One Aussie won't be enjoying his trip to Manchester! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-49593291
Denly is a shockingly poor batsman. He really is. He was all at sea ball after ball and it was just a matter of time. Sadly that very very lucky 50 he got last game (“brave” I think they called it) will keep Ed’s mate in the team indefinitely.
I think that has more to do with allowing Roy to bat further down the order to be fair. Hopefully Roy will get some runs now
I don't like Denly who has never scored the runs to justify selection and at 33 won't be getting any better.....and I don't like the fact that he is a favourite of Ed Smith. I think RD (who is never wrong !) said they were mates. I'd like to see Roy get some runs but I'm not sure test cricket is for him. If we lose this game as is very likely now, I hope they will just throw a couple of competent county players in in place of Roy and Denly and see if they sink or swim. Some have the mentality to do better at Test cricket than county cricket, Gower for example. Talking of RD, no sign of him for almost a week now. I've just scanned the news for any records of planes going down in the last week. Hope he didn't have an important meeting in the Bahamas !
Yes, I was wondering about @RookeryDad too. He did say he was going on holiday but I thought that was after the Ashes had finished.
Unfortunately looking at the satellite https://www.netweather.tv/live-weather/radar , it looks like the bulk of the rain in the north is passing north of Old Trafford. There may be no more rain there today, resulting in no time lost today.
Yes look at the radar link I sent above. Stick postcode M16 0PX in and do postcode zoom. Heavy ish band just moving across but should be clear in about an hour or so. Hopefully an hour to dry out, just in time for lunch . Afternoon should be fine though. Shame, look at that really heavy band just going 10 miles to the north through north Manchester. That could have prevented any play for the day !
Reading back through the espn ball by ball commentary last night, Denly was beaten by 12 of the 24 balls he faced. Shocking stat.
Too late for the latter. He's already posted what our entire team will probably struggle to reach in two innings.
Yes, even coming in at, say, number five there are times when you still have to show patience in Test cricket and occupy the crease. Suppose he came in when England were 100 for 3; it's no good swishing at the ball straight away as he tends to.
We must get c300 to avoid the follow on. That would leave little time for the Aussies to bat again, declare and bowl us out though a 5th day spinning wicket could see us bowled out in 2 sessions.
He simply isn't capable of defending. Swishing is all he can do. If that resulted in a quick 40-50 runs each time that would be fine.
I think we'd be favourites to bat out 30 overs to save a test match on the last day. The 2 spectacular collapses weren't battling to save a game. I still think the Aussies are strong favourites to win from here given the spin Lyon was getting. We will need to bat really well which isn't impossible but is unlikely. Early lunch, rain all through now, so inspection at 1pm and then just a question of how quickly they think they can start.
Agreed, but the nature of swishing is that it doesn't result in that. It's high risk and is just as likely to result in a big fat duck. The risk is worth it in T20 where teams are rarely bowled out but almost never worth it in Tests.
I know. That's why I said "If it resulted..." and further up the page that I don't think he's suited to test cricket, like Hales wasn't. I get the plan that had him opening, coming into the series full of confidence, get the innings off to a positive start and take some shine off the ball but it was always high risk and hasn't worked.
154/2. Bowlers on top, batsmen just about surviving, with a number of scares but partnership up to 127 so far.....
Jinxed them. But sadly the issues are laid bare - converting scores into centuries when you get to the 70/80s look beyond them. It’s all too common for Root since he’s had the captaincy. A total which looked healthy in terms of not losing the game now looks decidedly iffy. Not that long ago people were putting Root and Smith in the same category. One of them has sat out for a year and managed to come back somehow better for playing no cricket. Root just doesn’t have the concentration levels to be talked up in the manner that some do.