TOPIC:

Beasley Hutton wrote: Warner and Harris fail again.
The worst opening partnership I have ever seen for Australia.

Been a crappy tour for Warner
He's scored 2 runs off 14 balls faced
Then 8 runs from 8 balls faced.
3 runs from 17.
5 runs off 11 balls.
A duck from 2 balls faced.
Another duck from 2 or 3 balls.
A third duck from 5.
and 5 runs from 8 deliveries.
Only had the one decent innings with a score of 61 off 94 balls faced.
Might find a bit of form in the second innings?

Have said it consistently over this Ashes series and today just highlighted it once and for all take out Smith and this is the worst Australian batting line up I have ever ever seen.
Absolutely putrid performance with the bat today on a cracking batting deck at the oval and a line should be marked through Harris, Wade & Paine before this summers 1st Test at the Gabba- never to play Test cricket again!
Time to give Burns, Patterson, Carey & co an extended run in the baggy green.

Gotta feeling though BH...the "enormity" of this achievement to retain the ashes will cloud the better judgement of those selecting the side...a couple of healthy knocks on a few roads back home will soon help erase the inadequacy of a few of these boys techniques.....been a series where both sides top six have been embarrassingly less than average....thank fark Aust have Smith and not Root.

One thing I have noted...the huge bowling workload of Cummins has really affected his batting....some of those boys in the top six should be really embarrassed with themselves...not too sure how they can even look the bowlers in the eyes....and take their match fees as well.....

Beasley Hutton wrote: Have said it consistently over this Ashes series and today just highlighted it once and for all take out Smith and this is the worst Australian batting line up I have ever ever seen.
Absolutely putrid performance with the bat today on a cracking batting deck at the oval and a line should be marked through Harris, Wade & Paine before this summers 1st Test at the Gabba- never to play Test cricket again!
Time to give Burns, Patterson, Carey & co an extended run in the baggy green.

Totally agree BH, but what does that make most of the pommie batting lineup? Aust have 2 batters and the bowlers, the rest have been a total liability, just heard Smith was batting under some duress with a bad cold or the flu, how mentally tough is this bloke?

Freezin wrote: Gotta feeling though BH...the "enormity" of this achievement to retain the ashes will cloud the better judgement of those selecting the side...a couple of healthy knocks on a few roads back home will soon help erase the inadequacy of a few of these boys techniques.....been a series where both sides top six have been embarrassingly less than average....thank fark Aust have Smith and not Root.

One thing I have noted...the huge bowling workload of Cummins has really affected his batting....some of those boys in the top six should be really embarrassed with themselves...not too sure how they can even look the bowlers in the eyes....and take their match fees as well.....

Spot on Freeze if I was Cummins, Hazlewood, Lyon etc I would be deadset filthy that these pretenders like Harris, Wade, Paine and Warner (though he has at least pulled his weight in the past) are getting probably the same $$ as them who along with Smith with the bat have carried us all series.
Lets not hide away from the fact taking out Steve Smith and England have actually out batted us in every statistic possible- more centuries (Eng-3, Aus-1), more 50s (Eng-11, Aus-, better opening partnerships etc. Steve Smith has really carried us and hidden how poor (bar Labuschagne) our batting really is!
SS it wouldnt surprise me as he didnt seem his normal self last night but still top scored and gutsed it out unlike the other jokers in that batting line up!

good posts all: England played without Archer and Anderson in the first test, just to put it further in perspective. In some ways this has been a re-run of the 1930 series.

SS I have commented on England's batting line up many times: only Root would come close to getting into the 2005 side.

Yeah Ark ....but then Smith didn't play in the Headingley test....so in Smith's current form add another 100 to the score....push the day for Stokes to bat to day 5...and would of Eng won?....all folk know is that Archer nor Anderson match fit and Smith for those respective tests they missed.....

the only thing definitive was that very poor non LBW by the ump at Headingley....surely in the circumstances with LBW being so close in line to the stumps at that point in the game and Eng having a review left in the bank....the sensible option would of been to give Stokes out and let Stokes review....then no team would of felt cheated with the end decision.... sadly Aust were and that will always be remembered along side Stokes fantastic knock.....

Freezin: interesting post. Smith missed a test because of good England bowlling not selection policy. Did Australia really deserve to win in Leeds after England recoverred from being bowlled out for 60 in the first innings? Or for that matter, after England had scorred its highest score on the fourth innings to win an Ashes test> There was some good bowlling and good batting by England and we should acknowledge it, as indeed other posters did at the time.

don't forget to add in that Australia batted with a substitute to save the game at Lord's from memory. However, one could also point to the fact that, the English captain batted 40 minutes too long before declarring; either way, Australia were fortunate.

I would still have that concussion law removed from the laws, England were penalised for good cricket; unless, of course, they introduce a full substitution, where both sides can have a replacement if one of their players breaks an arm, gets hit over their heart, or stubs one of their toes while batting or bowlling.

Actually, Freeezin during the Lord's test, I was hoping that Australia would bat well so that no substitute would be needed. It was and will remain a blight on the great sport of cricket.

Senior Seagull wrote:

Beasley Hutton wrote: Have said it consistently over this Ashes series and today just highlighted it once and for all take out Smith and this is the worst Australian batting line up I have ever ever seen.
Absolutely putrid performance with the bat today on a cracking batting deck at the oval and a line should be marked through Harris, Wade & Paine before this summers 1st Test at the Gabba- never to play Test cricket again!
Time to give Burns, Patterson, Carey & co an extended run in the baggy green.

Should add Marsh as this was the BIG chance to prove he was up to Test class. His batting record is not up to scratch.. All Pee & wind.

Erasmus is definitely a not outer: someone has to explain the DRS to the captain.