*Official* Fifth Test at The Oval

[HeathDavisSpeed]

And then KP got out

Winner by KO - Michael Clarke

Pietersen got out 21 runs and 18 overs after Clarke's sledging. I'd wager that the two things are not linked and in fact it was a **** shot from KP that was the winner in the overall contest.

EDIT: Though judging by the overall speed of the contest, maybe it took Pietersen 18 overs to react to the sledging, though I think that's a tad unlikely.

 

[Burgey]

Recorded the last session and just finished watching. Wow, just insipid cricket. Some abysmal pitches this series.

The english are an inherently insipid people tbf. Pasty and wan.

 

[Dan]

I think the [the SMH] may have been reading CW too:

How does one go about infracting a newspaper?

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

How does one go about infracting a newspaper?

Send them a sternly worded letter of complaint.

 

[Maximas]

Really?

Edit: Actually I just remembered Brisbane from last time...hopefully that doesn't happen again. That was flat over the last few days.

CA will want 5 day matches to cash in, so yeah, I definitely would expect some fairly flat tracks. Not lifeless though, fast bowlers will get reward if they put their back into it

 

[Riggins]

The english are an inherently insipid people tbf. Pasty and wan.

wan was in the crossword today. this helped.

 

[LongHopCassidy]

Some horrifically dire banter from us yesterday:

Geoffrey Boycott, on the BBC radio commentary, heard the verbal sparring on the stump microphone and said it had begun when Clarke told Pietersen that "nobody likes you", with Pietersen responding: "You're the captain, and nobody likes you".

In other news, Clarke's management has released a statement that his dad can beat up KP's dad.

 

[LongHopCassidy]

Pretty sure KP won the day

"Geoffrey Boycott, on the BBC radio commentary, heard the verbal sparring on the stump microphone and said it had begun when Clarke told Pietersen that "nobody likes you", with Pietersen responding: "You're the captain, and nobody likes you".
It was also reported on Friday that Watson had welcomed Bell to the middle with spray and told Pietersen he would be batting with a "child". Pietersen reportedly reminded the all-rounder, who had scored a first Test century in nearly three years on Wednesday, that Bell has three tons for the series, asking Watson how many he had in his career."



Ashes 2013: Slanging match between Michael Clarke and Kevin Pietersen fires up Test grind

In other news, Clarke's management has released a statement that his dad can beat up KP's dad.

 

[Son Of Coco]

I guess you are full of **** then. No way any team in world cricket thinks about the win with 500 on the board, only a liar would claim so.

Look, it depends on how the wicket is playing and this wicket may have become very slow day 2 and yesterday...but not many teams would play for a draw from the outset unless it was awfully difficult to score. Taking into account the fact that the wicket should deteriorate over time, if the option is available to score at a reasonable rate you'd expect most teams to do so.

I haven't seen all of England's innings, and Root did seem to be playing a few strokes (although that was the highlights reel, so it could've been hours worth of play), but if they are just tapping balls back they could be reasonably expected to score off then it's pretty poor cricket. Australia seem to have been bowling pretty well too, so that could also be making it hard to score quickly.

All England are doing at the moment is keeping the follow-on in the picture for as long as possible. Once they crawl past that though everyone might as well go home, there won't be a result.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Starc was all over the place from what I saw yesterday. The big issue for the batsman was that 2 balls in 6 they had no chance of reaching, and then 2 balls out of 6 were extremely good. So, how do you anticipate the good from the bad.

Other than that, Australia's bowling seemed to be pretty bloody accurate.

It was still turgid cricket, mind.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Starc was all over the place from what I saw yesterday. The big issue for the batsman was that 2 balls in 6 they had no chance of reaching, and then 2 balls out of 6 were extremely good. So, how do you anticipate the good from the bad.

Other than that, Australia's bowling seemed to be pretty bloody accurate.

It was still turgid cricket, mind.

Yeah I did see a bit of Starc bowling and he certainly kept them guessing.


I love the way Watto appeals too, his appeal for the Trott dismissal looked like someone had snuck up behind him and slipped a digit in his arse. He was fully clenched, legs straight and clamped together, back arched.

 

[Maximas]

Starceh's inconsistency is actually kinda useful in these situations, tends to get him a few wickets

 

[Ruckus]

Starceh's inconsistency is actually kinda useful in these situations, tends to get him a few wickets

I mean you could kind of have said the same about Johnson, but I guess at least Starc gets most of his wickets with very good deliveries.

 

[Son Of Coco]

I'm assuming the 'doctored pitches' part of this story has been embellished by the writer himself, as I can't see Root saying "we're scoring slowly because the pitch has been doctored" given there's clearly only one team who would have any control over how they're prepared...

No Cookies | thetelegraph.com.au

 

[greg]

Isn't it obvious what England are doing in this innings? They are simply trying to make the Australian quick bowlers bowl as many overs as possible in the expectation that at least one, preferably Harris, will be tipped over the edge and ruled out of the next series? 115 overs to date and no end in sight.

 

[Daemon]

Isn't it obvious what England are doing in this innings? They are simply trying to make the Australian quick bowlers bowl as many overs as possible in the expectation that at least one, preferably Harris, will be tipped over the edge and ruled out of the next series? 115 overs to date and no end in sight.

No need to overthink it, they're just trying to secure a draw.

I mean someone getting injured is obviously a bonus for them but I hardly think that's their primary strategy.

 

[Uppercut]

I mean you could kind of have said the same about Johnson, but I guess at least Starc gets most of his wickets with very good deliveries.

Mitchell 'caught down the leg side' Starc?

Starc seems quite hard to get after, England have struggled to put away even his filthiest deliveries all series. His filth tends to be too full rather than too short, he doesn't drop short and wide a lot the way Johnson did, which suited England really well. He's just shocking at making the batsman play. Wastes the new ball and gives the new batsmen sighters.

 

[GIMH]

If we've scored 500 by close today (which seems unlikely given the weather, but) then for me that puts us in a situation where we can't really lose but could well sneak a win. Oz will want a win and need to go for it, couple that with them being prone to collapses and I don't think our strategy is that bad.

That being said I think we could have taken more runs that were on offer but it was pretty good bowling from Oz, given the deck.

 

[Daemon]

I don't think it's a bad strategy at all, but it does make for some undeniably boring cricket.

 

[fredfertang]

It was pointed out to me yesterday, rather harshly I thought although that's beside the point, that I had spent the whole of the period between 1989 and 2004 being upbeat and positive about England in the face of adversity, and that ever since 2009 all I have done is whinge about them notwithstanding all the success against Australia. As I conceded that may well make me a perverse ****, but I'm still distinctly unhappy with much of what has gone in this Test match, which is pathetic for a taem that are 3-0 with one to play