Cricket anyone?

It was a fantastic series, right up there with the very best ever.

What pleases me is that we’ve evolved as it’s progressed from at times mindless hit and hope Bazball cricket to calm and calculated attacking Bazball cricket. From scoring runs as quickly as possible and almost sod the consequences to really intelligent cricket.

Two things stopped us from winning the series.

Firstly the usual Manchester rain.

Secondly the declaration on day one that put us on the back foot. I’ll never forgive Stokes for that, at that exact moment in the game when we had arguably our best batsman at the crease and we were scoring runs for fun. It made no sense then and still makes no sense now. Stokes was trying to be clever and it backfired. But he learned from it. We all make mistakes.
 
Daggers, I think the rain helped England on Day 4 at The Oval.
Australia were under no pressure.
We will never know what they could have scored when the rain intervened.
At the start of Day 5 conditions seemed to favour England.
But... They did still have to work very hard to bowl them out.
Brilliant viewing
 
I think the rain today helped us too. It was an astonishing collapse but one that Australia have threatened before this series.
 
Can't help think it's the Aussies who will go away and have a rethink.
A tight series which the Aussie retained the Ashes but England got under their skin.
I personally thought that Bazball against these would be a disaster against quality bowling, but England stuck at it and I think they rattled the Aussies.
There is something refreshing watching England take the game to them, especially after the many years in my lifetime when it's been completely the reverse.
Great to see Broady bow out at the top of his game. Fantastic career.
 
LGFOX said:
Have to say that was THE greatest example of a Test Series. Well done to both sides. That was a real sporting contest. It had everything
Click to expand...
Short memories, I'd say.
2005 was better in pretty much every way I can think of. Not by much, but better.
One very good example of how that was the case was the way that it crossed over into wider society and got huge numbers of non-cricket fans glued to it. Even, in my experience at the time, in non-traditionally cricket countries like France, Scotland and Ireland.
 
I remember when tests in this country started on a Thursday and finished on a Tuesday with Sunday as a rest day.
The next test would start a week on Thursday.
If it was a 5 test series there would be a extra week's rest.
As said previously, it's all crammed in to cater for T20, ODI internationals and now The Circus. Sorry I meant The Hundred 😉
 
DagenhamFox said:
I think the rain today helped us too. It was an astonishing collapse but one that Australia have threatened before this series.
Click to expand...
the change of ball was probably just as significant - the umpires certainly did us a favour

i think the test the Aussies had against India helped prepare them for what was to come whereas we started 'cold' and it showed

By the end we were the strongest team - shame it wasn't a 6 match series
 
The England Ashes Tour of 1970/71 was a scheduled 6 Test series that turned into 7 Tests as the 3rd Test in Melbourne was abandoned without a ball being bowled and rearranged as the 5th Test. 2 tests were played at Sydney.
The England team led by Ray Illingworth had been contemptuously dismissed by the Australian press beforehand as “Dads Army” and having no chance in the series. The average age of the team selected was over 30.
First Test at Brisbane - Drawn.
Second Test at Perth - Drawn.
Third Test at Melbourne - Abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Fourth Test at Sydney - England beat Australia by 299 runs.
Fifth Test at Melbourne - Drawn.
Sixth Test at Adelaide - Drawn.
Seventh Test at Sydney- England beat Australia by 62 runs.
During the Australian first innings John Snow strikes Terry Jenner on the side of the head with a short ball which Jenner ducked into. Umpire Rowan had warned Snow in his previous 2 overs about too many short pitched deliveries. Jenner is helped from the pitch. Snow goes to field at fine leg in front of the Paddington “Hill” as bottles and cans rain down on that part of the pitch. Snow is then manhandled by a spectator over the boundary fence. Illingworth leads his team off the pitch and refuses to carry on until his teams safety is guaranteed. Play is held up for seven minutes and nine spectators are arrested. England return to the field having ignored threats from the umpires that they would forfeit the match.
England win the 7 Test series 2-0 ( the only series where Australia have failed to win a single test).
The same two Australian umpires,Rowan and Brooks,officiated in 5 of the tests with another Australian O’Connell taking part in 2.
Remarkably(draw your own conclusions here)England were not awarded a single LBW decision during the entire series. The only time in the history of the Ashes that this has occurred!
Cricketer turned journalist Richard Whittington describing John Snow at the time “When he loped in off a sinisterly deceptive approach to bowl, he wore malevolence like Mandrake wore a cloak”.
 
