I must admit I quite like the Aussie bowling unit in this test. Aussies in a rather remarkably good situation ito fast bowlers. They actually seem like a good bunch people. Like you I feel the English a tad suspect under scoreboard pressure and I'm certain that the Aussies could very well manage to put them under hefty scoreboard pressure. And thanks for the kind words!
That makes you a fair way better than me, even though I was probably my school's best bowler I was far from being a big fish in the Southern Suburbs/Peninsula pond.
Have had a love affair with cricket since I was about 8 years old. Even wanted to be a professional player until I realised how limited my ability was. Still follow the game as close as I can. It's an amazing sport if you get down to the basics of it.
It was a relatively good match. We took it beyond during the first half and in the second pretty much capitalised on their errors. And their sole try was against the run of play.
Agree with you regarding Root. Not much of a captain and I'm not sure that giving Stokes the captaincy will be a good long term solution either. That fortunately is England's problem to solve and not ours. Starc was always going to be a bit rusty with the ball but I'm sure he does what he needs to last night and this morning wrt his bowling rhythm. Get it right especially if there's swing about he and Cummins should roll this England side with relative ease. And yes he reminded the Aussie selectors of how destructive his batting can be as well.
Like I said it is an obscure statistic/metric so it stands to reason that people wouldn't necessarily jump to that conclusion. I suspect that Leach's will drop below his FC average at some point being a non batsman. As for the rest they might or might not depending on form. And also this is pretty similar to how some batsmen might get refered to as playing a 'Cowan' ie batting very slowly in a similar manner to ex Aussie opener Ed Cowan. Not something that occurs regularly.
They all have higher Test batting averages than they do First Class batting averages. Leach leads the way ito differential. His Test match batting average is 19.5 whereas his FC average is 11.9. Next is the two Aussies (Smith 63.24 v 58.19, Head 45.72 v 39.5) followed by Stokes (35.86 v 34.77) and then Buttler (32.9 v 32.05). Like I mentioned earlier this a very changeable statistic due to fact that it's tied to their batting averages over different levels of the game. Clearly being able to average higher in Test matches is a good indication that a player is potentially a brilliant one. At least with batsmen. Also this is an obscure statistic as well.
[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23] But no, you're ice cold. Let's just say they are members of a unique club that a few would suggest means they are especially talented at one part of the game.
So here's a question for guys. What ties the following five players together (other than playing in this match)? Buttler, Stokes, Leach, Smith and Head. The answer might surprise you.
Was a tad bit surprised that it was Warner who fell but not surprised that it was Broad that got him. Warner hasn't handled Broad well at all this series.
Agreed. Three is a whole lot. And even if he could prove that is was tainted supplements then it's going to need to be three different supplements that's tainted. Sadly that's also a tad bit unbelievable I would imagine. And that's with factoring in the fact that the supplement industry isn't regulated. Or at to my knowledge they aren't. Agreed. Sadder still is the some of the racist comments that's been made on Facebook (from both black and white) threads regarding this.
Aphiwe Dyantyi is going to have a hard time explaining this one. With just a wee bit research the drugs in question are all for bulking up and it doesn't sound like it is something that could wind up in a supplement. Sad to say but his career might be over.
https://www.sarugbymag.co.za/dyantyi-b-sample-comes-back-positive/
Ben Stokes the cricketer I like but then I have always loved wholehearted cricketers who give everything to the cause. Also he really does seemed to have matured since the Bristol incident and hopefully it's made him a better man off the pitch too. I really liked how he backed out of the New Zealander of the year award and instead publicly supported Kane Williamson highlighting his many good qualities as a sportsman and a person. Not too sure if he would've done that prior to Bristol though. As for Labuschagne I really do get where you are coming from and respect your view point. That said he isn't SA qualified (other than by birth) and appears to have had no desire to play for us at all. In fact he seems rather annoyed at being refered to as a South African. He is Australian as far as he is concerned and that should be respected. Being irritated because he isn't playing for us is like being irritated that Andrew Strauss (born in Johannesburg) didn't play for us, which is really neither here nor there as they never grew up in SA and wasn't a part of our age group teams. I do hope though that he has a solid career because as you said he does seem to be a class act.
Some stats/numbers from the Headingley Test.
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/27460615/ben-stokes-epic-innings-leads-england-record-breaking-run-chase
Yeah had Australia not wasted their final review it would be them celebrating a retained Urn instead of England celebrating that they are still in the running to regain it.
It has been enthralling Test Cricket hasn't it! What an incredible recovery by England and what an innings by Stokes. Root will be ecstatic with the outcome especially seeing how well short they were when Leach came out to bat. Stokes is one helluva cricketer!
Your motogp reference is a bit lost on me as I don't follow it. That said, yeah the two quick wickets has helped Aus a good deal. With 98 runs left to get/defend, this game is on a knife edge but favoured towards Australia.
