The International Cricket Thread

[Whiney MacWhineface]

By default I approach The Ashes in Australia with a sense of utter dread, and this one is no different. I guess I lose all credibility as a fervent cricket fan, but it helps that I won’t be watching it live and so, if we get a good shoeing as I anticipate, I can pretend that as I didn’t see it, it never happened.

I’ll cheerfully watch highlights if we do well, or at least credibly.

[PaulWinch again]

I think we tend to focus on bowling weakness, for obvious reasons, but I think the key is getting big runs and putting them under pressure. I think dealing with the likes of Jimmy, Woakes, Broad and Anderson becomes a lot more tricky if you’re facing a big deficit.

[cdbearsfan]

I don't suppose any of The Ashes are going to be day nighters? It would be nice to, at least, listen to a bit of it live.

[Villan For Life]

I don't suppose any of The Ashes are going to be day nighters? It would be nice to, at least, listen to a bit of it live.

The second test in Adelaide is a day/nighter, it starts at 4am our time and is on from 16th to 20th December. The fifth test isn’t a day/nighter but because it’s in Perth it starts at 2.30am our time so around breakfast time here we should have the final session each day to watch from 14th to 18th January. Of course it will be all over by then!

[cdbearsfan]

Ta. You're probably right, I can't say I'm overly confident. One away win in the thirty odd years I've been watching, and we've been hammered more times than we have even still been in the series with a test or two to go.

[Rory]

Watching the Sunrisers in the IPL and they’ve got this 21 year old Umran Malik who’s hurtling them down at 93 mph! If he keeps fit he’s going to be a menace.

I saw that and he impressed me as well. Think a couple of deliveries touched 96mph, which often seems to be that magical point at which a batsman's eyes can no longer see the ball.

Very natural and relaxed action, as well, so I think you're right. If they don't overcoach him, he could be an absolutely devastating bowler.

[Rory]

Ta. You're probably right, I can't say I'm overly confident. One away win in the thirty odd years I've been watching, and we've been hammered more times than we have even still been in the series with a test two go.

If we'd had Anderson, Broad, Stone, Woakes, Archer, Wood, Leach to choose from, I'd be relatively confident in our bowling. I cannot see any configuration of batters that would do a good enough job down there. Glad Malan was selected but we just do not have runs in us.

I know external factors have played a huge part, but this whole idea of planning ahead, rotating and building towards this series couldn't have gone much worse, in my view. Avoiding a whitewash would be an achievement for me right now.

[tomd2103]

Ta. You're probably right, I can't say I'm overly confident. One away win in the thirty odd years I've been watching, and we've been hammered more times than we have even still been in the series with a test two go.

If we'd had Anderson, Broad, Stone, Woakes, Archer, Wood, Leach to choose from, I'd be relatively confident in our bowling. I cannot see any configuration of batters that would do a good enough job down there. Glad Malan was selected but we just do not have runs in us.

I know external factors have played a huge part, but this whole idea of planning ahead, rotating and building towards this series couldn't have gone much worse, in my view. Avoiding a whitewash would be an achievement for me right now.

With our previous bowling struggles in Australia well known and with Archer and Stone already ruled out, I really thought they would have given someone like Mahmood a chance this summer with an eye on the Ashes. 

I think Anderson, Robinson and Wood looks the best bet, with Woakes possibly playing as an all-rounder.  Think our spin options will get slaughtered.

[Rory]

Ta. You're probably right, I can't say I'm overly confident. One away win in the thirty odd years I've been watching, and we've been hammered more times than we have even still been in the series with a test two go.

If we'd had Anderson, Broad, Stone, Woakes, Archer, Wood, Leach to choose from, I'd be relatively confident in our bowling. I cannot see any configuration of batters that would do a good enough job down there. Glad Malan was selected but we just do not have runs in us.

I know external factors have played a huge part, but this whole idea of planning ahead, rotating and building towards this series couldn't have gone much worse, in my view. Avoiding a whitewash would be an achievement for me right now.

With our previous bowling struggles in Australia well known and with Archer and Stone already ruled out, I really thought they would have given someone like Mahmood a chance this summer with an eye on the Ashes. 

I think Anderson, Robinson and Wood looks the best bet, with Woakes possibly playing as an all-rounder.  Think our spin options will get slaughtered.

Good point about Mahmood.

Sadly, I think you're right about spin. Who was that young spinner whose career we destroyed by taking him on one of our more recent Ashes disasters, was it Kerrigan?

[Martin Carruthers]

I think Kerrigan played in a home test, the last one of the series.

[Rory]

I think Kerrigan played in a home test, the last one of the series.

Ah okay. Who was the lad we took to Aus who got figures in one test of like 1-350?

Edit: just looked it up. Mason Crane, 1-193 at the SCG in 2018.

[PaulWinch again]

The wheels always come off at the end of the Ashes tour. I wonder how many players have been given debuts and have subsequently gone on to play less than 5 Tests (in some cases no more than 1). I can think of Crane, Borthwick, Rankin, Tom Curran (think he debuted before the last Test). It just feels like all sensible decision making goes out of the window.

Personally I think our team looks pretty ordinary for the conditions. I can almost guarantee we won’t play a spinner in the first test.

[paul_e]

The wheels always come off at the end of the Ashes tour. I wonder how many players have been given debuts and have subsequently gone on to play less than 5 Tests (in some cases no more than 1). I can think of Crane, Borthwick, Rankin, Tom Curran (think he debuted before the last Test). It just feels like all sensible decision making goes out of the window.

Personally I think our team looks pretty ordinary for the conditions. I can almost guarantee we won’t play a spinner in the first test.

It's that they panic when the whitewash looks possible and throw random teams together in the hope of scrapping a test.

[Gareth]

The wheels always come off at the end of the Ashes tour. I wonder how many players have been given debuts and have subsequently gone on to play less than 5 Tests (in some cases no more than 1). I can think of Crane, Borthwick, Rankin, Tom Curran (think he debuted before the last Test). It just feels like all sensible decision making goes out of the window.

Personally I think our team looks pretty ordinary for the conditions. I can almost guarantee we won’t play a spinner in the first test.

I don’t see us scoring 300 in any innings that Root doesn’t score a ton….should he get a knock or have to quarantine it’ll be a very long tour

[Rory]

Yes, I think it'll be a painful one. Made worse by the fact this is a beatable Aussie side.