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1st Ashes Test: England v Australia at Cardiff on Jul 8-12, 2015

TheParraboy

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Wonder if we will make some changes

Do we really keep picking Watson? What do we lose by picking MMarsh?
 

JJ

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32,682
Wonder if we will make some changes

Do we really keep picking Watson? What do we lose by picking MMarsh?

A shitty 30, some dibbly dobbly overs - but you could well get an additional over

Watson and Haddin are not test level ... Haddin with the bat, to clarify - he's ok with the gloves, although seems to be the scape goat on this thread for this loss - but the odd catch always goes down, you were comprehensively beaten
 

Tommy Smith

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21,344
Haddin is in the team to sledge. And for his "leadership".

It's never a good sign when a cricketer is picked for those reasons. It means he can't bat, field or bowl.

He's basically a bad mannered Mike Brearley.
 
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3,138
Well the selectors selection philosophy picking a tour team/test side based off old age has already backfired.

Haddin dropped the test by dropping Root on a duck.

And Watsons selection over M Marsh was mind boggling considering the comparative form of both players in the tour games.

That should be the end of both players test careers. Should be but probably won't be.

Voges better hope of better performances or his selection over Joe Burns will also be questioned.

IMO, this performance reeked of a team that believed it could just turn up and win. And the lack of respect they showed Ali in first inning was also important to losing.

Still if Haddin didn't drop Root the whole complexion of the match changes. Wicketkeepers should never drop catches.
 

Tommy Smith

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As for the match, incredible win with only 1 decent batsman imo. Cook looks cooked. He's a merkin and I'm struggling to like him and his captaincy despite the win.

If Haddin caught Root for 0 then it's not outlandish to suggest that Australia may well have won by 10 wickets. Fine margins...

The injury to Starc is huge. He's finally become a quality test match bowler and if he is missing, on top of Harris, then that'll spell trouble for Australia.

I still think it'll be a drawn series at best for England. We're one quality batsman short... calling KP, calling KP.
 

Canard

Immortal
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35,689
The focus on Haddin is OTT.

We all know what should happen to Watto. BUT knowing our selectors they will drop Steve Smith and promote Watson to Captain over Clarke.

The big question is, how is Starc's ankle??
 
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The focus on Haddin is OTT.

We all know what should happen to Watto. BUT knowing our selectors they will drop Steve Smith and promote Watson to Captain over Clarke.

The big question is, how is Starc's ankle??

It's not really over the top.
Since the last Ashes series he has been completely out of form with the bat, so his wicketkeeping needs to make up for his batting. His drop of Root was in hindsight the turning point of the match. In alternative universe where he makes that catch, the Poms would have struggled to get to 300.

Just to reveal how bad out of form has has been with the bat:

In his last 12 test matches (since the last Ashes) he has scored 259 runs in 17 completed innings. I am no genius mathematician, but that is an average about 15.

So he is out of form with the bat and is dropping crucial catches.
 
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Mind you, Watson has been out of form as well.

He has scored 388 runs in 14 innings at about an average of 27-28 and taken 6 wickets at an average of above 60.

It is time to discard both Haddin and Watson.
 

hineyrulz

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Mind you, Watson has been out of form as well.

He has scored 388 runs in 14 innings at about an average of 27-28 and taken 6 wickets at an average of above 60.

It is time to discard both Haddin and Watson.
Should of made the call before this series even started, MMarsh and Neville should of gotten a run against the Windies instead the selectors will make the big excuse we can't throw two underdone rookies into such a big game.
 
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3,138
Should of made the call before this series even started, MMarsh and Neville should of gotten a run against the Windies instead the selectors will make the big excuse we can't throw two underdone rookies into such a big game.

Absolutely correct.
The selectors are not looking to the future with their selection policies. Their reasoning behind the selection of the touring team has already backfired badly. It is extremely difficult to come back from a 1-0 deficit. We did it in 1997 BUT we had a much better team that series. In 1972 we came back from a first test loss to draw the series. We also did in 1936-37.

As you can see coming back from a first test loss is rare.

And I think the age of the team will make it even harder.
 

Tommy Smith

Referee
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21,344
The advantage Australia have is that they only need to draw the series. Still, a series win on English soil - the first since 2001 - would be much more coveted and is surely the goal.

It does mean that Australia can't lose the 2nd test or else it'll be pretty much all over imo.
 

JW

Coach
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Despite it being blatantly obvious that Watto's career in the whites should be over, I still feel extremely uncomfortable with the reality that it's still quite unlikely he'll be getting that long awaited tap.
 

Pete Cash

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There were a few big moments that England won and ones we lost. When will Australian sides stop playing like absolute meatheads expecting English conditions to be like the gabba day 1. Pitch the ball up idiots. Starc in particular must be the dumbest man ever. He gets bell LBW and Root dropped with two full ones and he follows that up with a bunch of short garbage.

Also Steve Smith I hope he learnt a valuable lesson with his two outs. Sometimes a bowler is too good for you so don't go giving your wicket away to moeen Ali on the first innings of a comfortable batting track. He got a beauty from Broad after lunch.
 

gregstar

Referee
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20,465
Despite it being blatantly obvious that Watto's career in the whites should be over, I still feel extremely uncomfortable with the reality that it's still quite unlikely he'll be getting that long awaited tap.
whilst he's in england, we are not safe.
 
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3,320
England deserved to win,the Aussies seemed slow out of the blocks from the first over which was a poor sign.
Englands batsmen were not that great,but our line and length were terrible which helped them out, in comparrison their bowlers were better, being tighter and more accurate.
The Aussie have to counter the lose of Harris,realise the Poms will offer slow decks,retire Sunshine and harden up before the next test or the same result will occur.
 
Messages
3,138
There were a few big moments that England won and ones we lost. When will Australian sides stop playing like absolute meatheads expecting English conditions to be like the gabba day 1. Pitch the ball up idiots. Starc in particular must be the dumbest man ever. He gets bell LBW and Root dropped with two full ones and he follows that up with a bunch of short garbage.

Also Steve Smith I hope he learnt a valuable lesson with his two outs. Sometimes a bowler is too good for you so don't go giving your wicket away to moeen Ali on the first innings of a comfortable batting track. He got a beauty from Broad after lunch.

Good point about the bowling.

Either they totally misread the pitch or they are so in love with their own bowling and had no respect for the English batsmen that they thought they could just bang it in short and the Poms would be terrified and fall apart.

Cook outcaptained Clarke.
They had a great bowling plan, stuck to it. Also helped that our batsmen had little respect for this pitch and for Ali.
 

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