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Post by winchesterox on Dec 5, 2017 6:18:50 GMT
Cook is definitely trying to play himself in. 1 run off 19 balls.
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Post by holdsteady on Dec 5, 2017 7:11:24 GMT
It's obviously a massive score to get for a fourth innings, but we have plenty of time to get it, bat sensibly today and it might just happen.
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Post by oldham on Dec 5, 2017 7:25:08 GMT
School boy error from Cook. Way off balance. A couple of years ago he would have turned that delivery into a volley and got a boundary. The clock is ticking Cookie old chap...
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Post by Gary Baldi on Dec 5, 2017 8:06:44 GMT
It's on a knife edge isn't it?
Phil Tufnell must read this place, because he just said that an England batsmen needs to get a hundred. Root hasn't really had a decent score in Oz, so now is the time. But it will be a tough old session coming up. Time for the big boy pants to come on.
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Post by Eaststandboy on Dec 5, 2017 9:27:51 GMT
Cook needs to be dropped!
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Post by unification on Dec 5, 2017 9:43:39 GMT
Cor, this is thrilling stuff again. Inexplicably, England have found themselves in a position of a very, very slim chance of winning. Forget all previous records of chases – this is unchartered territory being a Day/Nighter. With Lyon playing well and a host of lefties to bowl against I’d still favour the Aussies, but at least there has been more fight again from England
Once again, it’s more frustration in this Test though. Letting Marsh get away, daft shot selection from players capable of better and then a rally that looks like it’s coming too late in the day have scuppered us again. We’ve won sessions across the two Tests but haven’t knitted them together to put themselves into a justified position to win a Test.
Let’s see if we’re still there with a couple of decent batsmen at the end of today though. If Root is there overnight with someone who can hold up an end like Malan, Bairstow or Moeen, who knows?
And if the unimaginable happens and England chase the total down, could that that turn the Aussie public against their team somewhat? Smith could and maybe should have put England in again but decided against it with his small band of bowlers already having 60 overs in their legs. It’s proved a controversial move so far and could be one turns the good feeling towards Smith against him.
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Post by scotchegg on Dec 5, 2017 10:54:11 GMT
Shame to see Malan go late on, thought he'd battled hard for his runs. Still very much in this game!
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Post by scotchegg on Dec 5, 2017 11:06:49 GMT
18 overs with the old ball tomorrow morning should be the pefect opportunity to knock some of these runs off. Woakes could be key at taking the attack to the Aussies and leaving Root to quietly accumulate a much needed century.
Still going to be a huge ask but a win here will be massive and put Smith under pressure!
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Post by Junior on Dec 5, 2017 11:09:12 GMT
England have shown superb fight to get here.
Root obviously the key but if Woakes can hang about in the morning and take the edge of the quicks for 30 mins or so that'll help!
Either way, it shows just what test cricket is about. It's the ultimate game. You can have your limited overs crap but that final session had everything.
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Post by Junior on Dec 5, 2017 11:10:00 GMT
Also loved the way Root have plenty back to the Aussie keeper and slips when they started chipping away towards the end of the day..
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Post by Yellow River on Dec 5, 2017 11:25:46 GMT
Wouldn’t it be great if we scuttled out the Aussies for 110 and then chased down the 300 odd with a couple of wickets to spare. Well that’s what my heart says. Sadly I'll turn on the Radio about 7 o’clock in the morning with a tiny glimmer of hope only to be dashed by the news that Australia rallied to 240 all out, and we are currently 28 for 2. Well my heart still says we can do this, we’re half way to our target, we need 30 runs for each wicket left. Can we get close enough to our target to put pressure on Smith and the Aussie bowlers? My head says we’ll fall short, but........ As John Cleese character said in the film Clockwise - “It's not the despair, I can take the despair. It's the hope I can't stand”
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Post by scotchegg on Dec 5, 2017 12:18:18 GMT
England have shown superb fight to get here. Root obviously the key but if Woakes can hang about in the morning and take the edge of the quicks for 30 mins or so that'll help! Either way, it shows just what test cricket is about. It's the ultimate game. You can have your limited overs crap but that final session had everything. Agree about Woakes. He needs to see of Cummings and Starc (although he is less threatening with an old ball). Ali and Bairstow are great at scoring quick runs but I'm less confident of them grinding out an innings when it matters. The more runs we can chip away at before they come in the better. Also agree about Test Match cricket but worry that tv rights are killing it off as a spectator sport for the vast majority. Even half hour of prime time highlights on terrestrial tv would help!
