4th Ashes Test England v Australia July 19-23 1930hrs @ Old Trafford

[Alfonz]

The one test they won was the one which had the most in it for the bowlers, yet again they rolled out another lifeless road. Maybe they would have won with a better pitch. Magnificent to see the pitch doctoring has blown up in their faces. Reap what you sow.

 

[outabounds]

"This is not the way to win the Ashes" says nobody in Australia. Sucked in you sanctimonious whingers.

 

[Riviat]

 

[A Pom]

Fair enough, same question then: Why should we believe the intent behind Root's "reasonable suggestions" when this isn't a stance he has publicly taken before? Why should it be taken seriously by others when the first time he has brought it up was when it disadvantaged him?

“I don’t think I have ever seen a game be affected by bad light as much as this, which is very frustrating. But also the weather as well, it’s been very wet throughout the week. It is frustrating and it’s obviously been a huge talking point. I do think it needs to be addressed somewhere, somehow.”

- Root in 2020.

In the game in question neither team were particularly on top given how few overs were bowled.

 

[Rabish Binney]

I believe we should explore ways to make sure we play as much cricket as possible where realistically possible. I have always believed that. Do you agree with that statement? If not, why? Anything other than that is just aimless personal snipes.

Did you think that in 2013 when rain saved England?

So your argument against looking for ways to improve playing times is that I (who wasn't present on this forum at the time) didn't come out with the same suggestion in 2013? Makes sense.

Don’t give me this ways to improve cricket bullshit.

The issue here that you cant (or won’t understand) is the hypocrisy that because England were on the wrong side of a rained out last day, then suddenly the playing hours need to be changed.

Do you really think that if rain saved the Poms in this test, the English media, Root and yourself would have all come out praising the Australians, saying how hard done by they were and that the laws should be amended so that tests should go until 10:00 PM?

They wouldn’t. Thats the gist of this discussion.

No-one from England said anything about this in 2013 when rain saved the Poms. In fact Prior said after the test it was great that the rain saved them.

So much for improving the game hey?

The likes of you and pommie media are just whinging because this time your on the wrong end of it.

It’s happened to every test playing nation for decades. You can’t pick and choose when it suits which the Poms have done here.

Perhaps you should stop drinking the (not often used) English bath water and focus on Stokes’s poor captaincy in the 1st test which allowed Cummins and Lyon to put on 60 odd to win it (not to mention his decision to bat for too long in their 1st innings).

 

[Mr Meow]

I don’t have a problem with Root saying what he did, it is one of those damned if you do, damned if you don’t moments. If he says it it’s sour grapes, if he waits two months and says it no one pays attention.

I do think the play until 10pm thing is impractical. Is he suggesting play stops at 10, and players have 10 hours to get off, eat, recover, get back to the hotel, sleep, wake up, get to the ground, warm up and play? Not reasonable IMO.

I did however take issue with Bairstow’s comments. He basically questioned Hazlewood’s integrity when the Australian team was doing nothing wrong, he just admitted to what absolutely everyone in the Australian team’s position would be thinking.

To me, the way Bairstow has carried on in the media and on the field and the hypocrisy and complete lack of self awareness from him has been poor.

This type of thing in reality is the primary source of friction between Australian supporters and England's evangelical devotion to their approach. It is absolutely fine. In fact, there are signs it is a very good thing for them and overall an exciting element being introduced to Test cricket.

However: tantrums, entitlement and a lack of respect for the opposition or classic methods - it's simply not a way to win any fans besides your own devotees. Australia have not once been dismissive or insulting of England's tactics or opinions - even when inflammatory remarks have been sent the other way. It has become a series playing against bad sports or spoilt children. There's nothing likable as far as the way they are carrying on. Again, I have no problem with them adopting an abrasive attitude to gain an edge or steel their resolve. Just don't expect everyone to adore you and your shiny new approach.

 

[DeathlyAccurate]

My main thing is that why did it take England so long to hit their straps and lay down their best performance.

They knew going in they had 3 days, this wasn’t a shock. Credit to them to try and get a result, but both sides knew days 4 and 5 were a likely washout. Arguably, England got more than expected by having 30 overs on day 4.

