Ashes 2023
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Great sport
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Terrific series and great work from England to come back from 2-0 down. Oz let down ( again ) by not having one of their guys go on to a hundred which would have seen them home.
Long live Ashes cricket. As a neutral it is still by far the best series the long form of the game can offer.
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@dogmeat said in Ashes 2023:
@MN5 said in Ashes 2023:
Terrific series
Close and competitive but not a lot of great cricket across the series.
Probably a fair call, the drama and controversy probably overshadowed the skill level a lot of the time
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@MN5 said in Ashes 2023:
Oz let down ( again ) by not having one of their guys go on to a hundred which would have seen them home.
I think the batting performances are about as disappointing as the bowling, TBH.
To sound like a miserable prick: we played like shit for long stretches of this series and still come away with the urn.
The tactics in the field were mystifying. The batting was often rash and denied us more runs. The bowling was too often inconsistent and looked like there was no plan. In short: we played into England's hands a lot of the time.
And we failed ourselves in the field at the last post; Warner dropped a simple slips catch. Carey shells a basic take to let Brook go score another 70.
There will be a bit of chat about the ball being changed to something not wholly resembling what was out there to start the day. Suddenly the swing was back and three quick wickets followed. But we should expect swing in England anyway.
For me, the series will have memories of bowlers being forced into long spells of Bodyline-ish behaviour because the wickets were often rubbish. There will be those who say Bazball is a revelation and produces results, but ultimately it was proven to be no better than any other approach to Test cricket.
If a couple of our middle order put away their hazy swings at rubbish balls, we win that game comfortably.
EDIT: Oh yeah and the fact we lost our greatest off spinner of all time to injury part way through the series. That hurt a bit.
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@dogmeat said in Ashes 2023:
@MN5 said in Ashes 2023:
Terrific series
Close and competitive but not a lot of great cricket across the series.
You can only play as well as your opposition lets you.
Excellent offensive and defensive play across the series between the best team and the form team in global cricket.
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@NTA said in Ashes 2023:
@MN5 said in Ashes 2023:
Oz let down ( again ) by not having one of their guys go on to a hundred which would have seen them home.
I think the batting performances are about as disappointing as the bowling, TBH.
To sound like a miserable prick: we played like shit for long stretches of this series and still come away with the urn.
The tactics in the field were mystifying. The batting was often rash and denied us more runs. The bowling was too often inconsistent and looked like there was no plan. In short: we played into England's hands a lot of the time.
And we failed ourselves in the field at the last post - Warner dropped a simple slips catch. Carey shells a basic take to let Brook go score another 70.
There will be a bit of chat about the ball being changed to something not wholly resembling what was out there to start the day. Suddenly the swing was back and three quick wickets followed. But we should expect swing in England anyway.
For me, the series will have memories of bowlers being forced into long spells of Bodyline-ish behaviour because the wickets were often rubbish. There will be those who say Bazball is a revelation and produces results, but ultimately it was proven to be no better than any other approach to Test cricket.
If a couple of our middle order put away their hazy swings at rubbish balls, we win that game comfortably.
EDIT: Oh yeah and the fact we lost our greatest off spinner of all time to injury part way through the series. That hurt a bit.
Not a bad summation, certainly from an antipodean viewpoint. From an English viewpoint I sort of feel I could copy and paste much of that, just change the odd name. We even lost our (currently) best spinner, effectively. Truth is, it was an extremely close series between two ok-ish teams with the differences being, not so much a guy stepping up and influencing things, more that certain guys underperformed when it was important. Great, dramatic sport though.
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@Catogrande said in Ashes 2023:
@NTA said in Ashes 2023:
@MN5 said in Ashes 2023:
Oz let down ( again ) by not having one of their guys go on to a hundred which would have seen them home.
I think the batting performances are about as disappointing as the bowling, TBH.
To sound like a miserable prick: we played like shit for long stretches of this series and still come away with the urn.
The tactics in the field were mystifying. The batting was often rash and denied us more runs. The bowling was too often inconsistent and looked like there was no plan. In short: we played into England's hands a lot of the time.
And we failed ourselves in the field at the last post - Warner dropped a simple slips catch. Carey shells a basic take to let Brook go score another 70.
There will be a bit of chat about the ball being changed to something not wholly resembling what was out there to start the day. Suddenly the swing was back and three quick wickets followed. But we should expect swing in England anyway.
For me, the series will have memories of bowlers being forced into long spells of Bodyline-ish behaviour because the wickets were often rubbish. There will be those who say Bazball is a revelation and produces results, but ultimately it was proven to be no better than any other approach to Test cricket.
If a couple of our middle order put away their hazy swings at rubbish balls, we win that game comfortably.
EDIT: Oh yeah and the fact we lost our greatest off spinner of all time to injury part way through the series. That hurt a bit.
Not a bad summation, certainly from an antipodean viewpoint. From an English viewpoint I sort of feel I could copy and paste much of that, just change the odd name. We even lost our (currently) best spinner, effectively. Truth is, it was an extremely close series between two ok-ish teams with the differences being, not so much a guy stepping up and influencing things, more that certain guys underperformed when it was important. Great, dramatic sport though.
Edit: anyway. Four more years. đ
Or however many it is. Itâs the sentiment that counts.
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Eight Poms and only three Aussies.
HmmmmâŚ.
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Given they stress quite a few marginal calls in a close series, not that much of a stretch. But I do dislike these combined teams. It is only ever some blokeâs opinion or even worse, a committee opinion and just put out there as an outrage multiplier.
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Oh. And Stuart Broad. Imagine the conversation in ten years time.
Dad, what was the last ball you faced in cricket? Well son, I hit it for 6 to help my country win an Ashes Test.
OK Dad what about the last ball you ever bowled in cricket? Well son, I took a wicket to ensure my country won an Ashes Test.
Some story.
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@Catogrande said in Ashes 2023:
Given they stress quite a few marginal calls in a close series, not that much of a stretch. But I do dislike these combined teams. It is only ever some blokeâs opinion or even worse, a committee opinion and just put out there as an outrage multiplier.
Itâs certainly not a Sean Fitzpatrick âI wouldnât pick a single Australian in a combined teamâ Clanger like back in 2003 but stillâŚ..
If you actually sit down and analyse it maybe itâs correct.
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England were kissed on the dick with the conditions this whole series. It always seemed they go to bowl at the best times. That first hour last night was like the first hour of day 1, there was swing and excessive seam movement. Throw in a bit of variable bounce and it looked a fucking nightmare to bat on.
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if you are a box score guy then England can lay claim to being short changed. They have the better stats across the series. Their batsmen scored more, their bowlers took more for less. But that's test cricket, sometimes the "when" matters even more than the "how many".
Going forward they can say they are in a better spot as well. There are a few guys in that Aus lineup coming to the end. And some of the guys who will stay need to re-evaluate their game a bit (loose bus change i am looking square at you).
Flat decks and shit balls have certainly helped England. Lets see how it looks when/if the Duke balls return to their old quality.
