den

Chance for Bairstow to redeem himself.

Advantage Australia I reckon, which is disappointing considering how we bowled them out so quickly. someone has to do to them what Marsh did to us.

Now for the difficult bit. hard pitch, bounce, swing. Ideal for our Australian friends.

England might* find it difficult on this wicket as well. *will

Brilliant again from Wood

Superb from Wood. Starc clean bowled

Another easy catch dropped, this time by Root

Bairstow drops another. This time an easy one.

Great cricketing day for me yesterday. Watched Ashes on TV then off to OT to see Lancs progress to a home quarter finals tie on Friday, then back home to watch the Ashes highlights on TV. 🙂 The Bairstow incident? I would much rather see players being got out by cricketing skills, than the underhand way the Aussies went about it. They should have withdrawn their appeal which would have acted as a warning to Bairstow to be careful in future. Not that he was in any way trying to achieve any advantage by going for his mid wicket chat anyway. Only downside is Lancs charging us £20 for a ticket for the QF shortly after the Roses game was abandoned without a ball being bowled. Non members got their ticket fee refunded. 🤨 Last season it was free for members.

You going to Old Trafford? I am.

Hope they don’t. I would take a draw now and move on.

The Aussies will go short again, just like England are doing now. It’s not good to watch for sure. The current benefit to England is that it’s slowing the run rate down meaning it will delay a declaration- giving England less time to bat and get out.

With or without his crutch?

Aussies not dealing very well with the short ball. Fabulous😀. unfortunately, at 198/5 effectively 198/6 because of Lyons injury and a lead of 289 I think they already have enough.

No. I said this was silly… Sensibly leaving would be anti Bazzball.

Of course. Just leave the short ball.

and? last Ashes test series we lost 4-0. That was better?

Their record under Stokes and McCullum says exactly the opposite.

Silly statement ARA.

The simple thing is that England weren’t prepared for the short ball barrage and had no idea what to do about it.

Be careful when using the term Bazball. It can be taken to mean reckless cricket but in my opinion it’s simply about being positive in everything they do. It doesn’t have to be reckless. Controlled aggression , being on top of your opponent in every way is the only way to be top at any sport in my opinion.

Winning 11 tests out of 13 before the Ashes plus their performances so far in the Ashes (bar a naieve spell this afternoon) suggests this isn’t brainless cricket.

I guess he was talking about the short ball stuff and the naievity of the batsmen at that time, in that short spell. He wasn’t (I hope) talking about Englands approach since Stokes and McCullum took charge.

The short stuff from Australia was a challenge England haven’t faced since Stokes and McCullum have been in charge. Pope, Ducket went about it completely wrong. If they face that again and they well might do, just leave the ball alone. Quickies will soon tire and get dispirited. Im all for this. Beats 5 day bore draws. edit.. dreams just posted the same.

I agree. I don’t think Bazball is about being anything but ultra positive at all times. I think it’s about not allowing the opponent to dominate you at all. It’s the complete opposite. It isn’t T20. It’s a breath of fresh air for sure. Hopefully the rest of the test cricketing world will take it up.