Bit late when the game was as good as over, where was the fight on day 1 when we needed it?The fight from Woakes and Stokes today was pretty impressive.
Quality opposition? Just to repeat again... 58. All out. Fifty-f##king-eight all out.Super, wonderful win. Best part was after day one, when the usual suspects had done the damage, nearly everyone else did their bit - Nicholls, Watling with the gloves, Wagner and Astle at the end. England generally short of a gallop but still quality opposition so a win to be savoured.
Just not at the Cake Tin, please. Lights at the Basin?all for more day night cricket.
TBF it was probably still with Woakes, so Boult kept a ripper for him.Bit late when the game was as good as over, where was the fight on day 1 when we needed it?
Shame that for his primary job with the ball he has as much threat as a wet fish.TBF it was probably still with Woakes, so Boult kept a ripper for him.
Wouldn’t a wet fish be the most threatening kind of fish? Aside from a cannon fired fish?Shame that for his primary job with the ball he has as much threat as a wet fish.
Well Broad indeed gave a witty press-con last night at the expense of Australia but Australia didn't lose by an innings at least
Engllish bowlers are now sitting next to Bangladesh as the only teams to average over 50 in away tests in the last one and half year (the bigger surprise being the usually 'lousy tourists' India dominating the pack with an average of 24!).
Some soul searching needed for them. Stokes playing as a pure batsman (regardless of today's innings) is a bit of a joke and so is Moeen's presence as anything in the XI. Almost everyone got a start today but nobody could sustain it suggestive of a mental issue than a technical one, no more evident in their captain's 50 to 100 conversion ratio.
So many truths here its unavoidable.Just did a dip through statsguru. England's well.. Englandish performance in the last year and half in away matches reveals some startling ennui:
Moeen Ali has played in all 11 of them, and has averaged 85 with the ball
Chris Woakes played in 8 of them, averaging over 65
Anderson and Broad in 9 of them, averaging 32 and 39 respectively.
I can understand if it's a case of one series. But over one and half years, despite such terrible underperformance, England is still putting up with such low performers? Surely it can't be that they are lacking talent in county cricket ffs?
Livingstone should have been in the ashes and Vince shouldn't have made either squad but that is for another day.I mean, England will probably change their attack for the next Test and leave the batting exactly the same. It's just how it works when you're bowled out for 58.
(Watched Livingstone and Vince in the nets for a while yesterday - the former looked really good.)