foxesneverquit said:
I remember when tests in this country started on a Thursday and finished on a Tuesday with Sunday as a rest day.
The next test would start a week on Thursday.
If it was a 5 test series there would be a extra week's rest.
As said previously, it's all crammed in to cater for T20, ODI internationals and now The Circus. Sorry I meant The Hundred 😉
Click to expand...
I remember when Mars bars were 7p. Things change
 
Brilliant series, to draw the Ashes and prevent the Aussies winning their first series for 23 years was quite something. Stokes must know the declaration at Edgbaston contributed to a narrow defeat along with missed catches by Bairstow. England were incredible at Old Trafford they battered the Aussies, England were so unlucky, the rain whipping across the Pennines and Manchester that day meant we couldn't win the series. Yesterday was a truly wonderful roller coaster day, one to remember, for that will be the last time we see Broad, Moeen Ali and maybe Jimmy Anderson play a test for England. I think unlike other things of the modern age, cricket has just got better, give me this over international football any day.
 
TopFox said:
One very good example of how that was the case was the way that it crossed over into wider society and got huge numbers of non-cricket fans glued to it. .
Click to expand...
The power of terrestrial TV. Such a shame the ashes isnt a listed event.

How many youngsters would have been inspired watching it on school holidays? How many of today's squad were inspired watching that series as a kid?
 
Adumass said:
The power of terrestrial TV. Such a shame the ashes isnt a listed event.

How many youngsters would have been inspired watching it on school holidays? How many of today's squad were inspired watching that series as a kid?
Click to expand...
True, but my memories of 2005 crossing over weren't related to relatively few people sat at home watching all day, but it being on the radio in taxis in Ireland, in shops in France, and at train stations in Scotland, etc. It was still on the radio this summer.
And I'm sure there'd have been plenty of youngsters watching it on their phones (as they don't watch TV, apparently) during the school holidays – if the first four matches had been during the school holidays instead of being crammed in early for one-day bish bash bosh reasons.
Personally I also think Australia in particular had far better players that series, so England beating them meant a lot more. And they only lost a key bowler to injury for one or two games that summer, not virtually the whole series...
 
I would go out on a limb and say that's the best Ashes series in England since 1981. If not for manchester rain and Stokes early declaration in the first test we would've wiped the floor with the Aussies who are a great side.
Edited to add: Lyons injury was also key for the final 2 tests. Had he been playing maybe we wouldn't have won/drawn.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
foxesneverquit said:
I remember when tests in this country started on a Thursday and finished on a Tuesday with Sunday as a rest day.
The next test would start a week on Thursday.
If it was a 5 test series there would be a extra week's rest.
As said previously, it's all crammed in to cater for T20, ODI internationals and now The Circus. Sorry I meant The Hundred 😉
Click to expand...
the rotation of test grounds has to have time to recover from all the games.
Personally i think at least a couple more grounds should be added, and built up to the standard that befits a test match.
I really don't see why they can't add some of the ODI/T20 international grounds to the test rotation, there's nothing in the south west and they could add Bristol or the rose bowl in soton, but both would require investment and building.
ECB have been raking the money in this summer, it's the least they can do.
 
Billsballbag said:
Whilst exciting that series was a farce. Half the bowlers broke down because they crammed 5 tests into hardly any time at all to fit it in before the bloody fukking Hundred.

Before August and the Test summer is over.
Click to expand...
The really quick bowlers are always breaking down and getting injured. I’d be surprised if we see Archer in an England test shirt again.
 
Tuz_Not_Tuzz said:
the rotation of test grounds has to have time to recover from all the games.
Personally i think at least a couple more grounds should be added, and built up to the standard that befits a test match.
I really don't see why they can't add some of the ODI/T20 international grounds to the test rotation, there's nothing in the south west and they could add Bristol or the rose bowl in soton, but both would require investment and building.
ECB have been raking the money in this summer, it's the least they can do.
Click to expand...
I’ve seen test match cricket at The Rose Bowl. I’ve seen Ashes cricket at Durham and Cardiff, but believe the Australia series should be played at the biggest grounds so more spectators can get to watch.

I’ve not been to Bristol or Taunton. Maybe Bristol could be built up to be a 20,000 stadium? I’m not sure there’s space to do so given the flats at one end.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top