Ashes 2019


JohnS

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Congrats to all the Aussies, well done. 

Strange ashes in retrospect the "stars" provided all the enjoyment, and you would want to rub out the great moments from Stokes or Smith, but can't help but feel as if it would have been more competitive and I interesting without them.  With Smith at bat it felt like a non contest. A bit like watching Ronnie O'Sullivan play snooker it sort of ceases to become competitive sport, and just becomes an exhibition. 

Still very enjoyable sport, but the gulf between the "stars" and the rest. Will be what will linger in my memory. 

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i think that is the greatest innings i have ever seen. put it well ahead of botham's years earlier. botham's was great but it was more just taking a chance and everything coming off. england still had

john, my first issue is with langer. his selections have absolutely cost any respect i had for the bloke. met him once in hong kong of all places and got to have a long chat. this was post playing, pr

Verdict after Day One at Edgbaston, Birmingham? Steve Smith can seriously bat James Anderson was never ready for this test and that will cause a problem in the 3rd innings when Australi

6 minutes ago, 99call said:

Congrats to all the Aussies, well done. 

Strange ashes in retrospect the "stars" provided all the enjoyment, and you would want to rub out the great moments from Stokes or Smith, but can't help but feel as if it would have been more competitive and I interesting without them.  With Smith at bat it felt like a non contest. A bit like watching Ronnie O'Sullivan play snooker it sort of ceases to become competitive sport, and just becomes an exhibition. 

Still very enjoyable sport, but the gulf between the "stars" and the rest. Will be what will linger in my memory. 

trust me, it felt very competitive. 

and could not disagree more about not having them. to me, that is like saying i'd rather watch the all black seconds take on the wallaby seconds (although for us, that could be our firsts as well). you want to see the best of the best. stokes played one of the greatest innings ever seen in any form of cricket. as much as i hated losing, i would not want to have been robbed of that. and what smith has done has been truly special. remember, a batsman only has to make one small error and he is gone, so i was nervous all the time he was in. he has done something that will be remembered for at least a century. me? i'm grateful i saw it. 

i have seen one ice hockey game in my life but i went because gretsky was playing. i used to go to Origin because lewis was playing. and so on. surely we want to see the best. 

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20 minutes ago, Ken Gargett said:

trust me, it felt very competitive. 

and could not disagree more about not having them. to me, that is like saying i'd rather watch the all black seconds take on the wallaby seconds (although for us, that could be our firsts as well). you want to see the best of the best. stokes played one of the greatest innings ever seen in any form of cricket. as much as i hated losing, i would not want to have been robbed of that. and what smith has done has been truly special. remember, a batsman only has to make one small error and he is gone, so i was nervous all the time he was in. he has done something that will be remembered for at least a century. me? i'm grateful i saw it. 

i have seen one ice hockey game in my life but i went because gretsky was playing. i used to go to Origin because lewis was playing. and so on. surely we want to see the best. 

Haha sorry the "would" should of been a "wouldnt". A la Donnie T.  I really enjoyed the show stopping moment and "wouldn't" want to rub them out. Just merely pointing out, that without Smith  and Stokes the remaining batting would have been equally poor. And maybe a touch more in the balance.  You always want to see the best, but some people are soon good, than the nerves drop off and it just becomes exhibition. Not with the Stokes inning, I felt as if he could of been out any minute (indeed he was). I just didn't feel as if Smith was going to get out

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last test tonight. i am beyond livid at langer and those bone lazy selectors who have clearly just ceded control to him and don't give a toss if he picks his mates. 

As for that piece of garbage, Langer, the sooner he is dumped the better. We won the ashes in spite of him, not because and he will ride the efforts of smith and bowlers. I have completely lost any shred of respect for the bloke. We have had the Bancroft nonsense. A perennial failure shoehorned back in because he is the coach’s mate (yes, I accept that he did get a fifty in some third level comp and that is apparently enough if you are Langer’s pal).

I doubt anyone believes that Yawn Marsh would not be there if fit.