Guess I’m just saying, where was this killer instinct in the first two matches. Not to say they have been bad, but to save your best performances for a match that was doomed from the outset seems pretty typical from the moral spirits of cricket in bazball.

Finally, I really hated some of the nonsense Cummins said in the presser. Saying they came into the series seeking to retain rather than win does my head in - it’s so bloody defeatist. Cummins could learn from bazball and it’s boneheaded drive to win at all costs.

He said the goal is still to win the series just as it was in 2019. Did you watch the right presser?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Rabish Binney]

I don’t have a problem with Root saying what he did, it is one of those damned if you do, damned if you don’t moments. If he says it it’s sour grapes, if he waits two months and says it no one pays attention.

I do think the play until 10pm thing is impractical. Is he suggesting play stops at 10, and players have 10 hours to get off, eat, recover, get back to the hotel, sleep, wake up, get to the ground, warm up and play? Not reasonable IMO.

I did however take issue with Bairstow’s comments. He basically questioned Hazlewood’s integrity when the Australian team was doing nothing wrong, he just admitted to what absolutely everyone in the Australian team’s position would be thinking.

To me, the way Bairstow has carried on in the media and on the field and the hypocrisy and complete lack of self awareness from him has been poor.

Bairstow is a bigger flog than Broad.

 

[Filthy Sanchez]

Selfishly you could see Cummings being a bit flat about this result. With all the rain today Cummings has been given no chance to redeem himself after being slammed in a way few aussie captains have.

You could see a brave batting performance from him could've eased some pressure on him, but now the same doubts and criticims will be lingering just as heavily over his captaincy.

It's so unusual for such heavy criticism to be placed on a captain that just retained the Ashes!

 

[A Pom]

Did you think that in 2013 when rain saved England?

Please read my comments before replying to them in the future, as I have clearly stated in the post you've quoted I have always believed we should do more to explore ways of maximising how much play we get.

 

[The Casey Cat]

How about you put forward some valid reasoning for why you believe we shouldn't explore ways to improve the game by maximising the playing time rather than resorting to baseless personal insults? The irony is calling me Trumpian in all that...

Because it was never an issue until England were on the wrong end of one rain effected draw. And if the situation was reversed they wouldn't give a shit. Have a think.

 

[FredLeDeux]

It’s happened to every test playing nation for decades. You can’t pick and choose when it suits which the Poms have done here.

Perhaps you should stop drinking the (not often used) English bath water and focus on Stokes’s poor captaincy in the 1st test which allowed Cummins and Lyon to put on 60 odd to win it (not to mention his decision to bat for too long in their 1st innings).

It's happened to every player and team at every single level of cricket since the year dot - in fact it's happened at grassroots level far more than at Test level (what super soppers?).

If Root was truly serious then or now about the issue, he'd do something about getting it considered at administrative level, rather than just verbalising inane thought bubbles.

 

[A Pom]

Because it was never an issue until England were on the wrong end of one rain effected draw. And if the situation was reversed they wouldn't give a s**t. Have a think.

It's always been an issue.

 

[The hands of stone]

This whole series the English media, fans and especially players have been nothing but disrespectful to the Australian players. Not once have I heard them give any credit for their performances or acknowledgement of their objective success even when we have won

They talk a lot about the spirit of cricket. I'd go as far as saying England are doing far more damage to the spirit of cricket and sports etiquette more broadly with their ungracious, undignified and straight up hypocritical nonsense.

Here we are being told that retaining the ashes in England is something we should feel hollow about because one test match out of 5 was rain affected. Winning test matches overseas is an anomaly in modern cricket let alone retaining series.

I'm proud of this team and proud of this result. Looking forward to hopefully winning this series outright and watch them huff and puff.

The two kiwis running the show there have everyone well and truly bluffed.

They are pushing the line as hard as anyone even moreso to win.....yet the media and most of the UK see them as the upholders of righteous and fair play .

Good work by Baz too . He will coach them as long as he wants , because winning isn't that important .
Talk about locking yourself in long term

 

[Gavin Excell]

There's something Trump like with the English media pretending they won

 

[Soggy2112]

Selfishly you could see Cummings being a bit flat about this result. With all the rain today Cummings has been given no chance to redeem himself after being slammed in a way few aussie captains have.

