2nd Test, Lord's, London

[morgieb]

Fair to say Australia's lower order has done more this series so far though

Smith has been a significant help there tbf

 

[stephen]

This has all been great fight from the Aussies though, batting around Smith. The days of #intent seem long ago now.

Was going to say that none of the batsmen really threw their wicket away. They were all done by quality bowling or being set up by targeting their weaknesses.

 

[trundler]

Corny thing to say buuut it's Smith. I don't doubt his testicular fortitude or mental strength.

 

[Dan]

It did t him in the head though. Would say it’s very much a wait and see thing. Just hoping he’s well moving forward

Yeah, for sure. I hope he's safe and well with no lasting damage.

My point is that anyone saying "If it has to be one or the other, I'd rather Smith have a concussion than a broken arm" is just plain wrong imo.

 

[andmark]

It's a pity this match will end up being a draw. It's good cricket.

 

[Dan]

Side note, if Anderson is back at some point this series they're 100% dropping Woakes, aren't they?

 

[old_kookaburra]

He's being ironic.

really

 

[TheJediBrah]

Was going to say that none of the batsmen really threw their wicket away. They were all done by quality bowling or being set up by targeting their weaknesses.

Langer influence? Probably grasping a bit there, and no I don't rate Langer in the slightest, but I can imagine him influencing a fighting attitude more so than Darren "intent" Lehmann

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Close but no cigar

 

[Lillian Thomson]

It’s not just concussion. He could be very bruised around that area and his movement severely restricted.

 

[TheJediBrah]

ok this could be interesting. Gaz to assert his alpha-spinner dominance on beta Leach with some big shots.

 

[trundler]

The lower order fightback is more a norm than an aberration. Same thing happened in the first innings and the 2nd and 3rd innings of the SL test. Can't explain why but it just does happen.

 

[morgieb]

Was going to say that none of the batsmen really threw their wicket away. They were all done by quality bowling or being set up by targeting their weaknesses.

I argued something similar yesterday and got slammed for it

Though I will say while no-one got out to an egregious shot, most of the wickets were avoidable. Guess you could say that about a lot of innings.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

You know there’s other blokes who bowl 90+, yeah?

Not many who get it over 95mph though. No idea how quick the actual one that hit him was but that was a seriously quick spell by Archer.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

I heard two sounds

 

[Starfighter]

I got the feeling that Smith started batting aggressively against Archer because he feels that as Australia's best batsman it's his responsibility to stamp his authority on the guy who hit him. Don't want the dressing room to get the willies because Archer scares Smith.

It's a bit of a macho thing more than anything else.

Then I hope he can belt him later on then. I'm gonna cop some flack for this, but intimidating pace for about six overs aside Archer hasn't actually bowled well at all. Hardly anything he's sent down has been hitting the stumps or been on the normal off stump line.

It might be that Archer scares me more than Smith.


Yeah, that's out. Well bowled by Leach.

 

[TheJediBrah]

absolutely out

 

[Burgey]

Langer influence? Probably grasping a bit there, and no I don't rate Langer in the slightest, but I can imagine him influencing a fighting attitude more so than Darren "intent" Lehmann

Steve Waugh influence

 

[Dan]

really

Yes. CW has been reading OverratedSanity posts for 6 years (maybe longer, depending on who you believe).

 

[Starfighter]

Not many who get it over 95mph though. No idea how quick the actual one that hit him was but that was a seriously quick spell by Archer.

We have one, though not sure he produces those spells in the nets.