Potts is rubbish. Tongue legit.
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Potts seems overcome with nerves.
Match report - England bowling rubbish, Australia scoring at will.
Weather report - Exactly the same conditions as this time yesterday.
I’ll keep banging the James Rew drum, 11 first class 100s already at 21. He will be in the England team sooner rather than later, slotting in it at 6 or 7 and taking the gloves. Ollie Robinson (not that one) is also a pretty good player and would be more of a like for like Smith replacement.
Eventually I think they’ll want to move Smith up the order anyway, there’s already been some talk of him at 3 but right now that would appear to be a ludicrous idea.
Looked like he’d won a raffle to bowl for England today.
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The very definition of omnishambles
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Today we saw, once again, England throwing it away from a position of relative strength. Brook didn’t have the patience to settle into a longer innings and even then they got to a promising 323-5, maybe hoping to get 450 plus, before Smith… 
Well we’ve all seen it, haven’t we? What the actual fuck was that? Seriously, there was once a time when someone playing a stupid “shot” like that (hard to call it a cricket shot, because I’m sure it’s not in any coaching manuals), would very likely never be picked again.
Okay, I get that when McCullum came in he wanted batsmen to play with more freedom and that was admirable, even desirable, but the game is still cricket, Test cricket, not flipping baseball or whack-a-mole.
As for the bowling… once again, England’s bowlers bowled too short - and, let’s face it, we’ve been hearing that for years now, ever since the 70s and 80s when the West Indies and then others actually had bowlers who were good enough to do that successfully, and it’s not something most English county trundlers have be able to emulate. Not for the first time this series, they’ve allowed Australia to score quickly (without taking anything away from guys like Travis Head - he’s had an excellent run so far, with power to add).
On a more positive note, congratulations to Root for another century with which England would probably have struggled to get 200. It’s been a long wait for him, but he’s too good a batsman to fail.
All in all, though, not much good news today.
PS: here’s an article about Smith’s effort
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God, you’d think this is going to be a very long day for England. With Head targeting Potts, it puts so much pressure on the rest of the bowling attack.
I guess the only blessing is that it looks like pretty mild, “Englandy” conditions.
Massive dropped catch by Jaxks there
We all know where this is going.
Australia will declare on 650 odd and England will have to resolutely bat it out.
Oh shit! I just spat out my tea!
edit - 650 may be conservative
Travis Head, eh?
We already knew he was good, but to step in as an opener like he has is just fantastic. I can’t imagine any England batsman doing that.
Plus, weren’t these England batsmen supposed to be playing like him…?
1st Test: 123 off 83 balls
3rd Test: 170 off 219 (a bit slow there, mate)
5th Test: 163 off 166
That’s 456 runs off 468 balls in those three knocks alone, as an opener - not coming in after the new ball has lost its shine.
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I’d say he’s probably the in-form batsman in the world, notwithstanding the abysmal English bowling and fielding.
Starc’s still player of the series for me though. He has absolutely been the vital difference in the absence of his bowling partners.
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Yes, I agree.
Starc has certainly been the more prominent and influential figure in this series, especially when you consider he has been the only one of their usual attack to have made it through.
Again, could you imagine England coping without their better bowlers? They were useless enough when everyone was fit.
Easy to forget now, but England’s bowlers terrorised Australia in their first innings in Perth.
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Ah…yes… happy days…
When the world was young, and so were we…
Full of hope and optimism… 
Then Day Two happened 
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Carey is in the mix for the player of the series. Outstanding glovework so far. But Head/Starc take your choice as top 2 probs.
Special mention to Joe Root who is a pommy I really like and rate as a player and person.
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Thanks Roo, You’re right, Carey’s been outstanding too. J.Smith should be taking notes.
At a push, if I was asked who I’d most like to have missed the series, it would be Starc.
Respect to the others though.
You’re right about Root. He’s a class player and a class guy.
Only he and Stokes have come out of this with any credit and they are England’s elder statesmen. The future looks bleak.
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Yes, those three have stood head and shoulders above everyone else.
Good shout on Root. He’s carried the batting for a number of years really, and deserves to have finally got those centuries.
I remember seeing him being interviewed at the end of the 2017/18 thumping (or maybe it 2021/22?) and thinking how he looked so frazzled, like someone much older and careworn, so it’s been good to see him playing with a smile on his face again, after giving up the captaincy.
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Saw this nugget in a Beeb article:
“On it went into the afternoon. Jacob Bethell looked like England’s best spinner and bowled seven more overs than Jacks – the man chosen to bowl spin.”
Taking the piss, surely.
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To be fair, Bethell looks like he might have something. Obviously more as a batter. Otherwise it’s hard to see any silver linings.
Is it that bleak for the Poms? Bethel, Brook, tongue, Smith should be OK ahead.
All the Aussies are over 30 bar I think Green and Weatherall. Jury is out on both although I rate Green for the future.
Bowlers Starc, Cummins, Boland, Neser are all at the end. So are Uzzie, Marnus, Smith.
Carey and Head the curren the job has just been done.
I dunno who in the Shield is the next Punter or Gaz but hopefully the stocks as usual are solid.