Cricket

[Haywain]

???....I hope that is not the England 2nd innings score...

It was at the end of the first over (in the Australian method of giving the score).

 

[D1511]

I think it’s fair to say the mood in our hotel last night was pretty vitriolic. Whether it was the catching, the fielding tactics (how many runs were scored through third man?), the apparent deliberate tactic of not bowling at the stumps (only 7%), or picking Jacks and only giving him one over. It was desperately unintelligent cricket, and unfortunately we all agreed with others above that the game (and effectively the series) is likely to be over in all but name by the end of the third day, because our batsmen will do the same again because “it’s the way we play”.

Glad I’m not out here for all five but heading home on Tuesday.

I have just watched Ollie Pope's "innings" with mouth agape, and even I am angry at his unprofessionalism and stupidity......and I'm just a Scot eating a bacon roll in my kitchen at home. I can't imagine how you and the rest of barmies must feel after having shelled out however many thousands to travel to the opposite side of the planet, and to have to watch this abject and pathetic capitulation. Worst of it is, that it appears to be fully endorsed by the leadership group. I wonder how long it will be before the 'sacked in the morning' chant starts up amongst the increasingly restless Barmy Army.......?

 

[Harvester]

???....I hope that is not the England 2nd innings score...

No but the collapse has begun. England 123-4 and still 54 runs behind, with Brook and Stokes batting.

Brook has just gone for 15.

 

[DelW]

... the game (and effectively the series) is likely to be over in all but name by the end of the third day, because our batsmen will do the same again because “it’s the way we play”.

Glad I’m not out here for all five but heading home on Tuesday.

It will almost inevitably finish before the first break tomorrow, so you'll have an extra two and a half days to do something better than watching this. It would be hard to find anything worse.

It's bad enough listening to it for free on the radio, never mind paying a fortune to be there and have my nose rubbed in it by the Aussie supporters.

For the last two seasons a lot of the English county season has been subordinated to "we need to do this ready for the Ashes". Hopefully we'll have no more of that, since it hasn't worked at all.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Had it not been for that flurry of runs between Root and Archer for the last wicket in the England 1st innings, things may well have already been over, as after 35 overs in their second innings, England are 134-6.

At least this Test Match has managed to go into day 3.

 

[yoyothehobo]

If i was out there i would be demanding answers for that display. Half the team need dropping.

 

[Haywain]

you'll have an extra two and a half days

I imagine that time going into reverse will come as more of a surprise than England losing!

 

[Peeled Apples]

Wayward bowling, dropped catches and terrible batting not a great combination.

 

[Pakenhamtrain]

In the time it took for me to travel on a train from basically Paddington to Reading England lost many wickets.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Utterly predictable and throughly depressing

England aren't getting battered because they're fundamentally bad at batting; they're getting battered because they are being encouraged to play too many aggressive shots to balls that are not there to be hit. That is on the management and coaching teams for wanting to play that way, and on the players for meekly doing as they're told rather than playing how they know is right.

Just look at how Mitchell Starc batted. Leave a lot, defend the decent balls, score off the less good ones. Hardly rocket science is it? But he can do it as the Aussie number 9!!

 

[John R]

I imagine that time going into reverse will come as more of a surprise than England losing!

Indeed! I’ll have about 1 1/2 days back, but realistically the fifth day is very speculative in this day and age, so not too bad. And Brisbane is a fantastic city, so lots to do.

The Aussie fans have been great - not giving us a hard time at all - let’s face it - they don’t need to.

Mind you, for all that, still glad I came, as it been a terrific three weeks, and I will do a cricket tour again soon (I’m not with the Barmy Army I hasten to add!). It ticked off a bucket list item for me, and snorkelling the Barrier Reef ticked off a second one too.

Not looking forward to GWR back home on Wednesday afternoon though…

 

[Purple Train]

I have just watched Ollie Pope's "innings" with mouth agape, and even I am angry at his unprofessionalism and stupidity......and I'm just a Scot eating a bacon roll in my kitchen at home. I can't imagine how you and the rest of barmies must feel after having shelled out however many thousands to travel to the opposite side of the planet, and to have to watch this abject and pathetic tripe. Worst of it is, that it appears to be fully endorsed by the leadership group. I wonder how long it will be before the 'sacked in the morning' chant starts up amongst the increasingly restless Barmy Army.......?

Beautifully put. I think the worst part is the hope - this regime came in swashbuckling, lifted a dejected team off its knees, and then decided to throw absolutely everything at these Ashes. Any other defeat was just a minor aberration on the path of preparation; everything was being sculpted specifically for Australia in Australia, the culmination of two years' hard work, etc. etc.

The only difference between this team and our other sides which have come to grief in Australia is that lots of us fans, myself included, drank the kool-aid. And despite the indifferent year we've had, a bit of it was still there, right up to the second day in Perth...