And now the greatest farce of all, for which Langer should have been instantly sacked. Mitch Marsh. He makes the team with an average of 7 from his last ten test innings. No idea what his bowling average is but start adding zeros. I'd be embarrassed to get out to him. Seriously. And not as though his fielding is even test standard. Meanwhile joe burns could not even make the squad with an average of 40 and 180 in his last test.

Langer is a disgrace.

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This is Mitchell Marsh's sixth (yes...sixth!) time he has made the team. Surely that's a record? It's all simply flabbergasting really. The standards that are held for most players in the Australian first-class system just don't apply to Shaun and Mitchell Marsh. You know this to be true because I haven't read or heard one report lamenting Shaun Marsh's broken wrist suffered during the recent World Cup. If he could actually contribute some consistency akin to his Test Cricket experience there would have been howls of lament at the possibility/ies of a replacement for the current batting line-up Australia have. Now that his brother Mitchell has made the team there has been derision from the Australian public today over the decision. And rightly so. This will not end well I'd say.

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1 minute ago, JohnS said:

This is Mitchell Marsh's sixth (yes...sixth!) time he has made the team. Surely that's a record? It's all simply flabbergasting really. The standards that are held for most players in the Australian first-class system just don't apply to Shaun and Mitchell Marsh. You know this to be true because I haven't read or heard one report lamenting Shaun Marsh's broken wrist suffered during the recent World Cup. If he could actually contribute some consistency akin to his Test Cricket experience there would have been howls of lament at the possibility/ies of a replacement for the current batting line-up Australia have. Now that his brother Mitchell has made the team there has been derision from the Australian public today over the decision. And rightly so. This will not end well I'd say.

john, odds are very much that he'll fail again here (worst case scenario might be that he actually succeeds and we are stuck with him). he'll then come back and get 70 odd on a dead flat track in a state game (others will get 150 but who cares) and langer will hail his second coming (okay, 7th coming) and he will get back in the team for the next series at home. 

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P.S. I just went in an updated Wiktionary, the Wikipedia free dictionary...

special

 

Contents

English

Etymology

From Middle English *special, especial, especiall, from Old French especial (whence also French spécial), from Latin specialis (from species, speciei).

Adjective

special (comparative more special or specialer, superlative most special or specialest)

  1. Distinguished by a unique or unusual quality.
    a special episode of a television series
  2. Of particular personal interest or value; dear; beloved.
    Everyone is special to someone.
  3. (euphemistic) Of or related to learning or intellectual disabilities.
    special education
    He goes to a special school.
  4. Constituting or relating to a species.
    The seven dark spots is a special property unique to Coccinella septempunctata.
  5. Chief in excellence.
    • Shakespeare
      The king hath drawn / The special head of all the land together.
  6. (military) Of or related to special forces.
  7. Mitchell Marsh

Antonyms

Derived terms

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2 minutes ago, JohnS said:

P.S. I just went in an updated Wiktionary, the Wikipedia free dictionary...

special

 

Contents

English

Etymology

From Middle English *special, especial, especiall, from Old French especial (whence also French spécial), from Latin specialis (from species, speciei).

Adjective

special (comparative more special or specialer, superlative most special or specialest)

  1. Distinguished by a unique or unusual quality.
    a special episode of a television series
  2. Of particular personal interest or value; dear; beloved.
    Everyone is special to someone.
  3. (euphemistic) Of or related to learning or intellectual disabilities.
    special education
    He goes to a special school.
  4. Constituting or relating to a species.
    The seven dark spots is a special property unique to Coccinella septempunctata.
  5. Chief in excellence.
    • Shakespeare
      The king hath drawn / The special head of all the land together.
  6. (military) Of or related to special forces.
  7. Mitchell Marsh

Antonyms

Derived terms

excellent. though i doubt many cricket fans will find it before the boffins remove it. 

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14 hours ago, Ken Gargett said:

john, odds are very much that he'll fail again here (worst case scenario might be that he actually succeeds and we are stuck with him). he'll then come back and get 70 odd on a dead flat track in a state game (others will get 150 but who cares) and langer will hail his second coming (okay, 7th coming) and he will get back in the team for the next series at home. 

Oh no, I wake this morning to find Mitch has taken 4 scalps with the ball.

