aussies obviously, bogan bastards.

I'm happy with England playing aggressively, as long as the aim is still to win. It's professional sport, as Alan Durban said in the 70s - "If you want entertainment go and watch a bunch of clowns". But Stokes said afterwards that the dressing room was gutted to have lost, so I'm reassured by that. Thing is, most test matches in England are expensive sell-outs and have been for a while, so the problem isn't here. As Dobell pointed out on his youtube thing after the match, if they want to "save test cricket", they should put it on free to air TV.

Also, it's worth bearing in mind that under Root, we were playing very conventional cricket and losing lots, so, regardless of approach, Stokes has improved results anyway.

I think they are trying to hard to be funky, which is why I'll criticise the day 1 declaration - another matter if Root had got out but declaring with him still batting well is just leaving runs on the table for the sake of 4 overs at the openers. Picking a batsman over a wicketkeeper and an old stager spinner who isn't up to the job any more seem like old England failings.

Of course they are playing to win. The declaration forced the game which could otherwise have petered into a draw as neither side wanted to lose. The aggressive play acknowledges that by going for a win, you increase the chances of losing. Also, playing against an accomplished, settled, confident side like Australia requires some disruption and England set the pace across all five days. I think it would be a mistake to change strategy. Yes, there were selections and in-game tactics that you could criticise but that game could easily have gone England’s way. Individual “moments’ rather than the approach in general.

More than 2005? Harmison, Flintoff, Pietersen, Anderson, Bell - that was the most aggressive, swaggering and exciting England team I can remember watching.

Anderson didn't play in 2005 and I'm not sure Bell ever fitted any of those adjectives. Jones and Trescothick, maybe?

You're right, it was Hoggard and Jones who rounded out the attack. Bell's batting was more surgical than Pietersen and Flintoff's for sure, but he still didn't let the score hang around.

I know the purists on here will disagree but Test cricket is fundamentally boring.

I go and watch but it's mainly to see friends have some drinks and a nice lunch and it's better than working.

My son is 16 and consumes all sorts of sport, but not really test cricket. I guess when he's older he may well go for the beers, lunch etc but he barely watched any of this test and it's probably about as 'exciting'' as they come.

Would shake on a draw now.

Not sure why the Aussies haven’t declared yet.

Nathan Lyon limps off the field. Maybe series ending? That would shift the balance significantly.

While the England batsmen leave their brains in the changing room it doesn’t really matter who’s bowling for Australia.

This isn’t positive intent. It’s a complete collective failure to understand how the opposition are trying to get them out, and walking blindly into the trap.