By Decentric - 2 Dec 2017 11:35 AM
Some accusations from both camps about sledging from the other team.
Anderson blames the whole Aussie team.
Smith claims Anderson is one of the worst sledgers in Test cricket.
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By Gruen - 7 Dec 2017 6:26 PM
+x+x+x+x+xEngland have a chance, they are not favourites, but somehow they have a chance/ It didn't turn out like that, but I was worried overnight. England's great fight back under considerable pressure, meant this was a memorable Test. Watching the Shield yesterday at Bellerive, a former state batsman and state selector identified technical faults in almost every Aussie batsman apart from Renshaw. I'm now thinking Handscomb should be dropped. He has struggled in every innings of this Ashes series. Great bowlers like Anderson have worked him out with him playing so deep in the crease. It could be a good opportunity to bring in an all rounder to provide some back up to the bowlers. Handscombe hasn't had a good score for about a year, he has got to be dropped. There are unorthodox styles then there is Handscombe's style which just isn't effective. He has clearly adapted to this style due to the bouncy wickets in Australia but it really seems the English have done some research to fully expose his flaws. For me he needs to go back to shield and tweak his batting a bit, Not entirely true about him not having a good score for about a year, but there have not been many good scores. A vital 72 not out in the third test against India in March and 82 in the second test against Bangladesh are best innings. He does still average over 47 which is very good. I would not drop him especially when the possible replacement in the squad for the third test is Mitch Marsh but he needs runs very soon. Even his form with Victoria has been terrible coming into this series, a 21, 0, 12, 9 ,34, 43, 58, 0 and a 13. Also ever since the Pakistan series has made a score of over 50 twice in 15 innings in tests, he has been struggling massively and being outperformed by lots of options in state cricket too. Maxwell should be in this lineup in his current form
Maxwell is clearly the next option, and I say that as someone who has been very anti-Maxwell in the past. If Mitch Marsh has been selected ahead of him as a top 6 option then the selectors are crazy. Shaun Marsh delivered in the last test but the selectors seem to have a love affair with the Marsh boys, certainly much more than they have deserved and it seems to reared its ugly head again.
There might be a bit too much worry about the fast bowlers being able to stand up to a lot of work so they want to have Mitch Marsh there to bowl on a pitch that might not suit Lyon.
However I would give Handscomb another test, probably only another test, to get back his form.
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