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Just now, Bill Hayes said:

Oh no, I wake this morning to find Mitch has taken 4 scalps with the ball.

he didn't bowl badly but he was very well rewarded, whereas cummins bowled superbly but copped the opposite, but that is the beauty of the game. cummins had root dropped several times and then, and this has been coming and is no one's fault but his own (he has been on a fine line all series and it could have been much more costly), losing a wicket to a no ball.

marsh bowled a cracker to get bairstow. stokes was slogging and then he got a couple of tailenders. means we will now have him for the next three years. 

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1 minute ago, Ken Gargett said:

he didn't bowl badly but he was very well rewarded, whereas cummins bowled superbly but copped the opposite, but that is the beauty of the game. cummins had root dropped several times and then, and this has been coming and is no one's fault but his own (he has been on a fine line all series and it could have been much more costly), losing a wicket to a no ball.

marsh bowled a cracker to get bairstow. stokes was slogging and then he got a couple of tailenders. means we will now have him for the next three years. 

Fell asleep then went to bed. What session would be best to watch? I recorded it. 

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rob was giving me grief yesterday (before almost burning my house to the ground) about marsh. in fairness, he bowled reasonably well. not sure he bowl five-for well but that happens. for me, cummins was by far the best bowler but no luck and several dropped catches (plus the idiocy of a no ball on a wicket). so good luck to marsh but he should never have been there. 

a pommy mate sent me a note - the entire list of people who have played as many tests as mitch batting at number 6 who have a worse average - dwayne bravo.

and that is it. 

another 80 from smith, and apparently he was sick with the flu. no wonder he missed out. 

for me, we lost this test before a ball bowled. the monumental stupidity of sending england in. inept. and you can bet langer was behind it. 

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There was no evidence that Australia's batting, as a team, could carry the burden of batting 2nd going by the first four tests. To elect to bowl was a poor decision. For me, the Australian and England batting in general lacks the age-old tradition of nudging the ball around for singles, rotating strike and relieving pressure by not allowing bowlers to set up the batsman. The only Australians currently rotating strike consistently are Labuschagne and Smith, hence why they are building innings and the others are not. The English batsmen are not doing this either. It has been a poor series for batting in general.

The positive outcome of all this will be that Khawaja and Head will come back into the side for the home season against Pakistan and New Zealand. Burns must now open again and be given a fair opportunity to cement his place in the side after his 180 against Sri Lanka. Matthew Wade, Marcus Harris and Cameron Bancroft got their opportunity and thus can't complain for being dropped, which they will be. I expect Warner to be dropped too and he will have to go back to the drawing board. At least Australia's bowling will be strong for the summer. Kurtis Patterson and Will Pucovski must be considered too. Where one door closes, another opens, as they say.

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15 minutes ago, JohnS said:

There was no evidence that Australia's batting, as a team, could carry the burden of batting 2nd going by the first four tests. To elect to bowl was a poor decision. For me, the Australian and England batting in general lacks the age-old tradition of nudging the ball around for singles, rotating strike and relieving pressure by not allowing bowlers to set up the batsman. The only Australians currently rotating strike consistently are Labuschagne and Smith, hence why they are building innings and the others are not. The English batsmen are not doing this either. It has been a poor series for batting in general.

The positive outcome of all this will be that Khawaja and Head will come back into the side for the home season against Pakistan and New Zealand. Burns must now open again and be given a fair opportunity to cement his place in the side after his 180 against Sri Lanka. Matthew Wade, Marcus Harris and Cameron Bancroft got their opportunity and thus can't complain for being dropped, which they will be. I expect Warner to be dropped too and he will have to go back to the drawing board. At least Australia's bowling will be strong for the summer. Kurtis Patterson and Will Pucovski must be considered too. Where one door closes, another opens, as they say.

john, could not agree more with almost everything.

bancroft is a langer mate and every chance if he stand upright, that he'll be back. 

batting has been very poor both sides but part of that is excellent bowling. 

i believe that smith has scored more than a third of our runs. and that is without playing in one test and missing an innings in another. extraordinary by him. appalling by the rest. 

