1st Test at Brisbane, 8th-12th of December 2021

[Gnske]

Jimmy should play none of the Tests. I mean how much of a beating does he want to take?

 

[Shady Slim]

The thing is there’s never a good time to leave Jimmy out of a Test but it’d be impossible for him to play all five Tests. If he played the first three and it was a tight series, there’d be uproar if he was left out of any of the last two.

Despite the green looking pitch now, I think most people acknowledge it’s still going to be a decent batting deck, save Jimmy from the donkey work there and let him go into Adelaide day/nighter fresh! Makes some sense at least.

well that's the thing, there is a good time to leave him out and that's the roady roads at melbourne, sydney, perth, and (if it wasn't green) brisbane. but you would obviously want to play him in a day nighter or in hobart.

i say also, as much as we've seen these photos of a green monster at the gabba, it's going to be a bouncy road. we know it's going to be a bouncy road, and i'm a girl if it's anything but.

 

[Shady Slim]

this means that jimmeh will retire with a bowling average at the gabba of seventy five

 

[Son Of Coco]

this means that jimmeh will retire with a bowling average at the gabba of seventy five

Which flatters him to be honest.

 

[Burgey]

well that's the thing, there is a good time to leave him out and that's the roady roads at melbourne, sydney, perth, and (if it wasn't green) brisbane. but you would obviously want to play him in a day nighter or in hobart.

i say also, as much as we've seen these photos of a green monster at the gabba, it's going to be a bouncy road. we know it's going to be a bouncy road, and i'm a girl if it's anything but.

If you can’t swing it at Brisbane in the early part of a La Niña summer you can’t swing it anywhere in daylight in Aus tbh, even if the deck plays well.

 

[Son Of Coco]

I mean you shouldn’t diss them for being drunk, it’s the only way to cope when surrounded by people who think two days of panic buying in September would mean 90 mile queues in December.

I should also add that for a country that claims to be the bastion of all that is good when it comes to handling COVID, you guys panic buy like ****ing amateurs. Everybody knows you buy tissues when you're panic buying, yet you all race out for petrol. Although, to be fair, I can understand how we, as Australians, look in the mirror with a lockdown looming and buy as many tissues as we can. We can look at ourselves and welcome the fact we get some time to spend alone with our bristling physicality.

You chaps, on the other hand, when looking in the mirror and being faced with your reality, go out and buy a petrol can full of E10.

 

[Woodster]

well that's the thing, there is a good time to leave him out and that's the roady roads at melbourne, sydney, perth, and (if it wasn't green) brisbane. but you would obviously want to play him in a day nighter or in hobart.

i say also, as much as we've seen these photos of a green monster at the gabba, it's going to be a bouncy road. we know it's going to be a bouncy road, and i'm a girl if it's anything but.

In the Ashes of 2017/18 Jimmy took 17 wickets at 27.82, pretty respectable, and in 2010/11 he grabbed 24 wickets at 26.04. It’s fair to say we’ll always believe he’s worth picking in Australia even if you Aussies demand we think otherwise!

 

[paranoidandroid]

**** this joint can get pretty tedious with all the nationalistic #bantz (from all sides) eh?

Looking forward to staying up and watching the first session of this one if La Nina doesn't ruin it. Can't really see England having a chance, even if Root scores bulk runs. Not sure about Head (or Harris) over Khawaja nor Starc over Richardson, but there's been more dubious selections in history.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

If England goes with 4 seamers plus Stokes I can see Root bowling a lot of overs. Otherwise it will be a fairly dreadful over rate.

 

[honestbharani]

If England goes with 4 seamers plus Stokes I can see Root bowling a lot of overs. Otherwise it will be a fairly dreadful over rate.

Should play Leach ahead of Wood IMO. Playing 5 seamers + Root is gonna play into the hands of that big 3 of the Aussie batting line up. Every Indian spinner outbowled Lyon and were crucial in containing the Aussie batting line up when we toured there. The role of the spinner is very important. Feel England will be shooting themselves in the foot if they dont play Leach.

 

[TimAngas]

England should totally pick Leach. Australia average 27 over the last 5 years against left arm spin compared to 52 against right arm spin. Even at home they only average 33 compared to 77 against right arm spin.

 

[Woodster]

I’m starting to get pumped for these Ashes, however, I do worry about our ability to score big enough runs to put sufficient pressure on the Aussies. Can’t continually rely so heavily on Root.

Interested to see the composition of the team too. I always like to see a spinner in the side.

 

[Burgey]

How good is TOTAB statue at the gabba? Deadset the best thing in Brisbane (junk field tbf)

 

[Prince EWS]

Should play Leach ahead of Wood IMO. Playing 5 seamers + Root is gonna play into the hands of that big 3 of the Aussie batting line up. Every Indian spinner outbowled Lyon and were crucial in containing the Aussie batting line up when we toured there. The role of the spinner is very important. Feel England will be shooting themselves in the foot if they dont play Leach.

Yeah if Stokes wasn't playing then Root effectively becomes the fifth bowler and playing four specialist quicks would make sense, but five seamers should be illegal IMO, even if your fifth bowler is only going to bowl ten overs a day.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Yeah if Stokes wasn't playing then Root effectively becomes the fifth bowler and playing four specialist quicks would make sense, but five seamers should be illegal IMO, even if your fifth bowler is only going to bowl ten overs a day.

calm down there statist

 

[Prince EWS]

calm down there statist

 

[BigDougy]

Always pumped for the start of an Ashes series. Boxing Day test is always my favourite game. Love watching the cricket on a cold miserable day here in the U.K when it’s normally roasting out in Australia (normally!)

interesting to see what sort of Ben Stokes we get. Me and the lads have been 50/50 whether we think he will be in the right frame of mind for the full series. Soon find out.

 

[GoodAreasShane]

Some pretty major revisionism going on here trying to claim Anderson had a good 2017/18 Ashes, that just simply isn't the case. For most of the series, especially in the first innings he was tidy but almost completely unpenatrative. The one time he was presented with helpful conditions in the D/N test second innings he made use of them, but he never should have bowling had Australia done the right thing and enforced the follow on, a strategic failure that still irritates me to this day

 

[Starfighter]

Forecast has worsened for today compared to a couple of days ago, but looks better on all the other days.

 

[Woodster]

Some pretty major revisionism going on here trying to claim Anderson had a good 2017/18 Ashes, that just simply isn't the case. For most of the series, especially in the first innings he was tidy but almost completely unpenatrative. The one time he was presented with helpful conditions in the D/N test second innings he made use of them, but he never should have bowling had Australia done the right thing and enforced the follow on, a strategic failure that still irritates me to this day

He certainly didn’t have a poor one as many ‘Anderson can’t bowl in Australia’ supporters would have you believe.