The Ashes. Fifth Test Australia v England @ Blundstone Arena, Hobart, 14-18 January 2022

[Voice of the G]

Yeah i was one that was supposed to be going but am now sitting in my room watching it in despair...

Good crowd figures,well done Hobart and Saturday tomorrow and hopefully better weather and bigger crowds.I owe Head an apology,I had him out of this test,a great innings.

 

[WaywardSonSon]

McClowan- the Stockholm Syndrome that's set in in WA is embarrassing.

Posting your political views in an accusatory and offensive manner in a cricket-related thread is what's embarrassing!

 

[Beau_Waters for PM]

Interesting stat on ABC commentary this evening.

For day/night tests in Australia, average runs per wicket in each session:

Afternoon session: 25.2
Evening session: 34.4
Night session: 25.6

The best time to bowl is actually the first session on any given day. Followed by the final session.

Interesting, but is the small sample size a factor here? Results may be skewed based on whether a poor team was batting that session.

 

[Bedi]

Ridiculous they didn't play Anderson. Last chance to play in Australia, and in these conditions we really would have been in deep shit. Is he injured, or are they saving him for that all-important first test against West Indies in March???

 

[CliffMcTainshaw]

Just have all 5 Tests in Perth

It hasn't rained since October

Mark McGowan says NO.

 

[deanc]

England still very much in this match, though they need to run through the tail quickly. If Australia don't get to 300 then this could be game on! - unless of course England then come out and get rolled for 120 all out..!

 

[Burtonsgottago]

Just wildly swinging the bat which happened to come off.

obviously nothing pleases you

 

[sdfc]

Ridiculous they didn't play Anderson. Last chance to play in Australia, and in these conditions we really would have been in deep sh*t. Is he injured, or are they saving him for that all-important first test against West Indies in March???

He's either injured or he's slept with one of the selectors' missus.

 

[Burtonsgottago]

Travis Head is the new Mark Waugh, gets his ton and gets out, Junior wasn't like Tugga who would try and turn into a big ton.

He came in a 3/12 and scored a century on a green wicket. Keep looking for negatives.

 

[eddiesmith]

So is this is a typical ‘green’ pitch which is lively for 10 minutes due to rain but when dried out is actually a road?

Or did Australia’s middle order simply take advantage of Englands significantly weakened bowling attack?

 

[big_e]

Travis Head is the new Mark Waugh, gets his ton and gets out, Junior wasn't like Tugga who would try and turn into a big ton.

Travis Head already has more test 150s than Mark Waugh and he's played a hundred fewer tests.

 

[frankrizzo]

Interesting, but is the small sample size a factor here? Results may be skewed based on whether a poor team was batting that session.

I think real issue is people got carried away with that jimmy spell under lights 4 years ago and think thats normal for pink ball games, it was just a great spell with a new ball by a great bowler but generally the new pink ball does enough at anytime and an old softer pink ball under lights or during day gets spanked around.

You get the dickheads like warne saying declare as soon as lights go on but give me 320 on the board and new ball in morning over 260 and new ball under lights every time, it just isnt the game changing advantage we thought it was going to be.

 

[CrowBloke]

Please forgive my late start. I'm 80-odd pages behind.
THE moment of Day One:
--- England had the chance to really nail Oz, but the inexplicable Crawley drop of Labuschagne was very costly.
Fox News has got it way wrong, saying:
" The mistake didn’t prove too costly, with Labuschagne being dismissed for 44. " because the Lab/Head partnership (71 runs) steadied the game, after which the Head/Green partnership (121) put Oz slightly ahead.

When Oz was 3/12 (should have been 4 down) I'd have taken 241 ALL out in a heartbeat.

 

[CrowBloke]

The second moment:
--- Labuschagne's comical dismissal, ranking right up there with the most bizarre.

I'm worried that his Smithian quirkiness is becoming a disadvantage to his own game. He stepped so far across that all 3 stumps were exposed, not to mention his foot-tangled pratfall.

 

[CrowBloke]

Warner/ Lab./ Smith/ Green even Carey have had their moments this series, but nothing compares to Khawaja's two tons last Test and Head's two tons.
All four digs were batting Master Classes. Some of their off-drives were Hayden-like clobberings with lovely timing and jaw-dropping power. Head especially is a much better batsman than two years ago.

 

[CrowBloke]

Like I said, I am 80-odd pages behind.
Have the Harris-supporters come out in droves to howl about Khawaja's 6-off-26?

All 3 of Warner, Ussie and Smith gone for 6 runs!!

If Bradman himself had come in @ #3, he would have struggled on that wicket and England's good bowling (at that stage). Ch.7 put up a graph which showed the deviation off the seam was the most it'd been all series.
Several of the plays-and-misses missed the seaming ball by more than a bat's width .

 

[CrowBloke]

So, after 3/12 what happened to the Poms?
Robinson injured, Stokes unable to bowl (shows the folly of picking an injured bloke), but Lab. and Head counter-attacked so hard that Wood and Woakes dropped their bundles, bowling either too wide or too full.
Wood had 0/62 off eight overs!! (to my delight at the time)

By comparison, dolly-deliverer Root bowled a 'miserly' 10 overs for 35.

 

[Around the Wicket]

Travis Head already has more test 150s than Mark Waugh and he's played a hundred fewer tests.

Mark Waugh, good fieldsmen and handy part time bowler, take that away and he was a let down in Tests, there were at least 5 batsmen in shield cricket that would have averaged more then Mark Waugh that never got a shot.

 

[Gough]

Mark Waugh, good fieldsmen and handy part time bowler, take that away and he was a let down in Tests, there were at least 5 batsmen in shield cricket that would have averaged more then Mark Waugh that never got a shot.

One of my favourite random cricket facts is the Ian Redpath has a better Test average than Mark Waugh.

 

[CrowBloke]

unless of course England then come out and get rolled for 120 all out..!

I predict this. Or less.

Nah, really, who knows? We'll see.
However, if England had batted first, imagine the carnage by Cummins, Boland, Starc and Green on that wicket!!

 

[Mr Taswegian]

Good crowd figures,well done Hobart and Saturday tomorrow and hopefully better weather and bigger crowds.I owe Head an apology,I had him out of this test,a great innings.

Along from the 14000 tickets that was sold for day 1 but the recent Covid cases in Tasmania would of had a big impact.

 

[CrowBloke]

One of my favourite random cricket facts is the Ian Redpath has a better Test average than Mark Waugh.

Ian Redpath.
As 'rowdy' as Ashley Mallett and with a better average that Junior. Love it/him.

Redpath/Lawry and later Redpath/Stackpole, aaahhhh, we're showing our ages, mate.

 

[Grand Uncle Horace]

Mark Waugh, good fieldsmen and handy part time bowler, take that away and he was a let down in Tests, there were at least 5 batsmen in shield cricket that would have averaged more then Mark Waugh that never got a shot.

Spot on. The younger of the Koala twins enjoyed an ill deserved run at the selection table.

 

[Crashy]

Does play start earlier today?

 

[Tyberious Funk]

Mark Waugh, good fieldsmen and handy part time bowler, take that away and he was a let down in Tests, there were at least 5 batsmen in shield cricket that would have averaged more then Mark Waugh that never got a shot.

Always annoyed me that Tom Moody was hung out to dry and forced to open with Mark Taylor (even though Boon, was in the side at the time) while Waugh was given safe(r) spot in the middle order. They both had bad tours of Sri Lanka, but Moody at least score a 50 while Waugh became infamous for making four ducks in a row.

Waugh kept his spot and Moody was given the arse and never played Test cricket again. Moody's Test average, excluding the tour of Sri Lanka was 48.