2019 1st Ashes Test - Edgbaston 1-5 August 2019

[CakeEater]

Nicely done wade

 

[Far Kern]

Can they please stop doing close ups of Bairstow's face by any chance?

lol

 

[Andronicus]

This partnership got big quick.

 

[Anzacpaul]

It's 4 penalty runs if it hit the helmet if I recall.

5

 

[Doss]

Impressed with Wade here too. Silly reverse sweeping aside, he’s looked good. Compact and organised.

 

[nobbyiscool]

Wade makes a 50 off 70 balls and you barely notice it. He's completely overshadowed by the magic we're watching at the other end.

I'm glad he's taking his opportunity though, he did more to earn it than most of the spuds we've tried over the last 12 months.

 

[Sammo360]

Had to review it as they get their reviews back at 80 overs don't they?

Nope.

It was changed a few years back in lieu of teams not losing reviews for umpires call

 

[Blue1980]

Can they please stop doing close ups of Bairstow's face by any chance?

Maybe their allowed once children have gone to bed?

 

[sirlothie]

I'd be looking to piss them off and attack Root with the old ball before they can get the new one but that's just me.

 

[Pakenhamsaint]

Impressed with Wade here too. Silly reverse sweeping aside, he’s looked good. Compact and organised.

He's playing his role nicely.

 

[DaRick]

Steven Smith's story is just about the most amazing story of cricket. I can't believe how far he has progressed from a partime leg spinner-batsman to one of the best ever batsmen in world cricket. If you took any cricket tragic from the 80s or 90s from a time machine and showed him a footage of Smith, it's highly likely that they'll mistake him for a bowler who can throw his bat around. He'll say you're bonkers if you revealed him as one who is quite possibly the best ever batsman after Bradman.

There is nothing orthodox about Steve Smith, everything about him is unorthodox except for the fact that he manages to meet the ball in the middle of his bat pretty much every time. I remember being very annoyed when I first saw Steve Smith in the IPL. I used to think of him as a bowler who could throw his bat around and it is always annoying when such a batsman hurts your team because you think he's clearly not good enough and flukes his way to runs. Smith used to hit a lot of unorthodox strokes, hitting the balls in unusual places and it annoyed the heck out of me when he did it against my team lol. I can't believe I ever thought of him like that when I think back now lol.

Just goes to show you you don't need to have the most orthodox technique in the world especially if you have the best ever hand eye coordination in world cricket. I think he's well on his way to being the best after Bradman if he maintains this seemingly never ending purple patch of form but like always you wonder how long he will manage to have this insane hand eye coordination.

I do expect Steve Smith to decline as his eye goes, but his record indicates that he'll do a better job adapting than Ricky Ponting ever did.

It should also be noted that when his bat makes contact with the ball, his technique actually looks quite solid and his head is still. Not like latter-day Peter Handscomb, who struggled to move his feet and whose head often seemed all over the place. His lack of orthodoxy prior to the point of contact seems almost designed to annoy the bowler.

EDIT: Nice 50 Wade. Glad he's contributing.

 

[BG32]

That ****ing Michael Clark ad

 

[Dez!]

Lyon is going to be a handful in the last innings, don't be deceived by Ali being trash.

 

[Crimson Azure]

It may be slim, but Smith may get man of the match for this test.

 

[Southerntakeover]

England really struggling without Anderson. Having said that, the Australian line up is more than capable of losing all of their remaining wickets for 10.

 

[Antonio Conte]

get to 250, then tee off.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Rage against Michael Clarke rising.
Strong urge to kill.

 

[kozi]

Day 1 with all those missed reviews and bad umpiring decisions feels like it happened in another world at the moment.

 

[Blue1980]

This is what you get when you present a road wicket for an Ashes match. Smith batting all day , like that Lords match the previous tour.
I knew we would miss Strauss as team director. He knew that green top wickets are their weakness.
If we dont see a raging green top in the 2nd test , something is badly wrong .

Ball was moving all over the place on day 1

 

[The Casey Cat]

Tendulkar and Lara are definitely the better to watch.

Smith has Bradmans hand eye coordination though, he’s a complete robot.

I’ve never seen anyone less dislogable than him.

S Waugh could drop anchor pretty well in his last 4 or 5 years. Didn't score as heavily as Smith while doing it though.

 

[Ron The Bear]

Not the most convincing 50 but some good shots and at a decent clip

Four an over with everything on the line is good Test cricket.

 

[Voice of the G]

Pretty good session there.

It seems to be turning plenty out there, especially against the left-handers, but I don't know how much we really need. I worry about Paine's captaincy.

Why?

 

[Woody15]

Wade makes a 50 off 70 balls and you barely notice it. He's completely overshadowed by the magic we're watching at the other end.

I'm glad he's taking his opportunity though, he did more to earn it than most of the spuds we've tried over the last 12 months.

Exactly. He deserved his chance and its fantastic to see him cashing in.

 

[Bicco]

Steve Smith last 8 Ashes innings. 831 runs at 139. (144, 83, 102*, 76, 239, 6, 40, 141*).
At the moment this is literally only an average innings from Smith. He is that good.

 

[Pykie]

This is what you get when you present a road wicket for an Ashes match. Smith batting all day , like that Lords match the previous tour.
I knew we would miss Strauss as team director. He knew that green top wickets are their weakness.
If we dont see a raging green top in the 2nd test , something is badly wrong .

The problem is the English batting lineup, if Ireland roll through them on a green top what will Cummins and Pattinson do?