Originally Posted by OzTennis

I presume you mean Jos Buttler? You've been going on about Hazlewood (well Hazelwood as you call him) all series but I said before a ball was bowled that Starc would be the main threat. QED.

Originally Posted by Beoz

I do it to wind you up Tenis

Originally Posted by OzTennis

Your call if you want to make yourself look like a semi-literate right wing buffoon in the cause of winding me and others up. It's water off a duck's back. (or you'd probably say a bird in the hand is water off a duck's back.

Originally Posted by Beoz

11 batsmen failed to score. Doesn't that suggest tinkering aint gonna matter.

You really should be giving your bowlers more credit here. Its a simple game, bowl well and let your bowlers take down the opposition batsmen.

Its the reason why Australia were number 1 in past history and recent history and its the reason why SA are number 1. For England to ever be No. 1 they need to learn to bowl in SA and Oz.

Originally Posted by Broad Shoulders

To be fair, I think I have seen Broad bowl much better than he did yesterday. His spell at the Gabba in the last Ashes series was outstanding in more foreign conditions for him. His spell at the Oval in 2013 was my favourite of his. He was simply unplayable.

Don't get me wrong, he bowled very well yesterday, but the batsmen were more the factor for the stats than the bowling. Whereas the other examples I gave were where no batsman could play him.

Originally Posted by Broad Shoulders

Lord's clearly was a false dawn for the Aussies. I pointed it out at the end of the first Aussie innings how only two of their batsmen scored above their averages, which of course in the context of the match meant nothing, but in the context of Aus' batting ineptitude said plenty. Sure Rogers and Smith made mammoth scores, but you should remember they were both dropped by Eng when they were in single figures. Some would say, so what Eng should have taken their chances, but at the end of the day, even their best batsmen were giving us chances, we just weren't good enough to take them that day.

This Aus batting lineup has been leading up to this for years. There have been pinacles of failures of Aus in that time (47ao v SA), however off memory that was then followed up with a win in SA to draw the series. I'm a firm believer that you should make changes to a winning team if certain parts are not functioning. Aus have had big failings in their batting lineup throughout this time with the odd batsmen standing up and delivering.

I know this won't happen, but Warner needs to drop to 4 or below. When Aus need to set a first innings total he is rarely anywhere to be seen. Warner scores his big scores either once he knows his team have a first innings lead or when he knows his bowlers have got the opposition out cheaply. Too often he is the start of the slide and when you have a team full of players who are failing you need someone at the top who is willing to just wear off the shine of the new ball then go to work. I'd be keeping Rogers in there for as long as possible as he is the type of opener Aus needs right now. Smith has not shown anything to me that he deserves the recent best batsman mantle he has held. Clarke just needs to focus on his batting and nothing else. It is the middle order where I would make the changes. Get rid of Voges for someone younger who has future. I still think Aus should have stuck with Kawajha all those years ago, after all they stuck with Smith and that worked for them. M Marsh needs to be given more time as he can potentially be a massive cog for them in the future. I like what I have seen of Nevill.

The biggest thing they can do though is get another grafter at opener to replace Warner.

Originally Posted by GarryP

That's it, an innings defeat to lose the Ashes.