The Ashes 2019

[am Bays]

Stiffy material that!

[LMA]

Dar end tally for test?
More wrong then right?

Can I get an update please?

Standby mate, just waiting for ball tracking to come through.

[tigerpie]

It's like watching ATCA A3. David Steinway could do a better job.

That's easily the quote of the day!
Sadly it has an element of truth to it as well.

[heater31]

It's like watching ATCA A3. David Steinway could do a better job.

******* hell, can picture him telling Warner not to stand in the danger area!!!!

[amber_fluid]

Great days play.
The umpires got some wrong but it didn’t effect the overall score.
You win some, you lose some.

Makes for a great test match!

[tigerpie]

Checked the scores this morning.
When I fell asleep I didn't think Smith would've tonned up. He was on about 60.
Did they start bowling full tosses on middle or something?
Siddle just wow! Shows what experience and guts will do.
Interesting night coming up. I hope both Patto's bowl well and it doesn't rain ffs.

[tigerpie]

It's like watching ATCA A3. David Steinway could do a better job.

******* hell, can picture him telling Warner not to stand in the danger area!!!!

I could picture Warner telling him to get ***ked you coc**ead.
Strange human that one lol

[LaughingKookaburra]

Seriously, how good is Steve Smith! I didn’t think we’d get 140 when the 8th went down. We have a huge opportunity tonight to cash in on that effort. Yes, when you win the toss and bat you should make more than 280 however if you get 2-3 down by the time they are on 60-70 then those runs on the board can seem a mile away in a high stakes match. We just need Cummins or Pattinson to light it up for a spell and we can be in a position to at worse draw even after both sides have batted once. When we were 8 for FA that seemed incredibly unlikely. We just have to bowl well!

[twe]

hearing we can only watch this on GEM9, not Foxtel or Kayo, anyone confirm

Just checked the Foxtel guide.....cricket channel is showing the Bangers v Sri Lanka [emoji35]

yep true …. the coverage was good tho wasn't ads every over and key moments they stayed with the coverage the only b side I found was the occasional flick back to the c9 commentaters healy woodbridge taylor etc … let them run it ffs the had enough aussie content on there .

[Lightning McQueen]

How did we not review the Warner or Pattinson LB's?

What a gutsy ton from Smith, I loved the way he just let loose towards the end of the innings trying to eek as many runs out of the 10th wicket as possible, he's certainly matured as a cricketer.

[Booney]

Seriously, how good is Steve Smith! I didn’t think we’d get 140 when the 8th went down. We have a huge opportunity tonight to cash in on that effort. Yes, when you win the toss and bat you should make more than 280 however if you get 2-3 down by the time they are on 60-70 then those runs on the board can seem a mile away in a high stakes match. We just need Cummins or Pattinson to light it up for a spell and we can be in a position to at worse draw even after both sides have batted once. When we were 8 for FA that seemed incredibly unlikely. We just have to bowl well!

By far and away the best batsman of the modern era, statistically speaking, nobody comes close. Of players over 50 Tests you're back to Sutcliffe, Barrington and Hammond in the 1930's to 1950's.

[Booney]

Rik E Boy is blogging his way through the Ashes 2019 :

Edgbaston -Day 1

The opening day of the Ashes series did not disappoint as two evenly matched teams put on a thrilling day of Test Cricket on day one.

We all know we can't bat and soon after drinks we were in the expected deep didgery doo at 3/37. Stuart Broad was all but unplayable in home conditions and he was ably assisted by the energetic Woakes who hit the deck hard. Warner came and went cheaply but not quietly as the locals only forgive English cheats. Bancroft has been left out for so long that he still doesn't know what to leave and Usi makes batting and getting out easy all at the same time. England, and the Barmy Army, were all over us.

Steve Smith and Travis Head steadied the ship and the army fell silent in tribute. What a bunch of front runners they have become. Their singing was off too...they only know the songs their Dads sang 20 years ago...but at least Dad didn't do Marcel Marceau covers because the Aussies don't lose a wicket for 50 minutes.

The news at lunchtime must have made Joe Root blanch, well he certainly looked very pale anyway. In an incredible surprise to, um, no one 64 year old Jimmy Anderson pinged a calf and is ruled out for this home Ashes series at least. No doubt though the Poms will wheel out Anderson like Hannibal Lecter to frighten the Aussies in four years time.

