England's bowlers going well...

WAXI 314/3 as I write.

The tall trio had a bit of a horror start from all accounts , though Anderson seems to have had a decent day.
Not too bothered...getting rid of some rust. One of the three is going to play at Brisbane so the rest of this match will hopefully see some improvement as they get used to local conditions. Although this pitch doesn't seem to be a typical Perth strip !

Not too worried at this stage. Only Anderson is first choice and his workload would have been limited being the first warm-up. Also sounds like it was very flat bar the first few overs

Not too worried either. Plenty of days for England to get back in the swing of things.

can't read muhc into this warm-up game...except that it's just warming up the bowlers.
the pitch has been made flat....to devoid Eglish batsman acclimitization to real seaming / bouncy conditions.

Gives the coach a chance to see how his bowlers are shaping up in real match conditions in terms of fitness, speed, rythm, control....and not just going by the wicket columns as we might tend to do sitting from a distance

It didn't need a warmup game to tell the England management that Finn and Tremlett are currently woefully inadequate for international cricket.

Fists of Fury wrote:It didn't need a warmup game to tell the England management that Finn and Tremlett are currently woefully inadequate for international cricket.

why did they take them then...if they knew the above for a fact

Is this a 3 day warmup game?

I got money on the draw, was priced at something like 9/4, that should be just printing money...

Johnson has been relased from India to prepare for Ashes duties...he proved himsefl even on the Indian Patta pitches troubling every one with his pace and bounce....no point risking him in meaningless games here.

so unless he injures himself he is a sure starter for T1

Olly wrote:Is this a 3 day warmup game?

I got money on the draw, was priced at something like 9/4, that should be just printing money...

It is only 3 days, and with only 4 wickets falling on the first one, it is exactly like printing money!

Duty281 wrote:

Olly wrote:Is this a 3 day warmup game?

I got money on the draw, was priced at something like 9/4, that should be just printing money...

It is only 3 days, and with only 4 wickets falling on the first one, it is exactly like printing money!

Mental odds, gonna be all over them for the rest of the warm up games I reckon!

well that was a diabolical first day!!! I s'pose the only good thing was the fact that Anderson went at under 2 an over!

I never fail to be surprised by people's reaction to warm-up matches. Particularly the first warm-up match, where the purpose is:
- for batsmen to spend time in the middle and feel the middle of the bat; in this respect a nice 30 or so is preferable to a scratchy 80;
- for bowlers to get overs under their belts, blow away some cobwebs and bowl themselves into rythm. Which is exactly what England's bowlers are doing.

Nothing to worry about yet. If the next warm-up match goes a similar pattern, then maybe.

The more interesting thing is both Stokes and Ballance getting a run ahead of Bairstow. Suggests strongly IMO which way the wind is heading.

Of course something that many Aussie punters are finding worrying is that England are in Australia, yet Australia aren't...

England 268 for 2, in reply to Western Australia's 451 for 5 declared.

Did someone say flat pitch?

It may well be too flat to be a decent test for the batsmen...but I don't think England will mind much. For a first match on tour it has enabled several bowlers to get in twenty or more overs in Australian conditions , maybe blowing away a few cobwebs...and four batsmen already have ha an extended net...
The next two matches will perhaps be more meaningful guides. Much was made of the 2010/11 team going all out to win from the start ; and it certainly seemed to help the confidence within the team : but this time there is a big squad , with a couple of places yet to be settled, and I suspect there will be bit more emphasis on trials for players in these lead ups. Those who didn't play this game will probably start the next , while the final warm up may feature the likely Test team ?

plenty of practise for the main batsmen ......so a good game  for England allround.

they have a few more practise games do there is time for the bolwing to find rythm.

althouhg they could use the 60 over left today to give their bowlers anotehr go.

Ballance rather missed his chance to make an early claim...