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Post by Gary Baldi on Dec 5, 2017 13:12:45 GMT
Finally England got stuck into them. Feels a little late to do that, but there is pressure on the Aussies now and that Root/Malan partnership will hopefully have put some doubts into those gobshites heads. I suspect England will fall 50 runs short of the total with the new ball coming, but hopefully they can now see the Aussies are just as flawed as we are.
The Barmy Army played a key part today. Nothing funnier than the stick they've been giving Smith and boy can he not take what he gives out - what a snowflake he is. It just frustrates me that it took a test and a bit to do that.
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Post by Gary Baldi on Dec 5, 2017 13:13:39 GMT
Also. The fact their bowling coaching is blaming Smith for not enforcing the follow on says a lot.
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Post by Junior on Dec 5, 2017 15:21:44 GMT
The Barmy Army shortly after Smith realised he had no reviews left!
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Post by upthecowboys on Dec 5, 2017 17:44:29 GMT
If we don't win tomorrow then it will be massively frustrating to be 2-0 down when we've had chances in both games.
If only some of our batsmen hadn't given their wickets away so cheaply in the series so far. The consequences of playing too much limited overs cricket?
If we could nick this one, then what a rest of the series we can look forward to. Although this test under the lights was our opportunity, should we take it the pressure will be on the convicts.
Oh and totally agree with Junior, what a sport test cricket can be. Fantastic viewing today, proper edge of the seats stuff.
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Post by tonyw on Dec 5, 2017 18:01:46 GMT
If only some of our batsmen hadn't given their wickets away so cheaply in the series so far. The consequences of playing too much limited overs cricket? Or - being really harsh - just the consequences of not being Test-calibre batsmen? I mean we all thought that our top order batting was our weakness going into the series. And after showing some surprising promise in the first innings at Brisbane (albeit without anyone going on to get the big score we needed), Stoneman, Vince and Malan (as well as Cook, of course) have not scored enough runs since. It's early days in their respective careers, but none of the three of them has an average up over 35, and none has scored a century. Test cricket is tough, and it's rare for a player to work it out later in their career. Most either have it from the beginning, or don't. And I'm not convinced any of those three (or Westley) do. Still, Root's still in and whilst he's there, we have a chance. This could be his Lara-against-the-Aussies-in-Bridgetown knock that goes down in history (if he can get some support from Woakes, Bairstow or Moeen)
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Post by Gary Baldi on Dec 5, 2017 18:32:43 GMT
Root has to get a hundred for me. We cannot suffice without him batting for most of the innings now. If Mooen has one of those innings where he goes at a run a ball 50, it will make it very tight. What we cannot do is not make Australia get the batsmen out, which has been a reoccurring theme in this series so far.
How deflating will it be for Oz if they don't win this test?
And to think the ICC want to make test 4 days. Massive mistake.
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Post by oslernorth on Dec 5, 2017 18:57:37 GMT
Great stuff England. Fascinating to listen too at work this morning. Making inroads in the first few overs before the new ball will be crucial
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Post by foley on Dec 5, 2017 20:28:51 GMT
If only some of our batsmen hadn't given their wickets away so cheaply in the series so far. The consequences of playing too much limited overs cricket? Or - being really harsh - just the consequences of not being Test-calibre batsmen?I mean we all thought that our top order batting was our weakness going into the series. And after showing some surprising promise in the first innings at Brisbane (albeit without anyone going on to get the big score we needed), Stoneman, Vince and Malan (as well as Cook, of course) have not scored enough runs since.It's early days in their respective careers, but none of the three of them has an average up over 35, and none has scored a century. Test cricket is tough, and it's rare for a player to work it out later in their career. Most either have it from the beginning, or don't. And I'm not convinced any of those three (or Westley) do. Still, Root's still in and whilst he's there, we have a chance. This could be his Lara-against-the-Aussies-in-Bridgetown knock that goes down in history (if he can get some support from Woakes, Bairstow or Moeen) A great come back from England. I fear that we will still lose, but you just never know. Agree with Tony re the Batsmen. They have not scored enough. I wonder if maybe it would be worth putting Bairstow in at 5 and Malan at 7? Could even drop Vince for Ballance (I don't really rate him though). There are concerns for when Cook, Anderson and Broad retire from test cricket (which could be soon)
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Post by Gary Baldi on Dec 5, 2017 21:24:52 GMT
We could even play Foakes at WK and promote Bairstow to 5 to bat. More preferable than the walking wicket Ballance getting near the side. Moeen back to 7.
