Ashes verdict?

Neither team can bat. As per usual it will come down to the team capable of taking those 20 wickets.

Starc just got 2 hat tricks in a Shield game against tailenders. 2 hat tricks is a fair effort.

Confidence is low here, England will need to start well to set the tone. At The Gabba. Yeh.

Doubts on the batting generally and the bowling depth (Anderson and Broad can’t take them all...).

Warm up games not exactly taxing.

When you have to call on Paul Collingwood to field in borrowed kit then something isn’t right.

When you call up a bowler who has minimal first class experience, not good. Might be a saviour though, who knows?

Hope to be proven wrong, will be at The Gabba on Days 1 and 3 surrounded by Aussies.

Depends ...... if the green decks are rolled out the Anderson will take them all.

I think the Aussie curators have learned the lesson on that one. Well here's hoping anyway.

More importantly Barmy Army HQ has been moved from previous location. No longer at Lucky Shag, which was ok, but very crowded. Now will be at The Royal in East Perth. They have a strict policy there with regards standing outside on the terrace. Something that was never an issue at Lucky Shag. If this is to be enforced, it will deduct from the experience considerably.


I know this is Perth, but hardly a cheap venue either. Although I believe $8 pints of Colonial will be available.


This venue is closer to the grounds, WACA but further from city. We'll see how it all pans out.

$8 a pint? Cheap compared to about the same (if not more this year) for a smaller plastic cup of indeterminate strength piss at The Gabba.

There are a few reasons I don’t drink a lot at the cricket and this is one.

Weather looks nice and temperate though, might avoid the concrete sweat box experience for once.

https://www.cricket.com.au/news/engl...ook/2017-11-14

Bloody hell this is a bit low, Ben, after sticking up for a bloke getting bullied surely has the moral high ground.

In some ways I enjoy the banter and the bollocks that comes out of the usual suspects as much as the game.

The latest is the local outrage at the Aussie selections, all good fun.

Current prediction from our Bureau of Met rep in the office here is that its likely to be fairly showery and cool for the whole of the Gabba Test, not ruling out a good storm at some point either.

I just reviewed the footage again. Round 2 is pretty bad. There's no a lot of self defence or defending someone else there which is really your only defence in this situation.

Shaun Marsh. Its gone beyond hilarious. The Marsh family must have seriously bad photo's of someone.

He'll soon be your hero if he starts performing

I can imagine Ed Cowan’s mood today ...

Thanks Ms Fish, any hurricanes?

Cowan and Bailey are probably on the beers right now.