The only saving grace for me personally at the minute is that I can get a small amount of second-hand enjoyment from my Australian relatives. And like you, I'm just someone reading the headlines from my front room, not someone who's paid thousands to experience this shower.

 

[John R]

I have just watched Ollie Pope's "innings" with mouth agape, and even I am angry at his unprofessionalism and stupidity......and I'm just a Scot eating a bacon roll in my kitchen at home. I can't imagine how you and the rest of barmies must feel after having shelled out however many thousands to travel to the opposite side of the planet, and to have to watch this abject and pathetic capitulation. Worst of it is, that it appears to be fully endorsed by the leadership group. I wonder how long it will be before the 'sacked in the morning' chant starts up amongst the increasingly restless Barmy Army.......?

I think you echo exactly the sentiments about Pope of our group (who I hasten to add keep as far away as we can from the Barmies - we actually like to watch the game…)

 

[SuspectUsual]

I think you echo exactly the sentiments about Pope of our group (who I hasten to add keep as far away as we can from the Barmies - we actually like to watch the game…)

What are the Barmy Army lot actually like? All I've seen is bits on the telly at games where they're a bit annoying (and the trumpet bloke is very annoying)

 

[High Dyke]

I think I'll revise my prediction from 4-1 to 5-0. This shower haven't the slightest chance of winning a test.

It's just a ploy by England. Lose this test but massive comeback to take the series 3-2. No?

 

[Haywain]

What are the Barmy Army lot actually like? All I've seen is bits on the telly at games where they're a bit annoying (and the trumpet bloke is very annoying)

From my experience, it depends how you like to enjoy your cricket.

 

[SuspectUsual]

From my experience, it depends how you like to enjoy your cricket.

The traditional way. Enforced jollity is not my thing

 

[John R]

What are the Barmy Army lot actually like? All I've seen is bits on the telly at games where they're a bit annoying (and the trumpet bloke is very annoying)

I don’t mind the odd rendition of Jerusalem, but for long periods of the game they have imposed their football chants and tedious repetitive songs for periods of up to 15 mins without pause on the other 30 thousand fans. I’m sure the rest of the crowd would much rather not hear them, and if you do have the misfortune to have a seat close to them it must, at best, significantly detract from the day.

It’s noticeable that whilst the home crowd is very fervent in its support for their team (and rightly so), it is simply done through cheering their good play, with nothing similar to the BAs behaviour.

There are thousands of English fans out here through other sports tour companies that have no connection with the BA, and are just here to try and watch some good cricket.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

In the olden days when England teams played Test Matches, the middle batting order was seen as to be there to aid the building of an innings, yet in the matter of six overs, England succumbed from 121-3 to 128-6, losing the wickets of Root, Brook and Smith in the process.

 

[DelW]

I imagine that time going into reverse will come as more of a surprise than England losing!

Yes, I lost a day somewhere in that calculation Perhaps I was trying to expunge some of the memory!

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Woke up at 05:55 and logged on. Stokes and Jacks still there with a 50 stand. After 57 overs, England have reached 189-6.

 

[DelW]

It will almost inevitably finish before the first break tomorrow, so you'll have an extra two and a half days to do something better than watching this. It would be hard to find anything worse.

Well, I got the prediction wrong as well as the arithmetic ... In complete contrast to everything before, bazball was left firmly in the locker and we had a "morning" session of steady traditional test cricket, Stokes and Jacks adding 59 for no wicket to take the match into the second session at least. It's highly unlikely to change the outcome, but it does show it can be done, if rather too late.

 

[DarloRich]

So not an innings defeat but a 10 wicket job! Ashes gone before Xmas

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

After a steady 90+ stand, England conspired to lose their last four second innings wickets for a mere 17 runs.

 

[Peeled Apples]

What a ridiculous shot from Atkinson

 

[D1511]

At this precise moment, the game is neatly balanced at 8 v 8.........Australia need(s) 8 runs and England need(s) 8 wickets.

(Alternative verb conjugations provided for our Australian cousins!)

 

[Pakenhamtrain]

Jofra Archer has decided to get a bit lippy to Steve Smith when there's 23 runs left. Smith then proceeded to belt him for a four and six in consecutive balls.

And it's now 2-0.

 

[SuspectUsual]

England had 20 batting partnerships in the match. For one of them they batted properly and started to look decent and put the Aussies under a bit of pressure. But the way they play demands stupid high risk shots

 

[Haywain]

There's a strong sense of 'what might have been' there. If the Aussies had been set another 100 as a target it could have been a lot closer.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Even Australia lost both Head and Labuschagne, both to Atkinson, before reaching the small required winning runs total in their second innings.