60 needed from the last 6, this is going to be tight.
60 needed from the last 6, this is going to be tight.
If they get Bas it's over.
I’m not sure I’d be keeping a spinner on.
Case in point. For fuck sake.
Fat bastard with the worst possible over at the worst possible time. That should be game
Some effort by Bas, he was a walking wicket earlier in the tourbament.
Where the fuck is Chris Sole and why isn’t he bowling
The most Scottish result I think I have ever seen.
The umpire not giving out for the LBW decision has fucked it.
De Leede, fucking hell. Harsh on the Scots that.
I see it's been a stellar day for ol' iron gloves so far.
Frying pans for gloves. He'd not look out of place in my team.
Only a hundred runs on Root's drop as well.
And all the extras.
At some point the vibes are going to have to face the fact that everything is a bit lax to be taking on a team like Australia.
Maybe in terms of the whole format but the game itself they just absolutely shit themselves.Originally Posted by Ben
To be fair to Baz we've been very average in the catching department since Flower left.
You lads who play would know: is that just a lack of practice? Is there a particular knack to getting your fielding sharp or is it just hours spent correcting technique then doing it until it's as much muscle memory as anything else?
It's concentration, I think. Particularly if we're talking keeper and slips. They all know how to catch a ball.
Last edited by Jimmy Floyd; 06-07-2023 at 03:10 PM.
Concentration is the whole game in the cordon.
Personally I'm a good catcher in the ring or on the fence but slips is entirely different. Guaranteed the one that comes your way is the one ball you're distracted by the puppy running round the boundary. Reflexes are useful but it's mostly mental. I'd much rather be under one that's touched the moon than being at first slip to the moonball spinner.
I always found the fizz of the ball very difficult to cope with in the slips.
Mark Wood in absolute full flight here.
We've lulled them into playing BazBall.
I have a concentration routine I use as an umpire whereby I switch off completely at dead ball, have a walk around and look at the sky/dogs/spectators, then do a mental trigger on some visible landmark (tree/sign/building etc), step into my footmarks again, listen for the bowler coming in, and when he's beside me the focus goes ON and all my concentration is poured into the next couple of seconds. I got it from Mike Atherton who used to do the same batting. Would surprise me if the best slippers don't do something similar.
Nothing better than some proper fast bowling
Carey very much lacking the stomach for it.
There's the difference in a good wicketkeeper.
Love Mark Wood.
Aussie’s might win this test by a fair bit. England’s batting isn’t good enough even with Baz Ball against these lot. Joe Root having a stinker
Agree with Nasser. The options aren't limited to either play a shot and get out, or fend and get out. When the situation calls for it, you can also duck and leave it, but that doesn't seem to be compatible with the new style.
I think attributing every ball (whether a positive or negative for England) to Bazball is overdoing it. Stokes is the leader of the pack and he still has the mentality to play himself in according to the situation. Root is usually like this as well so whatever the tactics, the cream still rises to the top. Take Bazball away and Crawley is still horrendous on that fifth stump line. Take Bazball away and Bairstow is still a poor wicketkeeper.
Ultimately, Australia man-for-man are just far better than we are and Bazball in my opinion has to be seen as a positive because it's allowing players to compete in the Test arena who otherwise would be playing 2nd team by now if Chris Silverwood was still in charge. Take Bazball away and we still lose the series convincingly but do so with Burns and Sibley at 2 runs per over. At least there's a bit of thrill involved now. We got ourselves far too excited during the last year of insane wins but whatever the outcome of this series, English cricket is still miles ahead of where it was 18 months ago.
Vaughan was bleating on this morning about playing "Bazball with brains" which is great but almost unachievable. You'd have to have that 2000 era Australia side to even contemplate being that dominant for any sustained period. Tactics and vibes only get you so far.
Last edited by Ben; 07-07-2023 at 12:40 PM.
Should probably start calling is Stokesball really.
How many catches did Australia put down in that innings?
Has an England player other than Broad got Warner out in recent years? That’s 17 times he’s got him out
Not sure the Bairstow wicketkeeper gambit could really have gone much worse. His batting has been pretty wank as well.
He’s just too fat. WK is a specialist position and Foakes is incredibly good. If you want Bairstow in, just put him in at 3 and tell him to do his thing.
Fuck me he’s caught one. Game on!
That’s a big wicket.
It's been mentioned before that Bairstow will throw a wobbly if he's asked to just bat. And throwing a wobbly is bad for the vibes.
I play in a Yorkshire area Premier League so I know players who are in and around the Yorkshire squad and they all say Bairstow is a wanker.
You can tell by watching him. He's the lad in your group that will always start some trouble on a night out. Gets around it by also being the lad that'll have your back regardless of what's gone on.
Bairstow annoys me for his whining about keeping despite being shit at it in exactly the same way C Ronaldo did for insisting on taking freekicks, except he's only barely good enough to get in England's test XI, rather than being arguably the greatest footballer of all time.
Keeping is clearly an emotional thing for him re his dad
Best case scenario today would be to get out there for a few bursts in Headingly Special doomsday conditions, or perhaps just an hour or so at the end.
Whilst many [perhaps almost all] periods of play in the series have felt pivotal, if they manage to get out here for any amount of time this one feels extra extra pivotal from an England perspective.
Also if it starts doing bits straight away Australia should probably declare.
1 whole over.
What's tomorrows forecast?
No refunds!
Could do with Jimmy for this hour or so
What a strange way to nick it to the keeper.
Utter shambles from England if they can’t win from here
Should be fairly sunny all tomorrow afternoon
If they get the Aussies 8 or 9 down tonight, they should be in prime position. You don't want to be chasing much further north of 250 though.
Bairstow continuing to be an embarrassment in the field. Can’t believe he made Brook take that catch there. Properly bailed him out
All this rain has properly helped England out. Finally someone to assist Ben Stokes
Last edited by Waffdon; 08-07-2023 at 05:11 PM.
England need to stop Australia lulling their way to another 30-40 runs here. This is a great total, but it's creeping up.
Tough though as you'd like to avoid Starc cleaning up Duckett/Crawley tonight.
this short ball strategy to head is going well
There's just so much more batting in the Aussie team. This is looking like a chase for something towards 300 at this rate.
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