The Ashes: 3rd Test, Perth

First topic message reminder :

3rd Test Perth, December 14-18, 2017

Australia:
Bancroft, Warner, Khawaja, Smith *, S Marsh, M Marsh, Paine †, Starc, Cummins, Lyon, Hazelwood

England:
Cook, Stoneman, Vince, Root *, Malan, Bairstow †, Ali, Woakes, Overton, Broad, Anderson

Oo-er. 8 down and Australia back on top.

Four wickets in six overs.

Bairstow's demeanour changed and is bowled for 119 by Starc. He looked to score instead of digging in. England 389 for 8 and wheels falling off here.

Overton bounced out as he lobs a bouncer in the air. 393 for 9. That 400 barrier now looks beyond England.

This is like that 80-2 to 136 all out collapse four years ago.

A six from Broad brings up the 400. England 403 for 9. Lunch delayed.

Close to your prediction Craig... except for the number of wickets down.
I honestly thought England would go on with this after the first hour and a half this morning and rack up over 500. 6/35...

Broad skies on and is caught. England 403 all out. Could have been worse at 131 for 4 but could have been so much better from 368 for 5.

Pathetic in the end.

Excellent from the two centurions and Stoneman, but the bottom 5 and Cook only contributed 29 runs! Terrible in the modern age.

I do love watching this Australian team bowl, and I think they’ll love batting on this. Bat once and bat long will be the key for them.

So - not altogether surprisingly - the big partnership is followed by a quick collapse...

Brisbane all over again (with and extra 400 runs) Seems whenever Malan gets out the next five fall rapidly...no wonder he was furious with himself !

That said , you'd have all bitten the hand off if offered 400 at start of play yesterday. This pitch is surely fine for making runs when a batsman is set : but there is enough life in it that starting an innings might not be that easy . Of course the Australian bats are more used to it so England's bowlers will need to be getting it just right...

Can anyone explain why the umpires are not enforcing the two balls over shoulder height per over law? Is it just because they’re incompetent or have I missed a change in the law?

Very disappointing collapse, but, no team has ever lost when scoring this many runs in the first innings of a WACA test

So it’ll have to be a record breaking loss for England to lose from here...

So England bowled out before Lunch on the second day.  Australia now must be aiming for a big first innings - say 686 declare, then hope to bowl England out for less than 270.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Can anyone explain why the umpires are not enforcing the two balls over shoulder height per over law? Is it just because they’re incompetent or have I missed a change in the law?

Weak umpiring.

The wicket seems to be developing one or two cracks already.

No name Bertie wrote:The wicket seems to be developing one or two cracks already.

The cracks always look threatening at the WACA ; but they rarely cause much damage .

alfie wrote:

No name Bertie wrote:The wicket seems to be developing one or two cracks already.

The cracks always look threatening at the WACA ; but they rarely cause much damage .

Yeah I remember last tour when Stokes got his maiden hundred, balls from Harris and Lyon hitting cracks and going to first/second slip off the deviation - looks funny but you’ll never get out to it!

Well this is an ominous start for England...

England lower order this Ashes 

Gabba:
1st inngs - 246/4 to 302/10 (56/6)
2nd inngs - 155/5 to 195/10 (40/5)

Adelaide:
2nd inngs - 169/3 to 233/10 (64/7)

Perth:
1st inngs - 368/4 to 403/10 (35/6)

(Stolen off Twitter - but shows what was supposed to be our strength has actually been the huge weakness)

Overton strikes with a lovely delivery. Warner caught by Bairstow. Australia 48 for 1.

History tells us the Aussies will win this test fairly comfortably and there has been nothing indicative in the first two tests to suggest otherwise. However hope springs eternal. In sport I like the drama and the psychology between the competitors - when I get the opportunity to actually watch what is going on.

Overton at the moment England's best bowler in these conditions. Second wicket for him. The Australian first innings at the moment is facing a good challenge.

And Overton traps Bancroft lbw. Given not out but reviewed and overturned. Australia 55 for 2.

Duty281 wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Can anyone explain why the umpires are not enforcing the two balls over shoulder height per over law? Is it just because they’re incompetent or have I missed a change in the law?

