A striker is the missing piece in the jigsaw thus far though. If this goes well and we get someone who can actually be relied on to stick easy chances in the net I think we will be stronger than last season. For a start the various young ones have a season behind them. Some are now established first-teamers--Carter, JRC Wharton among our 3 very best players. Something to be proud of after 12 years of misery. We're on the up I think!

Cost of the new stadium maybe a factor here? Not much point if you're in the lower divisions though! Perhaps they think there's enough left to make them another yo-yo club!

Yeah---fair enough----apologise.

Just a passing reference to your party's'signature policy Chaddy! Wasn't really funny😩

Looks like some more "levelling up" is required Chaddy!

Top 6.

Delighted in the end, great win. Can someone please stop our batters throwing their wicket away by swishing outside leg stump? Its frustrating beyond endurance .Oh---and pick Foakes!

4 in the first session. Aussies would have taken that at the start of the day.

As ever!

Very sensible! Pity you can't SMS Stokes!

I think the weather will probably make Bazball necessary. If say, we hadn't got the runs by the end of the day we'd be sweating on the weather tomorrow. Its quite likely there will be loss of play today as well. So, I guess we'll try to make hay while the sun shines but if we don't exercise more discretion than we have so far then I can't see us getting there. I'm old-fashioned--4 singles an over would make me quite happy! Ramping the first ball of the day and I'll switch off!

These early season friendlies are meaning less really. Its just a way of upping fitness and regaining the touch after a few weeks off. I remember our first ever season in the Premier League, we played Accrington Stanley in a friendly didn't we? Can't remember the score but there was nothing happening to suggest we'd be topping the League a few weeks later!

Its not their natural game at all, Root isn't a slogger. Positive cricket is keeping your wicket. and winning

Yes but some close incidents. Aussies could easily have got 2 wickets. All I ask now, with so much time left, is that the English batters return to time -honoured tradition and protect their wicket like their life depended on it. If its going down leg side resist the temptation to have a switsh at it. If its at your head--duck, don't wave the bat at it.. As long as we stay there the runs will come. Doesn't matter if its in the last hour of the game does it?

It would help!

He'll be eased in. He'll play in early rounds of League Cup and be a fairly regular sub for Championship games. I'd think they'd have talked to him and agreed a schedule. Hope so!

Hate the new collar.

Smith is world class, Labousagne isn't far behind---rated world's best batter and L 2nd and Kawaja has been playing the best cricket of his life. But the real difference in these 2 sides is the attack. Lyons better than anything we have, though out of it now---Starc, Hazelwood and Cummins would all walk into our side. And their keeper has been very sound. That's what makes things so maddening, we came so close to overcoming all this but threw it away---twice.

Can't remember another catch like that. He caught it cleanly and never let go of it but it definitely hit the ground in the process. Tough one--you could argue for either decision.

But Jim---you didn't like it! 😅

The rules are clear. I've always known it and I've seen dismissals like this before. Not often because batters aren't usually so dopey. Tragic because I think it meant we couldn't win but Bairstow has no-one to blame but himself.

3 fantastic Test Matches in a row (excluding Ireland for obvious reasons)--last Test in NZ, and first 2 of the Ashes----all absolutely wonderful games of cricket. The problem? We lost all three.

There's optimism and pessimism but in-between there's realism.

I'm thinking that Bazball is all too likely to hand the initiative to the opposition than to us when we play a good side.. We score at a faster rate than them because we take more risks. Therefore we lose more wickets and we give them more time to plod to a big score and more time to get us out. We to have forgotten its a 5 day game. We dominated the last test against New Zealand for 4+ days, had them following on and managed to lose. We had times in the first Ashes test to win it but gave our wickets away too cheaply. Both go down as among the best Test matches ever staged--- but we lost both! If we'd batted more sensibly in the first innings of the current Test, we'd have lost wickets more slowly. scored more runs and, importantly, took up more time. Take every ball on its merits should be the basis of our batting philosophy. if its there to be hit--hit it but don't play 20-20 cricket in a 5 Day Test.

I agreed a few pages back that only Root would make the Aussie eleven. The issue is how do you try to make up the difference? Its not by Bazball is it?