The Ashes

Root goes last over of the day!! All over by lunch D5 I would imagine , had it not been for not enforcing the FO then I thought it would have been already 🏏🏏🏏🏏

Less than 300 to win now....game on 🏏🏏🏏🏏🏏🏏🏏

England's resistance was eventually broken as Australia completed a 275-run victory in the second Ashes Test in Adelaide to take a 2-0 lead in the series.

Needing to bat out the day for a draw with six wickets left, England defied expectation to take the game into the final session.

Jos Buttler, who should have been caught for a duck, batted for over 4 hours and 207 balls to be eventually out hit wicket for 26, raising slim hopes of the most unlikely of England escapes, only to fall in incredible fashion in the second over of the night session.

He saw off 31.2 overs with Chris Woakes, who made 44, and another 14.2 with Ollie Robinson but stood on his stumps when going back to a shorter ball from Jhye Richardson.

James Anderson was last man out, caught at gully for Richardson's fifth wicket, with 20.5 overs left. England were 192 all out in 113.1 overs.

It leaves their hopes of a first Ashes series win in Australia since 2010-11 severely faded, as the tour moves to Melbourne for the third Test, which begins at 23:30 GMT on 25 December.

England have never come from 2-0 down to win the Ashes in the series' 139-year history.

My Team For The 3rd Test At Melbourne On Christmas Day At 11.30pm Would Be:

1..Hameed
2..Crawley
3..Malan
4..Root (c)
5..Stokes
6..Buttler (wk)
7..Woakes
8..Robinson
9..Wood
10..Leach
11..Anderson

Replace Broad, Pope & Burns, let's face it we cannot be humiliated any more than we are now.

Go out there and just play and not worry about winning, give us that English grit, it's Australia.

They sent them all home at the end of the one off match. Mahmood is still out there along with a few others playing in the big bash, but Foakes, Bracey and Livingstone are not among them.

This tour is going to end a few careers. I think we need to ensure that some of our promising youngsters are not left with a load of mental baggage.

The problem is, some of the batters are doing just enough to stay in the side. Burns and Buttler definitely fall into that category. The latter has two hundreds in 50 tests and we have both a better keeper and batter in Foakes waiting in the wings. Burns is a different matter. He's not good enough but I don't think we have better options waiting in reserve.

As I see it, county cricket isn't producing ready made test quality batters. The talented guys that have come into the team need coaching but the England set up has people that act as mentors. That needs to change. Guys like Crawley, Hameed, Pope and Lawrence are going to have to learn on the job and they need help. They need coaches to improve their technique (in contrast with the likes of Trott and Strauss who were older and ready for test cricket).

I'm not sure I'd drop Pope. We can't ruin him. If he can't make it then no one will. We haven't produced a test quality batter for a decade. He has to work out. Which is the least bad option?

I heard Root interviewed today and he was clearly really annoyed with Anderson and Broad and the lengths they bowled. Is it sacrilege to say that I think it's a criticism that it's been possible to level at both of them at times? I certainly feel like we're getting close to the end of their England careers.

I think whatever we do, we'll lose 4 or 5 nil. The catching is terrible. No one in the side is improving. The bowlers struggle with no balls. The coach has to go after this series. I suspect root is in for the chop too.

We need to regularly pick an attack that can take wickets in all conditions. That means picking a spinner, finding a left armer and some reliable 88mph plus bowlers. We need to decide if leach is up to it and if he's not, let's have a look at Parkinson or Crane. Even if stokes isn't fit, we have to pick a spinner. I would guess the likes of Mahmood and Garton might come into the equation. Hopefully archer is back too.

The batting isn't going to improve over night but I think we just have to accept that a first class record is basically irrelevant when it comes to test cricket potential. We need to look for players that score against pace and spin, have workable techniques and temperaments.

Obviously the first class structure needs looking at. I reckon I'd go back to 9 in each division. Maybe play the extra 2 games abroad. The ECB have plenty of money so they can pay for it. Might be worth using the kookaburra for matches played in April, early may and September. I also think we could try centrally contacted groundsmen.