Weak umpiring.

Another wrong decision overturned by a review...the umpires have been truly woeful this series

Excellent review ! Good judgement - Overton (and well bowled) , Root and Bairstow ...always out if it wasn't edged. (Though I had a moment of fear it might be umps call on impact )

Smith wants to take Overton on from the start ! You feel this is a key partnership...

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

Duty281 wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Can anyone explain why the umpires are not enforcing the two balls over shoulder height per over law? Is it just because they’re incompetent or have I missed a change in the law?

Weak umpiring.

Another wrong decision overturned by a review...the umpires have been truly woeful this series

Perhaps a discussion for another time ...but I have been concerned for a while that the drs will gradually erode the quality of on-field umpiring...

I guess one day the robots will just take over anyway

Smith is gonna score like a thousand runs this innings isn’t he

Want to get Smith early...he looks keen to score today...

If England can grab another break now they are getting into the supposedly wonky Aussie middle ...though S Marsh has rather confounded that theory so far...

Last ball before tea gave Smith some hurry up ...took a bit of a knock to the hand and nearly played on.

Overton an impressive spell

Even game at present after a good patch for the England bowlers.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:England lower order this Ashes 

Gabba:
1st inngs -  246/4 to 302/10 (56/6)
2nd inngs - 155/5 to 195/10 (40/5)

Adelaide:
2nd inngs - 169/3 to 233/10 (64/7)

Perth:
1st inngs - 368/4 to 403/10 (35/6)

(Stolen off Twitter - but shows what was supposed to be our strength has actually been the huge weakness)

#notanallrounder

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:England lower order this Ashes 

Gabba:
1st inngs -  246/4 to 302/10 (56/6)
2nd inngs - 155/5 to 195/10 (40/5)

Adelaide:
2nd inngs - 169/3 to 233/10 (64/7)

Perth:
1st inngs - 368/4 to 403/10 (35/6)

(Stolen off Twitter - but shows what was supposed to be our strength has actually been the huge weakness)

Can't help but think that the absence of Stokes has completely changed the way the later order play. OK , different conditions in Australia , etc ...but it is not so much the "tail being blown away" as the late middle order throwing away wickets in a hurry without really trying to get the tailenders to stay with them. If the Moeens and the Woakes - and even the Bairstow - are going to get out before the rabbits have faced even a few balls there isn't much incentive for Broad and Anderson etc to try and hang in...

Moeen having a rotten time ; but I was disappointed Woakes got out rather carelessly today after hitting a couple of boundaries - think he should have been playing for lunch , pushing singles , leaving the big shots to YJB. He is well capable of a sensible innings.

Maybe they'll get it right second innings here .

Khawaja started off very shakily ; but he's starting to look dangerous now.

And Smith is on a mission.

Should Moeen be bowling ? At the risk of agreeing with Pietersen , I do wonder about this move

Bowling usage so far by England:
Anderson 4.0 overs
Broad 9.0 overs
Woakes 6.0 overs
Overton 8.0 overs
Moeen 7.0 overs

Morning all,

Not posted here for a while but nice to see a lot of ye are still on here.

Actually think that England's first innings score (collapse aside) is more than decent. It will be a very interesting final session today but if the Aussies get to 200 without loosing another wicket then things could get very tight for England.

Where is treb's and his fantastic poster cursing?

Broad struggling a bit trying to bowl to Smith - which isn't easy , I know ! But he doesn't seem to be getting his length right at all : a few good balls but then the short or too full delivery which is a gift for the Aussie captain...

Moeen actually was troubling Khawaja - slightly surprised he's off now as Jimmy comes back.

This partnership looks threatening....aargh ! Khawaja edges Woakes and Root doesn't react ! Got to catch those...

eirebilly wrote:Morning all,

Not posted here for a while but nice to see a lot of ye are still on here.

Actually think that England's first innings score (collapse aside) is more than decent. It will be a very interesting final session today but if the Aussies get to 200 without loosing another wicket then things could get very tight for England.

Where is treb's and his fantastic poster cursing?

