The Ashes, Second Test Lord's

First topic message reminder :

Harris and Khwaja in.
Aus's bowling depth is so good that they can drop who was rated to be their top fast bowler without blinking an eyelid.

alfie wrote:Fifty for Root , , and he celebrates with another nicely stroked cover boundary  

Had a bit of luck last night when Haddin and Clarke froze , but he is doing what a good player should and making them pay...

Might settle the "great selection blunder" theorists down a bit.  Not proof that he is a born opener yet , but a start.

You mean people like KP_Fan. The type that disappear when they are proved wrong. Or when their team is losing at home to the one they despise most.

I think Agar's freak innings in that first Test did us a favour. Not good enough for Test cricket with the ball yet, so keeping the more dangerous and experienced Nathan Lyon out of the team.

Thing is , this pitch usually doesn't deteriorate much over the last couple of days. Hot dry weather may make a difference this time , but with not much in the way of cloud cover promised you would think bowling last won't be all that much fun , so the more runs the better.
Sure , Australia currently don't look capable of a big score , especially under final innings pressure ; but I am a great believer in never taking your foot off a wounded opponent's neck...

VTR wrote:

alfie wrote:Fifty for Root , , and he celebrates with another nicely stroked cover boundary  

Had a bit of luck last night when Haddin and Clarke froze , but he is doing what a good player should and making them pay...

Might settle the "great selection blunder" theorists down a bit.  Not proof that he is a born opener yet , but a start.

You mean people like KP_Fan. The type that disappear when they are proved wrong. Or when their team is losing at home to the one they despise most.

Well now , VTR ...I wasn't going to mention any names  

We won't talk about Bresnan...

Ha ha. Well I had my doubts about Bresnan but I will put my hand up and say "what the eff do I know?".

Our friend we are not referring to will never admit he is wrong, or stop banging on about DRS like an old woman

Hundred up  

Reckon KP will be kicking himself for chucking his wicket last night...hopefully will spur him to big runs at Old Trafford ...

alfie wrote:

Biltong wrote:

kingraf wrote:Worried about our stint as #1 at the moment. No signs of Australia having anything to stop the English juggernaut, and we are going to UAE next. We have India at home, but I cant believe any team can be wiped in three consecutive away Test series. Australia after that, so if England keep doing what they do, there might be a to-and-fro with the rankings

our future record in series wins are more important to me mate, the ranking is just a number, I don't really care who has it.

We just need to win test series. That is all.

 Completely in agreement with this view .

Yep, look at it this way, all of a sudden SA is now being recognised as a good team, simply because we are number 1, yet for thepast 6 years we have been tearing it up. How does that make any sense, I much rather have the six year streak we have had than getting all warm and fuzzy because of the number 1 ranking.

I forgot to say congrats tp young Root, really hope he can use this as a springboard and cement himself as an opener.

Duty281 wrote:

dyrewolfe wrote:

Duty281 wrote:

dyrewolfe wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Now then, I might be jinxing him (hopefully not), but I have a good feeling that Root will make a 150+ score today with the bat.  

I hope not...as that would tend to suggest England have batted far too long. We only need to add 200 max to our 1st innings lead to bat Australia out of this.

If we have the chance, we should declare at lunchtime tomorrow. 5 sessions to bowl Australia out is more than enough.

I dunno - I reckon we could declare some time after tea (around 4:00 - 4:30) and have the match wrapped up tomorrow. If we can, we may as well.

No rush sir. May as well wear the pitch down a bit more.

Why though? They couldn't get near 200 first innings.

A lead of anything much over 400 is just batting practice for us and well out of reach of Australia's ability to chase. The match is already enough of a no-contest as it is.

I'd like the Aussies to think they at least have a sniff of a chance.

I'm with duty. I won't them to get a such practice as possible and to et runs, take time out of the game and give Aussie no sniff at all.

I think KP will get a big score in this series. Think about this way: its almost certain to be 2-0 without Cook, Trott, KP or Prior doing much. That's our main 4 batsmen over the last few years.

You could argue the Aussie batting has not come to party either, but Clarke aside none of them have the track record that the above 4 have.

