The International Cricket Thread

[PaulWinch again]

I think the Ashes will be 2-2

[tomd2103]

I’d go:

Burns
Hameed
Malan
Root
Bairstow
Stokes
Buttler
Woakes
Robinson
Wood
Anderson

Think previous trips down under have taught us that unless Woakesy is going to open the bowling, he can't really play even if it leaves us with a long tail.  Agree with the rest of the side, but would maybe have Pope instead of Bairstow and start Leach.

[Villan For Life]

I can’t see the Ashes ending well. We will really miss Archer, him and Wood together would have enabled us to fight fire with fire. Unfortunately the rest of our attack is too “English”. They’re great in home conditions but once the shine goes off the Kookaburra ball in Oz they struggle.

[PaulWinch again]

I think the weather front that’s about might help us. Also if they’re not playing in Perth that’ll help us too.

[Bernie]

Alas 69-0

Oops…….typo by me

I meant 69-0

. He took 4 out of the 7 Indian second innings to fall. 14 out of 17 in the match - not a bad ratio!

[tomd2103]

I can’t see the Ashes ending well. We will really miss Archer, him and Wood together would have enabled us to fight fire with fire. Unfortunately the rest of our attack is too “English”. They’re great in home conditions but once the shine goes off the Kookaburra ball in Oz they struggle.

Think Ollie Robinson could do well down there as he bowls the kind of length that should cause problems down there.  Think it should be him, Anderson and Wood in the first test with Stokes as the fourth seamer, but suspect Broad will start in Brisbane.

[PaulWinch again]

I think Robinson could do well. My one question with him is fitness - you saw in the summer after multiple spells, particularly across consecutive matches, he drops off - going from 82/83 mph to about 77/78 mph, which is a big difference. He’s a talented bowler, but I’m not entirely convinced he’s in as good shape as he could be.

[tomd2103]

I think Robinson could do well. My one question with him is fitness - you saw in the summer after multiple spells, particularly across consecutive matches, he drops off - going from 82/83 mph to about 77/78 mph, which is a big difference. He’s a talented bowler, but I’m not entirely convinced he’s in as good shape as he could be.

Fitness could be an issue Paul, especially if Broad and Anderson open and he is in the role of having to bowl the longer spells..

[PaulWinch again]

Yeah and you couple that with Stokes needing to be carefully managed and Wood being fragile it’s going to be a tricky balance to strike. I’ve a feeling Leach is going to be key in helping manage the work load - and actually I feel like he’s a really underrated bowler. I think he could play an important role.

[simboy]

A poor England team against a better Aussie side with home advantage. Our bowling will struggle to get 20 wickets and I really struggle to see where the runs will come from if Root fails. No spinner who commands his spot in the team.

I think it’ll be 3 or 4 nil to the Aussies I’m afraid.

[PaulWinch again]

Leach does command his place - it’s only balance that’s influenced the decision not to select him. I think England and Australia are very similar in terms of ability. Australia are favourites because of home conditions and they should win, but the weather and change of venue for the fifth Test could be important balancing factors.

[simboy]

The attack of Cummins, Starc, Hazelwood and Lyon looks stronger than any England quartet we can muster.

A batting line up of Harris, Warner, Labuschagne, Smith and Khawaja looks a better than one we can name.

We have a better all round option, although massively undercooked, in Stokes and Buttler is a better bet than Carey. So there are some positives.

I hope I’m wrong and Hamid, Burns, Malan all rip it up. We will see.

[PaulWinch again]

Their bowling attack is very strong, but I hope the weather conditions and venue change levels it up a bit.

Marnus and Smith are incredibly strong. But Warner has big question marks now, Harris has never shown it at Test level, and Khawaja isn’t playing. If you get into Smith and Marnus early they’re potentially brittle.

I do think it’s a mistake if we pick Bairstow over Pope though.

[Gareth]

Anderson out injured for 1st test

[Rory]

Worrying, but might not be the worst thing in the world if the rest means he's definitely fit for Adelaide. Jimmy and Woakes could be very handy in that one.