TOPIC:

There have been a number of mistakes by Smith in this Test that have now let England in to not only win this Test but the Ashes.
Declaring in the first innings with Marsh still in on 126 instead of batting them completely out of the contest
Not making England follow on when they would have been batting under lights with a new ball to contend with
The lack of intent and purpose with the bat in the 2nd innings lead to a complete capitulation on a good deck
Poor options with the drs not taking when he should have then losing our only 2 reviews within 3 balls
Dropped catch
Poor body language

One of the reasons I tipped England to win this series and retain the Ashes was because I have serious concerns over Smiths captaincy under pressure and they have been proven correct in this Test.

Easy to sit back and criticise from the arm chair I know but when you are earning $5 mill a year like Smith you have to be made accountable!

Smith allowed Anderson and Broad et al to get under his skin and predictable result was they found a way to get him out.
IMO the simple rule to sledging is to give heaps to the opposition and when they respond you ignore them. When Jimmy Anderson was niggling Smith by trying to block his between wickets running Smith should have just stepped aside and ignored him instead of carrying on like a two bob watch.
Anderson and Broad have been niggling the Aussies for years and our blokes just don't get it.

BH: all correct on Smith, but he also has other black marks against him for other reeasons. Remember last season he nearly lost the day night test against Pakistan by declarring?

He needs to learn how to do the 'simple things well' in his captaincy.

To be fair though Smith cannot control the weather and his declaration on the 2nd day came as an attacking move to stick England in for 30 overs in the night session where they could have concievably plucked out 4 or 5 wickets in those conditions and it would have been game over. As it turned out they only got 9 overs before the rain swept in .

Interesting that Smith didn't consult with the bowlers before making the decision not to enforce the follow on but looking at the rather insipid performances of the pace bowlers today bar Cummins who was magnificent, maybe Smith thought correctly that they didnt have anything left in the tank and maybe England would have been 0 -80 at stumps who knows, we are all armchair critics wise after the event.

Smith can also only hold up a shaky batting order for so long, what was Warner doing last night? He should have been arrested for loitering at the wicket. And as for Hanscomb, he really should forget about mouthing off at the opposition and focus on the pathetic shot he played today when his team were in deep trouble. 138 on a good pitch is just abysmal and they really deserve to lose. Whether they do or not will depend on their ability to remove Root early tomorrow. If Joe stays there and scores 150, the other batsmen will score the rest.

Starc and Hazlewood need to lift tomorrow and provide some support to Cummins and Lyon who have been consistent throughout. History is on Australias side but I think Smith would not be sleeping restfully tonight. I agree with BH that his body language on the field is not a good look and would have a negative impact on the other players looking at that.

mikeh: good post -- the only thing I would add is that had Mith batted on it would have been an aggressive thing to do. Since, Steve Waugh's time, we have had --- Warne says it all the time on the commentary -- an obsession with playing aggresive cricket, which he got away with because he had a good side. This Australian side is evenly matched with England -- at best -- and needs to play good cricket not attacking cricket.

As for Smiths DRS reviews against Root and Malan. The one on Root was fair enough I thought as it was unclear to the naked eye whether it had come off bat or body. The LBW in the next over was a poor call as height has been an issue with LBW's in this match and this one looked high even at full speed.
I think the two umpires in this game have been sub standard, they have lost confidence as the match has gone on due to the number of decisions that were overturned on the first few days.

No matter what happens in the test today, there have been some performances in the shield this week which will give the selectors food for thought before the next test in Perth.

Queensland V SA
Travis Head 132
Alex Carey 139
Joe Burns 202 not out

Vic V WA
Glenn Maxwell 96

TAS v NSW
Jackson Bird 7 - 105 in the match

If the Aussies lose the test I wonder if any of these guys might be in the frame for a call up at the WACA. Hanscomb in particular is under the gun and would be checking his phone nervously

Mikey, some good results there but they want an all rounder, The WACA has been a bit of a road this year, and MCG and SCG are worse.
Maxwell has hardly bowled against WA, and he bowls offies like Lyon.

M Marsh will play and bat 6, S Marsh will bat 5 and handscombe will drop out.

That might be harsh on Peter but he has technical flaws, and FYI he is the only one left from the 5 "Saviours" that were bought into the Australia side for the Adelaide test least year.

Of the other 4, Bird is the backup bowler, Wade is done at test level, Maddison keeps getting out to straight ones, and Renshaw has tome things he needs to work on. It just shows the selectors are still unsure of the best 11 players in the country

Australia's bacon has been saved by a good opening salvo in the first few overs of the last day - a few more credits for Dave Saker the bowlers coach , no doubt in the world he's got the trundlers aside last night showed a few tapes & tapped them on the shoulders about consistent lines & pressure

Paine has been brought in so 4 quicks can be chosen when required - no other reasoning , PH will drop out for Perth & probably Melbourne if the Ashes are secured

The head coach's son is right in the mix for a debut very soon - wait for it

Australia lucky to get away with that in the end.

Can't understand any logic that Paine was brought in so 4 quick's can be chosen, what's the difference between 3 or 4 to a keeper?

Maybe the head coaches son will get a game, I think it is more likely that another Marsh boy gets another recall.