This is why test cricket is so boring at the moment. Teams win at home while the away side looks clueless. I fully expect England to hammer both Pakistan and India in the summer.

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

Pakistan with a new test team will struggle in cold May/June when there will be a lot of swing/seam.

Against India it might be closer as it will be warmer, pitches will be more worn and pitch curators will be instructed to create 5 day pitches because India bring in a lot of fans and TV money.

Liverpool I didn’t give any names when I said England pick average bowlers. I said they pick average bowlers then said all the pacers they are picking are the same bowlers. My point being if you have Anderson and broad, why do you pick the other 2. What different things do they bring in the team. The average bowlers are guys like Woakes, Moeen Ali.

Kash agreed with what you say. Test cricket has been so one sided since 2010s now. All teams that are winning are either at home or conditions that are familiar to them. Eng won in SA as it’s seam friendly, India win across subcontinent as it’s very similar conditions to what they get in home, aus sometimes win in SA as it offers the bounce they get at home and same goes with SA in either eng or Aus.

With the new FTPs coming out, we are going to see low number test matches and more limited overs. Might help the slow death test cricket has seen over the past 7 years where the level of competition is next to none.

woakes was playing better than any of our bowlers before his last injury. he's taken a few weeks to get fit but then has come into an ashes series where the conditions do not really suit. in the one test so far that provided a bit of movement for the pace bowlers he was a major part of the destruction of Australia for <150.

the problem is that there is not a great stock of seriously fast bowlers in England at present. so as much as the current four are struggling they probably are four of the best available. ultimately this series is being lost because of poor batting, which is where the selectors need to start in looking for changes for the summer.

Probs cook...Jimmy and broads last tour... possibly last ashes.

Steve Smith is exceptional on the roads of Australia and Asia etc, but his ugly technique is far less effective against the swinging and seaming ball, the same goes for Kohli, both are fine players but for me De Villiers is still the no.1 batsman around.

England at present just don`t have the bowling attack to get Smith out on flat pitches sadly.

Yes i agree with most about test teams winning at home and struggling away.
I think its to do with the standard of cricket.. No team stands out.. Looking at the aussies batting..Apart from Smith and sometimes Warner. You still fancy bowling them out cheaply.
England dont win in Australia apart from once in the last 30 years.. Australia havent won in england for 16 years..only 4 test wins in that time...
No team is stand out.. Unlike the australians of the 1990s and mid 2000s and the west-indies of the 80s

I know england have been crap in this series. But they were worse last time around..

comment by sandy (U20567)
posted 3 hours, 11 minutes ago
The bottom line is despite idiots like Botham saying Australia are a poor side, they simply are not. They are in fact quite useful. They can bat, and post big scores, and they can bowl, and bowl teams out twice. All the ingredients you need to win Test Matches.
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They arent a great side (except smith} but i agree their level has been negatively exaggerated. All of England's weaknesses have been exposed in this series. They dont have the tools to take 20 wickets on these pitches, or to post competitive batting scores on them. The batting in particular has been exposed because, unlike in England, you cant get away with a below par batting total in australia

His much dya'll reckon Ben Stokes stock has gone up by

I still the member warney winding up Botham before the ashes "but beefy moeens a better allrounder than Stokes" he kept saying with a big grin. Beefy had a right face on and refused to look at him

Australia have the bowling to pick 20 wickets everywhere. I think they lack quality in their batting when they travel away and it tends to be smith holding their batting more often than not.

It’s unfair to say smith only scores at home. He is actually the only batsmen in the last few years that has consistently scored across all different conditions. He has an ugly technique but it has worked miracles for him and his team and more so than the text book techniques of some of the other players like Root and Amla

I can see this being cooks last ashes down-under. He might play the home season next year and the following year but don’t think he will come back again here. He struggled quite badly in Australia in the last 2 Ashes and cant really see him have the motivation to try and fight it out

(Kash) I'm the Mané, I'm the Mané - Justice4Gaza (U1108)

posted 6 hours, 40 minutes ago

Pakistan with a new test team will struggle in cold May/June when there will be a lot of swing/seam.

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im dreading that series

pak will be demlosihed 2-0 and lose noth matches by an innings.

love what mickey arthur has done so far with pakistan cricket however pak has gone backwards and back to their dark days in test format yet made huge strides in the shorter formats - the odi and T20s which is a major worry becos i want Pak to be consistent in Tests.

Also England will be looking for revenge and boost their averages and personal bests etc with all this current hammering.

