Cummins unlikely to be every today or tomorrow’s man due to his never ending litany of injuries.
England have been sluggish enough so far today 135/1 after putting Australia into bat. Australia have a decent enough chance of posting a big score here.
With the Ashes lost, the pressure is off and surprise, surprise Steven Smith is in the runs again unbeaten on 78 at stumps on Day 1. He’s on 443 runs for the series at the moment, joint second with Joe Root and only behind Chris Rogers on 480.
Cricket stats are only useful to a point. They don’t tell you when the hard runs were made or the key wickets taken. When the Ashes were in the balance and there to be won or lost at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge, Australia’s new captain posted scores of 7, 8, 6 & 5.
Yeah, I chuckled at that. He’s the striker who bags a couple of late goals when the side’s already 4-0 up. A real little gimp.
Didn’t he do the same in 2013? Scored a century at the Oval when the series was lost?
Yeah, just had a look at it there on Wisden. Less than stellar performances in the three tests Australia lost in losing the series 3-0 in 2013.
First test at Trent Bridge 53 & 17.
Second test at Lords 2 & 1
In the Durham test when Australia were 147/1 chasing 299 to win, he played a full part in the collapse to 224 all out. Knocks of 17 & 2…
In the fifth and final test at the Oval with Australia 3-0 down he made 138 not out.
Australia 424/7. Steven Smith 129 n.o. Currently he’s the highest run scorer in this Ashes series!
Smithy 
Lyon took two, both bowled. Mitch Johnson took only one, but that is deceptive. Mid-innings, he laid such siege to Joe Root that the batsman of the series managed just two runs in an hour, then fell to Marsh and an edge detectable only by RTS and whales. In the inverse of what is promised to Islamist terrorists, the maidens came first, then the reward.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/the-ashes/no-ashes-but-australia-make-england-eat-dust-20150821-gj57n3.html#ixzz3jXHE1Loq
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Two bad teams. England following on. Lyth playing for his career.
He’s gone already.
England will have to up their game significantly, particularly batting wise for the tougher tests that lie ahead against Pakistan and South Africa. As you’ve said, two bad teams and its been a very disappointing series.
Australia still top dogs in world cricket
I’ve always been surprised at how little regard there is for Siddle in Australia. As I’ve repeatedly said he has always performed well in England and fully justified his recall at the Oval with an outstanding performance. Australia must be regretting not pressing him into action earlier in the series.
A pretty unsatisfactory series all round. From an English perspective, the important thing is they’re regained the Ashes but all the problems they had coming into this series (and possibly a few more now as well) still have to be addressed ahead of the winter tours.