VTR wrote:Ha ha. Well I had my doubts about Bresnan but I will put my hand up and say "what the eff do I know?".

Our friend we are not referring to will never admit he is wrong, or stop banging on about DRS like an old woman

. I wasn't actually having even a mild dig at you , VTR , (had forgotten you were not in the Bresnan camp) - it was our friend KP f who was also most vehement in his condemnation of the selectors for picking "the county trundler "

100 on the board for England and the lead is up to 333.

Can't see us going much beyond 200-250.

Crossed wires alfie - I knew you weren't having a dig at me. I'm not sure I said anything about Bres on here but definitely did at work yesterday, about 10 seconds before he took that first wicket!

VTR wrote:I think KP will get a big score in this series. Think about this way: its almost certain to be 2-0 without Cook, Trott, KP or Prior doing much. That's our main 4 batsmen over the last few years.

You could argue the Aussie batting has not come to party either, but Clarke aside none of them have the track record that the above 4 have.

Well, he usually gets at least 1 big score over a series, as well as 1 or 2 half centuries. Just a shame he has so many crap ones in between.

dyrewolfe wrote:

Duty281 wrote:

dyrewolfe wrote:

Duty281 wrote:

dyrewolfe wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Now then, I might be jinxing him (hopefully not), but I have a good feeling that Root will make a 150+ score today with the bat.  

I hope not...as that would tend to suggest England have batted far too long. We only need to add 200 max to our 1st innings lead to bat Australia out of this.

If we have the chance, we should declare at lunchtime tomorrow. 5 sessions to bowl Australia out is more than enough.

I dunno - I reckon we could declare some time after tea (around 4:00 - 4:30) and have the match wrapped up tomorrow. If we can, we may as well.

No rush sir. May as well wear the pitch down a bit more.

Why though? They couldn't get near 200 first innings.

A lead of anything much over 400 is just batting practice for us and well out of reach of Australia's ability to chase. The match is already enough of a no-contest as it is.

I'd like the Aussies to think they at least have a sniff of a chance.

Root and Bresnan are getting some good practice with the bat. Bell, Bairstow, and Prior may get some runs at a later stage as well. Anderson has got his feet up right now, and after last week's match-winning heroics he needs as much rest as possible. Bat the day, we're in no rush.

trebellbobaggins wrote:I'm with duty.  I won't them to get a such practice as possible and to et runs, take time out of the game and give Aussie no sniff at all.

The way things are going Root and Bresnan could get us to 250 by themselves. Don't think the Aussie bowlers have had a sniff of a wicket yet.

VTR wrote:Crossed wires alfie - I knew you weren't having a dig at me. I'm not sure I said anything about Bres on here but definitely did at work yesterday, about 10 seconds before he took that first wicket!

So you are a doubly honest man , VTR ...even outing yourself as a doubter  

I shall award you  

83/0 in that session. No tension, it's all beyond doubt now. Not bad for a man who should "bat at 6" and a man who is a "trundler".

Perfect session for England ! Lead up to 347 , solid stuff from Root and Bresnan.
Killed off any optimism the Aussies might have gained from Siddle's burst last night. Good hard cricket.

Very impressive.

I think having bresnan as a nightwatchman is a much better idea than a poorer batter such as anderson. If he survives the evening, then he has a much better chance of scoring some decent runs the next morning, instead of being a walking wicket and giving the opposition some momentum early in the morning.

The whitewash? Well and truly on, I say!

Sweet dreams are made of this,
Who am I to disagree?
I travel the world and the seven seas,
Everybody's looking for something.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rS6CsOrimo

alfie wrote:

VTR wrote:Ha ha. Well I had my doubts about Bresnan but I will put my hand up and say "what the eff do I know?".

Our friend we are not referring to will never admit he is wrong, or stop banging on about DRS like an old woman

. I wasn't actually having even a mild dig at you , VTR , (had forgotten you were not in the Bresnan camp) - it was our friend KP f who was also most vehement in his condemnation of the selectors for picking "the county trundler "

I am not in the anti-Bresnan Camp, but I was in the Finn camp and I still am in there. Nothing I've seen in this match have changed my views. But credit to Bresnan, he did an OK job with the ball yesterday, although it looked very rude and unkind to put England's first or 2nd choice attacks against that Australian batting lineup yesterday!. Bresnan can be a very handy first reserve, and he has proved that yet again. I hope Finn regains his confidence and form and makes himself undroppable soon. That lad is a serious talent, and England should manage him well.

