*Official* Second Test at Lord's

[91Jmay]

The problem with Smith is that whilst he is dangerous when he lands one, he could never nail down an end by just bowling a steady line and length. I'm guessing the other two can do this at least when they're bowling well.

Yeah in a tight game he couldn't bowl. He bowls two or three boundaries balls per over.

 

[Cabinet96]

Many England fans want to see two spinners at Old Trafford, so to go in with just a part timer as your only spinner is madness.

 

[watson]

Australia should make only one batting change for the next Test to allow for the return of Warner (if available). I really don't see the benefit of chopping and changing too much when it is obvious that the talent to pool is very limited, and no obvious improvements can be made.

I'd like to see the young blokes get really hurt by the England team this series, and then take that pain into the return Ashes in Australia. After all, Test match experience can't be taught out of a text book. To absorb and gain experience you really have to be out in the middle doing the tough stuff with Anderson and Swann up your rear-end for a few hundred overs.

 

[Backlash]

It's pretty hard to see anyway back for Cricket in Australia. It's too rotten to the core at this point. It's losing too many of the younger generation. Too many people in denial. Nothing being done to help save it.

I guess any future it has lays with 20/20, because Test Cricket is pretty much done going forward.

 

[morgieb]

For mine, the only change I would make is Lyon in for Agar and someone on tour in for Rogers (he's not young and the nature of his dismissals were very concerning).

As bad as we are, we don't have better options.

 

[outbreak]

yeah won't make major changes but we can wish list. The interesting thing will be next ashes how much the squad has changed.

 

[the big bambino]

This should sober up those who imagined that pushing SA and beating SL at home was reason for optimism about our chances. The decline from 09 is now a free fall. Our batsmen can't even build a ltd overs innings. Apart from Clarke they aren't even minnow standard. Our bowlers, though impressive, aren't England's standard. I think I can repeat that now without being accused of being bitter. Apart from Eng the big winner from the Lord's test is Mickey Arthur. Continued association with these losers could have damaged his rep permanently. Maybe it already has.

I feel we can't move on until we can replace Watson. Until then we have to live with the cancer and that tells you just what a state we are in.

 

[Son Of Coco]

I'm a big fan but he's looked really pedestrian. Lacking penetration (which we've all been guilty of at times).

Liked what Harris did in this test, Siddle just keeps producing, and Bird would be dangerous in England imo.

Re: Pattinson, wasn't he ill before the test? I'm sure I heard something along those lines. May have something to do with it if so. He's been good for a while now, would be very strange if he just started bowling poorly.

Congratulations to England too, far too good in this one and the way we're going with the bat I might put my day 3 ticket for the Gabba in November up on Ebay and see if I can't get 70 cents or so back for it.

 

[BeeGee]

Who's Australia gonna make an escape goat?

 

[Spark]

He had one bad innings. The people dropping him are out of their minds.

 

[Son Of Coco]

As far as the next test goes...who do you replace in the batting line-up? Might as well persist with who we've got as it's not like they're keeping out better players on the whole.

 

[Spark]

The thing is, all of them have made a half-decent score in this series already so they're not individually completely incompetent. It's just that when you put them together... they really, really are the pits.

 

[Burgey]

What disturbs me isn't that Clarke and Watson don't get on, it's that it's been allowed to fester through the whole squad, or so it seems. I mean, as far back as the 30s you had blokes not getting on, but they were able to get out and do their best on the field. Still later, Benaud and Simpson didn't really get on, and there's the famous instances of warne, S Waugh, McGrath and Gilchrist not being best mates within the side they played in.

I know one point of difference is the blokes I've referred to were great players, but the fact personal differences are affecting on-field performances only shows there's a lack of professionalism involved here.

It has been said in the past that I carry on a bit with the anti-England stuff, but for those posters who aren't from Australia, I do want to emphasise how utterly and massively unacceptable it is to roll over against the soap dodgers. It's one thing to lose, and in the first test the team showed the kind of attitude one comes to expect from an Australian cricket team (or any other sporting team for that matter), but this result is not good enough.

I don't care if your batting order looks like the South Park cripple fight episode, at lease Jimmy and Timmy put everything into it. To see the way some of our blokes got out in the first innings really was nothing short of embarrassing. It was encouraging to at least see Khawaja attempt to rotate the strike in the second dig, but look at the shot he played in teh first. Likewise Hughes. There's talk about whether Hughes was out or not in the first dig - it's irrelevant. The question is what the living **** are you doing playing that shot when you're on one not out? It's diabolical. To me, if Australia got rolled over for 120-odd and there was a raging green top with bloke nicking off due to some great bowlingk then I'll cop that. But it's not what's happening. Unless there's a dramatic improvement in the application of the batting unit, I look forward to standing in the arrivals hall at Kingsford-Smith and pelting rotten fruit at them.

I don't really blame the bowlers for this tbh. It's not like England has really got away from our attack at any point so far in the series, and they're getting **** all rest because the batsmen don't know which end of the bat to hold. I do, however, think that Lyon should play at OT, given it's meant to be a spinning deck. Maybe they'll play two spinners, I dunno. But it really won't matter unless the top order produces some decent runs for them to bowl to.

This was a pathetic display. Gutless and with no thought to it either. It's not that the batting failed - it's that the blokes failing seem to be repeating their mistakes over and over and over again. That's not just a lack of ability, it demonstrates they're as thick as whipped **** too.

****s they are.

 

[Burgey]

Yessssssssss

 

[Daemon]

If khawaja or rogers is dropped i will lose my ****

 

[Backlash]

Pat Howard is going to be the next scapegoat clearly. That's why Sutherland hired him, he's Sutherland's fall guy.

 

[Cooky Monster]

Reckon Aggers is right with his BBC article, we will see Fawad next test, it makes sense to give him a go, nothing to lose, play Lyon aswell but that means more Watson but hes not going anywhere anyway, yet.

I don't see where Hughes goes from here, hes a walking wicket on spinning deck at OT (or anywhere for that matter) against Swann.

 

[91Jmay]

Playing two spinners would be really dumb for the Aussies IMO. You drop a player from there strength to add someone completely unproven.

 

[Cooky Monster]

It's pretty hard to see anyway back for Cricket in Australia. It's too rotten to the core at this point. It's losing too many of the younger generation. Too many people in denial. Nothing being done to help save it.

I guess any future it has lays with 20/20, because Test Cricket is pretty much done going forward.

I don't know how anyone can be in denial about it, CA remind me of the LTA and FA over here, full of suited wage thiefs doing nothing but looking after their own backs and stolen wages.

 

[Cooky Monster]

Playing two spinners would be really dumb for the Aussies IMO. You drop a player from there strength to add someone completely unproven.

I wouldn't blame them for doing it, its gamble time, there really is nothing to lose now, if they get whipped again? oh well.