We won't win this series.

All the groundsmen have to do is prepare a wicket with a bit of movement and bugger all bounce and our batsmen will crumble and our bowlers won't know how to get anything out of it.

Oh well.

[youtube]lu3VTngm1F0[/youtube]

-PB

ive noticed away wins seem to be become more rare in test cricket
i wonder if pitch doctoring to a touring sides weakness has become more prevalent

Nope it's got more to do with the fact that Australian batsmen aren't taught footwork, soft hands, playing the ball close to the body enough anymore. They're taught to try to score at 4 runs a ball and to set their sights on earning lucrative contracts in the IPL and the Big Bash. It's killing our Ashes chances. They should just be playing Shield cricket, grade cricket and county cricket.

The flipside is English batsmen (with a few exceptions) have no idea how to handle express pace.

Amongst the TCA members there is ongoing discussion about this.

I used to think it was wrong for India to prepare spin friendly pitches. Now I've seen a lot more Test cricket there on pay TV, I think more of our pitches should be conducive to spin. I think the cricket is great to watch with spin operating from each end. One sees a lot of cricket in a short period of time.

I am in a minority holding this view in the members . Most think we should play to our strengths. Conversely, I think a wicket like Perth doesn't help us much with all the cricket we play on the sub- continent.

I think the current pitch is fine in Birmingham.

I dont mind a pitch which is a particular way due to a tradition of that ground. It would be different if perth doctored their pitchto be slow when south africa toured.
The home ide will always have an advantage that comes with being used to conditions at each ground,
But if u use pitch doctoring as strategy i think spoils the spectacle as the home side wins most games these days

Mitch fucking Johnson.

Game just got more interesting
pitch seems to be quicker and suiting our bowlers

To get two blokes out with two identical balls to a right hander and a left hander is unreal.

Joe root getting singles after boundaries
its what our golden gen did so well (particularly haydos)
good play

nothing more frustrating for a bowler because you have to wait to get revenge

Edited by grazorblade: 30/7/2015 08:16:11 PM

Now if only Starc wasn't down the other end chucking up pies.

Starc might just let the pressure off here

Australia havent gotten a good bowling partnership all morning

Great captaincy from clark!
starc like johnson is a confidence bwler and if u take a confidence bowler off before the end of their spell u ruin them for the day.

Johnsons form over the last few years owes a lot to clarke captaincy imo and hopefully we can see him get the best out of starc

Would have taken starc off to be honest after the wicket.
mind u with a confidence bowler there is always a chance they might bowl some rippers after a lucky wicket

Great bowling lyon
this test could be a thriller

Just gotta keep that gap under 100.

Need to take another wicket before lunch.

-PB

Starc and Hazlewood have looked crap.

I reckon Siddle has to play in the next match. We all (or I, at least) thought that Hazlewood would be the line and length bowler to glue the bowling together, much like Harris did. But he's not. This means Clarke has no pace bowler he can rely on to hit that line and length.

Starc is all over the place today and Hazlewood was yesterday. Siddle has gotta replace one of them.

It's a real shame that so many members of the Australian side are letting the occasion getting to them. The only ones who I'd say aren't getting psyched out are Rogers, Lyon and Johnson

Four wickets is a great result considering the lack of quali tty bowlibg partnerships
all the pressure came down one end at a time
if we got good pressure going at both ends probably would have cleaned them up for less than 200

Have to say this is the first match I've ever seen Hazlewood all over the place.

Partnership really hurting australia

All seamers are spraying atm, Johnson just got lucky with two bouncers that's all.

-PB

Havent really gotten our wickets off good biwling
we get the best batting conditions so fingers crossed

No way, that was top notch bowling. It was only until his last couple of overs when he started to run out of gas that they went after him.

Aye. David Lloyd said that there are some deliveries that you have to take your hat off to the bowler. Maybe Bairstow and Stokes could have gotten their gloves out of the way. But Lloyd thinks the bowling was so good that it was a real ask.

Concerning thing is how well Broad and Anderson have bowled compared to Starc and Hazlewood.

England's bowling has been phenomenal. Australia's bowling in this match has been average. Both sides have batted fairly poorly. But we've been worse.

This is going to take career-defining performances from multiple players for Australia to catch up, get ahead and bowl England out cheaply.

My theory on that is when the bowlers are on song, they'll get batsmen out with the odd jaffa. But even then, batsmen will still get themselves out because of the pressure built from the good deliveries.

As I post this Steve Smith has just thrown his wicket away. What's going on? This is gutting. Now Clarke needs to turn up like never before.

To paraphrase Bob Willis- there are more hookers in both sides than you see in Soho on a Saturday night

:lol:

X2

The one bit of good news is that Cam Bancroft tonned up for Australia A in India against an Indian side which features Kohli, Pujara, Aron, among others.

What we're noticing here is that young Aussie batsmen are really struggling to graft innings and their technique often isn't quite there (crisp footwork, good head position, soft hands, played late and straight bat through the line to the good deliveries).

Unfortunately the Big Bash/IPL seems to be worsening technique and temperament. But the BBL has to stay otherwise cricket will just die in this country

If I was Darren Lehman/Greg Chappell/Rod Marsh/John Inverarity, I'd be saying this. Okay the BBL has to stay, but we can find ways of encouraging certain batsmen to do better in Test cricket on the subcontinent and in England. I'd identify a handful of batsmen with the right sort of technique, temperament and talent and get coaches/mentors to work on honing those sort of things in far more detail. I'd also be having a quiet word with the states to ensure they bat in the right places. I'd also be trying to place them in Div 1 of the County Championship during the Aus winter.

The batsmen I'm thinking of are batsmen like Joe Burns, Chris Lynn, Cam Bancroft, Marcus Harris, Jordan Silk, Peter Handscomb.

Edited by quickflick: 31/7/2015 01:08:26 AM