*Official* Fifth Test (The Oval, London) 27-31 July

[Prince EWS]

Lol at the idea that Archer was ever an option.

Yeah it's a bit like saying Pucovski was out.

 

[Adders]

Just told my wife the series result. Her words (not mine): "That's okay as I really don't like either team. Although I guess England are worse as they go on and on whenever they win".

Did she manage to say that without referencing NZ or some random NZ player.......if not is she really your wife?

 

[91Jmay]

Olly Stone is another we can't say we missed via injury as he is always crocked but is a good player. Can't ever rely on him as an option but if he can find fitness he'll be around squads.

He was great in India last time at times, being able to get him back would be pretty big

 

[trundler]

Olly Stone is another we can't say we missed via injury as he is always crocked but is a good player. Can't ever rely on him as an option but if he can find fitness he'll be around squads.

He was great in India last time at times, being able to get him back would be pretty big

Saqib Mahmood too

 

[Adders]

I think both sides will be reflecting a lot on the "what if's" and will feel they've missed big opportunities to take series. At the end of the day 2-2 is a fair result.

I'm just relieved more than anything this morning. 2-1 or 3-1 to the Aussies which were both on the cards when I crashed last night would have been extremely unpalatable.

 

[Skipper Pup]

I think both sides will be reflecting a lot on the "what if's" and will feel they've missed big opportunities to take series. At the end of the day 2-2 is a fair result.

I'm just relieved more than anything this morning. 2-1 or 3-1 to the Aussies which were both on the cards when I crashed last night would have been extremely unpalatable.

Bit like the Aussie with the Bairstow stumping, I'm sure you guys are loving the media reaction to the ball changing saga.

2-2 is a fair result but overall not one people will remember for too long. Plenty of other moments that will be talking points for years to come.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Thanks for that mate - I was wondering what your Mrs made of the series.

Cheers. Thought you'd be interested especially since CartyD has a whole thread on what he eats for tea.

 

[social]

Uzi should be the interim captain IMO

However, CA won’t replace Cummins unless he wants out so the best that we can hope for is to replace the coach

McDonald stood by while the team imploded with sweepathon in India and their ridiculous tactics in England so I have no idea what he brings to the table

Ponting won’t do it & Steve Waugh probably won’t either so go after Berry or maybe Voges

My bet is that CA will try to spin the winter as a success because we beat India in England (lol) and didn’t lose the Ashes

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Uzi should be the interim captain IMO

Nah. Travis with the Ian Chappell mo and bring back the Ugly Aussies.

 

[Son Of Coco]

I think both sides will be reflecting a lot on the "what if's" and will feel they've missed big opportunities to take series. At the end of the day 2-2 is a fair result.

I'm just relieved more than anything this morning. 2-1 or 3-1 to the Aussies which were both on the cards when I crashed last night would have been extremely unpalatable.

2 up with 3 to play and drawing is frustrating, but then England played a lot better in the 4th and 5th tests than they did at the beginning of the series. Wood and Woakes coming in made a massive difference too. In the end, we did well to draw (with rain assisting).

More frustrating than the result was our tactics. England improving obviously affected that, but some of the bowling was very poor. The 3rd test was our chance to win the series, and we ****ed it badly.

 

[Shady Slim]

SS Don't know about "gloating" or anything like that and do not know anything about trophies. England threw away any chance of regaining the Ashes with two batting performances which merit a special place in Hell reserved for lawyers, dentists and those who talk loudly in the theatre.

Well played Straya though. Khawaja was MoS for me but then I'm a bit old school

oh i should be clear - i'm saying any aussie gloating because we have "retained" the trophy after a tied series should be ashamed! haha but a wonderful series on any count nevertheless

 

[Gnske]

Losing three wickets to Moeen with a munted hip

It's a team of frauds that have retained the Ashes, seriously. Frauds.

 

[Gnske]

Cummins - Woeful tactician and the example of why bowlers are simply too unintelligent to wield the mantle of thinking.

