The Official England Cricket Team Supporters thread

140/1

Three quick wickets there in the space of two and a half overs as Australia slump form 189/2 to 195/5.

No more than England deserve. Bar a 15 minute spell before lunch when 63 runs were leaked in 7 overs, England had bowled well without luck or much reward.

A visibly hampered and injured Ben Stokes ill advisedly comes back into the attack and 12 runs are leaked in his first over. I doubt Stokes will bowl again in this test.

Woakes has been a waste of space all day. Wood and Robinson having to do it all. Stuart Broad is badly missed here.

224/5.

17 overs for England to negotiate until the new ball.

Leach was expensive as well?

236/6

Woakes finally wakes up and takes the wicket of Carey.

He was. Leach came into a tiring England attack before lunch and England leaked 63 runs in the last 7 overs having bowled well and economically for the first two hours up to that point. Leach did pick up the second wicket of Labuschagne when England were really toiling on 166/1.

Robinson and Wood have both been outstanding all day.

The Stokes no ball wicket of Warner when he was on something like 17 has proved very expensive. Warner hit a very scratchy 94 surviving luckily any number of times.

272/6.

Leach has been hopeless. England badly need him to exert a bit of control and tie down an end until the new ball arrives. He’s leaked runs all day. 80 runs conceded in 10 overs.

289/6. Just the 14 runs conceded by the hapless Leach in that over.

299/6.

An injured Stokes back into bowl another over and leaks 10 runs in the over. The England bowling attack down to the bare bones here. Ollie Robinson off with cramp having bowled himself to a standstill all day.

306/7

Root after leaking 7 runs in the over picks up the wicket of Cummins last ball of the over.

England have basically ran out of bowlers for the moment as Woakes and Wood get a short rest before taking the new ball. Stokes and Robinson are hampered by injury and the hapless Leach has presumably been retired for the innings at this stage.

320/7 after 80 overs.

Woakes really needs to make use of this new ball.

And he doesn’t. 11 conceded off the over. Century up for Head off 85 balls.

343/7 at stumps

Different ball, different conditions.

Good batting conditions today. England bowled reasonably well but effectively losing Stokes out of the attack injured and Leach been utterly hopeless and unable to tie down an end and stem the run flow cost them dearly. The real damage was down in the last 20 minutes of the long 2 and a half hour session before lunch and the last hour of the day.

Confining Australia to 350-400 in good batting conditions wouldn’t be bad going when looked at in isolation. All a bit academic though when the batting is as bad as what England have. If Root doesn’t score a big ton in the second innings, England could easily be bowled out for under 200 again even with a good Day 3 batting track.

Aus by an innings.
Archer was the only hope England had in Australian conditions.
Anderson and Broad have been average enough with a kookaburra.
Iirc, prior to the last ashes series, the entire Australian first class cricket changed to a reader ball to prepare the national team. In England the counties would laugh at it.
It’s the equivalent of kk Vs Galway really, a united county Vs a series of petty rows

Broad has bowled ok at the Gabbatoir before. The batting is rubbish.

He has. Gets a bit overlooked by the Mitchell Johnson spell, but Broad skittled through Australia in the first innings at the Gabba in 2013 with figures of 6/81 as England bowled Australia out for under 300.

Broad has caused huge problems for Australian left handers over the years and with 4 lefties in the top 7, a calamitous decision to pick Leach ahead of Broad. It won’t be the bowling that will lose this series for England, even without Archer. It’s not as good as what Australia have, but England still have a reasonably good selection of quicks to pick from.

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He’s never been as dangerous in Australia really though.
England’s only tall genuine fast bowler is injured. Sin e.
You need at least two tall fast bowlers for a series in aus.

Archer is only 6 feet tall. He’s not exactly Joel Garner in the height department.

Mark Wood was in the 150’s there for most of the day. That is seriously quick. Wood is both faster and taller than Archer. Not having Archer is obviously a huge blow to England but the quick bowling will not be the losing of this series for England.

Wood doesn’t have the bounce that archer or a natural Aussie quick does.