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5TH ASHES TEST: @ The Oval London July 26-30, 2023

Eelectrica

Referee
Messages
21,134
Come on Patty, win the toss and let's bat for two days and shut them up.
We'll never hear the end of it if we lose this test.
2-1 series victory will be great
3-1 will be awesome
2-2 will be ok, but mostly disappointing

At least Labs seems dialed in now. Really wish he was this dialed in for game 3. Another 50-60 runs and we probably go 3-0 up.
 

Bazal

Post Whore
Messages
102,695

Sure Ben, you aren't a "results-driven team" when you're losing.....unless you're winning of course, in which you wouldn't be saying such tripe in the first place.

copium-cat.gif
 

AlwaysGreen

Immortal
Messages
49,904
Legacy teams actually win - see Australia from mid 90's to mid 00's, West Indies of the 80's etc.

Who have they actually beaten so far? Pakistan on flat decks, Drawn series in NZ?
That's a good point. The cult members keep talking like they invented attacking cricket and going for the win, the best teams always do that. It is very rare for any team to play for the draw, they act like every other team plays like 1950s India v Pakistan tests.

Bazball only works on flat pitches because it takes out the bowler, lets see how it goes in India's minefields or a pitch with a bit of spice.
 

Showtime

Juniors
Messages
954
That's a good point. The cult members keep talking like they invented attacking cricket and going for the win, the best teams always do that. It is very rare for any team to play for the draw, they act like every other team plays like 1950s India v Pakistan tests.

Bazball only works on flat pitches because it takes out the bowler, lets see how it goes in India's minefields or a pitch with a bit of spice.
My dream scenario is Australia pull their finger out and bat 1st score 450+ and roll England twice to really shut up Bazball. I never thought I’d say this but I hope India pump them.
 
Messages
4,299

Fangs

Coach
Messages
13,627
England will go hard with the bat as usual. I want to see a much better bowling effort in this test. Neser surely gets his chance.

Smith, Khawaja and Labs have all contributed important hundreds but none have dominated the Summer. I'm backing Usman to ton up again as he won't play any cricket after this until end of year.
 

King-Gutho94

Coach
Messages
14,970
England will go hard with the bat as usual. I want to see a much better bowling effort in this test. Neser surely gets his chance.

Smith, Khawaja and Labs have all contributed important hundreds but none have dominated the Summer. I'm backing Usman to ton up again as he won't play any cricket after this until end of year.
I think marnus may go big.

Getting that scalp of a 100 in England will be a big relief for his mindset.

I reckon it was weighing him down during those starts.

And when the pressure was basically off in the 2nd innings he cashed in.
 

AlwaysGreen

Immortal
Messages
49,904
I reckon Usman has played himself out of form. It takes a lot of concentration to play how he does, leaving a lot of balls and playing normal test cricket. I think he might bounce back this test.

Its likely Smith's last test so he would love to go out with a bang.

Of course all this means nothing as one of the moral victors will score 97 off 87 balls and the poms will scream how they saved test cricket.
 

undertaker

Coach
Messages
10,910
Looks like the weather will play a part in The Oval test over the next few days (albeit maybe not to the same extent it did at Old Trafford):

 

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