Seriously I wouldn't trust a captain who hasn't read Frederick the Great because his military campaigns didn't have enough carbon offsets.

 

[TheJediBrah]

So Joel Wilson has cost Australia the last 2 Ashes series wins in England with incompetent umpiring, you can't make this stuff up

 

[Anil]

So Joel Wilson has cost Australia the last 2 Ashes series wins in England with incompetent umpiring, you can't make this stuff up

You just made stuff up earlier in the same sentence...

 

[Spark]

Uzi should be the interim captain IMO

However, CA won’t replace Cummins unless he wants out so the best that we can hope for is to replace the coach

McDonald stood by while the team imploded with sweepathon in India and their ridiculous tactics in England so I have no idea what he brings to the table

Ponting won’t do it & Steve Waugh probably won’t either so go after Berry or maybe Voges

My bet is that CA will try to spin the winter as a success because we beat India in England (lol) and didn’t lose the Ashes

Yeah. I seriously doubt they would sack Cummins, especially now that so many forces are trying to make it a political statement. But in that case McDonald must go in favour of someone more forceful. They were right to get rid of Langer, but they swung too far in the other direction; someone needs to be there with the authority to tell them their gameplans don't make sense when too often they don't.

 

[the big bambino]

What a load of old bollocks.

We had a load of injuries were as you lost just Lyon.

We were without Leach and Archer for the whole series. We lost Wood for 2 tests, Pope for 3 and Woakes wasn't fir to start the series.

On top of that Stokes could hardly bowl and Mo was significantly handicapped in 2 tests.

Are you all there? You weren't without Archer for the series. He hasn't played test or even fc cricket for two years. Neither is he likely to play either format going into a third year. His injury problems seem less tractable to adjustment to his action than say Wood. It may be Archer becomes a white ball bowler or go full Tymal Mills and stick to T20.

You never have Wood for a series. In fact you got the best out of him. Target a few games where he bowls like the wind and hope he doesn't break.

Enjoying the adoption of Woakes like a favoured child. Lets all forget how we were writing him off before the series. (But mea culpa for me regarding Mitch Marsh who now deserves a run in the side as a m/o batsmen). Getting Woakes into the team benefitted England from where they started.

Losing Leach and getting Moeen actually worked for England and Stokes is getting to an age where ARs bowling generally start to fall away. Nothing that England wouldn't have known before the series and couldn't have planned.

 

[Anthony Clayden]

Aus bottom 4 added 114 total for the Test, Eng bottom 4 added 97.
Murphy with 52, Cummins with 45, Woakes 37 Wood 37.
(Actually, out totalled Marsh, Head and Carey.)

Murphy bowled well enough and certainly not the worst with the bat.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Yeah. I seriously doubt they would sack Cummins, especially now that so many forces are trying to make it a political statement. But in that case McDonald must go in favour of someone more forceful. They were right to get rid of Langer, but they swung too far in the other direction; someone needs to be there with the authority to tell them their gameplans don't make sense when too often they don't.

It's hard to believe anyone in their management team could sit there and watch them getting carted bowling short and not get the message down to the fielder on the boundary within about 15 minutes that it was a really stupid tactic. Perhaps slightly understandable for the first two tests given the decks England trotted out, but completely inexplicable in the position they were in in the first innings of the 3rd.

 

[Spark]

It's hard to believe anyone in their management team could sit there and watch them getting carted bowling short and not get the message down to the fielder on the boundary within about 15 minutes that it was a really stupid tactic. Perhaps slightly understandable for the first two tests given the decks England trotted out, but completely inexplicable in the position they were in in the first innings of the 3rd.

Yeah and while they did bowl better in this game in general IMO, probably the best they'd bowled across an entire game in the whole series, they still started dreadfully in the second innings. It was genuinely as if they weren't fully ready for the day's play to begin and hadn't fully warmed up, it took what felt like an hour of looseners before they started to hit decent areas again and by then the pitch had flattened out completely.