We have four of the greatest players England have ever produced in this side and have had for most of the last 4 years. It's embarrassing that despite that England are so bad

When asked by Johnathan Agnew, England coach Silverwood said he would pick the same elevens for the two test again,,, therein lies the problem, some are so blind that they cannot see

Ah, I didn't realise they were back already. I suppose that would have taken too much effort to have them down under at the same time, therefore being able to call on any of them if needed ! As said, Bracey, Foakes, Mahmood and Livingston may have been useful to call upon. It's the 7 P', Proper Planning & Preparation Prevent Piss Poor Performance............and we are seeing a Piss Poor performance from England.

Let’s face it, England’s batting has been consistently poor for several years, in all conditions, home or away.
A typical England score, especially in the first innings, is between about 190- 290, even at home.
Last year, it was the Indian spinners causing chaos, then last summer, New Zealand and India again, were able to cut through the England batting without too many problems.
When playing at home, Anderson, Broad, and Woakes are a match for anyone, and matches are usually won with minimal use of spinners.
Due to the lack of quality amongst the batting, all rounders are of great importance, and I often feel that Woakes is in the side in Australia for his batting as much as his bowling.
I used to get fed up with commentators talking about England batting deep, which applies to the white ball team., but doesn’t apply to the red ball side.
With the batting so unreliable, it is risky to have someone like Robinson at No 8, if you are going to have Wood/ Broad, Leach and Anderson following him, always a long tail.
Robinson is clearly worth his place in the side, regardless, but even when Archer was in the side, his contribution with the bat was disappointing.
The worrying thing is that there are no obvious candidates to replace the current top order batsmen.
I noticed that when England Lions were recently in Australia, they were rolled over for103 in their first innings, lost the match, despite a century by Bracey in the second innings.
The names I recognised from County matches, scored few runs, but Norwell did take five wickets in one of the Australian innings.
Burns has a least made 3 centuries, but in over 30 tests, and has never been particularly convincing,
I was hoping for more from Hameed, but most of the others have scored their test average of mid thirties in the last year of tests, but never progressed further.
Butler, and Bairstow come into this category.
Apart from Root, nobody is scoring centuries, or going on to big scores, although Malan has been a good selection
.Also,when have we last brought through someone like Labuschange in recent years, or made an immediate impact like he has?
I am giving Pope the benefit of the doubt,if only based on the fact that Ian Bell took several years to properly establish himself as a test class batsman.
The lack of proper four day practice matches before the series is ridiculous, especially as so few of the Test squad had actually featured in the T20 World Cup before The Ashes.
There was a similar criticism of the preparation for the previous Ashes tour, so the precedent was already set.
I do, however, remember both NZ and India arriving for the Test matches last summer, with virtually no practice matches against County sides before playing England.
I am also unsure how many four day matches Leach has actually played in 2021, to get him into bowling rhythm, but Wareham would know better.
It seems as though, regardless of Covid, players are actually playing fewer matches than ever, saving them for matches they end up being “rested “:for anyway.
Years ago, England would traditionally start an Australian tour with a match with Western Australia, play an Australian X1, plus Queensland, and maybe a couple of other state sides, before the first test at Brisbane
No doubt, Covid, IPL, and T20 World Cup prevented that this year, so there are no easy answers.
The future bowling is also a growing concern, Archer’s latest injury problems are a long term worry, Stone missed the tour through yet another injury, Wood doesn’t seem to be trusted for consecutive matches, and Broad and Anderson can’t be expected to carry on for much longer.
We will always produce reasonable seamers for English conditions, but overseas seems to be a real problem, but Robinson seems a real find.
Anyway, have a safe trip Wareham, those iconic green stands in Sydney, always look fantastic, should be a great experience, regardless of the result!
I was in Adelaide for one of the 5-0 series matches, and the Aussies there were nothing like as intimidating, or abusive as I expected.