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Without Smith England regain the ashes, possibly 4-0. The greatest impact a single player has ever had on a series? Possibly? Whats even more remarkable than the simple total of the runs he scored (in 4 bloody test only) is when he scored them, when they really counted.. Damn I really want to dislike him, but I just cannot. The same for the crowd at the Oval today when he walked off - Respect & Redemption. As for the scroate of an "opener "Warner, thanks now go back to stone you crawled from under.

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5 hours ago, Webbo said:

Without Smith England regain the ashes, possibly 4-0. The greatest impact a single player has ever had on a series? Possibly? Whats even more remarkable than the simple total of the runs he scored (in 4 bloody test only) is when he scored them, when they really counted.. Damn I really want to dislike him, but I just cannot. The same for the crowd at the Oval today when he walked off - Respect & Redemption. As for the scroate of an "opener "Warner, thanks now go back to stone you crawled from under.

4-0? sorry but i don't accept that. at all.

the test smith did not play, england won only after a great innings by stokes. they could very easily have lost it by a long way. and they only won in the end because of appalling umpiring and our complete inability to understand the review system. otherwise we'd have been 3-0 up going into the last. 

the 'we would have won but for...' argument can be applied almost every series. but it is a team game. mckosker doesn't drop boycott way back when. no bradman. botham is not sacked from the captaincy in 81 and every chance we win that series. mcgrath does not stand on the ball in 05 (and england doesn't ball tamper, which they have boasted about while calling smith a cheat). always something. this time smith was crucial but england winning 4-0 without him is seriously ridiculous. 

the only other test england wins is the dead game in the fifth (dead as far as the ashes go). granted another piece of stupidity sending england in but we dropped more catches in the first innings than the rest of the series, we gave up 160 runs in review incompetency and it was pretty obvious to all that the guys were just over cricket and just wanted to go home - you don't suddenly drop all those catches if you are switched on. 

a series where the batting on both sides, smith and to a lesser extent stokes aside, was as poor as i can ever remember. the bowling on both sides was excellent. cummins, hazlewood. broad bowled as well as i can remember. archer was hot and cold but could be terrific. 

but to suggest no smith and we lose 4-0 is seriously insulting to cummins and hazlewood, among others, .

smith was extraordinary - it was actually 3 1/2 tests, not four. 

as for warner, sure, the bloke is hardly a shining light, but before we insult him, shall we remember that the english player calling him a 'f... prick' is himself, certainly a good cricketer, but as a bloke, nothing but a thug, a bloke who bashes gays in bars and a bloke who mocked a disabled child on tv. a real prince. both sides have grubs. worth remembering that. 

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51 minutes ago, Bill Hayes said:

The mighty Mitch! A mate posted this on social media.

70362751_10156913295128323_2126537852706619392_n.jpg

bill, suddenly the bloke is the second coming. sure, got some wickets, but aussie pitches are far less kind to him. and whatever he did, there is still no way he should have been selected. and in his last 10-12 innings, i believe a batting average of under 10? spare me. 

his bowling average is around 40

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@Ken Gargett, consider now that Wade made that 117 in the 5th test, he'd consider himself unlucky not to be in the 12 for the next test at home in November against Pakistan. If he's left out what do you suggest? Ring Joe Burns for consolation? After all, he made 180 in his last test and was dropped for Cameron Bancroft!

Mitch Marsh? I think he'll have another spell on the sidelines after his twin failures with the bat in this test, even despite taking those wickets.

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26 minutes ago, JohnS said:

@Ken Gargett, consider now that Wade made that 117 in the 5th test, he'd consider himself unlucky not to be in the 12 for the next test at home in November against Pakistan. If he's left out what do you suggest? Ring Joe Burns for consolation? After all, he made 180 in his last test and was dropped for Cameron Bancroft!

Mitch Marsh? I think he'll have another spell on the sidelines after his twin failures with the bat in this test, even despite taking those wickets.

he would, but he is obviously one of langer's mates so i reckon he is good. 

but otherwise, a bit of clean slate i suspect. warner, bancroft, harris, burns, renshaw and even khawaja might all have an eye on opening. if bancroft can stand upright, every chance he gets one spot. if warner can breathe, he'll have the other. 

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