The Ashes

IronHerb

2.45pm start if no further rain.

buffybegood

Play under way.

Slacker

🎉🏏

thornburyiron

We’re not really troubling these two at the moment. Short balls they’re leaving fairly comfortably

thornburyiron

I think these two could bat until tomorrow night even if they were full days. Our bowling has been so predictable. Short balls which they can just look at as they sail over.

buffybegood

The short ball ploy is definitely being overused, and they've already highlighted the potential for inconsistent bounce off a good length from one end.

buffybegood

Umpires now saying we can't bowl the quicks due to bad light, that rules out Wood, we'll have to see about Broad, Anderson and Woakes. Gonna be Moeen Ali one end, will it have to be Root from the other?

thornburyiron

These two will build a lead for the Aussies and there won’t be enough time left.

buffybegood

thornburyiron said:

These two will build a lead for the Aussies and there won’t be enough time left.

Unfortunately it's looking that way.

thornburyiron

At least it won’t be the weather that saves them but their batters.

thornburyiron

Root gets one

Lukerz

So much for the lead, then 😉

buffybegood

Yet another one not given by the umpire even though it was a clear edge; they've been very poor against us pretty much all match.

Labuschagne gone, 211-5, trailing by 64.

BubblesNeverDies

How on earth wasn't that given out on-field. Not the 1st mistake this umpire has made in this match.

thornburyiron

Now Brook misses Marsh.

IronHerb

thornburyiron said:

Now Brook misses Marsh.

No he didn't, he really didn't.

thornburyiron

He got his fingers to it so technically a miss. Extremely difficult admittedly.

thornburyiron

It seems the only team who knew it was going to rain on Saturday and Sunday was Australia. They were happy when we carried on batting on Friday and knew they only had to survive until close of play on that day with wickets in hand that it would be a draw and they’d keep the ashes.
We all said there’d be barely any play at the weekend.

OldCastleSwift

Yeah, batting until 3pm on Friday seemed like two hours too long at the time. Even more so now. Could have meant two or three more wickets going into Saturday, and therefore potentially less to do in the time that was available yesterday.

Like with the declaration in the first test, it's not even being smart in hindsight; both felt like the wrong decision at the time.

Makes the fifth test a bit of an anti-climax. I do think things need to be looked at going forward. Like, can there not be a spare day to allow for things like this? Can they not, as Root suggested, play until 10pm if the lights are on? Test cricket doesn't do itself a lot of favours sometimes.

Slacker

Real , real shame. A big anti climax after 3 1/2 Tests of superb sport.
I think Aussie will know that they were a bit fortunate at least. I know The Oval Test is irrelevant now in terms of regaining The Ashes
but we deserve to at least draw the series.

buffybegood

Article about Bairstow defending his performance in the Ashes:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/66272611

"There has been a lot of talk, some of which has been out of order. At the same time that is part and parcel of people that have an opinion and that have a say.

"There have been times [when] if people had a conversation with you individually and found out a bit more about the injury or the ankle and how everything is going they may have a slightly different view."

That to me sounds like he knows he's not played great, but he feels he's done pretty well considering the injury he suffered, so we should give him some leeway. Well, if he feels that is the case, he should have, imo, been honest enough to say, when he was being selected, that he wasn't up to keeping in the most important Test series there is.

It's not as if you're turning up at the local village cricket club, your usual keeper is at a wedding, and you fill in behind the stumps because, well, someone has to. We had someone who, last summer, Stokes described as the best keeper in the world, waiting in the wings. I know it's a team game, but the biggest deciding factor in a close series was the selection of Bairstow to keep imo. Even without Bairstow's injury it would have been a big call to let him keep, but given he's basically admitting that he isn't fully recovered, then it makes the decision by Stokes and McCullum indefensible.

Slacker

Thought he was very good in this Test.

buffybegood

Slacker said:

Thought he was very good in this Test.

Unfortunately the Ashes were already lost by then.

Slacker

Er, no they weren’t.

thornburyiron

Australia packed their side with batters knowing the test was only going to be a three day one so also knew it would be a big ask for us to take 20 wickets. They out thought us on this even though we outplayed them.

Dodger58

It wasn't Bairstow's fault he was picked as wicket-keeper. His 'golden' batting period was also when he was not keeping.

IronHerb

By the way Australia are the World Champions.

IronHerb

Slacker said:

Real , real shame. A big anti climax after 3 1/2 Tests of superb sport.
I think Aussie will know that they were a bit fortunate at least. I know The Oval Test is irrelevant now in terms of regaining The Ashes
but we deserve to at least draw the series.

Cheers that that Slacker. I have a ticket on Thursday for the 'irrelevant' test. 😂
Still, probably been rained off. 😤

mike

Still everything to play for.
Australia hasn't won an ashes series in England since 2001.
Lets keep that going.
I hope you enjoy your day Iron Herb

Slacker

Yeah, still much to play for.As I said above we deserve to at least draw the series.
Hope the sun shines in “That London “ this week .