English cricket in ashes . . . .

[Roger]

Kev you &%$# !!!  You are only saying that - because it's true    Until tomorrow.

I thought booing Smith wasn't a great idea even though he was a cheating git like Atherton and who knows else ? But it's a great game and a tradition in the greatest rivalry of all sport, so lets keep it like, friendly enemies.

Oy oy oy and well done you OZ &%$#  SO FAR. ATB

[Roger]

Hi Kev,

I heard a rumour that at 29-2, Australia's last two batsmen are at the wicket 

It'd be great to see England level the Series - but there's still that bl**dy Smith to deal with.

ATB

[Roger]

Ah I forgot Matthew Wade - 117 well done him, Steve Smith, Labuschagne  and the Oz bowlers for taking the Ashes home. Great to see England square the series - let's hope Jofra Archer can stay fit for a decade - up to 96mph yesterday - frightening 

BIG mistake to put England into bat 

Have we seen the last of Jimmy Anderson ?

[Kev]

Well done yep even stevens, you b&%-#y poms did well in the last test. :-)

[Teessider]

Some positives for England,
Rory Burns has proved to be an effective opening bat
Jofra Archer is ready to take over from Jimmy
Stuart Broad is as good as ever
Jonny Bairstow at least showed his prowess as a keeper even if his batting disapponted.

For the Aussies,
Steve Smith was magnificent
Pat Cummins superb
Marcus Labuschagne another success

[Roger]

England Test performances seem to be an uphill battle more often than not !   

"England were crushed by New Zealand as the tourists lost the first Test by an innings and 65 runs at the Bay Oval. Resuming on 55-3, England needed to bat through the day to save the Test but were bowled out for 197 with 21.4 overs remaining in Mount Maunganui."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/50541533

[Thaiwolf]

Very poor effort fron England.

[jungle]

Punishment for the rugby I would say 😁

[dam12641]

"Punishment for the rugby I would say"
Yeah, after what we did to them in the Rugby WC, the Cricket ODI WC, I guess we kind of had it coming from the Kiwis.

They did us, fair and square. It's a shame there is only one more Test to enjoy in this series.

[Teessider]

Win the toss, bat through the first day losing only 4 wickets. Lose by an innings. Only Stokes seemed to have the commitment needed. Big improvement needed for next test.

[Roger]

I was looking for Geoffrey and here he is . . .

"Joe Root got out to a bowler little better than me" - yes GB - was that then or now 

"It is no good talking a good game before the match and then saying after defeat that you will take the positives. If I hear that one more time I am going to scream."    I agree.

"In the New Zealand innings (Joffra Archer) he bowled 42 overs which is more than any of the other seamers. Only the spinner, Jack Leach, bowled more overs than him."      That is stupid 

Time for Root to step aside and Silverwood - he's not gonna do it IMHO.

Dam - know where you are coming from but just wait until WE play S. Africa 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2019/11/25/joe-root-got-bowler-bit-better-englands-batting-against-new/

[Roger]

JUST AS England were going to smash the Kiwis - down came the rain   

Michael Vaughan in the DT - an excellent poser for the next Ashes.

"" ""What did we learn from this series against New Zealand? Not very much. It just reinforced what we already know. When bowling in conditions in Australasia with the Kookaburra ball England do not look like taking 20 wickets. "" ""

Worth a read and get Bairstow back please . . . 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2019/12/04/englands-bowling-weak-link-leach-broad-anderson-not-going/

[Roger]

"Telegraph Sport understands senior figures at the England & Wales Cricket Board and several counties have accepted fitting in a meaningful championship competition along with the Twenty20 Blast and international fixtures is virtually impossible even if they can salvage three months of the cricket season starting from July, which is now considered the best case scenario.

Instead a handful of first-class matches between counties could be arranged to give members who have already paid their annual subscriptions four day cricket as well as England players warm ups before Test matches. As previously reported, the Hundred is also set for postponement until 2021 unless there is a rapid improvement in the coronavirus situation in this country."

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2020/04/01/exclusive-county-championship-scrapped-entire-2020-season/

[Roger]

The Covid gloom seems to have swallowed up glorious cricket on K-F     Since the last post, England have beaten the West Indies after a poor start, in a 3 match series and are now embarked on the more difficult task of facing Pakistan

Despite some heroics, Pakistan seemed likely winners since England posted a poor first innings score, but in the glorious annals of 5 day test matches, this one will feature    Joss Butler, criticised as usual for his poor wicket keeping costing England a bucket of runs, resurrected his lost batting form, coming in at 117-5 and scoring a fantastic 75 with Chris Woakes, (also picking up wickets these days), 84 n.o. to see us home.

Wickets from Broad, Archer and Bess too. Great stuff England !

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2020/08/08/england-vs-pakistan-first-test-day-four-live-score-latest-updates/

[Teessider]

Watched all of the final day, brilliant stuff. Woakes can't be left out now so it looks like 1 of Anderson or Archer will miss out.

[Thaiwolf]

Outstanding and unexpected victory for England, well done Guys.

[Thaiwolf]

Jofra Archer is not worth his place. He has become something of a passenger in this team.

[Roger]

Wow    Zak Crawley bats 585 minutes against Pakistan for his 267 in England's handy total of 583, including a stand of 359 with Jos Buttler.

" . . . almost every Pakistan player ran to congratulate Crawley as he walked off to a standing vocation (ovation?) from his team-mates on the balcony." VERY sporting indeed of the Pakistan players who must have been rather sick of the sight of him   

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2020/08/22/england-vs-pakistan-third-test-day-two-live-score-latest-updates/

[Roger]

Apparently England's defeat by India in less than 2 days was their shortest game for 85 years. Having won the toss, England's 112 was awful. India were then shaken by Joe Root's 5 wickets for 8 runs which inspired false hopes as England batted again only 33 behind.

I quickly walked the dogs when India were bowled out and returned in time for the England 2nd innings. I popped into the kitchen and when I came back, England were 2 wickets down      Then it got worse   

Playing 3 seamers plus Stokes seemed crazy on that pitch but where would we be without Joe Root ? Stokes is a shadow of himself atm. I don't feel much optimism for the 4th test !

Woe is me