Ashes 2021/22

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There is no way in the world even the most biased of New South Welshman could justify Starc over Richardson
You just know the selectors will pick him for the first test. They'll justify it by saying something like "It's our most experienced lineup and they've produced consistently over several years now, we'll back this unit in to start us off."

I don't think form will come into it at all. Richardson would be right in if it were up to me, but they'll pick Starc because he was good a few years ago.

As an aside, I think Richardson is a more consistent batsman these days than Starc also. Could almost put him in at 8 over Cummins.
 
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It is interesting he retired from international cricket but is still playing shield cricket.

I thought when retiring from tests he was focussing on t20 tournaments and such, seems odd to keep playing shield cricket but no internationals.

Having said that, even if he was eligible I'd still probably have Richardson ahead of him.
 
People are forgetting that it was Starc and Lyon who were toothless last summer with the ball.

These 2 need to lift. I'm not even convinced Starc should play at the Gabba.

They were horrid but the tactics, field placements and strategy in general was just as bad if not worse. WTF we were doing after the first test I'll never know. It's one thing to perform poorly but another completely to go about it in such a bizarre way that gave us such little chance. The other two bowlers weren't much better.
 
They were horrid but the tactics, field placements and strategy in general was just as bad if not worse. WTF we were doing after the first test I'll never know. It's one thing to perform poorly but another completely to go about it in such a bizarre way that gave us such little chance. The other two bowlers weren't much better.
I wouldn't blame tactics for Starc bowling nothing but floaty half-volleys wide outside off or tennis ball bouncy half-trackers. Similar to Lyon, I highly doing they implement a gameplan based around him bowling straight-ish darts and nothing else.

I agree to an extent tactics fell through, but Cummins and Hazelwood still managed to apply pressure in the same situation only for Starc & Lyon to completely alleviate it in their spells.
 
They were horrid but the tactics, field placements and strategy in general was just as bad if not worse. WTF we were doing after the first test I'll never know. It's one thing to perform poorly but another completely to go about it in such a bizarre way that gave us such little chance. The other two bowlers weren't much better.

True - but as I discovered in my captaincy days, it's nigh on impossible to set fields to crap bowling and if you start adjusting field's to shutdown the batsmen's exploitation of this, you often look like a real goose..!
You might get lucky if a batsmen top edges a juicy half-tracker or miscues a 'hit-me-out-of-the-ground' full toss, but that's luck..!
 
True - but as I discovered in my captaincy days, it's nigh on impossible to set fields to crap bowling and if you start adjusting field's to shutdown the batsmen's exploitation of this, you often look like a real goose..!
You might get lucky if a batsmen top edges a juicy half-tracker or miscues a 'hit-me-out-of-the-ground' full toss, but that's luck..!

Yea there was definitely a fair bit of this. Is more the tactics with Lyon (who I do rate) that had me so pissed off. Spent nearly 3 entire tests coming in to bowl with a 200+ plus run lead and sending down flat, non threatening garbage from around the ####en wicket. Usually right from the start of the spell. Even just coming over the wicket might have given him a chance to sneak one of the straight darts into the pads or stumps but it wasn't happening from around.

And this was from our main (maybe our sole) partnership breaking weapon. Not sure I've ever seen such hideous garbage from a side in perfect positions over and over again. The coach, captain and every bowling coach we had deserved the arse.
 

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People are forgetting that it was Starc and Lyon who were toothless last summer with the ball.

These 2 need to lift. I'm not even convinced Starc should play at the Gabba.

It's the problem as we don't play enough Test Critcket. One thing I want to see this summer is some rotation of bowlers. Not for fitness reasons but we really carried these two on reputation last year. We were crying out for some fresh blood.

I'd like Swepson or a second spinner to get a run at some point esspecially if Green or Marsh are in the team and bowling a bit. It just feels a bit stale with Lyon, I'd like to see what someone else can do.
 
