[Cricket] The Ashes- England v Australia- 2nd Test, Lords, June 28 - July 02, 2023

[Sid and the Sharknados]

With Leach out for the series we definitely have to rethink. Mooen is an attacking spinner rather than an end container. And his spin finger’s f***ed.

Maybe just get Robinson to bowl even slower for half his spell, double his overs bowled, halve his average and shut up the likes of Hayden and Clarke who can’t read bowling stats properly

Hayden needs to work out how to stop talking total nonsense before he considers learning how to read bowling stats.

Pakistan’s poor batters are going to have to listen to Matthew Hayden speak

Matthew Hayden will be working as a batting consultant for Pakistan at the T20 World Cup in the UAE next month. Matthew Hayden is a man we used to write about very often. Now, against our better judgement, we're about to write about him again. Some time in 2006, we began writing about just how

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Matthew Hayden’s extra words

One of the defining qualities of Matthew Hayden’s guff-talking is his habit of throwing in a load of additional words that add precisely nothing to what he is trying to say. We’re going to talk to you about three recent examples. Last time around - back when Hayden first took on his coaching job...

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What exactly did Matthew Hayden say when he was “in conversation with the mystic”?

If you don’t know Indian yogi and author “Sadhguru” (Jaggi Vasudev), he’s kind of a big deal. The Isha Foundation that he set up in 1992 is said to have over nine million volunteers. A lot of people like Sadhguru. They think he’s wise. In August 2019, Sadhguru agreed to get on stage and talk

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[Audax]

If it was me selecting an England side for the second test:

- I'd be finding a way to give someone other than Bairstow the gloves. If Bairstow is seen as an essential part of the batting line up, fine, but you need a better 'keeper. Either try Pope, or find a way to bring in Foakes (drop Moeen and rely on Root's spin? Drop an opener and shift the batting line up around?).

- Spin. Don't think a rusty Moeen with a dodgy spinners finger is the answer.

- Pace attack. OK, it's a match on, and they've all got some overs behind them now. But I still think the attack lacks diversity and has an over-abundance of potential fitness issues if Australia bat long. They need to bring in someone who adds a little something different.

 

[Titanic]

Tongue for Ali... only change.

 

[A1X]

Mistake not picking Woakes as said earlier, I'm not really convinced Tongue is good enough. Although if they've purely picked him for the double entendres involving Tongue and Head then I'm here for that.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Amazing that a long standing investigation into racism and discrimination needs to be released the day before an Ashes test on home soil.

 

[HCxUK]

Amazing that a long standing investigation into racism and discrimination needs to be released the day before an Ashes test on home soil.

Really?

Should the ECB have sat on the finished report until the Ashes are over at the end of July?

The findings of the investigation are staggering and far more important to English cricket than the result of tomorrow's test

 

[Bold Seagull]

Really?

Should the ECB have sat on the finished report until the Ashes are over at the end of July?

The findings of the investigation are staggering and far more important to English cricket than the result of tomorrow's test

What do you think are the chances that it was only ready for release exactly today and not say 2 or 3 days or even weeks ago?

Far from waiting until the end of July, I suspect they have had these results and sat on them to release them today.

 

[HCxUK]

What do you think are the chances that it was only ready for release exactly today and not say 2 or 3 days or even weeks ago?

Far from waiting until the end of July, I suspect they have had these results and sat on them to release them today.

Apologies - I think I've misinterpreted your post...

I hope they're not trying to sweep it under the rug, but knowing the ECB it probably is a cynical move.

I'm sure it'll be discussed on Sky and TMS before play starts tomorrow - hopefully that isn't the extent of it

 

[Surf's Up]

If it was me selecting an England side for the second test:

- I'd be finding a way to give someone other than Bairstow the gloves. If Bairstow is seen as an essential part of the batting line up, fine, but you need a better 'keeper. Either try Pope, or find a way to bring in Foakes (drop Moeen and rely on Root's spin? Drop an opener and shift the batting line up around?).

- Spin. Don't think a rusty Moeen with a dodgy spinners finger is the answer.

- Pace attack. OK, it's a match on, and they've all got some overs behind them now. But I still think the attack lacks diversity and has an over-abundance of potential fitness issues if Australia bat long. They need to bring in someone who adds a little something different.

The "something different" should be genuine pace - unfortunately we don't produce many real pace bowlers and those we do produce seem to all be very injury prone

 

[Eeyore]

It may have a haircut tomorrow, but at the moment it's looking like they've prepared it for a snooker match.

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

It may have a haircut tomorrow, but at the moment it's looking like they've prepared it for a snooker match.

