Official - Road to Ashes 2023

[Nintendo]

I know, I remember it like it was yesterday how he scored boundary after boundary down there.
I hate the idea that gets promulgated in this country that not having four slips and field full of gaps is 'negative'. You have to adapt to the circumstances, and BazBall has a clear case for a third man.

Hope we see Carey up to the stumps to the pacer. NZ had Blundell do it and it seemed to tame the beast a bit.

 

[chris.hinton]

I sense the Aussie fans are NOT looking forward to the Ashes series

Easy win for England. Plenty of players we leave out would be key players for Australia

 

[Nintendo]

Headingley is only famous because of an umpiring error

Would only be remembered as a gallant & failed chase otherwise

India didn’t attack Australia

Simply played well

Call it an umpiring ****up but at the end of the day that's what DRS is for. Most of the error's that lead to that position were self induced and not out of Australia's control unlike that LBW, and even then if paine haden't wasted a review under pressure the over before off lyon then Australia win anyway

 

[Nintendo]

I sense the Aussie fans are NOT looking forward to the Ashes series

Easy win for England. Plenty of players we leave out would be key players for Australia

AGREED. MARNUS CAN'T BUY A RUN THIS COUNTY SEASON, WARNER CAN'T GET BAT ON BALL IN THE IPL, SMITH'S HAND EYE IS GONE, TRAVIS HEAD MAKES 2013 KOHLI LOOK COMPETENT VS THE MOVING BALL. 5-0 ALL GAMES OVER IN 3 DAYS BARRING WEATHER.

 

[ashley bach]

AGREED. MARNUS CAN'T BUY A RUN THIS COUNTY SEASON, WARNER CAN'T GET BAT ON BALL IN THE IPL, SMITH'S HAND EYE IS GONE, TRAVIS HEAD MAKES 2013 KOHLI LOOK COMPETENT VS THE MOVING BALL. 5-0 ALL GAMES OVER IN 3 DAYS BARRING WEATHER.

@Burgey Martin place here we come.

 

[Flem274*]

Australia are as vulnerable as anyone else. England and India have had success going after Australia and the naming player of the tactic itself belted this Australian attack on a very bouncy Hagley green top that was far more favourable to Australia than any WACA deck since 2000 odd.

Attacking them works, in fact it is possibly the only tactic that works. I can only think of Pujara as a player who had success blocking. England, NZ and SA have tried being disciplined but everyone goes fishing eventually.

Cumdawg, Haze and Lyon love the opportunity to bowl the same ball 120 balls a day. They don't like being hit and there's a reason they're not consistently at the top of the white ball charts over their careers.

Frankly, England don't have the players to play attritional cricket either. The ATG one is a steady accumulator who can put his foot down, Stokes can block but does like to get on with it, and the rest do their best when they're getting after it. If you tell Bairstow or Brook to block it then they're gonna get out.

Hope we see Carey up to the stumps to the pacer. NZ had Blundell do it and it seemed to tame the beast a bit.

Pumping Blundell's tyres a bit, but that was seriously good keeping from Blundell to do that to proper fast medium bowlers. Not every squad will have someone who can do that and I can't remember what I think of Carey's keeping, though I would expect Australia to have keepers in the system capable of such glovework.

I also second the fly slip. It's a shame peak Wagner never got a crack at this lot but they will cop Mitchell Starc yorkers and I think having an ATG ODI bowler in the test side will be a massive boon for Australia.

 

[Nintendo]

Australia are as vulnerable as anyone else. England and India have had success going after Australia and the naming player of the tactic itself belted this Australian attack on a very bouncy Hagley green top that was far more favourable to Australia than any WACA deck since 2000 odd.

Attacking them works, in fact it is possibly the only tactic that works. I can only think of Pujara as a player who had success blocking. England, NZ and SA have tried being disciplined but everyone goes fishing eventually.

Cumdawg, Haze and Lyon love the opportunity to bowl the same ball 120 balls a day. They don't like being hit and there's a reason they're not consistently at the top of the white ball charts over their careers.

Frankly, England don't have the players to play attritional cricket either. The ATG one is a steady accumulator who can put his foot down, Stokes can block but does like to get on with it, and the rest do their best when they're getting after it. If you tell Bairstow or Brook to block it then they're gonna get out.

Pumping Blundell's tyres a bit, but that was seriously good keeping from Blundell to do that to proper fast medium bowlers. Not every squad will have someone who can do that and I can't remember what I think of Carey's keeping, though I would expect Australia to have keepers in the system capable of such glovework.

I also second the fly slip. It's a shame peak Wagner never got a crack at this lot but they will cop Mitchell Starc yorkers and I think having an ATG ODI bowler in the test side will be a massive boon for Australia.

I don't know if starc's got the ability to deliver the yorker as well as he use to or bowl that t20/odi back end death method since he started working on the wobble seam more. He's averaging 22 and going at 10's in the past 3 years of t20 cricket during the death. Across his career that number is closer to 14 average and sub 8 econ.

 

[Brook's side]

Why don't you get England players playing a few games for a Sheffield Shield side before the Ashes down under?

 

[Brook's side]

Just looking at the County Championship fixtures and the games England players are going to get before the 1st test.

