Player Ratings - As We Go By....

[Burgey]

Being ridiculously harsh on Haddin.

 

[NUFAN]

Hmm Starc 6, Broad 4.5? not sure about that. I think Broad has bowled pretty well in this series so far without much luck at all. Starc has been ok, but definitely the weak link amongst our bowlers. Broad has made a good deal more runs too.

Can totally understand if you deducted points off Broad for being a **** though

I guess when you compare the two players in isolation, it does seem a tad wrong. I think I should Starc back to 5.5 really. Regardless of the luck, any bowler who averages above 50 with the ball has not had a passable series.

Being ridiculously harsh on Haddin.

Yeah, perhaps. What would you give him?

 

[Burgey]

I'd give him about a seven tbh but these things are subjective - I think you mark a bit harder than I do

 

[Adders]

Clarke loses a point for declaring the first innings too soon imo. Just a handful more runs and they would have been able to make England follow on and given themselves a chance of forcing the win.

Not sure if that's tongue in cheek or not so I'm gonna take it on face value and ask............how the hell was he supposed to know how many England were going to make?? When you're declaring in the 3rd innings you have a decent idea of where the game is at and can make some educated guesses as to where it is headed........it's all crystal ball stuff when you're calling it in the 1st.

I reckon captains cop more **** over declarations than anything else they do......poor old Clarke called the 1st one too soon and the second one too late........****ing hopeless he is.

 

[NUFAN]

I'd give him about a seven tbh but these things are subjective - I think you mark a bit harder than I do

Yeah I was marking a bit tougher compared to usual. I made 5 the pass mark, other times I would probably make 7 as the pass mark (similar to how they used to/probably still do it the Rugby League Week magazine).

These are the players who have received a pass mark from me this series:

Rogers 5
Clarke 7.5
Smith 6.5
Haddin 5.5
Siddle 8.5
Starc 6
Harris 8.5
Root 7
Pietersen 6.5
Bell 9
Bresnan 6
Swann 7.5
Anderson 7.5

 

[Spark]

Personally feel KP should have a higher series rating than Root. Root's 180 was an excellent innings but not the most significant as far as match situation goes (especially the second half of it) and it's an open question whether England would be 2-0 up as opposed to 1-1 or even 2-1 down without KP's two significant innings.

 

[NUFAN]

Root's 3 top order wickets made me place him above KP.

 

[Swingpanzee]

England
Cook 5 : Good first innings knock, pathetic in the second innings with the review. Mediocre captaincy.
Root 3 : Struggled in both innings.
Trott 1 : Just bad.
Pietersen 8.5 : Great innings first knock, saved the match for us.
Bell 7.5 : Really good fifty there, fighting first innings, was dismissed by a stunning delivery from Harris, otherwise he probably would have gone to score more.
Bairstow 2: Kick this guy out and bring in Taylor. Not Test-quality (yet, I should probably add tbf).
Prior 4.5 : Bad with gloves - he missed an easy catch (Haddin) but did give England's innings some fight after KP and Bell went.
Bresnan 5 : Easily the best England quick in 1st innings, unlucky to be given out. Gave important breakthroughs.
Broad 6.5 : Bowled better than his figures suggest, extra points for batting well enough to save England from the follow on and maybe defeat.
Swann 6 : Bowled well enough.
Anderson 2 : Sad but true. Just didn't do anything especially on day one.

Australia

Watson 4 : Good ol' Watson.
Rogers 7 : Good 1st innings.
Khawaja 3 : Unlucky in the first but pretty average tbh.
Clarke 9.5 : Loses points only because of the Smith run-out. The Root drop and declaring early in the first are not really legit to rank him down.
Smith 8 : Good fighter, but did not convert. Actually liked his second innings more than his first innings knock.
Warner 5 : Improved by far on day 4.
Haddin 7.5 : Good match for him in both respects.
Siddle 9 : Consistency alone makes him brilliant. His use of the pitch also very impressive
Starc 6.5 : See Haddin, just not as good.
Harris 8.5 : Good bowling. Brilliant on day 5.
Lyon 4 : Apart from being a bit of a threat on day 2, pretty meh.

 

[Uppercut]

Not sure if that's tongue in cheek or not so I'm gonna take it on face value and ask............how the hell was he supposed to know how many England were going to make?? When you're declaring in the 3rd innings you have a decent idea of where the game is at and can make some educated guesses as to where it is headed........it's all crystal ball stuff when you're calling it in the 1st.

I reckon captains cop more **** over declarations than anything else they do......poor old Clarke called the 1st one too soon and the second one too late........****ing hopeless he is.

OK at best you can call it a gamble that didn't come off. But you'd still hold it against him if he played an unusually optimistic shot and got out. Why not when he makes an unusually optimistic declaration and it costs his side a shot at winning the game?

