The Ashes | 2025-26 | 5 tests | Nov 21 to Jan 08 | Discussion Thread

[vvvslaxman]

3 minutes ago, sage said:

Boycott seething

 

 

 

I didn't see any irresponsibility in stokes and Jacks. Only guys who look "irresponsible" are the ones who don't have sound defensive technique, temperament, decision making skills

[Nikola]

4 minutes ago, vvvslaxman said:

 

I didn't see any irresponsibility in stokes and Jacks. Only guys who look "irresponsible" are the ones who don't have sound defensive technique, temperament, decision making skills

Stokes in the bazball era is a guy who always takes his time (and still fails badly more often than not) but expects his teammates to play attacking cricket from ball one.

Edited December 7, 2025 by Nikola

[sage]

 

[vvvslaxman]

19 minutes ago, Nikola said:

Stokes in the bazball era is a guy who always takes his time (and still fails badly more often than not) but expects his teammates to play attacking cricket from ball one.

 

They come up with all kind of definiton for this term bazball .  "Best version of yousrelf" "Put pressure on bowler" "Always go for win" lol What they do on the field doesn't suggest any of that. They are increasingly using it as an excuse that can be interpreted as  "Only because we play bazball you are beating us. Otherwise we will be owning you".

[vvvslaxman]

Kohli will soon play for ENgland and face 40 year old Boland.

[vvvslaxman]

Harmison blames ARcher for bowling at 129 kph. The other guy is defending him.

 

 

[AKane]

Boycott always played strong against Australia - was one of the lynchpins of an Ashes win in Aus too in 1970-71 with John Snow.

5 matches 10 innings 3 no 657 runs 2 hundreds and 93.xx average.

 

But the English establishment did not like him standing up to the Aussies. Result Mike Denness captain, Boycott out and esp John Snow out out.

 

When Boycott came back into the team in 1977 under Mike Brearley, England won the Ashes 3-0 and Boycott had scores in  3 tests as below 

107

80*

 

191

 

39

25*

 

English establishment likes Australia winning and giving standing ovations to Bradman and Ponsford etc... When Larwood made Bradman just another batsman, Larwood was..... out.

[Gollum]

Poms should be ashamed of themselves. So much buildup, every series was a warm up for this main event, and they surrender like this? 

 

 

Australia never disrespects other teams by calling those fixtures prep for Ashes. 

[Gollum]

Need a clean 5-0 sweep here, these overhyped clowns don't deserve any mercy. Next year hope NZ beats them in their backyard, and then the awaited massacre in RSA. 

 

Ind vs Eng this summer was just a low quality crap fest between two borderline minnows, RSA and Aus are functioning at a different level. Pak, SL are also better atm, at least their approach is sensible. 

 

Who is the bigger idiot? Baz or angry small man? 

Edited December 7, 2025 by Gollum

[AKane]

14 minutes ago, vvvslaxman said:

Harmison blames ARcher for bowling at 129 kph. The other guy is defending him.

Jofra Archer averages 32.xx per wicket in 17 tests for 54 odd wickets. With all due respect he is overrated. He maybe from Barbados but he is hardly a Wes Hall or Malcolm Marshall or Joel Garner ..... or even a Wayne Daniel.

[AKane]

8 minutes ago, Gollum said:

Who is the bigger idiot? Baz or angry small man? 

McCullum is not a particularly tall guy or even average ht these days.

Edited December 7, 2025 by AKane

[AKane]

20 minutes ago, Gollum said:

Australia never disrespects other teams by calling those fixtures prep for Ashes. 

I don't understand the English. A lot of sports were invented by them like cricket, soccer, rugby, lawn tennis etc..... even ballroom dancing where the Blackpool event is most prestigious.

 

However amongst all the sports they invented in existence, they worship cricket and esp "The Ashes" like almost a cult religion.

 

Edited December 7, 2025 by AKane

[vvvslaxman]

Alex carey's keeping was top notch. I must say. Hope Pant prepares himself for standing up to seamers if needed.

[AKane]

1 hour ago, vvvslaxman said:

Kohli will soon play for ENgland and face 40 year old Boland.

Boland is 36 

Neser is   35

Starc is    35

 

It is what it is.

 

 

[vvvslaxman]

It is raining cats and dogs at the Gabba now lol 

 

 

[vvvslaxman]

Gillepsie says that was the fastest spell of Archer history? lol  When the game was practically over hahaha. No wonder Smith trolled him.

 

 

[Lord]

Can trust these two to take the mickey after Ashes win

 

 

[Lord]

[Tillu]

England are irresponsible, rubbish and too far up their backsides to care : Geoffrey Boycott

 

Brisbane was a horror show: irresponsible batting, bowling too short, too wide or too full and catches dropped. This Australian team was there to be beaten but somehow after just six days of Ashes cricket, England need a miracle.

England talk the talk but can’t walk the walk. With this sort of batting and bowling they couldn’t win an egg cup, let alone the Ashes urn.

 

Ben Stokes said England had a blueprint. They had been planning this tour for four years and know what they are doing. What a load of bulls---. We can’t believe anything Ben or his team say. None of them want to listen to anyone outside of their own camp.

