Any rain forecast for tomorrow?
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That’s shocking and encapsulates England in one ball; flattering to deceive, while showing everyone how ‘free’ they are.
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I think there is a little rain in the morning forecast, but probably not enough to claim Englands’ MotM
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Spot the difference…
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There IS no difference.
This England incarnation is as deluded as the Black Knight.
As deluded and just as innocuous, and just as incompetent
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And then Smith throws it away with a crap shot. With Lyon injured and Cummins bowling well below his pace with his own injury, England should be able to make a fist of this but they have thrown wickets away (again).
All over. Has to be rather bitter for the Poms. They’ve come off second best this Test and the series but literally everyone will be thinking that had they shown the same application straight off in Perth, we’d be looking at a different trajectory for the series. Ifs, buts and maybes I suppose. Australia played brilliantly at times but there were enough opportunities there for the English to gain match winning advantages and that stupid approach fucked it up.
Anyways that’s that and with all questions answered, the most interesting thing for Melbourne is going to see what happens with the KFC on field logo. Will Ponting make his return as the Colonel or will KFC wing it once more?
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In other cricket news. Seems like a throwback and there’s a Test Match between New Zealand and the Windies played out on the proverbial road. The New Zealand openers have terrorized the West Indian bowlers with a 323 opening stand in the first innings and 192 in the second innings for a combined 515 runs in the Test Match. I cannot remember that ever happening before. Stattos are going to be digging deep into the annals of Test Cricket to find out soon enough, I’m sure. Devon Conway has a Test Match for the ages, a double hundred in the first and another in the second while Latham has a ton in each innings as well.
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An excerpt from a Beeb article:
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“The 5-0 embarrassment looks unavoidable. Pope will surely be left out of the fourth Test in Melbourne, although England’s only reserve batter is Jacob Bethell – a 22-year-old still to score a first-class hundred.”
Left the specialist spinner out because well, wasn’t vibing it I suppose and the next batter who could come in has never scored a first class hundred. I can’t see the English brains trust coming back from this. The only plan seems to have been let’s have a go and hope the Aussies crumple. Literally hit and hope.
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Everyone has to go. Including Rob Key
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Yeah the approach has been horrible. Regardless of how highly he’s rated why is their only batting option someone who (aged 22 mind, not 18) never got a first class 100? Ditto with Jacks as spinner. It’s appalling management. This Aussie team is actually quite underdone and they were there for the taking today with Lyon injured and Cummings unable to bowl over 135km. Once again though the ‘baz ball’ efforts of Smith , middling a ball straight in the air when you were scoring easily without the need for risks and had the bowling attack on the ropes is pretty much the signature style of this England setup. The Aussies are better cricketers, sure, but the biggest difference is they are much more intelligent cricketers
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The Beeb obviously have someone monitoring this forum…
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Yes, they are better cricketers in so many ways and certainly more intelligent too, yet one of the most frustrating things is that it shouldn’t even require that much intelligence for a Test match cricketer to apply themselves sensibly to these very basics of the game and understand the requirements to at least compete, if not actually win.
Now McCullum is actually admitting they (he) made mistakes 
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I think part of the issue is actually having an overriding philosophy like Baz ball instead of looking to select and produce mentally and technically strong mature cricketers. A significant difference is that all the Australian team (except Green) are into their 30s, many closer to 40. They’ve played so much more shield cricket (a higher standard than county first class) and are just much more schooled to not just play attacking cricket but there is an expectation that they make things difficult for their opposition: not giving easy singles to new batsmen, looking to mentally get on top and taking all their catches. This stuff is honed from under 10 level so players won’t even thrive at first class level if they don’t have it; you won’t see the likes of a Smith playing wicket keeper, Jacks as a spinner or Pope getting picked for an Australian side.
It’s notable that the poorest performer for Australia is the (relative) youngster Cam Green who at 26 is 5 years younger than any of the others. Australia may be missing Lyon and Cummins to go with Hazelwood for Melbourne but they can still add in Doggett and Neser - there is a big difference in strength in depth.
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Selectors certainly need looking at, they wanted to get rid of the old boys club but have replaced one type with another.
Baffling why they switched county ball and then didn’t bother with any changes.
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Looking from the outside, I think the whole structure in County cricket needs to be evaluated and what it’s purpose needs to be questioned. Is the purpose of County cricket to win championships and to benefit the counties or is it to develop players for the England team?
If the answer is the former, then keep things as they are, but if the answer is the later, then some very tough and likely unpopular decisions need to be made, mainly reducing the number of teams and possibly limiting the number of overseas players will need to be implemented, similar to how the Sheffield Shield is run. A number of the countries will likely get pissed, but as it stands, I dount the county game is working as it best could work.
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My major issue is it’s a closed shop, get in and perform as bad as you want and no one’s going drop you.
Also the restriction on the way the summer has set up for a competition that doesn’t even benefit your 20/20 team is ridiculous.
County cricket might benefit more for a set up as akin to Baseball but playing large parts it in April and September isn’t going develop test level players. Especially as you are more likely to have a white Easter than a white Christmas currently.
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I get your point about the closed shop, but I do disagree. With there being only 6 teams, to get picked in 1 of the squads means you are already at a decent level, then the state steam just polishes your developement to prepare you for the chance of a Australia call up. Most of the state players, bar those on CA contracts tend to only get 1-2 deals so there is the pressure to perform as there are always hundreds of other players gunning for a spot as well.