 

[Furball]

Cook - 5 - important first innings knock, loses points for really uninspired captaincy (part timers getting 3 overs out of 140-odd in the first innings was pretty poor)
Root - 3 - needs to learn to score singles.
Trott - 1 - oh dear
KP - 9 - vital knock, shame he seemed to get bogged down after getting the 3 figures
Bell - 8 - looked unmovable until he got an excellent delivery
Bairstow - 2 - at least he somehow got to 20.
Prior - 5 - having a really bad series
Bresnan - 5 - when you've not hit it review. Bowled decently in Australia's first dig without much reward.
Swann - 7 - unlucky not to have removed Smith a lot earlier
Broad - 4 - decent with the bat, tame dismissal, tad unlucky with the ball
Anderson - 2 - we'll move on. Not his best day at the office

Watson - 2 - usual nothingness with bat and ball, gets a bonus point for not wasting a review and a 2nd bonus point for fixing technical issue around front pad by nicking to the cordon instead.
Rogers - 8 - disrupted the new ball bowlers and actually went on to a semi decent score to set up the first innings
Khawaja - N/A. Did nothing in the test but marking him down isn't fair given the circumstances of his 1st innings dismissal and the match scenario when Australia batted again.
Clarke - 10 - top knock.
Smith - 8 - and the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor goes to the People's Champion. Clarke needed someone to stay with him and wear England's attack down and Smith obliged brilliantly. Got a wee bit of luck but made it count, a shame he chose the wrong moment to reveal his Usman Khawaja impersonation as he deserved a ton.
Warner - 3 - gets a bonus point for the hilarity of his review
Haddin - 5 - I'm probably being harsh on him but I'd stopped watching by the time he came in and he's a **** anyway so 5's all he's getting
Starc - 6 - feel his figures flatter him somewhat
Siddle - 9 - he's pretty damned good
Harris - 9.5 - loses half a mark because he conflicts me when he bowls, I want him to do well but that stops my team doing well.
Lyon - 4 - how well he bowled on day 2 has overshadowed how toothless he looked on day 3.

 

[Cabinet96]

Alastair Cook - 6 - Important first innings fifty
Joe Root - 3 - A regular Nick Compton
Jonathan Trott - 1 - Remember when he could bat?
Kevin Pietersen - 9 - Top innings that saved the match
Ian Bell - 8 - Batting like he did against India two years ago. World Class.
Jonny Bairstow - 3 - Worrying
Matt Prior - 4 - Decent innings, but crucial drop of Haddin
Tim Bresnan - 7 - Thought he bowled well first dig. Managed to contain Australia second innings by bowling everything in his own half
Stuart Broad - 7 - Bowled decently. Gets a bonus point or two for helping to avoid the follow on
Graeme Swann - 6 - Decent
James Anderson - 3 - Big let down. Never bowled close to his potential

Shane Watson - 3 - Meh
Chris Rogers - 8 - Really good first innings knock. Set the tone for the match
Usman Khawaja - 4 - Harshly given out first dig, was a bit slow second time around
Michael Clarke - 9 - Best player in the world. Loses a point for rubbish declarations.
Steve Smith - 7 - Fortunate early on but batted well after that. Sawn off by his skipper in the second innings
David Warner - 5 - Failed in tough circumstances in the first innings, best innings of second half of the game. Should be opening.
Brad Haddin - 8 - Great game with all disciplines.
Mitchell Starc - 7 - Good knock and bowled OK I guess.
Peter Siddle - 8 - Good bowler
Ryan Harris - 8 - Good bowler
Nathan Lyon - 5 - Thought he bowled OK. Came up against Pietersen close to his best.

 

[Spark]

What do we think about Broad thus far this series? I can't remember many moments when he bowled especially badly at all, but he's taken, what, six wickets in three tests?

 

[MW1304]

Same story as his two Tests in Oz last time out really; looks useful enough but isn't taking wickets. Is still due his once-a-series mad spell though, so I'm still holding out hope for that.

 

[Cabinet96]

I'm happy with his work because nearly all of his wickets have been really important ones. He could easily have bowled worse, taken 10 wickets and not have had as meaningful a contribution to the cause. He broke the two biggest stands in the Trent Bridge chase (bar the 10th one) and killed the Lords game with his dismissal of Clarke.

Still hopeful he can get at least one big bag in the next two tests though.

 

[Furball]

He's basically playing like a batting all-rounder.

 

[Adders]

What do we think about Broad thus far this series? I can't remember many moments when he bowled especially badly at all, but he's taken, what, six wickets in three tests?

I'm happy with how Broady is travelling, sometimes this happens to bowlers........the wickets are just around the corner. I said at the start of the series he'd win us at least one test with a 5 or 6 for 30 odd in a session and still reckon he will.

His 6 wickets at 52.00 for the series does not reflect how he is bowling at all IMO.

 

[Uppercut]

It's just classic off-form Broad, bowling a yard too short and not taking wickets without looking particularly bad.

 

[Top_Cat]

Same thing used to be said about Jason Gillespie. While Anderson's in the side and firing, Broad's doing a job but you wouldn't want him all by himself.

 

[Tangles]

It's just classic off-form Broad, bowling a yard too short and not taking wickets without looking particularly bad.

Yep. Needs to pitch up to get top order wickets.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Same thing used to be said about Jason Gillespie. While Anderson's in the side and firing, Broad's doing a job but you wouldn't want him all by himself.

I just can't help but twitch when I see Gillespie and Broad's name in the same sentence...I reckon when Gillespie was in his prime he'd have gone alright on his own. I don't think he had prolonged periods where he looked to be bowling well and just didn't take wickets, unlike Broad. Remember talking to a few blokes back at the beginning of the 2000's and they said they thought he was the hardest bowler to face in SS cricket at the time, got good bounce off a decent length apparently.