***Official*** 3rd Test at the WACA

[Woodster]

Well, that day didn’t exactly go to plan!! Credit to Smith and Marsh, wonderful concentration which against our attack and on this pitch is absolutely the key attribute.

We all know on flat decks such as this our attack lacks any variety, there isn’t anything anyone can offer that is a bit different and more likely to get a wicket. I think in hindsight, and this is absolutely in hindsight, you’d possibly have gone for Mason Crane ahead of Stuart Broad, just because he may offer more of a wicket taking threat and certainly something alternative.

That said, Smith and MMarsh applies themselves wonderfully well and shows the difference in making the most of these conditions when you’re in and set.

It will be different when we bat as the ball will be coming down at 90mph but providing this pitch doesn’t deteriorate massively, we should still stay in this game, in terms of not losing it anyway.

 

[S.Kennedy]

Nah, England will certainly lose the test. England's specialist bats will make their customary ''thirties'' and ''forties'' before being skittled. It is best to get the execution over and done with really so we can all ignore tests four and five and resume our lives.

 

[Woodster]

Yes I’m not saying we’ll avoid defeat, I’m saying we ‘should’ and by that I mean there is no reason why if we apply ourselves we can’t bat it out but I doubt we can and I actually agree I think we’ll fall well short. There are no demons whatsoever in this pitch but they are more likely to cause us more problems because of the pace and aggression of their attack and the fragile nature and lack of application in our batting.

 

[vcs]

Pitch will deteriorate a bit and scoreboard pressure will take care of the rest.

 

[Woodster]

Yes we all know scoreboard pressure can do strange things to a batting side in particular. However, for us to stand any chance we have to put that to one side, this is a flat deck that is straight up and down, albeit coming pretty quick when we’re batting.

 

[Starfighter]

Pitch will deteriorate a bit and scoreboard pressure will take care of the rest.

I don't think it will deteriorate that much. The major cracks are all too wide of the stumps. It won't really become difficult.

I still expect them to fold like a pack of cards though.

 

[Woodster]

Yes I think this England batting unit certainly has the potential to fold, especially if the Aussies find those intimidatory levels to unsettle the batsman. Short, sharp bowling just unsettles a batters footwork and balance, something our attack doesn't have the option of doing.

 

[Victor Ian]

There is nothing like cheering a player all the way to 180odd whom you had vehemently hated being picked in the first place. I hope I get to see more of this version of mitch.

 

[stephen]

Wow. Just got home after being out of mobile reception since Marsh was in his 70s. I have never been so glad to taste it so hard in my life. I honestly expected us to be 7/550 odd. Marsh making huge tons is so good for Australia long term.

If Mitchell Marsh can do this on occasion, he's got a huge future in the test team.

Smith is just a beast. He's in a league of his own. WAG.

 

[JRC67]

Well, that day didn’t exactly go to plan!! Credit to Smith and Marsh, wonderful concentration which against our attack and on this pitch is absolutely the key attribute.

We all know on flat decks such as this our attack lacks any variety, there isn’t anything anyone can offer that is a bit different and more likely to get a wicket. I think in hindsight, and this is absolutely in hindsight, you’d possibly have gone for Mason Crane ahead of Stuart Broad, just because he may offer more of a wicket taking threat and certainly something alternative.

That said, Smith and MMarsh applies themselves wonderfully well and shows the difference in making the most of these conditions when you’re in and set.

It will be different when we bat as the ball will be coming down at 90mph but providing this pitch doesn’t deteriorate massively, we should still stay in this game, in terms of not losing it anyway.

Put in to perspective Crane has a higher strike rate, economy rate and average last year and over his career than Malan. Would have been very much a punt which could have damaged what chance Crane has of becoming a regular international.

 

[Woodster]

Wow. Just got home after being out of mobile reception since Marsh was in his 70s. I have never been so glad to taste it so hard in my life. I honestly expected us to be 7/550 odd. Marsh making huge tons is so good for Australia long term.

If Mitchell Marsh can do this on occasion, he's got a huge future in the test team.

Smith is just a beast. He's in a league of his own. WAG.