You could see a brave batting performance from him could've eased some pressure on him, but now the same doubts and criticims will be lingering just as heavily over his captaincy.

It's so unusual for such heavy criticism to be placed on a captain that just retained the Ashes!

He had a poor day on day 2, but I felt that he recovered well on day 3, and limited England as best as we could have. In the end that contributed to us retaining the Ashes.

He’s had some poor moments, but there’s a lot of people acting as if they would have done better, when in reality, the challenge that Stokes’ England throws at you is a completely unique one. Cummins is essentially the Guinea pig in terms of how you respond to it.

He’s copped a lot of blame in this test, when in reality a large portion needs to be on the batters. This was a deck where big scores could be made, yet apart from Uzzie everyone in the top six got out between 38 and 51.

However, despite all the criticism he has retained the Ashes.

 

[Linda Lovelace]

Tell me you know nothing about cricket without telling me you know nothing about cricket.

Yep, I'm the crazy and ignorant one for not prematurely celebrating what could still be a drawn series. It's definitely my lack of cricket knowledge that is the issue here.

 

[Crankyhawk]

I'm not sure reserve days are viable with modern scheduling and the cost of staffing a full stadium. There are other things to look at though like using a ball (or developing a better ball) that is usable in poor light conditions or potentially extending the playing time further into the evening/under floodlights.

I don't think the declaration was bad or would have made any difference to the result personally.

There's some value in perhaps making a pink ball routine (for visibility) and therefore allowing play in floodlights.
It isn't going to solve rain issues (only roof will do that which has its own turf issues - see Marvel stadium....)

 

[FredLeDeux]

He’s copped a lot of blame in this test, when in reality a large portion needs to be on the batters. This was a deck where big scores could be made, yet apart from Uzzie everyone in the top six got out between 38 and 51.

However, despite all the criticism he has retained the Ashes.

Not just the batters.
Green bowled to his fields, the other 5 bowlers didn't.

 

[HirdsTheWord]

This whole series the English media, fans and especially players have been nothing but disrespectful to the Australian players. Not once have I heard them give any credit for their performances or acknowledgement of their objective success even when we have won

They talk a lot about the spirit of cricket. I'd go as far as saying England are doing far more damage to the spirit of cricket and sports etiquette more broadly with their ungracious, undignified and straight up hypocritical nonsense.

Here we are being told that retaining the ashes in England is something we should feel hollow about because one test match out of 5 was rain affected. Winning test matches overseas is an anomaly in modern cricket let alone retaining series.

I'm proud of this team and proud of this result. Looking forward to hopefully winning this series outright and watch them huff and puff.

Because they are morons

The English are nothing but hypocrites on every front.

They retained the ashes in 2013 due to rain. Didn’t here root complaining then.

Pissweak the lot of them.

Never heard a country whinge so much when they don’t get it their way.

 

[The Tilt]

Closes browsers that were still open to MetOffice, BBC and Accu weather forecasts for Manchester from last night

 

[sthmelb_dimmies]

There’s a wonderful irony here that the team constantly penalized throughout the series for wasting time via slow over rates, ended up losing the series via running out of time.

It’s the perfect manifestation of fuhck around and find out.

 

[Sphynx]

Weather looks shit for the Oval also.


I'd laugh if the only toss we win is this one and we just bat out the draw in a rain effected game.

The reaction to Piers will be:

 

[HirdsTheWord]

Weather looks s**t for the Oval also.


I'd laugh if the only toss we win is this one and we just bat out the draw in a rain effected game.

The reaction to Piers will be:

Yeah and final score is 2-1.

Piers will meltdown

 

[Kapow!!!]

“I don’t think I have ever seen a game be affected by bad light as much as this, which is very frustrating. But also the weather as well, it’s been very wet throughout the week. It is frustrating and it’s obviously been a huge talking point. I do think it needs to be addressed somewhere, somehow.”

- Root in 2020.

In the game in question neither team were particularly on top given how few overs were bowled.

Which game was this?