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

[Suhaan]

टेस्ट क्रिकेट को बचाना है तो बैजबॉल और 'गैगबॉल' से बचना होगा, नहीं तो हो जाएगा नुकसान

 

https://www.jagran.com/cricket/headlines-brendon-mccullum-and-gautam-gambhir-faild-in-test-as-coach-indian-cricket-team-england-cricket-team-40081244.html

[rollingstoned]

1 hour ago, Gollum said:

I think bar culture is the norm for SENAW teams, for team bonding and stuff like that. Their rugby teams are also notorious for that. 

 

Ultimately when you win, these things are given a positive spin like how drinking brought the team closer or freed up a player's mind. There is a lot of lore about how Sobers, Viv etc. used to drink till dawn and then went on to score amazing 100s the same day. And when you lose, media wants to find all the dirt on you.

 

Adelaide was still a close match for their usual standards, and the main blame lies on them not playing test cricket the way it is meant to be played, instead resorting to gimmicks...and this stupidity has been in their system ever since Baz took over. 

 

Stokes was talking recently about how he recovered much better next day when he wasn't drinking. it's definitely a thing, even guys like Ferguson were very particular on when you did it which he reveals in his book when he first became United manager.

[The Realist]

They actually thought Archer & Wood would be the attack to rattle Aus 

 

Jofra Archer has been ruled out of the remainder of England's tour of Australia due to a side strain, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced on Wednesday as they announced the Playing XI for the fourth Test. The selectors have also included Jacob Bethell in the side. He will play at No 3 in place of Ollie Pope, who has been left out.

Edited December 24, 2025 by The Realist

[LordPrabhzy]

1 hour ago, The Realist said:

They actually thought Archer & Wood would be the attack to rattle Aus 

 

Jofra Archer has been ruled out of the remainder of England's tour of Australia due to a side strain, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced on Wednesday as they announced the Playing XI for the fourth Test. The selectors have also included Jacob Bethell in the side. He will play at No 3 in place of Ollie Pope, who has been left out.

they are the most nazuk kali of the eng team lol

 

Wood and Archer should be stopped relied on if Eng want to build an attack for the future

[goose]

in that duckett clip the england fan politely asks duckett 'do you want me to get you an uber to the nets bro, it's for the best, we're 2-0 down' HAHAHAH !

[putrevus]

8 hours ago, nevada said:

The English are cleverly diverting the issue from the humiliation of Ashes drubbing to this blown out of proportion drinking thing. 

I agree, England is unable to digest the fact their much hyped Bazballers lost Ashes in 11 days.

 

Aussie press is no better, they love rubbing salt on wounds. 

[goose]

as a brit born and raised here, the bee in my bonnet is how england always dismiss losses in india like they've lost to some voodoo sh%t. there's never a fall out, nobody dropped, no cricket reviews. everything is about the ashes. i remember in the 90s when india was nowhere near the cricket power it is today, steve waugh leading the best side in hisory, said the one blot was winning in india. that was a massive deal for me. will never forget. if you look at the england side that won 2-1 in india in 2012/13 and the england side that last one the ashes in 2010/11, you've got around 10 players common to both squads. anderson, bell, trott, swann, panesar, kp, broad, bresnan, finn, tremlett, prior. maybe there's a lesson there !!! wierdly these recent losses at home under gambhir kills the whole myth it cant be done and that's not a bad message. 

[vvvslaxman]

5 hours ago, The Realist said:

They actually thought Archer & Wood would be the attack to rattle Aus 

 

Jofra Archer has been ruled out of the remainder of England's tour of Australia due to a side strain, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced on Wednesday as they announced the Playing XI for the fourth Test. The selectors have also included Jacob Bethell in the side. He will play at No 3 in place of Ollie Pope, who has been left out.

 

They were talking about unleashing ARcher and wood at perth and take the lead and bury them in pink ball test and win the series.

[putrevus]

20 minutes ago, goose said:

as a brit born and raised here, the bee in my bonnet is how england always dismiss losses in india like they've lost to some voodoo sh%t. there's never a fall out, nobody dropped, no cricket reviews. everything is about the ashes. i remember in the 90s when india was nowhere near the cricket power it is today, steve waugh leading the best side in hisory, said the one blot was winning in india. that was a massive deal for me. will never forget. if you look at the england side that won 2-1 in india in 2012/13 and the england side that last one the ashes in 2010/11, you've got around 10 players common to both squads. anderson, bell, trott, swann, panesar, kp, broad, bresnan, finn, tremlett, prior. maybe there's a lesson there !!! wierdly these recent losses at home under gambhir kills the whole myth it cant be done and that's not a bad message. 

The problem  was India were extremely poor travelling team then. How can any side be so good at home but be so crappy away from home.That is the main reason why no side lost any sleep over losing to India except Aussies.

 

Aussies in general play every match to win.That is why they are the most competitive side.

Edited December 24, 2025 by putrevus

[Gollum]

Greatness about Australia is they never disrespect or underestimate any opponent especially in test cricket, they will * you up with same degree of contempt irrespective of whether you are India, England or Bangladesh. They play to win every assignment, not just win but decimate the opponent...we OTOH get bored when we get an easy series like vs WI recently, and start whining about lack of competition, and be patronizing about state of cricket in the weaker countries. Also may be unpopular opinion but Aussies are sporting in defeat, look at their immediate reactions post 20-21 BGT which would have been 10x more painful than our home whitewashes in last 2 seasons. They are equally gracious about 2005 Ashes (umpiring error cost them the series) and 2001 BGT (Harbhajan chucking merrily). 