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Post by andystroud on Dec 5, 2017 22:42:15 GMT
Expecting to wake up tomorrow (7:30) to find that we have been bowled out and lost by 100+ runs. Delighted to be proved wrong though
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Post by nige01ox on Dec 5, 2017 23:44:38 GMT
If you look at the history of day-night tests played in Australia, our large first innings deficit was due not to our batsmen being way below par but because we simply let them get too many, mainly by bowling too short. Hard to fault the bowlers after what they've done second time round but just goes to show what happens when you get it up there and give the ball a chance to do something. It also exposed how fragile this Aussie lineup is - from having such a commanding lead you can see they are starting to panic.
As for tomorrow, if Woakes, Overton and Broad can muster 50 between them, then Root, Bairstow and Ali 130, that'll do it. Simple eh? Jimmy can even put his feet up. I think one good thing in our favour is that by the time the lights come on to really take effect during the evening the game should almost be over as it's not like we're needing to score another 250+.
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Post by makv on Dec 6, 2017 0:00:24 GMT
The Barmy Army shortly after Smith realised he had no reviews left! Absolute f*cking class
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Post by leysboy on Dec 6, 2017 3:36:55 GMT
Not a great start Woakes out 2nd ball of the day.
Root out, not adding to his 67, and it’s looking like a collapse!
Hoping Moeen Ali and Bairstow can put the pressure on the Aussies.
f*ck this back to bed I go Ali out for 2.
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Post by foley on Dec 6, 2017 6:55:34 GMT
Well I got up and watched the first half an hour then back to bed.
No real surprise but very disappointing.
We don't seem to have the batsmen who can score big and their bowling attack is a different class to ours.
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Post by Gary Baldi on Dec 6, 2017 8:22:46 GMT
The lack of hundreds is the death of this team. Until one or more of the batsmen is willing to graft in hard conditions, they'll always under sell themselves in close matches. There is enough talent there, but they need to take the example of Kohli in the 3rd test against SL and bat. And bat. And bat some more.
And put Mooen back to 7 where he seems more comfortable.
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Post by holdsteady on Dec 6, 2017 12:50:18 GMT
To not have anyone get a hundred in four innings is disappointing, we won't win/draw a match over here without some one doing that, but modern day cricket with its emphasis on the limited over games seems to have given us a lot of players who can get in but can't push on to big scores. It's even more noticeable abroad than it is at home, players out of the comfort zone resort to the cricket that they are more used to playing.
As we rarely draw tests now except through very bad weather the move to four days might actually aid us, as we can't bat for a long period.
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Post by Gary Baldi on Dec 6, 2017 13:07:30 GMT
Some of it comes down to their mindset when batting. Far too few players in the test team seem willing to wait it out and instead waft their bat at balls they don't need to, because they want to get on with it, or feel the pressure to. If they bat to the conditions, they will look the players they have the talent to be. Stokes changes his game depending on the situation, Vince or Mooen carry on regardless nowadays
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Post by leysboy on Dec 6, 2017 14:42:25 GMT
Hasseb Hameed looked that type of batsman in India, patient took his time and put away the bad ball. It was unfortunate for him because he got that nasty hand injury. He even batted in Calcutta I think Eden Gardens, and got an 80 odd before flying back for surgery. He showed a lot of character, and right now we need that in the line up. Very dissapointing to be 2-0 down, and the third test at the Waca will be hard, as we haven’t won a test there for years.
If the bowlers bowl a fuller length in Perth they will take wickets. That’s the Waca length so the say.
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