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

[Peter Bixley]

Of course you'd hope to have more than 1. That goes without saying. And we should have. But thats not my point. Im not playing devil's advocate at all. Its the first session. If England lose 3 or 4 this session and we are into their bowlers, wouldnt that be a better time to weigh up the decision? The doomsaying after 25 overs is typical of many posters in this forum.

My question to you was a rather reasonable one. You said 3 wickets is the bare minimum in the first session and I asked based on what? Surely there is some statistic to back up your claim?

If we bowl England out for say 280. We then bat in conditions that look pretty favourable at this stage on days 2 and 3 and end up with a lead of 100 odd. Wouldn't that be considered a positive outcome?

Your first two lines sum it up. I'm not saying we can't yet win from here but inserting another team is done with only one thing in mind - wickets up front. I don't have the stats but you can't tell me we elected to bowl with anything other than first session conditions in mind. Anyway, if we avoid defeat from here I'll buy you a few beers. You can hold me to that.

 

[Andronicus]

Just had a thought.

We should've taken one of those catches we dropped.

 

[Burtonsgottago]

How often does Warnie roll out the Melbourne sporting capital of the world line?

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

Plenty of people picked on the decision before the first ball was bowled. Poor high risk decision

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Correct. It was simply a poor decision and many people knew this from the beginning. I can't wait to get a captain who actually understands the tactics of Test cricket.

 

[The Passenger]

Those Walkabouts still going?

The one in Birmingham where Warner punched Root is still there.

The cesspool down near the Thames has closed down. Went there for State of Origin many years ago. One of the worst sporting experiences of my life.

 

[Van_Dyke]

Mick Molloy just got a shout out on Sky’s Ashes coverage. There’s a sentence I never thought I’d say

 

[ABAB]

I think the team has celebrated too hard because no-one thought they would have retain the series.

 

[Burtonsgottago]

What? There isn’t 10 pages of abuse for Smith dropping catches, hypocrites

Not exactly a sitter.

 

[Bradesmaen]

You've shown nothing. Except of course that you should wash your hair in the sink, the same place we wash all vegetables.

Even your attempted insults are poor.

 

[Santana]

Generally true, but I’ll always remember 5-0.

Yep, it's something that has only happened 3 times, 2 in the last 12 years here. Hell it should have been 3

Smashing the enemy like that is very satisfying

 

[danielnajdek]

Looked in good form.

He has been dropped 3 times.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

This could prove worse than sandpaper gate.
1) Played Siddle and Marsh
2) Choose to bowl
3) "Dropped" catches

We have to be involved in match fixing

We have to get back to picking the best XI in our Test team at all times, and if Marsh and Siddle are considered to be in our best XI, we really are in trouble.

 

[melanChronic]

Still speechless at that "mission accomplished" memorabilia that Nine are flogging.

I mean those things are always stupid but if I were a Pom watching the Aussie feed I'd be quietly chuffed thinking that the Aussies of old would never have been thinking that retention meant shit compared to winning the series.

 

[Eagleboy68]

Looked in good form.

He has been dropped 3 times.

3? When was the third?

 

[cows]

Who passed Warnie that stat?

Root is slow to 7000 Test runs, certainly not the first

*EDIT* Oh, by years....

 

[Art Vandelay_]

What? There isn’t 10 pages of abuse for Smith dropping catches, hypocrites

Siddle is a soft target among the dumbed down masses. Deserves some respect for his test career.

The posting towards Lyon this series has been sickening given he’ll retire our greatest finger spinner ever

 

[Dogsman16]

If Smithy gets 130 then he will be 36 innings quicker to 7000 runs.

Far far superior record.

 

[SSwans2011]

What? There isn’t 10 pages of abuse for Smith dropping catches, hypocrites

You'll forgive a bloke who has almost single-handedly won you a series for dropping a catch. Little harder when the person to drop the catch has done bugger all all series. Or when they've decided to bowl first on a placid wicket.

 

[Nuke Fremantle]

QUESTION- If you’re worried about your bowlers and bring in an allrounder to help cover... Why would you elect to bowl first after a 4 day break?

A fair question indeed.

Another would be "In a team who's batting has been highly suspect, why would you drop a specialist batsman for Mitch Marsh?"

 

[frankrizzo]

We were only worry about Cummins workload, not the other bowlers.

So worried we bowled first on a belter and bowled him the most so far.

If we are worried about him we couldn't have designed a worse way to treat him than what we have done today.

 

[Snarls Barkley]

Took Tendulkar 85 Tests to get to 7000 runs, took Root 86 Tests

Tendulkar > Root confirmed

 

[JackOutback]

The one in Birmingham where Warner punched Root is still there.

The cesspool down near the Thames has closed down. Went there for State of Origin many years ago. One of the worst sporting experiences of my life.

Watched the 2005 grand final at the Putney one; one of the best sporting experiences of my life, result notwithstanding.

 

[frankrizzo]

Rat power half volleys so early in the day this is looking gloomy.

 

[010203]

If you didn't know, Joe Root is the fastest batsman to reach 7,000 test runs in terms of time.

 

[Santana]

Will Marsh even bowl 10 overs this innings?