Apart from the fact that England's batting and bowling was far superior, there wasn't much between the teams!!!!!!
In the England first innings, Australia's bowling was abysmal. For their sakes, I hope Glenn McGrath and Stuart Clark weren't watching - they'd be wondering about the meaning of "line and length".There were far too many loose deliveries which were deservedly punished. The best Australian bowler was Lyon. Sure; Starc got a five-for, but he leaked runs at 4.7 an over. Johnson was all over the place and Hazelwood was like the curate's egg - parts were very good.
Australia has two, possibly three, world class batsmen; Smith, Clarke and Warner. Rogers garnered a patient 95 in the first dig, and failed in the second. Warner was vice versa, with a 50 in the second innings. In both innings, Smith and Clarke both demonstrated footwork - lack of. So did Voges. It is a sad indictment of Australian cricket that Voges came into the team as a specialist batsman at the age of 35. Obviously the selectors believe there are no good batsmen in their early to mid twenties. For decades, the Sheffield Shield was universally acknowledged as the toughest domestic competition in the world. If you were a Victorian opener in the 50's for example, you'd walk onto the SCG at about Christmas, and face Lindwall and Miller and Benaud and Davidson in a Shield game. It was not a matter of luck that Harvey and Walters came into the Test team at 19. They'd had their baptism of fire already. It doesn't happen now. As John Benaud put it, "Too many second class players are playing first class cricket."
Then there's Watson. As a matter of urgency, Cricket Australia must find his hidden stash of photos - there cannot be any other reason for continually picking him. As a specialist batsman, he has played 109 innings for only four centuries at the mediocre average of 35. In this match; 49 runs for twice out, both times to his standard lbw - hit on the pad in front of middle whilst playing across the line of flight. He has now done this 29 times to set a bizarre record. He took no wickets. He is also a liability in the field anywhere other than first slip.
Unless the collective finger is pulled out very rapidly, Lords will be another Australian disaster.
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Edited 12 Jul 2015 18:29, 7 years ago, edited by Valvegear
Apart from the fact that England's batting and bowling was far superior, there wasn't much between the teams!!!!!!
In the England first innings, Australia's bowling was abysmal. For their sakes, I hope Glenn McGrath and Stuart Clark weren't watching - they'd be wondering about the meaning of "line and length".There were far too many loose deliveries which were deservedly punished. The best Australian bowler was Lyon. Sure; Starc got a five-for, but he leaked runs at 4.7 an over. Johnson was all over the place and Hazelwood was like the curate's egg - parts were very good.
Australia has two, possibly three, world class batsmen; Smith, Clarke and Warner. Rogers garnered a patient 95 in the first dig, and failed in the second. Warner was vice versa, with a 50 in the second innings. In both innings, Smith and Clarke both demonstrated footwork - lack of. So did Voges. It is a sad indictment of Australian cricket that Voges came into the team as a specialist batsman at the age of 35. Obviously the selectors believe there are no good batsmen in their early to mid twenties. For decades, the Sheffield Shield was universally acknowledged as the toughest domestic competition in the world. If you were a Victorian opener in the 50's for example, you'd walk onto the SCG at about Christmas, and face Lindwall and Miller and Benaud and Davidson in a Shield game. It was not a matter of luck that Harvey and Walters came into the Test team at 19. They'd had their baptism of fire already. It doesn't happen now. As John Benaud put it, "Too many second class players are playing first class cricket."
Then there's Watson. As a matter of urgency, Cricket Australia must find his hidden stash of photos - there cannot be any other reason for continually picking him. As a specialist batsman, he has played 109 innings for only four centuries at the mediocre average of 35. In this match; 49 runs for twice out, both times to his standard lbw - hit on the front pad in front of middle whilst playing across the line of flight. He has now done this 29 times to set a bizarre record. He took no wickets. He is also a liability in the field anywhere other than first slip.
Unless the collective finger is pulled out very rapidly, Lords will be another Australian disaster.