*Official* Second Test (Lord's, London) 28 June–2 July

[Gnske]

Surprised Duckett caught one. These Londoners will appreciate a reason to be happy while living in a third rate city.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

The game is still alive.

 

[Burgey]

Not saying he’s good but Cummins going from okay with the bat to a complete bunny for 2 years and now looking like he can be okay again has been weird

There was an article after the first test saying he apparently worked really hard on his batting ahead of the series

 

[Son Of Coco]

Another 50 from these guys would be nice.

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

Barrington would have middled that.

 

[Gnske]

The STOP OIL people should have nuked the long room with orange goo

 

[TheJediBrah]

Speaking of leaden footed drives. That's a solid catch though.

Crazy how many of this Aus batting line-up don't have a front-foot. Smith, Khawaja, Warner, Head, even Marnus most of the time just drive from the crease.

 

[Uppercut]

Even then he looked much better with the bat! Hit a counterattacking 80-odd from nowhere IIRC that almost dragged Aus back into a dead lost game (still lost, but it was much closer than it looked before his innings)

IIRC the CW consensus at the time was that he should have been picked at #6.

The Michael Beer era was a very strange time for Australian selection.

 

[Starfighter]

TBH think he's left a few runs out there. Bowling's not exactly been threatening for the past few overs.

 

[Coronis]

****ing hilarious watching him walk back through that sea of clapping with the ****test look on his face replaying that delivery a hundred times.

 

[NZTailender]

Some excellent commentary from Nasser re. Smith's retirement speculation

"What else is he going to do??"

I've been saying the same myself for years. Going to sound harsh but I imagine Steve Smith would be as close to a useless human as you can get if not for playing cricket

Weird they're speculating about a 34 year old batsman when there's a 40 year old bloke playing in the same match.

I have no stats to back it up but for batsmen the age 37 seems to be around when they pack it in, internationally speaking.

 

[CartyDurham]

aren't you forgetting a little something called bowling average if you're actually serious about this take?

No but wickets taken is a decent guide

you just need to accept it and it will open up a whole new world

682 is unbeaten. That’s just something you won’t accept

it’s absolutely hilarious

 

[Shri]

Good to see @trundler the glorified one getting involved here.

do not encourage

 

[Starfighter]

Crazy how many of this Aus batting line-up don't have a front-foot. Smith, Khawaja, Warner, Head, even Marnus most of the time just drive from the crease.

Yeah, it showed in the last match too, that pitch was very good for front foot play. Still bloody pleased we got a victory in the end though.

 

[GotSpin]

****ing hilarious watching him walk back through that sea of clapping with the ****test look on his face replaying that delivery a hundred times.

It was a soft way to get out though

 

[CartyDurham]

Anyway Australia who looked like they would bat for at least two days are not over 400 yet

 

[ashley bach]

It's the magic 393, declare!

 

[Burgey]

Crazy how many of this Aus batting line-up don't have a front-foot. Smith, Khawaja, Warner, Head, even Marnus most of the time just drive from the crease.

It’s a bit of a return to the pre helmet era technique where guys would play a lot later and drive from the crease. Might be to do with the decks getting juicier and people trying to play later generally these past few years after the roads of the 2000s in particular

 

[TheJediBrah]

The Michael Beer era was a very strange time for Australian selection.

Yes the selectors were convinced that the problem was the spinner, so tried changing it nearly every game.

(Meanwhile the first choice fast bowling attack was Hilfenhaus, Bollinger and Siddle)

 

[NZTailender]

I don't know what's worse: Pietersen's pronunciation of Tongue, or Carey