*Eng v Ire is 1st June
*Ashes 1st test is 16th June

Current round = 1
18th May = 2
11 June = 3

Duckett 1,2,3
Crawley 2,3
Pope 1,2,3
Root 3
Bairstow 1,3
Brook 3
Stokes 3
Foakes 1,2,3
Woakes 1,3
Robinson 1,2,3
Broad 1,2,3
Anderson 1,3
Potts 1,2,3
Leach 1,2,3
Archer 3
Wood 3

I don't know when the Ashes squad will be selected (I guess before game 3), but there's not going to be much form to go on.

 

[Brook's side]

So, this is what I think.

I think Foakes is a shoo in for the 1st Ashes test. He's averaging over 100 this seasons ffs.

Assuming noone else is going to come in to the side as opener (Jennings seemed to be the only candidate and he's injured), then I think either Crawley, Bairstow or Brook misses out. Bairstow is on a promise, but in my experience promises aren't a 100% guarantee.

I think England will use Ireland as a trial game.
They might drop Duckett and use someone else (possibly Stokes) as opener. Or, maybe Stokes or Root will be rested.

I think they'll name all 8 in a squad of 13, and Stokes will open for Durham on 11th June, and they'll decide at the last minute.

 

[Brook's side]

 

[Adders]

That is the 11 I want to see start the first test but I think we're going to see Crawley there.

Stokes only opens if he's not bowling.....otherwise try Pope and move Stokes back to the middle.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Why don't you get England players playing a few games for a Sheffield Shield side before the Ashes down under?

You think the Sheffield Shield sides are mindless entities that will just give positions up to overseas players for a 2 or 3 game commitment? Why on earth would they do that? It's not county cricket, there's only 6 sides. Very rarely happens anymore. Only ones I can think of since I've been alive are Mason Crane for a couple games, not sure why that happened tbh, he wasn't even good enough to make the team he played for. Andy Flower and Johan Botha did but they were done with international cricket at that stage.

 

[Molehill]

I think Foakes is a shoo in for the 1st Ashes test. He's averaging over 100 this seasons ffs.

Assuming noone else is going to come in to the side as opener (Jennings seemed to be the only candidate and he's injured), then I think either Crawley, Bairstow or Brook misses out. Bairstow is on a promise, but in my experience promises aren't a 100% guarantee.

I think England will use Ireland as a trial game.
They might drop Duckett and use someone else (possibly Stokes) as opener. Or, maybe Stokes or Root will be rested.

I think they'll name all 8 in a squad of 13, and Stokes will open for Durham on 11th June, and they'll decide at the last minute.

Some weird stuff going on in this post. Foakes has only played 3 innings, he missed one game. He bats at 5 for Surrey which is a whole different job to batting 7 for England. My one concern with him there is that he's great whilst partnering a proper batsman, but can't really up the rate when joined by the tail. Bairstow would.

A reminder that we've won 10 out of 12, (should've been 11) with the current set up. I think we all know that the openers are set in stone and that it's Bairstow or Foakes to keep (probably Bairstow because deep down we know he's a naturally more talented cricketer).

 

[Molehill]

You think the Sheffield Shield sides are mindless entities that will just give positions up to overseas players for a 2 or 3 game commitment? Why on earth would they do that? It's not county cricket, there's only 6 sides. Very rarely happens anymore. Only ones I can think of since I've been alive are Mason Crane for a couple games, not sure why that happened tbh, he wasn't even good enough to make the team he played for. Andy Flower and Johan Botha did but they were done with international cricket at that stage.

Smith was inevitably asked about this earlier in the week. He said he'd have no issue with England players turning out in the Shield so long as they were improving the overall playing standard. The thing is, I just don't see England players either wanting or having the time to do it. Domestic season finishes end of Sept, an Ashes Tour normally starts about Nov 10th ish. How many England players would want to use their month off in Oct to play Shield?

 

[TheJediBrah]

Smith was inevitably asked about this earlier in the week. He said he'd have no issue with England players turning out in the Shield so long as they were improving the overall playing standard. The thing is, I just don't see England players either wanting or having the time to do it. Domestic season finishes end of Sept, an Ashes Tour normally starts about Nov 10th ish. How many England players would want to use their month off in Oct to play Shield?

Yeah that's the thing, it would have to be the best England players playing to be appropriate. Whereas most half decent Aussies state players will dominate county cricket, or at the very least hold their won due to the lower standard.

Also County cricket is more commercialised, so it's normal to contract overseas players and make it worthwhile. A top-class English domestic cricketer isn't going to land a contract to play in the Shield like an Aus player is going to in England.

 

[trundler]

Yeah that's the thing, it would have to be the best England players playing to be appropriate. Whereas most half decent Aussies state players will dominate county cricket, or at the very least hold their won due to the lower standard.

Also County cricket is more commercialised, so it's normal to contract overseas players and make it worthwhile. A top-class English domestic cricketer isn't going to land a contract to play in the Shield like an Aus player is going to in England.

For the past 5 years Marcus Harris is consistently the best Shield opener

 

[the big bambino]

Done ok in county cricket hasn't he?

 

[trundler]

Done ok in county cricket hasn't he?

Currently averaging 46 on the back of one big knock. And that's in Division 2. Division 1 is most certainly a similar standard to Sheffield Shield. England's fringe test players would be far above the mean in Shield. It's hilarious to suggest only Joe Root makes South Australia's team but typically out of touch with reality.

 

[Shady Slim]

the thing with harris is he ought to be persona non grata because we all know his weaknesses against bowling that isn’t sri lanka standard and he hasn’t and never will fix them so like