No doubt the Australians will call this unfair and claim that it's not what a cricket pitch should look like.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

I am writing this, knowing it will sound horribly complacent, but I’ve played cricket for 45 years, in the Brighton League, in the Lancashire Leagues, University cricket, social cricket in rural Sussex, and now league cricket in Hampshire, and I really don’t recognise the findings of this report at all.

i‘ve not witnessed any form of discrimination against any teammate, or opponent.

No side we face is made up of the 11 privately educated white men, the report and the media reaction to it would have you expect. Every week we face a mix of players of varied backgrounds. The only racially homogeneous sides we ever face are complete teams of Indian or Pakistani players, or the West Indian lads who gave us a shoeing two weeks back. We’ve played against women in some games, and players from age 14 up to late 60s. As for elitism - our side includes a handyman and a consultant surgeon, and all things in between, and nobody is ever on a less than equal footing, save for some organic hierarchy of time served and cricketing merit.

I’ll be at our club on Friday night, as one of the volunteers looking after hordes of junior players, AllStars kids and their parents, etc. The last two weeks have seen in excess of 150 people there. There are people putting massive unpaid effort into making stuff like this happen, at clubs up and down the country every week, and the shade thrown by this report seems terribly unfair on them.

 

[Eeyore]

I am writing this, knowing it will sound horribly complacent, but I’ve played cricket for 45 years, in the Brighton League, in the Lancashire Leagues, University cricket, social cricket in rural Sussex, and now league cricket in Hampshire, and I really don’t recognise the findings of this report at all.

i‘ve not witnessed any form of discrimination against any teammate, or opponent.

No side we face is made up of the 11 privately educated white men, the report and the media reaction to it would have you expect. Every week we face a mix of players of varied backgrounds. The only racially homogeneous sides we ever face are complete teams of Indian or Pakistani players, or the West Indian lads who gave us a shoeing two weeks back. We’ve played against women in some games, and players from age 14 up to late 60s. As for elitism - our side includes a handyman and a consultant surgeon, and all things in between, and nobody is ever on a less than equal footing, save for some organic hierarchy of time served and cricketing merit.

I’ll be at our club on Friday night, as one of the volunteers looking after hordes of junior players, AllStars kids and their parents, etc. The last two weeks have seen in excess of 150 people there. There are people putting massive unpaid effort into making stuff like this happen, at clubs up and down the country every week, and the shade thrown by this report seems terribly unfair on them.

The problem for me is that we seem to live in an age of a liberal puritanism. Highly judgmental and only dealing in absolutes.

We saw this at Yorkshire when the staff were condemned as soon as things emerged. Anyone who raises an objection is somehow complicit. I find it a little distressing at times as it seems reason, context and intent have been lost. As if there are no longer two sides to a story. But if you question, again, you are complicit.

We all know each other well enough on these threads to be aware that discrimination and various other isms are what we don't want to see. But as with the Yorkshire affair, something doesn't seem right here. And no-one is allowed to object.

I don't know, I seem to have taken this report personally. But it's a game I'm still in love with.

 

[indy3050]

I voted for an England victory, probably because I feel they NEED it. The Aussies and in particular Smith and labuschagne as others have mentioned, won without even playing to their best…

Lords is a special place and I’d probably rather be there than at the Amex, or Amex, or American Express stadium if I’m honest

 

[OzMike]

We declare 30 or so runs short of a decent target and pay the price for it on day 5.
Bazball, just love it.

 

[The Wizard]

Pitch at lords looking very green, under overcast and windy conditions.

Looks like a nailed on win the toss and bowl, the thing is normally a green wicket helps us but with the pace attack the Aussies have I’m not entirely convinced this time it will.

 

[Gwylan]

Pitch at lords looking very green, under overcast and windy conditions.

Looks like a nailed on win the toss and bowl, the thing is normally a green wicket helps us but with the pace attack the Aussies have I’m not entirely convinced this time it will.

Boland is going to love that wicket.

 

[Is it PotG?]

Boland is going to love that wicket.

Is he deffo starting over Starc?

 

[The Wizard]

Boland is going to love that wicket.

Think all our bowlers will also love it. But as will Boland, Cummins, Hazlewood, Starc etc and they will be doing it at a far whack faster than our bowlers.

My concern with this type of pitch and the ‘*** ball’ style (sorry I refuse to say that term it’s so annoying) is that we could be in first and get skittled for a very low score at some point, if that happens today it’s basically series over.

 

[Is it PotG?]

Think all our bowlers will also love it. But as will Boland, Cummins, Hazlewood, Starc etc and they will be doing it at a far whack faster than our bowlers.

My concern with this type of pitch and the ‘*** ball’ style (sorry I refuse to say that term it’s so annoying) is that we could be in first and get skittled for a very low score at some point, if that happens today it’s basically series over.

We tried matching them in a 'normal way' many times in recent times, that went well.