Yes and no. He hasnāt been in place long enough to put his stamp on the team, but at the same time heās a very highly rated coach and England do seem to be getting that immediate short term bounce that you get in just about any sport from the installation of a new coach.
One thing that was noticeable in Cardiff was how much better Englandās catching was. Its been poor of late. Bayliss seemingly put a lot of focus on catching in the lead up to the first test.
Moenn Ali will play despite looking dodgy after Adil Rashid declared unfit.
Whatās the weather looking like for the test chaps?
Australia win toss and decide to bat. A bit cloudy. 4 down at lunch.
Fucking Warner the tosser. Otherwise chugging along nicely for Rogers and Smith.
They try to knock Moeen out of the park every time.
191-1 
All rise for Steve Smith, the centurion
Not much in this pitch
The Baggy Greenās end day 1 on 337-1
It will not be easy to pick up the 20 wickets on this pitch to win the test.
Fantastic performance by both Smith and Rogers. Fuck all in the pitch (does grass no longer grow in England?), but that was just day 1. It will deteriorate and there will be much more there for the Aussie bowlers in the afternoon and day 3. Nathan Lyon must be desperate to get out there.
At what point do we declare Fitzy. 550 ?
Thatās certainly the figure I had in mind, Clarke generally likes to go 500+ if he has a big total from day one, but I reckon heāll go at 565. You would think that either Rogers or Smith would have scored their 200 well before that point if they get to those scores, so there wonāt be any hanging around to sheperd them to double tonnes. I reckon they should be looking to declare around tea to give themselves at least one session to snatch one or two quick wickets. Unless they go mental in the morning and start slashing like 12 year olds at a gala day, which they might very well do, with all those wickets in hand, in which case we could be looking at just after lunch.
I was thinking 550 and then bowl them out twice for 300 odd each time and get the 51 odd runs needed on Monday afternoon.
Simples
Sounds like a plan. The lack of grass available in England is most concerning however.
Iād go to 600 if it were me. I suspect forcing a follow on might be the best option if the pitch stays this bland.
Cook and England will certainly now show the belly. There is no way they will bat out three days against a relaxed and fired up Aussie attack whatever the pitch does or doesnāt do.
1-1, advantage Australia.
Lordās wonāt deteriorate, it doesnāt anymore. There will be nothing for Lyon in the first innings, but the two left armers will create footholes for him. Tough to bat out three days, which is what England will effectively have to do, but if they get a good start and score relatively briskly then Iād give them a decent chance.
After going missing for the entire Cardiff test, Fitzy is suddenly posting like thereās no tomorrow as Australia enjoy their first good day of the series.
The legendary temper seems to be temporarily in check.
Quelle surprise.
The mindset of England will be interesting. If they set out to bat defensively they will lose. But they canāt be reckless either.