 

They are up their own backsides convinced that Test cricket has changed so much that only they know anything about the modern game. They won’t have it, but there is no substitute for competitive match cricket. That is where you find out what length to bowl on Australian pitches, what shots to use best on their surfaces and more importantly what not to do.

 

One of the problems with this squad is it appears nobody tells them off or sits them down and discusses what they could or should have done differently. All we ever hear from the captain is attack and from the coach keep the faith. After some of those dismissals my Yorkshire captain Brian Close would have stood at the top of the pavilion steps with steam coming out of his ears waiting to give you a ‘knuckle sandwich’

But what do I know? I am just a has-been who did four England tours of Australia winning two Ashes series and drawing the other two.

 

This lot aren’t even afraid of getting dropped which is why we see the same old failings, particularly in the batting.

Every England cricket supporter must be asking what the hell goes on in Harry Brook’s head? That first innings waft at a wide ball without moving his feet was a shocker. I couldn’t reach it with my Mum’s sweeping brush.

 

Here is a guy with talent from heaven who thrills and excites us with breathtaking, outrageous and inventive strokeplay but at the same time keeps frustrating with brainless, irresponsible strokes.

 

It’s as if it is all too easy and he can’t be bothered with the ordinary and is only interested in the spectacular. Harry bats like a baseball batter looking for a home run every ball and seems oblivious to whom the bowler is or the state of the match. He is only keen to deliver his brand of dashing strokes.

 

So far in tight situations Harry has let the team down by not getting England home for a win and when a match is in the balance he somehow doesn’t read that the moment calls for a little restraint.

 

Every great team needs one maverick who can make magic but it has to help you win. So far in tough moments Harry hasn’t helped England win, in fact he has given his wicket away. You get the feeling he is batting with a disregard for the team situation.

 

So far the penny has not dropped, maybe it never will. I hope not because it would be sad to watch a guy with once in a lifetime talent fail to grasp that the object is using that special talent is to win.

 

Ollie Pope in the first innings never gave himself a chance to get in. Third ball against a world-class fast bowler he was trying to cut a ball too close to his body and played on.

 

On a pair second innings, England in trouble and having to bat carefully to get out of jail, he tried to drive on the up to a good length ball and was caught and bowled. On the up! Can you believe it!

He just cannot or will not alter his batting to play to the situation and appears incapable of batting time and just waiting for the easy bad balls. You need to sell your wicket dearly. Too many times Ollie gives it away. Occasionally he has played some splendid innings but there are too many self inflicted failures. He never learns and he never fails to disappoint.

Well played Zak Crawley. In both innings I could see he was making a big effort to defend better, keeping his bat closer to his pad and letting the ball come to him. The problem for him and all the England batsmen is that for three years under McCullum and Stokes everyone has been encouraged to the point of insisting that the batsman attack so that it is ingrained in them all.

 

Finally, congratulations to Joe Root on his maiden Test century in Australia. A super controlled innings but second innings, probably out of tiredness, even he succumbed to a half hearted off drive to a ball he could have left.

 

I thought our first innings bowling was rubbish. Far too short with more than 250 runs scored in the third man and fine leg area. There were the usual thick edges that luckily went down and wide of the slip cordon but all the Aussie batsmen were pulling, hooking and uppercutting balls over the slips or belting it off the back foot through square cover. When England pitched it up they bowled easy half volleys.

 

Why were we not bowling in the corridor of uncertainty, searching for wickets around the fourth and fifth stump on a fuller length to create pressure? That is our strength, not bombarding the batsmen with short stuff.

 

I thought Brydon Carse was trying to knock a hole in the middle of the pitch. The Aussies knew what was coming and set themselves to smack it. Aussies love you to bowl short at them. Why have they not worked that out? Surely we are better than that. But no. What are all those back room coaches doing and the lads with the iPads that give the team statistics? It was so obvious. We should have bowled line and length like Scott Boland.

 

After his first two spells in the first innings, Jofra Archer lost his menace. His pace went down and the zip and snap of his wrist was not the same. I’m not sure if he is just out of puff or short of proper first class cricket. I suspect in racing terms he is short of a gallop or two. Since he has got over his injury problems England have wrapped him in cotton wool trying to make sure he is available for the Ashes and preferring to play him in only one-day matches. One-day cricket is no substitute for Test cricket where a fast bowler has to come back for a number of spells and has to field a great many hours more. Match fitness is vital.

 

Will Jacks took an amazing one-handed catch to get rid of the dangerous Steve Smith and in the second innings he made a gutsy 41. But if he is a Test match cricketer… no disrespect intended but he is a hit and giggle batsman in T20 and my Mum could play his bowling with my proverbial stick of rhubarb. There is no oomph or variation.

 

In that energy sapping heat, when the ball got soft and old, a proper spinner was required to save flogging the quicks. England had three fast bowlers and Stokes to bowl seam. What they required was a quality spinner and for me England made a mistake in selection.

 

Telegraph

[ravishingravi]

Aussies are built different

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