Bat the rest of today, get a lead of 500+, and leave ourselves two days to bowl them over. SImples

msp83 wrote:

alfie wrote:

VTR wrote:Ha ha. Well I had my doubts about Bresnan but I will put my hand up and say "what the eff do I know?".

Our friend we are not referring to will never admit he is wrong, or stop banging on about DRS like an old woman

. I wasn't actually having even a mild dig at you , VTR , (had forgotten you were not in the Bresnan camp) - it was our friend KP f who was also most vehement in his condemnation of the selectors for picking "the county trundler "

I am not in the anti-Bresnan Camp, but I was in the Finn camp and I still am in there. Nothing I've seen in this match have changed my views. But credit to Bresnan, he did an OK job with the ball yesterday, although it looked very rude and unkind to put England's first or 2nd choice attacks against that Australian batting lineup yesterday!. Bresnan can be a very handy first reserve, and he has proved that yet again. I hope Finn regains his confidence and form and makes himself undroppable soon. That lad is a serious talent, and England should manage him well.

Bresnan's done better in this test so far than Finn did in the first Test.

And Kevin Pietersen has already made a bit of a contribution, that 2nd innings 64 was a handy effort, and he played out of character at a difficult situation. Sure he has not played a typical hand yet, and I hope he'll produce a typical KP innings soon.

I think long term, we all want Finn in the side, and when he is fit and firing he should be in the side. But when he's bowling pretty shocking stuff like he did at Trent Bridge, it's best for us if he goes and gains confidence in the county circuit, rather than going for nearly a run a ball in tests

Tbf KPF is more anti England than any specific camp

GSC wrote:Tbf KPF is more anti England than any specific camp

True - there is one piece of evidence of his support of India though. His convenient absence from these boards from the second test onwards when England were in India. Probably broke his laptop by crying into it!

I still think Aussie can come back a bit. They batted really well in their warm ups.  What's changed?

+I thought this was an interesting read on the bbc

"
When Graeme Swann took five wickets yesterday, he became the first England spinner to take five wickets in an innings of an Ashes Test at Lord's in 79 years. The last person to do it was Yorkshire left-arm great Hedley Verity.

Verity took 144 wickets in 40 Test matches, at an average of 24.37, but died fighting for his country in Sicily on 31 July 1943. BBC Sport's Simon Austin has produced a stunning feature on the great man, which can be read on the BBC Sport website.
"

dyrewolfe wrote:

VTR wrote:I think KP will get a big score in this series. Think about this way: its almost certain to be 2-0 without Cook, Trott, KP or Prior doing much. That's our main 4 batsmen over the last few years.

You could argue the Aussie batting has not come to party either, but Clarke aside none of them have the track record that the above 4 have.

Well, he usually gets at least 1 big score over a series, as well as 1 or 2 half centuries. Just a shame he has so many crap ones in between.

Could you not say that about a lot of batsmen though?

trebellbobaggins wrote:+I thought this was an interesting read on the bbc

"
When Graeme Swann took five wickets yesterday, he became the first England spinner to take five wickets in an innings of an Ashes Test at Lord's in 79 years. The last person to do it was Yorkshire left-arm great Hedley Verity.

Verity took 144 wickets in 40 Test matches, at an average of 24.37, but died fighting for his country in Sicily on 31 July 1943. BBC Sport's Simon Austin has produced a stunning feature on the great man, which can be read on the BBC Sport website.
"

Just finished reading that article. What a guy! Great cricketer, great soldier and a gentleman to boot.

Wonder if they'll do something to commemorate him at the 3rd Test?

wow got back from bluewater and Rooty and Bres still in. Good stuff..

interesting that england have been 30/3 twice this test- Aus were 40/0


!!!

mystiroakey wrote:wow got back from bluewater and Rooty and Bres still in. Good stuff..

interesting that england have been 30/3 twice this test- Aus were 40/0


!!!

