Alfresco

One swallow a summer does not make.


Good win England. Well done.

OzTennis

Excellent win for England - took an Aussie coach to turn them around! Seriously, is a much different, younger team with less baggage than last series with Ali in particular an excellent addition. On to Lords. Shaun Marsh in and Watson out I hope.

DeadVim

And the other Aussie coach is predictably blaming the conditions.

I expected more of Lehmann.

Bodes well for the rest of the series if he can't see the real cause for concern.

Beoz

I don't read it that way at all. But I'd expect the English to craft it that way

http://mobile.news.com.au/sport/cric...-1227439206876

But I'm not surprise he said he would like to see a bit more bounce. The selections they have go entirely towards a fast, bouncy wicket. More 1 dimensional cricket from Australia totally ignoring the conditions they play in. Results in England, UAE and India show that.

England on the other hand are doing their usual stuff at home. Bowling in the right areas, building pressure, waiting for the opposition to crack. What has impressed me is Cook's inventive field placings. For someone who was one of the worlds worst captains he has come a long way.

Again Australians are looking for their scapegoat. Enter Shane Watson. Now he shouldn't be in the side anyway but that's Australian cricket. Too afraid to make the tough calls. It was not Shane Watson who let the side down. It was the bowlers and wicket keeper in the first innings. I'd swap out Watson only because he's past it, but I would be having a serious look at what to do with the bowling. After all those pitches are not what you'll find at the Gabba or WACA.

OzTennis

Next you will be suggesting they dig up the wickets in Australia and put soft ones in to prepare for the Ashes series in England. Johnson, Starc and Hazlewood have been brought up and play their cricket on hard, bouncy wickets. They will soon adapt to conditions here. Broad and Anderson were hopeless in Australia and didn't adapt but bowl well at home - hardly rocket science. I think you are suggesting a bowler should be dangerous in all conditions which is (Glenn McGrath apart) too tall an order.

I've said Starc will be crucial; he's got 7 wickets already and will get many more (your 'worst 5 for' was an attempted joke of course, ask the England batsmen if they relish full length, swinging deliveries at 90 mph). Hazlewood has the makings of a very good bowler and will gain valuable experience in this series. Pat Cummins and Peter Siddle will probably get a game at some stage but you go with your tried and tested best line-up to begin with.

Tell me who should have been on the plane rather than the current attack?

Beoz

Have the balls to hit the reply button when talking to someone.

I don't even know where to begin to answer that uneducated dribble. Should a bowler be dangerous in all conditions? Absolutely. If not you can say goodbye to your little urn. Who would I have on the plane? Well the first seats go to Harris, Starc, and Hazelwood. For the last test I'd have had Siddle, Starc and Hazelwood with a some leg spin from Smith and the usual stuff from Lyon. But we've been down that path. I told you Johnson didn't deserve a spot. For the next one, let me see the pitch and I'll let you know. The slope can rattle some bowlers. See Patto last series. I've played on Lords. It's weird to bowl on.

OzTennis

I've told you before it's drivel and you don't learn - ''uneducated dribble - the 2nd word you use proves the 1st in your case.

Harris broke down; end of story, why bang on about picking him? I'd pick Hazlewood instead of some guy you continue to call Hazelwood. Johnson, as I predicted, made a contribution with bat if not ball and will definitely do better next time. Smith is not a test standard bowler but has been used in the past in short spells to try and get a wicket. Starc, Hazlewood and Johnson backed up by Lyon it will be for Lords. As I said, the English bowlers weren't dangerous in Australia but given a harder wicket Starc etc will do better (they surely won't/can't doctor them all in this very hot summer down south?). You are too bowler centric in your analysis - the Aussie batters such as Warner, Smith and Clarke need to do better next time.

Pattinson and Cummins looked like they'd be test bowlers but both too injury prone; alas as Harris has proved to be and Starc is at times.

You still haven't explained how bowlers brought up on hard, fast wickets should immediately bowl to English conditions.

Played at Lords! Have you faced test bowlers and bowled to State and test batsmen and played with them in your youth? Didn't think so.

Beoz

State is nothing. Piece of piss. Try County.

Adios my friend. I no longer have the energy to discuss cricket with a pig headed novice.

Amazulu

Lords is always a good ground for quality visiting teams to play at

For SA it has been a happy hunting ground

TravellerMan

What about for the current Australian team though?

Beoz

Has been for Australia in the past. Not last time though. Spin seemed to be the order of the game. Swann got a bag of wickets. Steve Smith even collected 3 in an innings. Not bad for a guy who was just classed as not being 'Test Standard'. If its like last time Ali could be in for a haul.

OzTennis

Steve Smith has 15 test wickets from 1,074 balls at 51.73. QED.

England pick their team from 18 County teams; Australia from 6 State teams. Australia is currently better than England at all 3 forms of the game; an argument that a county team (including overseas players) is stronger than a state team stretches credulity.

Noted that you haven't played the game at any sort of level or with/against first class players.

Here's a quiz question for you:

Name a county team that includes players of the calibre of Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, David Warner, Steven Smith, Shane Watson, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Moises Henriques, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Nic Maddinson, Ben Rohrer, Sean Abbott, Stephen O'Keefe, Trent Copeland, Gurinder Sandhu and Doug Bollinger i.e. 17 in squad with international caps. Your state team.

Beoz

You are not thinking outside the box and we all know what happens to Australian cricket when they fail to do that.

Steve Smith has an average of 26.85 in England. He's taken 7, nearly half of his wickets in England. 6 of them at Lords. In contrast to Mitchell Johnson who has an average of 41.92 in England.

So maybe you should be looking at the micro world of cricket, the here and now, rather than learn by Google, and believing everything you read some Melbourne rag. Which also means waiting and assessing the conditions. Lords might be prime time for Johnson - it may not be, but cricket is not like Tennis, you just don't roll out the rebound ace and know what you are going to get.

That's OK. I know from self experience. NSW Schoolboys was a breeze in comparison. A bit like I know the grounds too. From experience

You forgot Scott Henry. It says a lot when a team of that calibre can only reach 3rd place. Perhaps you need to dig a little deeper and ask yourself - are those blokes really that good.

OzTennis

So you disparage my experience with a throw away about only playing with State not County players. Noted you couldn't name an English county with more than a handful of internationals (because they are spread out over 18 counties). Even you must know that the current 7 or 8 NSW internationals hardly play a State match from one year to another so mentioning 3rd place and not as good as I thought is frankly laughable.

Johnson has a 5/69 in English conditions. You seem to be suggesting putting Smith as a frontline bowler instead of Johnson. I know where you are coming from re Lords. Lehmann thought 'outside the box' to turn defeat into a 5-0 whitewash wouldn't you say?

Beoz

Nope. Just saying the selections and bowling choices should have been better in Cardiff. Playing Johnson was a bad selection. Siddle's line and length would have been better given the conditions weren't appropriate for someone who couldn't figure out which length to bowl. On top of that spin was a weapon, especially in the final 2 innings. Lyon got a good haul. So did Root and Ali. Where was our second spinner?

You just said it yourself. 7 or 8 players don't play state, and you yourself must know the lack of international talent we have at state level. Hardly knocking down the door to get in the side. On the other hand, England always find new players capable of performing. Its a sad place to be when we have to bring out the same cricketers game after game. You get a Watson situation. The next all rounder in Marsh can't take wickets.

Your comment on Lehmann is pretty funny. You gotta stop living life through Google. Anderson and Broad can't bowl in Australia. Everyone knows that. Even Google. There's your 5-0.