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ASHES SECOND TEST: ADELAIDE

• ASHES SECOND TEST: ADELAIDE

• RE: ASHES SECOND TEST: ADELAIDE

  RussyRover > 09/12/2013, 10:40

  I bet that this morning when the England team woke up, flung back their hotel room curtains, and peered outside to see the rain, that they had a smile or two and got down on their knees to pray for more... Alas their prayers went unanswered as by the time the TV pictures came on last night here, we were told it was easing up and they expected play to resume as normal with virtually no chance of further interruptions...
  
  
  and play did start, albeit 10 minutes late, only to see Stuart Broad have an attack of the hooks, and although sending one for a 6, he was out caught on the boundary in the first over!!!!! It really beggars belief - why??? - you have to bat out the day to salvage a draw and you start as if you're going to score loads of runs and win the test!!! yeah right... so 1 down, 3 more to go... not a brilliant start Broad c Lyon b Siddle 29 (Eng 255-7)
  
  Can Swann stay with the improving Prior? - so improved in fact that a few good shots later he reaches his 50, I bet he's mightily relieved at that...
  10 minutes later and Swan has a dabble at a ball he should have left well alone and it sees it fly from an edge straight into the waiting hands of Michael Clarke at second slip, a nice bit of early morning slip catching practice for the Aussie captain... Swann c Clarke b Harris 6 (Eng 293-8) what can you say, I wonder what was said in the dressing room before the start of play, it certainly doesn't seem to have been along the lines of " Well chaps, let's dig in and try to see those 90 overs away and frustrate those Aussie scum..."
  
  In the meanwhile the Barmy Army has been serenading Mitchell Johnson, which may have affected him at other times when he was weaker, but he's 'the destroyer' now and he smiles and gives them a wave... they like that too...
  
  So Jimmy Anderson walks in on a king pair... how long will he last then?
  A shot through the covers from Prior sees the 300 come up, at least that's something for England, isn't it??? but then he too has a dabble at a hook and guess what? Yep it's out... what is this fascination with left handers and the hook shot??? Prior c Harris b Siddle 69 (Eng 301-9)
  
  Come on Monty you beauty, let's see some action from you and Jimmy, and who knows, will you make it to lunch?? and no is the answer, in fact they don't even last the first hour out as Monty toe pokes one straight to short cover Panesar c Rogers b Harris 0 (Eng 312 all out) AUSTRALIA WIN BY 218 RUNS AND LEAD THE ASHES SERIES 2-0
  
  The Aussies are jubilant and why not. they played better than England, much better and the worrying thing is, that this Adelaide pitch is batsman friendly??? so what the hell they're going to do in Perth at the end of the week with it's bouncy and fierce pitch, god only knows...
  
  
  MAN OF THE MATCH No surprise it goes to Mitchell Johnson who says "I'll keep the mo for the rest of the series, I'm still trying to raise money - 50000 dollars" - I'm sure England will give him that just to have an off day or two...
  
  oh well, at least I can have an early sleep, although there is some NFL going on at Channel 4...

• RE: ASHES SECOND TEST: ADELAIDE

  StrumSolo > 09/12/2013, 11:32

  Them shots...
  
  That's got to be the most worrying thing about it all. Stupid, clueless. At least Prior got a decent knock and 312, well it could have been worse (as we've seen).
  
  I suppose the best we can hope for in Perth is that our bowlers will have some joy on the pitch and keep the Aussies' score down.

• RE: ASHES SECOND TEST: ADELAIDE

  RussyRover > 09/12/2013, 11:39

  It's not all doom and gloom, if Prior can evict his bad funk, there is no reason why the rest can't, but starting on Friday 13th is a good omen!!!
  
  This sums it up for me...
  
  
  
  
  Some facts courtesy of the beeb website...
  •Only the second time England have lost successive Tests by more than 200 runs (last time was 1908, also in Australia)
  •Only one team in Test history has come back from two down to win a series - and it wasn't England!!!
  •Only three times in Tests has a team come back to draw a series after trailing 2-0
  •Australia secured back-to-back Ashes wins for the first time since 2006-07 series
  •England have not passed 400 in their past 20 Test innings
  •Their batsmen have been out 21 times to leg-side catches in the series so far
  •Eight of those dismissals have been caught on the leg-side boundary
  •Mitchell Johnson has 17 wickets at an average of 12, the best Ashes haul after two Tests since Shane Warne
  •Matt Prior's fifty was his first in 17 innings

• RE: ASHES SECOND TEST: ADELAIDE

  willis52 > 09/12/2013, 21:37

  Dreadful batting again and some terrible shot selections. This has been going on for a while but our bowlers bailed us out in the summer and have been doig so for a while prior to this series. I'm not entirely sure what the solution is, but something needs to be done.
  
  We can't play with just two recognised strike bowlers either. Anderson and Broad are going to be burnt out by the 4th test if we're not careful. Panesar played okay, but he's never going to win you a test match. Get Finn back in. He can be erratic but he can also take wickets (a la Mitchell Johnson). Especially as that Perth pitch is still geared up for the fast bowlers

• RE: ASHES SECOND TEST: ADELAIDE

  thewolfman > 09/12/2013, 22:32

  It is hard to know where to start with what is going on at the moment with the England cricket team. I have listened to Test Match Special through this one and during their broadcasts it was an issue which left Michael Vaughan, Sir Geoffrey and even the vultures of the print media speechless.
  
  The most obvious place to start is the batting. Every one of the top seven has now had an innings where they have knuckled down and played with common sense and got in playing exactly how we are used to seeing them. Therefore, surely they should be able to learn by their own experiences that patience and common sense will bring runs and then put the pressure on the bowlers, which brings mistakes. So why on earth are they batting like they are? Hookers in the Vatican will have a better success rate than our lot!
  
  The bowling and fielding has to be a concern, the fact we have to play a bits and pieces all rounder to supplement a failing bowling unit is massively worrying. The catching has been poor at vital times, amazing how the team that is in the mire is the one that always misses their opportunities.
  
  Bottom line is that it will be a massive surprise if the Ashes are still in reach after Perth!
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