I'd pick Richo over Starc at the Gabba - but 100% i'm picking Starc as part of a rotation policy at Adelaide in the D/N test. D/N cricket is a different beast and Starc has compelling results.

The pink ball test will almost buy Starc the whole series. Plays at the Gabba becasue 'he has to play in Adelaide', then assuming he goes well that's basically his spot locked in.
 
The pink ball test will almost buy Starc the whole series. Plays at the Gabba becasue 'he has to play in Adelaide', then assuming he goes well that's basically his spot locked in.

Not after what happened last year with the bowling costing us a series win.

In saying that, you'd be hard pressed to find a more pea-hearted cricket team than the English cricket team.

Even when they were decent, they were front runners, as soon as the going got a bit tough they'd start fighting between themselves and wanting to go home.

Remember 2013/14, when Prior and Swann threw the towel in, pretty much from the 2nd innings at the Gabba.

I mean, Johnson bowled well that series, but you would have thought he was bowling 155 km thunderbolts rather than the mid 140s he was bowling. No English players were prepared to get behind it once it was above the waste.
 
Not after what happened last year with the bowling costing us a series win.

In saying that, you'd be hard pressed to find a more pea-hearted cricket team than the English cricket team.

Even when they were decent, they were front runners, as soon as the going got a bit tough they'd start fighting between themselves and wanting to go home.

Remember 2013/14, when Prior and Swann threw the towel in, pretty much from the 2nd innings at the Gabba.

I mean, Johnson bowled well that series, but you would have thought he was bowling 155 km thunderbolts rather than the mid 140s he was bowling. No English players were prepared to get behind it once it was above the waste.
Starc would fit in with all those pea hearts
 
Yea there was definitely a fair bit of this. Is more the tactics with Lyon (who I do rate) that had me so pissed off. Spent nearly 3 entire tests coming in to bowl with a 200+ plus run lead and sending down flat, non threatening garbage from around the ####en wicket. Usually right from the start of the spell. Even just coming over the wicket might have given him a chance to sneak one of the straight darts into the pads or stumps but it wasn't happening from around.

And this was from our main (maybe our sole) partnership breaking weapon. Not sure I've ever seen such hideous garbage from a side in perfect positions over and over again. The coach, captain and every bowling coach we had deserved the arse.
I'm not sure Lyon has bowled much from around the wicket in the last 5 years. It was certainly a criticism back then but I reckon he bowled the vast majority of his deliveries over the wicket in the last series.

In the 4th innings at the GABBA for example he bowled his first 6 overs over the wicket and then he came around the wicket for 16 balls as Pujara was being allowed to pad the ball away outside off with his bat behind his pad before coming back over the wicket to end his spell.

He then comes back on in his 2nd spell and gets Gill in his first over from over the wicket. He then spends most of that spell over the wicket before Pant comes out where he doesn't really have a choice other than to go around the wicket to the left hander.
 
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Not after what happened last year with the bowling costing us a series win.

In saying that, you'd be hard pressed to find a more pea-hearted cricket team than the English cricket team.

Even when they were decent, they were front runners, as soon as the going got a bit tough they'd start fighting between themselves and wanting to go home.

Remember 2013/14, when Prior and Swann threw the towel in, pretty much from the 2nd innings at the Gabba.

I mean, Johnson bowled well that series, but you would have thought he was bowling 155 km thunderbolts rather than the mid 140s he was bowling. No English players were prepared to get behind it once it was above the waste.

Or South African, New Zealander, Zimbabwean. Irish :) :)
 
Is Green a walk up start? Form has not been flattering and his bowling last year looked hardly threatening. If we had a keeper who was stronger batting than Paine such as Carey or Pierson they could play Jye Richardson along with Starc because you know there is almost zero chance they don't play Starc.
 
Is Green a walk up start? Form has not been flattering and his bowling last year looked hardly threatening. If we had a keeper who was stronger batting than Paine such as Carey or Pierson they could play Jye Richardson along with Starc because you know there is almost zero chance they don't play Starc.
Still the 6th highest run scorer this year
 

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