With Anderson out of action and Australia in full recovery mode at 3/92 things were looking up. Then the Aussies lost 5/30 and we were in all sorts at 8/122. The army were back and we studied our footwear and thought "not this crap again". A real lowlight of this spell was our Captain gifting his wicket with a very loose shot at a crucial time...someone had to stay with Smith.

That someone turned out to be Peter Siddle. Sidds is obviously not in the team for his batting but today was his finest innings. Steve Smith even played second fiddle for a while as Root clearly wasn't trying to get him out. All of a sudden the swagger drained out of England. Siddle was dismissed by Moen six runs short of a deserved half century and you could see what it meant to him as he was gutted walking off. Our group and Big Merv's group gave Siddle a well deserved standing ovation and it will take Siddle many bananas to recover from the bruised back from the backslapping he got from his embarrassed team mates.

The best was yet to come. Smith was on 85 when the GOAT came to the crease. Smith finally starting farming the strike with 2s and an ever increasing frequency of boundaries. With Smith on 99 the crowd held its breath until a roar of affirmation from the green and gold greeted one of Smith's best hundreds. There was some feeble boos from the chavs but plenty of Englishmen remain cricket fans.

The last hour was bizzare. At one stage Root had clearly given up on getting Smith out. They had nine on the rope and Smith still hit boundaries. They were so rattled they had four back when Lyon was facing. Defensive shit captaincy, and some brilliant support by Siddle and Lyon helped "Our Steve Smith" to a credible 284 all out. In the end Smith didn't get out until he was ready to, it really was an amazing thing to see. At the end of the day Smith saluted us and his team mates with only a fleeting nod to those saying Boourns. They've made a very good player very determined and Mr Root would be thinking "could you please stop" because at this stage they can't get him out.

England 0/10 in reply after two ordinary short overs. We will need to do better than that tomorrow.

HIGHLIGHT - Steve Smith is no longer captain but he led by example today. Hopefully some of the other batsmen take a leaf out of Smith's book.

LOWLIGHT - Both sides came to play today but the umpiring was as poor as I can ever remember in an Ashes Test. Aleem Dar you are better than this and I can see why I've never heard of Umpire Wilson.

[helicopterking]

Dar end tally for test?
More wrong then right?

Can I get an update please?

Standby mate, just waiting for ball tracking to come through.

7 mistakes is the tally.
On track for 35 this test.

[mighty_tiger_79]

Siddle is the allrounder in the side...

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

[Corona Man]

Dar end tally for test?
More wrong then right?

Can I get an update please?

Standby mate, just waiting for ball tracking to come through.

7 mistakes is the tally.
On track for 35 this test.

Changing his name to Alem Der

[The Dark Knight]

.

[Down the Hill]

Smith's style and technique is not for the purists but he just seems to be in his own time zone compared to other bats. Even the quickest of bowlers never do him for pace. I've never wanted to rate Kohli as high as Smith but now prepared to concede Kohli is with Smith in a league of their own. Kohli is probably the more vulnerable looking early in his innings but once he is set his shot execution is a joy to watch.

[Booney]

If only he was enjoyable to watch, drives me nuts with all his twitches and fidgets and squints and shuffles.

[Booney]

Smith's style and technique is not for the purists but he just seems to be in his own time zone compared to other bats. Even the quickest of bowlers never do him for pace. I've never wanted to rate Kohli as high as Smith but now prepared to concede Kohli is with Smith in a league of their own. Kohli is probably the more vulnerable looking early in his innings but once he is set his shot execution is a joy to watch.

There's a stark difference between the two styles, that's for sure, Kohli nearly as pure as you get, Smith as unorthodox as you get.

When comparing the two though you need to look at how batter friendly the wickets Kohli plays on in India are, he's had success elsewhere for sure, but a low, slow deck in Chennai in 45° isn't exactly as bowler friendly as the Gabba or WACA. I guess you could say the same about Smith in Melbourne and Adelaide in recent times, too.

[mighty_tiger_79]

If only he was enjoyable to watch, drives me nuts with all his twitches and fidgets and squints and shuffles.

The Nadal of cricket

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