 Bluewater? is that the shopping place up in Kent (I think).  My sis used to live near there and go there loads.

dyrewolfe wrote:

trebellbobaggins wrote:+I thought this was an interesting read on the bbc

"
When Graeme Swann took five wickets yesterday, he became the first England spinner to take five wickets in an innings of an Ashes Test at Lord's in 79 years. The last person to do it was Yorkshire left-arm great Hedley Verity.

Verity took 144 wickets in 40 Test matches, at an average of 24.37, but died fighting for his country in Sicily on 31 July 1943. BBC Sport's Simon Austin has produced a stunning feature on the great man, which can be read on the BBC Sport website.
"

Just finished reading that article. What a guy! Great cricketer, great soldier and a gentleman to boot.

Wonder if they'll do something to commemorate him at the 3rd Test?

 it'd be lovely if they did. sounds a proper hero that man!

chrisss wrote:

dyrewolfe wrote:

VTR wrote:I think KP will get a big score in this series. Think about this way: its almost certain to be 2-0 without Cook, Trott, KP or Prior doing much. That's our main 4 batsmen over the last few years.

You could argue the Aussie batting has not come to party either, but Clarke aside none of them have the track record that the above 4 have.

Well, he usually gets at least 1 big score over a series, as well as 1 or 2 half centuries. Just a shame he has so many crap ones in between.

Could you not say that about a lot of batsmen though?

Yes, but I tend to pick on KP a bit as a reaction to his legion of fans, for whom he can do no wrong.

Plus he has a habit of doing this more than most other players of similar ability/reputation.

Yep thats it .Its a great shopping centre with good restaurants and shops.

Girls/women love the place!!

trebellbobaggins wrote:+I thought this was an interesting read on the bbc

"
When Graeme Swann took five wickets yesterday, he became the first England spinner to take five wickets in an innings of an Ashes Test at Lord's in 79 years. The last person to do it was Yorkshire left-arm great Hedley Verity.

Verity took 144 wickets in 40 Test matches, at an average of 24.37, but died fighting for his country in Sicily on 31 July 1943. BBC Sport's Simon Austin has produced a stunning feature on the great man, which can be read on the BBC Sport website.
"

Fantastic article. It's heroic people like that who gave up their lives so we could enjoy the freedom we do today.

R.I.P. Hedley Verity.

mystiroakey wrote:wow got back from bluewater and Rooty and Bres still in. Good stuff..

interesting that england have been 30/3 twice this test- Aus were 40/0


!!!

Don't think the Aussies have had a sniff today, apart from a very half-hearted LBW shout a few minutes ago.

Duty281 wrote:

trebellbobaggins wrote:+I thought this was an interesting read on the bbc

"
When Graeme Swann took five wickets yesterday, he became the first England spinner to take five wickets in an innings of an Ashes Test at Lord's in 79 years. The last person to do it was Yorkshire left-arm great Hedley Verity.

Verity took 144 wickets in 40 Test matches, at an average of 24.37, but died fighting for his country in Sicily on 31 July 1943. BBC Sport's Simon Austin has produced a stunning feature on the great man, which can be read on the BBC Sport website.
"

Fantastic article. It's heroic people like that who gave up their lives so we could enjoy the freedom we do today.

R.I.P. Hedley Verity.

 Nicely said Duty!

Rooty getting a much needed big innings. Can see Root going onto be a huge huge star for England. 

Good to see night watch man Bresnan still in!

Anyone recon what we should declare on if needed to, personally i think we should just bat it out.

No point declaring tbh.. bat the day out if we can.. Might as well use the resource's up a bit. No point not enforcing the follow on to only get a 100 or so..

They won't bat past lunch tomorrow, and likely stick them in tonight if they reach 500

yes if we hit 500- get them in for the last 30 mins

J Root Knee Jerkers- where are ya;) 

Lead passes the 350 mark. Another 100 should do it.

Slow and steady as she goes...

I think Bresnan and Root should think about upping the rate now before the new-ball. It's been very slow since lunch.

Handy Night Watchman they've found themselves here.