 

Poms are the opposite. When India won the series there in 2007, in post-series presentation the host Mark Nicholas as well as Vaughan and KP were going on about how it didn't feel like a series defeat for them. Likewise every time they lose, it doesn't matter because it is prep for their precious Ashes. Aussies never hide behind Ashes excuse, heck they lost 0-4 in 2013 BGT, few months before Ashes but still took the loss so seriously...made no excuse, took action against some of their players for lack of discipline. 

Edited December 24, 2025 by Gollum

[Gollum]

1 hour ago, putrevus said:

Aussies in general play every match to win.That is why they are the most competitive side.

100%

 

16 consecutive test wins, on 2 separate instances. 

 

34 unbeaten WC games (1999-2011).

 

Insanity, will never be repeated by another country. 

[Serpico]

7 minutes ago, Gollum said:

100%

 

16 consecutive test wins, on 2 separate instances. 

 

34 unbeaten WC games (1999-2011).

 

Insanity, will never be repeated by another country. 

All these achievements belong to one specific generation. People probably said the same thing about Windies in the 80s

[Gollum]

14 minutes ago, Serpico said:

All these achievements belong to one specific generation. People probably said the same thing about Windies in the 80s

But Aussies have had multiple generations of ATG teams

 

Bradman's Invincibles

 

Late 60s-Early 70s Chappels, Lillee, Walters, Marsh team

 

90s-00s GOAT side

 

Now post 2015 also, they are having a test W/L of 2.5, WTC trophy, 2 WCs, 1 T20 WC, a long reign as #1. 

Edited December 24, 2025 by Gollum

[goose]

46 minutes ago, Gollum said:

Greatness about Australia is they never disrespect or underestimate any opponent especially in test cricket, they will * you up with same degree of contempt irrespective of whether you are India, England or Bangladesh. They play to win every assignment, not just win but decimate the opponent...we OTOH get bored when we get an easy series like vs WI recently, and start whining about lack of competition, and be patronizing about state of cricket in the weaker countries. Also may be unpopular opinion but Aussies are sporting in defeat, look at their immediate reactions post 20-21 BGT which would have been 10x more painful than our home whitewashes in last 2 seasons. They are equally gracious about 2005 Ashes (umpiring error cost them the series) and 2001 BGT (Harbhajan chucking merrily). 

 

Poms are the opposite. When India won the series there in 2007, in post-series presentation the host Mark Nicholas as well as Vaughan and KP were going on about how it didn't feel like a series defeat for them. Likewise every time they lose, it doesn't matter because it is prep for their precious Ashes. Aussies never hide behind Ashes excuse, heck they lost 0-4 in 2013 BGT, few months before Ashes but still took the loss so seriously...made no excuse, took action against some of their players for lack of discipline. 

 

yeh austrtalia are ruthless in defeat and in victory. no excuses. they are quick to point out top performances in the opponent when they lose. india on the other hand is very poor at framing defeat in terms of how well the opponent does. it's only ever about where india went wrong. look at the threads here on the losses to NZ and RSA. who are the overnight heroes born, you;d be hard pressed to know from this forum

[vvvslaxman]

https://7news.com.au/sport/cricket/england-captain-ben-stokes-torn-to-shreds-for-bizarre-excuse-after-ashes-failure-c-21080629

 

England captain Ben Stokes torn to shreds for discussing coin tosses after Ashes failure

‘Such a likeable cricketer on the field but the disrespect for his opponents is disappointing.’

[AKane]

2 hours ago, vvvslaxman said:

They were talking about unleashing ARcher and wood at perth and take the lead and bury them in pink ball test and win the series.

When you unleash Wood you need medical services standing by.... er I mean for Wood himself.

 

They have also replaced Pope with Bethel - is that an upgrade or a downgrade?

Edited December 24, 2025 by AKane

[vvvslaxman]

2 minutes ago, AKane said:

When you unleash Wood you need medical services standing by.... er I mean for Wood himself.

 

They have also replaced Pope with Bethel - is that an upgrade or a downgrade?

 

Same for same.

[goose]

9 minutes ago, vvvslaxman said:

https://7news.com.au/sport/cricket/england-captain-ben-stokes-torn-to-shreds-for-bizarre-excuse-after-ashes-failure-c-21080629

 

England captain Ben Stokes torn to shreds for discussing coin tosses after Ashes failure

‘Such a likeable cricketer on the field but the disrespect for his opponents is disappointing.’

 

i watched that presser. he was sarcastically responding to the journo who asked what would he have done differently. he has repeatedly said he doesn't think in terms of regret and things in the past. this was a sarcastic shut down of that question. 

[vvvslaxman]

Boxing day test means they never forget to remember Shane warne. What a superstar. YOu can never find such man with such stage presence like that. Lehmann is sharing a story where he came to boxing day test in ferrari drive around the ground to make a grand entry. Will be missed forever. Cricket needs such personalities.

[vvvslaxman]