Another chance for the fringe bowlers to make an impression : Anderson not bowling in this second innings to let the others have a good work out. I see Finn has grabbed a couple of wickets , but still going at well over five per over. Suspect that final bowling spot will be fought out right up to the start at Brisbane. And England will be hoping Bresnan gets fit soonest to give them an alternative as the series goes on.

finn and rankin with 2 wkts each......but even in the 2nd inning WA going at 4.25 rpo and enlish pacers going at a very expensive rate.

theyx have to get tight in the next games

Trott hit a six.

I need to see this

Mike Selig wrote:I never fail to be surprised by people's reaction to warm-up matches. Particularly the first warm-up match, where the purpose is:
- for batsmen to spend time in the middle and feel the middle of the bat; in this respect a nice 30 or so is preferable to a scratchy 80;
- for bowlers to get overs under their belts, blow away some cobwebs and bowl themselves into rythm. Which is exactly what England's bowlers are doing.

Nothing to worry about yet. If the next warm-up match goes a similar pattern, then maybe.

The more interesting thing is both Stokes and Ballance getting a run ahead of Bairstow. Suggests strongly IMO which way the wind is heading.

Hi folks - apologies for the late post, just back after a few days away.

I take the point made by Mike and certain others that for the reasons given we shouldn't be dramatically concerned by our bowling performance in this opening game. I am though still a bit disappointed that none of Finn, Rankin and Tremlett made much of an impression. I had hoped that at least one of those three giants would have left a bigger footprint. In this era of regular fitness conditioning, practice and general crickeing care, is it unreasonable to expect someone - particularly someone hoping to stake a claim to a Test place - to step up from the very off? Possibly I'm being unfairly demanding and setting my expectations too high but do feel some of the comments are too understanding and mild. After all, we've come on a long way since the days when Colin Milburn used to cadge a lift off a milk float on his pre-season runs!

Good point made by Mike about ''both Stokes and Ballance getting a run ahead of Bairstow''. Fortunate for Bairstow that neither could capitalise on it - up to him in this week's match to show what he can do.

I also saw that of our opening pair, Carberry made 70 odd and Root 30 odd. Suspect the selectors would have been comfortable and certain if those scores had been the other way round.

Root will open guildford unless, Ballance,Bairstow,Stokes fail to score runs in the other warm ups..in which case, Root could go back to 6 and Carbs could open

guildfordbat wrote:

I also saw that of our opening pair, Carberry made 70 odd and Root 30 odd. Suspect the selectors would have been comfortable and certain if those scores had been the other way round.

I'm not so sure Guildford. I think Root is firmly entrenched in the opening role ahead of Carberry.

In fact I think it's good that it shows if one of the openers goes down, Carberry can come in, in decent nick. He was controversial choice

Olly - good to see you out and about or, at least, up and using some form of technology after the disaster that was yesterday for all Norwich fans!

I agree that Carberry is beginning this tour as opening back up to Cook and Root. Sure, the selectors will be pleased if all start well. However, and the point I was really trying to make, things will get interesting and selection more tricky if Carberry continues to outperform Root. Not inconceivable that they could both play in the same Test (one opening with Cook, the other at number 6) although that would seriously raise questions about Bairstow and Ballance being in the touring party.

guildfordbat wrote:Olly - good to see you out and about or, at least, up and using some form of technology after the disaster that was yesterday for all Norwich fans!

I agree that Carberry is beginning this tour as opening back up to Cook and Root. Sure, the selectors will be pleased if all start well. However, and the point I was really trying to make, things will get interesting and selection more tricky if Carberry continues to outperform Root. Not inconceivable that they could both play in the same Test (one opening with Cook, the other at number 6) although that would seriously raise questions about Bairstow and Ballance being in the touring party.

Guildford don't even talk about football, I'm trying to blank it from my mind!!!

I think Carberry is purely the backup opener for this tour. I don't see where he would play barring an injury tbh. That number 6 spot is a troublesome one, I hope Ballance gets the nod personally

Ballance has now played 2 games for a full England side, faced three balls and been out twice. But he's still better then James Taylor, obviously.  

By slating him now, I have made it nailed on that Ballance is man of the series. Thank me later.