***Official*** 1st Test at Brisbane

[mustardcharlie]

The man who encouraged Bairstow Jnr to keep wicket should be whipped naked through the streets of York He is a quality bat in his own right

 

[marc71178]

That maybe the case but I’d wager that without the gloves he’d not have got the recall to show it, had already had 2 or 3 opportunities he hadn’t taken so there’s no guarantee he’d have had another recall.

 

[mustardcharlie]

Me too. Rib injuries are a killer for fast bowlers. He was getting it down at about 90 mph last year.

 

[Woodster]

Woakes has only played a handful of away Tests but he's really struggled in all of them, with both bat and ball. He also looked well short of his best when he came back from injury he had last English summer.

Skill-wise I absolutely believe he's got what it takes to perform well in both roles across this series, but whether he's at the top of his game yet and whether he can adjust to conditions quickly enough both remain to be seen really.

We’ve seen glimpses of his quality in Test cricket but that consistency certainly hasn’t been there, delivering throughout a series. Certainly from an England perspective I hope this is the series he finds it. I’m confident his second string skill can do the job for the role he’ll be given, just hope his primary skill is up to it.

 

[howardj]

RE discussion about the rain for the Gabba Test

I have long thought that so much damage is done to the reputation of official weather bureaus by outlets who pick up that official forecast and represent it as an icon (such as a mini picture of a cloud, or mini picture of a rain drop etc.)

It often totally misrepresents the official forecast

Drilling down into Brisbane's forecast for Thursday and Friday we find:

Thursday
Shower or two
Possible rainfall 1 to 5mm

Friday
Possible shower
Possible rainfall: 0 to 1mm

So basically there's **** all chance of rain interrupting play for any real length of time, but if you were to look at weather icons of news outlets, you'd think the whole game was going to be washed out

 

[Burgey]

So are you saying the weather is set fair?

 

[howardj]

That's what I am saying, yes

 

[Burgey]

Hopefully it leads to a thrilling denouement

 

[Adders]

I would imagine too that any rain that is forecast is likely to be late in the day up there?

 

[Cabinet96]

Woakes has only played a handful of away Tests but he's really struggled in all of them, with both bat and ball. He also looked well short of his best when he came back from injury he had last English summer.

Skill-wise I absolutely believe he's got what it takes to perform well in both roles across this series, but whether he's at the top of his game yet and whether he can adjust to conditions quickly enough both remain to be seen really.

Yeah the injury is a big concern. Shouldn't impact his batting though.

 

[stephen]

I would imagine too that any rain that is forecast is likely to be late in the day up there?

Yesterday the rain was regularly cycling between heavy and nonexistent. But it was doing that all day. Would have been a washout.

The weather this spring has been very mild and a bit wet since the end of September (it started out rather hot and dry).

Certainly though we haven't had many storms yet this season. Who knows by Thursday. Today has been much drier.

 

[stephen]

You literally could not ask for nicer cricketing weather than what is on offer today.

 

[stephen]

It's warm and clear with a gentle cool breeze. The skies are blue and it's probably the nicest day we've had this spring.

 

[howardj]

I agree that it's a beautiful late Spring day in Australia's best city

 

[Adders]

I agree that it's a beautiful late Spring day in Australia's best city

Have you moved HJ

 

[Gnske]

Three days from the Gabba pool deck being opened.

I actually can't hold my excitement, I may just go to swim in all that piss.

 

[howardj]

haha

Anyway, I think the Barmy Army are split up all over the ground for this Test

They weren't able to get tickets together, such is the kill-joy nature of the Gabba admin

 

[Adders]

haha

Anyway, I think the Barmy Army are split up all over the ground for this Test

They weren't able to get tickets together, such is the kill-joy nature of the Gabba admin

Nah, the official tour groups will all have tickets together in the one area, but unfortunately CA makes it impossible for anyone booking independently like expats like me to get tickets in those bays. Last time there were England fan zones at each ground that could be booked outside of tour groups, but just as many Aussies bought tickets in them so it didn't really help (us)

****s better let Billy the trumpet in this year though!!!

 

[Gnske]

I hope they don't, it really kills the atmosphere on what can otherwise be a nice day.

 

[eleven]

Ditto. I wanna call it a vuvzela.

Anyone else remember a nervous day 5 last year in Brisbane? I think we're short an allrounder, amongst other things. Weather looks good for first 3 days. Rain Sunday and Monday might mean the bowlers have a rest if they're having to do long spells so maybe we don't need one.