Hey , eirebilly ...good to see you back on the cricket board ...

Haven't seen treb's for a while now (hope he's all right ?) . Though Duty seems to have adopted his pessimism now...not as effective , alas.


Reckon this game is still very open right now but you're right a big partnership now could put England under a lot of pressure...

Howys alfie, Smith is fair motoring on isn't he. He is such a sublime batsman to watch when he is flowing like this.

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:England lower order this Ashes 

Gabba:
1st inngs -  246/4 to 302/10 (56/6)
2nd inngs - 155/5 to 195/10 (40/5)

Adelaide:
2nd inngs - 169/3 to 233/10 (64/7)

Perth:
1st inngs - 368/4 to 403/10 (35/6)

(Stolen off Twitter - but shows what was supposed to be our strength has actually been the huge weakness)

#notanallrounder

#outofform

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Smith is gonna score like a thousand runs this innings isn’t he

He's scored a half century in the time it took me to get to work - the thousand run innings still on

A pretty good combination spell from Anderson and Woakes ...really stifled the scoring for a while , and the chance from Khawaja that might have really changed the game...

But they haven't made the breakthrough. And you wonder if the control can continue when they come off . Overton was excellent early on ; how will he come back with an older ball ? Root needs to keep his troops on the job as the game can run away quickly on this ground.

Runs flowing again . Smith cruising ; and even Khawaja , who has been very scratchy , is ticking over now...

And now Overton has a problem : in some pain in the chest it seems ; don't need to lose a bowler

Got a nasty feeling that failure to go on from 360/4 this morning might have condemned England to another defeat - or at best a real battle to save this game over the last couple of days .

Already looking very ominous for England. Khawaja looks like he will simply survive everything and get a good century and Smith looking like he will rocket to 150 or more in no time at all.

Well we've thrown this away a bit haven't we?
Criminal not to make at least 450 on the position we were in.

alfie wrote:Runs flowing again .  Smith cruising ; and even Khawaja , who has been very scratchy , is ticking over now...

And now Overton has a problem : in some pain in the chest it seems ; don't need to lose a bowler

Got a nasty feeling that failure to go on from 360/4 this morning might have condemned England to another defeat  - or at best a real battle to save this game over the last couple of days .

The only hope is apparently there is quite a bit of rain forecast for days 4 and 5? (according to the BBC live text)

No jinxing ye hear!

How's the bub?

The Loaded Dog wrote:No jinxing ye hear!

How's the bub?

Howya LD.

In the absence of trebs, someone has to do it

He is grand thanks, growing like mad but sadly looking more and more like me

Massive shame for Overton and England as he leaves the field, does not look good for him. He was by far England's most threatening bowler today. I think if he has done a muscle then that is truly the end for England this test and series.

I had an outside punt on a batsman making a treble ton this series; I suppose if anyone’s going to do it, it’ll be Smith in this innings.

Looking like Australia will sail past England’s score; I think we all knew England’s effort was 50-100 runs light.

Ah a wicket!

eirebilly wrote:

The Loaded Dog wrote:No jinxing ye hear!

How's the bub?

Howya LD.

In the absence of trebs, someone has to do it

He is grand thanks, growing like mad but sadly looking more and more like me

Great to hear!
ha! Hopefully not as mad as ye are. Why am I talking with Munster/pirate accent now?

This is now looking slightly ominous for England with Overton leaving the field... however Khawaja is now gone.
A scratchy knock from him. Lucky to get to 50... had a couple of lives earlier on.
Time for our WA middle order to assist Smith and make a timely contribution.

eirebilly wrote:Already looking very ominous for England. Khawaja looks like he will simply survive everything and get a good century and Smith looking like he will rocket to 150 or more in no time at all.

Well bowled , eirebilly

Khawaja never looked at home in that innings : have to give him credit for battling it out but honestly I think he was lucky to get that many.

Incidentally Dar took way longer examining hot spots and angles in considering that review than he did yesterday with Stoneman ! Consistency ?

England need to follow up that break if they want to stay in this...might be time for Broad to step up ? But it's Anderson back...