2019 5th Ashes Test 12-17 September - The Oval

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They can come here looking for whatever they want unless they find a bunch of new batsmen and a few more bowlers who don't rely on swing they aren't going to be favourites to win over here.

I reckon our bowling could hold its own, it's whether we get the batting right so they've actually got something to bowl at. It'll be nice if Wood and Stone can stay off the physio table for an extended period of time and hopefully Sibley and Pope take their chances.
 

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I reckon our bowling could hold its own, it's whether we get the batting right so they've actually got something to bowl at. It'll be nice if Wood and Stone can stay off the physio table for an extended period of time and hopefully Sibley and Pope take their chances.
Mate --- we don't care.
Absolutely. Do. Not. Care.
Care factor? Zero.
Send over whomever they want. We don't care who it is; we just wanna send'em back without the Urn. ;)
 
Mate --- we don't care.
Absolutely. Do. Not. Care.
Care factor? Zero.
Send over whomever they want. We don't care who it is; we just wanna send'em back without the Urn. ;)

And let’s hope we give it deluxe to Archer he'd be $1.01 to go home crying lol
 
There's a really interesting psychological point to be made here about the difference between talk and actions.

Ie. the Australians were very quick after the Manchester test to say that the job wasn't done and that they wanted to win the series 3-1, but their actions demonstrated a different mindset altogether. And ultimately, you can say the right things until you're blue in the face, but if you're getting on the piss and celebrating like the job is done, then don't be surprised when you rock up for the final game and fail to perform.

Anyway, in the end we retain the urn and would have won the series outright if Joel Wilson's eyes weren't painted on, so it's hard to be too disappointed. But I hope in the wash-up there is some reflection on the lack of ruthlessness displayed by this side. We got way too 'cute' in the last match - smugly refusing to change our broken openers, dropping a batsman for an allrounder who can't bat, the Siddle selection, choosing to bowl first... these are all things which point to a team that wasn't playing the percentages and wasn't sticking, as Justin Langer likes to say, to the 'processes' of winning Test match cricket.

I also thought we got our selections all wrong in the WC as well, which ultimately cost us a spot in the finals. So that starts to look like a worrying trend. But Langer has also done a lot right and has time on his side in terms of moulding this team into a winning side. He mentioned in one of his pressers after Manchester that this was a group that needed to learn how to win. The next step now is learning how to keep the foot on the throat, maintain the hunger and press on with an advantage until the very last ball is bowled. Hopefully that will come.

In the end, for me this series will always be remembered as the Steve Smith masterclass. What an absolute privilege it has been to watch him bat his way into the history books. Australia is very lucky to have him and I hope he feels the love, because he undoubtedly deserves it. Welcome back, Smudge :hearts:
 
"Wade fell to spin after his hundred, and Australia fell away. But there had been a moment there, needing 155 when Cummins was defending stoutly, when another impossible finish looked a chance. And even when it wasn't, there was another glorious display. As through the season, as through the series. All those weeks, a contest ending level. Are you not entertained? "
(https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-16/the-ashes-ends-all-square-are-you-not-entertained/11515182)

Yeah, I reckon we were entertained. :)
 
Tough to have a combined side

Mine would probably be

Joe Denly
Rory Burns
Marnus Labuschagne
Steve Smith
Ben Stokes
Tim Paine (+) (Paine wasn't as awful as Bairstow)
Patrick Cummins
Jofra Archer
Jack Leech
Josh Hazlewood
Stuart Broad

12th man: Matthew Wade

Leech over Lyon is controversial, but take Lyon's first test out and he's got 10 wickets in 4 tests.
Take out Leach’s 4 in a dead rubber and he has 8 in 3 tests.
 
Take out Leach’s 4 in a dead rubber and he has 8 in 3 tests.

It wasn’t a dead rubber though- it meant they didn’t lose the series. I felt Leech bowled better this series
 

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Tough to have a combined side

Mine would probably be

Joe Denly
Rory Burns
Marnus Labuschagne
Steve Smith
Ben Stokes
Tim Paine (+) (Paine wasn't as awful as Bairstow)
Patrick Cummins
Jofra Archer
Jack Leech
Josh Hazlewood
Stuart Broad

12th man: Matthew Wade

Leech over Lyon is controversial, but take Lyon's first test out and he's got 10 wickets in 4 tests.
Honestly for a combined side I would go all pace. Don't think either spinner had much impact on any of the matches going off memory.
 
England at 2.25 were amazing value pre-Test.

Take Smith out and we lose 4-0, maybe 5-0. And we all know it.

Credit to Wade for two tonnes in this series. I didn't think he had it in him. Hope he keeps his spot all summer.

Lol at our openers giving us nothing. Absolutely nothing. Makes Smith's heroics all the more... heroic.

Yeah Paine is crap but he was brought in for a job, we keep the Ashes, job done afaic. Sooner Carey gets up the better. But Paine will always be the guy who retiained the Ashes so credit to him for that. Even if he contributed almost nothing with gloves or bat.

That is all.
They struggled to beat us without Smith and they couldn’t get the win at Lords without him either but yeah England 5-0 without Smith
 
Basically the batting was left to too little and too many passengers and Smith ran out of gas. Gee some players back home would love to be backed in by the selectors like Warner does. Now watch him smash runs at home. If he doesn't then that's probably it for his test career.
The fact that Warner’s test record is far superior to any of the contenders first class records probably has a fair bit to do with that
 

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2019 5th Ashes Test 12-17 September - The Oval

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