His powers of concentration have been fantastic, on these flat pitches we look like we're just sitting in and waiting for him to get out rather than truly believing we have a plan in place where we can claim his wicket. His ability to find the gaps aswell when he does get a ball even slightly in his 'attacking' area was most impressive.

 

[Woodster]

Put in to perspective Crane has a higher strike rate, economy rate and average last year and over his career than Malan. Would have been very much a punt which could have damaged what chance Crane has of becoming a regular international.

Don't get me wrong it would have been a huge gamble and one I never even considered that England would make, it's purely a hindsight selection and one that wouldn't necessarily have made any difference at all. I think his comparison with Malan is unfair, he's a specialist bowler for one, Malan is at best part-time, and will prove over time to be a far superior spinner.

The one thing that would have needed to be considered is the potential damage done to Crane by selecting him too early, but then if they did have big reservations over that I would question why he was ever selected in a squad with only one other specialist spinner in it.

 

[quincywagstaff]

George Dobell is blaming England’s failures on the ECB’s prioritising T20 cricket ensuring lackluster medium-pacers and bland spinners dominate.

It’s a fair point as imagine the damage to Australian cricket if between now and the end of January all domestic cricketers could play was only T20...

 

[3703]

Watching all that emotion spill over today was something to behold, I'm thrilled for Mitch.

This is the road of roads though. I'm skeptical of what this means long term. Very skeptical.

 

[Daemon]

Yadav 104
MMarsh 181*
Nair 303

Been conceding a fair few runs against guys not renowned for their batting. Pretty sure Philander got a couple of 50s while Ashwin/Jadeja got runs as well.

Match winning 80 odd from Kayes too iirc.

 

[Starfighter]

George Dobell is blaming England’s failures on the ECB’s prioritising T20 cricket ensuring lackluster medium-pacers and bland spinners dominate.

It’s a fair point as imagine the damage to Australian cricket if between now and the end of January all domestic cricketers could play was only T20...

I think the effect would be much more pronounced in England due to their pitches. You're not going to develop genuinely fast bowlers that can play tests by playing FC cricket in May and September, or spinners for that matter. The hottest part of the year will be best as the pitches will be harder. But ground preparation is the real issue there.

I personally don't think the effect of the BBL will be known for a few years anyway. It's still early days really, our test attack came from just before that era.

 

[quincywagstaff]

I think the main lesson England can learn from today is that it’s probably time to move on from having Broad/Anderson as their default leaders of the bowling attack. Sure, they can still be viable in home conditions (esp Anderson) but continuing with them next home summer just will lead to stagnation in the long term. Maybe even make some changes for the NZ tour.

 

[Woodster]

I think the main lesson England can learn from today is that it’s probably time to move on from having Broad/Anderson as their default leaders of the bowling attack. Sure, they can still be viable in home conditions (esp Anderson) but continuing with them next home summer just will lead to stagnation in the long term. Maybe even make some changes for the NZ tour.

I understand where you're coming from with this and of course with their respective ages we need to be thinking about the next bowlers going forward. However, we don't have a plethora of quick bowlers doing their stuff in county cricket, so whoever we go with would probably not do as good a job as these guys have in Oz.

I think we have a number of bowlers that could press their claims for a debut or return to the XI in New Zealand or more likely during the home season, but no one near being ready to bowl and be effective in these conditions.

 

[Daemon]

Been 5 years since Broad's last 5-fer, but somewhat disconcertingly he's still comfortably England's 2nd best bowler.

 

[Bijed]

Been 5 years since Broad's last 5-fer, but somewhat disconcertingly he's still comfortably England's 2nd best bowler.

6-17 against South Africa in January 2016 is his most recent, I think.

I understand where you're coming from with this and of course with their respective ages we need to be thinking about the next bowlers going forward. However, we don't have a plethora of quick bowlers doing their stuff in county cricket, so whoever we go with would probably not do as good a job as these guys have in Oz.

I think we have a number of bowlers that could press their claims for a debut or return to the XI in New Zealand or more likely during the home season, but no one near being ready to bowl and be effective in these conditions.

Is Roland-Jones going to be fit in time for the NZ tour?