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

[TheJediBrah]

The starc/jhye thing is weird to me, starc is great in pink all and we know what happens if starc plays too many tests in a row, keeping him fresh for the 2nd test where he's the best in the world.

Also, can somoene please tell me what Neanderthal at CA decided that 5/6 of head then green instead of vice versa was the better call? Greens a young 22 yo bat who was up there for most balls faced per innings in his debut series and half of whoms dismissals came from slogging because he was chasing quick runs or batting with the tail. Head on the other hand is notorious for fishing outside off-stump and strikes at 60 in FC. It's not even a hard call to make either, put green at 5 and let him bat time, put head at 6 and let him be aggressive.

Aside from that, we have a keeper who's never played a test before at 7, is a 6/7 with 4 test between then really that wise? Carey is horrible at batting with the tail and green doesn't like to rotate strike before he's set, seems like a disaster waiting to happen. Put head between them so there's actually some experience amongst the lower order FFS.

It's clearly just because Green is expected to bowl more

 

[Burgey]

His brother keeps for Sydney Uni iirc, so he's arguably not out of the equation if Carey ****s up.

 

[duffer]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1467343016314560515

No surprises, though definitely not what I would have done

Still strong af. Will smash

 

[Gob]

Harris is the real dud there. Absolute waste of time. Nothing personal he seems a nice guy but i hope he'd fail. You don't want him in the long run

 

[stephen]

Harris is the real dud there. Absolute waste of time. Nothing personal he seems a nice guy but i hope he'd fail. You don't want him in the long run

Should have gone Khawaja to open IMO.

 

[Gob]

Should have gone Khawaja to open IMO.

Absolutely. He isn't up for it. And he is going to suck hard in the Subcontinent next year. Bailey is ****ed in the head. If you want to invest in someone young, pick Hunt

 

[Shri]

Backing aus. Hope clodermort retires mid series after a pasting like his mate swann

 

[sunilz]

Is the Cap torn or there is something I don't know ?

 

[GIMH]

Backing aus. Hope clodermort retires mid series after a pasting like his mate swann

Thanks, the forum has been on edge wondering who you were supporting

 

[zaremba]

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I wonder if this means Woakes will play. He has a rotten record overseas but in cloudy conditions he can be a serious handful. Plus he can bat, obvs. And just generally very dependable. Burt who will they leave out? Jimmy and Stokes are nailed on. And they'll have to play a spinner (Leach). Which means only two can play from Woakes, Broad, Robinson and Wood.

 

[zaremba]

I wonder if this means Woakes will play. He has a rotten record overseas but in cloudy conditions he can be a serious handful. Plus he can bat, obvs. And just generally very dependable. Burt who will they leave out? Jimmy and Stokes are nailed on. And they'll have to play a spinner (Leach). Which means only two can play from Woakes, Broad, Robinson and Wood.

Burt, are you even reading this? Burt? BURT??

 

[Blenkinsop]

Will they have to play a spinner though? I could definitely imagine them leaving Leach out.

 

[Gob]

I wonder if this means Woakes will play. He has a rotten record overseas but in cloudy conditions he can be a serious handful. Plus he can bat, obvs. And just generally very dependable. Burt who will they leave out? Jimmy and Stokes are nailed on. And they'll have to play a spinner (Leach). Which means only two can play from Woakes, Broad, Robinson and Wood.

Wood is no good imo.

Anderson/Broad/Robinson are shoe in

If weather forecast doesn't clear up, Woakes should play over Leach I think

 

[WICFan]

Will they have to play a spinner though? I could definitely imagine them leaving Leach out.

This is why Australia are slight favourites for me, Stokes's return should give England a bit more balance but the XI is still very much up in the air.

There's certainly questions about Australia's XI, I think with Cummins taking the captaincy they are a bit reluctant to throw in Richardson on debut and want the most experienced bowling lineup starting out. I'd have opened with Khawaja instead of Harris as well.

 

[Burgey]

If weather forecast doesn't clear up, Woakes should play over Leach I think

Do you reckon they'd play five seamers including Stokes? I know two of them run in with the assistance of Zimmer frames, but it seems a tad excessive.

 

[Burgey]

Is the Cap torn or there is something I don't know ?

Yeah it's torn. The traditional baggy caps often get that way when they get really old if they're worn day in, day out. I still have the first cap I was given by my club in under 10s and have had to get the peak re-sewn a couple of times. Luckily I had a big melon as a kid so I was still able to stretch it over my noggin as I got older, and the elastic eventually loosened so it was reasonably comfortable to wear even as an adult. Reminds me, I still have it somewhere around here. I might get it restored and give it to Burgeinho as part of his 21st present, given his great-grandfather founded the club.

 

[Starfighter]

Do you reckon they'd play five seamers including Stokes? I know two of them run in with the assistance of Zimmer frames, but it seems a tad excessive.

If India has done it, there's nothing stopping England.

 

[GoodAreasShane]

Honestly pretty much that entire Indian pace attack would concern me more than Anderson, especially on Australian wickets

Broad more of a worry with his propensity to go the occasional meme hot streak imo

 

[Son Of Coco]

I wonder if this means Woakes will play. He has a rotten record overseas but in cloudy conditions he can be a serious handful. Plus he can bat, obvs. And just generally very dependable. Burt who will they leave out? Jimmy and Stokes are nailed on. And they'll have to play a spinner (Leach). Which means only two can play from Woakes, Broad, Robinson and Wood.

Depends on how many 'y's are in the team already. England have a minimum quota of 9, so if they need 'Woaksey', to join 'Broady', 'Stokesy', 'Rooty', 'Burnsy' et. al, he'll play.

 

[Burgey]

Weird to start this on a Wednesday. meaning if it's over in four days one way or t'other you lose a Sunday's worth of revenue, which I imagine would normally be pretty lucrative for an Ashes test.