I wonder what aussie will do tomorrow

if only they had a george bailey - slog hard in the 1st hour before england even get to the new ball and put them in.

i wonder if the england managment have the cajones to drop broad and anderson and put in curran and wood.

also will have to assess overton as he has been magnificent a true brave heart soldiering on with a cracked rib.

love moeen ali but he is out of form and needs a break and replace him with crane.

as for cook - legend however he needs to go.

Stoneman
Vince
Root
Bairstow
Malan
Foakes
Woakes
Overton
Crane
Curran
Wood

This test is over but it will be interesting to see the rest as Smith is going for a white wash. I still think England will win one.

i do think england will win one test match.

this aussie are not the most dangerous team with only smith the major difference as well as the express pace bowlers who can sledge.

comment by GrandeLicha! (U9988)
posted 9 minutes ago
i do think england will win one test match.

this aussie are not the most dangerous team with only smith the major difference as well as the express pace bowlers who can sledge.
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Ru sure Grande? All ur predictions have been dead wrong and mine always correct.. Even after the hammering ur getting currently, u still think englund will win one test? Again mark my words; be ready for white wash! Only rain can save ur ass with a draw pal.. U also forgot that a mediocre player like Marsh ripping ur old trundlers like kids 😂😂

It also seems u never learn from ur wrong predictions and have egg on ur face My two cents; u should stop predicting for some time until u understand the whole nine yards my frnd..

i dont respond to ur comments becos its not befitting for a lion to respond to barkig of a sheep

by the way im NOT an england supporter however i would like to some even contest

however aussie have layer better overall. will be interesting what smith will do tomorrow slog hard or declare early.

comment by GrandeLicha! (U9988)
posted 2 minutes ago
i dont respond to ur comments becos its not befitting for a lion to respond to barkig of a sheep

by the way im NOT an england supporter however i would like to some even contest

however aussie have layer better overall. will be interesting what smith will do tomorrow slog hard or declare early.
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Wow bro. It seems u got really butt hurt with facts shown to u. On this forum I don’t have to prove I’m sheep or lion by u pal 😂

Real men don’t have to show anything and I won’t go down to ur level. Now back to the game, even some other posters saw ur shortcomings and there is no shame in denial. I wish u da best to heal my frnd from the injuries u suffered pal..

Good luck

comment by SOS Usmanov (U21076)
posted 11 hours, 2 minutes ago
comment by GrandeLicha! (U9988)
posted 1 day, 16 hours ago
england shud coast to victory now

cant see aussies getting back into this

final game at the waca and they cant wait to see the back of this place as they have a poor record there of late.
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Idiot
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Here is an eye opener for u mate. Hope u understand with ur tiny brain cells.

Time to move on babe!

before this series i actually wanted aussies to win but after seeing how arrogant you are i hope england win the next 2 tests and im NOT an england fan.

im a Pakistan fan cant wait for Pak to make roti out of ur team when u come to UAE or Pakistan.

I don’t have any hard feelings bro and real men don’t care for such minor stuff.. Now there is a big difference being arrogant or just mere showing facts amego. Some folks here in JA606 and experts on Cricinfo put englund in such high pedestal and thought they will just crossover them. All I did, with my cricket knowledge that Aussies were well prepared & ready for englund. U also know I’m an Indian fan so don’t really care whoever wins Ashes.

In regards to Pak cricket, I agree ur team in ODIs has improved but they have a long way to go. And bother bringing tests bro, ur lucky we ain’t playing u now as we will win very easily. I hope in future we can play each other when circumstances between our Nations improve! In my view that is the biggest cricket rivalry in World Cricket!

I feel Stokes’ absence and behaviour has affected England a lot more than people think. Aside from ruining the teams dynamics because Stokes is as good as a world class all rounder you can get at the moment, it has also meant Aussie media and the crowd has put even more pressure on the visitors which they love to do down under. This has further led to silly incidents with Bairstow and Duckett with the Aussies having a field day.

However on the field they have been comprehensively outplayed mostly by that freak Smith who is top drawer. Guy just hardly gets out. I didn’t expect England to romp to a series win but the results are pretty damning. Anderson and Broad look pretty useless outside their comfort zone of a swinging Duke ball under the clouds at Trent Bridge. The likes of Woakes and Overton have huffed and puffed but they are no match for the Aussie pace and guile. Ali for me also is not a number 6/7 or a frontline spinner. That’s another reason why Stokes has been so badly missed. Ali not at 8 and without another pace option has hit England hard.

However Root’s captaincy needs to be questioned. He’s almost been trying damage limitation with Smith from the get-go with 6 leg side fielders ffs. How about actually trying to get him out from the start like they did at Adelaide? England need to pray for rain the next two days and then hope they can maintain some credibility from this series because another 5-0 is not far away.