What a good game of cricket…The Sheffield Shield lives!

I agree.Alec has always seemed like a fine man.If only they’d let him open the batting,firstly with Gooch and then with Atherton,how different might Englands cricketing fortunes in the 1990’s turned out.
As for Ranatunga,I can remember listening to the radio reports on Sri Lankas 1st ever Test Match back in 1982.He was only 18 but I can vividly remember Henry Blofeld stating that he might have an issue with his weight/fitness in the years to come…prophetic words indeed!!!!

It would be an interesting exercise by Roar to list the worst cricket autobiographies ever published.I must have read 100’s over the years and whilst some are decent,the majority are dire.My personal favourite though has to be The Gloves are Off by Tim Zoehrer.I picked it up in a Charity shop in Perth back in the late 1980’s for $1 and I wanted to go back the next day to get my money back! If you get a chance,download a copy,read it and weep.It was truly unbelievable!
Other honourary mentions must also go to Danny Morrison,Brad Hogg and of course Michael Clarke.

Good stuff Bernie…Alec Stewart is a great example.He was a magnificent player of quick bowling,perfectly suited to opening the innings.Jack Russell was an absolutely peerless wicketkeeper and as you say,a gutsy number 7 batsman as well.So naturally England stuffed the pair of them up.
Australia wasn’t blameless either.Remember Wayne Phillips? A 160+ opening the innings on debut so what did Australia do? Let’s bat him at 7 and make him keep wicket…Madness!
I must have missed the bit about Devon Malcolm in Waugh’s autobiography…as hard as tried,I never managed to make it past page 654.

Sadly,as an Englishman your hopes will probably be realised Bernie.There’s already talk by the ‘experts’ here that either Bairstow or Butler must get the gloves in the Ashes due to their ‘superior’ batting.Bairstow averages 34.45 after 73 Tests and Butler averages 34.53 after 50.In 123 Tests they’ve scored 8 100’s between them.
It’s agreed than Ben Foakes is a magnificent keeper but his batting against pace is suspect,or so these genius’s claim.Also it’s said that as England will only play one spinner per Test the opportunities for Foakes to show his class behind the stumps will be limited as either of the other 2 will do an adequate job standing back.
And that is why we’ll probably get stuffed next (your) summer. We’ll pick a team of good,solid cricketers who can all bowl and bat a bit and leave the specialists at home.
I always remember Steve Waugh saying that he couldn’t believe it when Devon Malcolm wasn’t picked instead of a medium pacer who would take 1-100 but might get 30 odd runs at number 8.Sure Devon was erratic but when he got it right,he was truly horrible to face.He should have played 100 Test Matches.

Indeed we have Micho.A 2 Test Series against NZ (I’d have preferred 3 Tests) followed by 5 Tests against Indian…4 would have probably been enough but money talks there no doubt.Then the Ashes which I’m sure we’re all looking forward to.
It will just be wonderful to see some cricket in this country with some crowds involved.It looks like recreational cricket should be ok to start in a few weeks…we can only hope.

Hello Arnab…if Johnny Bairstow is considered one of England’s best players of spin then we are in a worst situation than I thought! His innings in the 2nd dig was one of the worst I have ever seen…and it only lasted 2 balls! A wild slog sweep followed by a weak forward defensive with the bat no where near the ball let alone his pad.
As I’ve said before,Johnny is a good player.An excellent one in he short form of the game but his Test record doesn’t lie.It surely must be time to leave him out of Test cricket and concentrate on other more promising players.

Good article Paul.I agree with most of what you have to say.One of the main issues on this tour has been the selection/rotation policy.Apart from Ed Smith,The Chairman of selectors,nobody else seems to have a clue what’s going on.We’ve had players rested when they wanted to play.Players going home when they wanted to stay.Players staying when they wanted to go home.It’s been a fiasco really.Also some of the selections themselves have been questionable.Olly Stone was the pick of the bowlers in the 2nd Test but was dropped,sorry rested,for Joffra Archer in the last one.At some stage questions will have to be asked about Archer.Has he been massively overrated? He made his reputation in T20 cricket and it shows.Apart from a couple of fiery spells in his debut series,he’s mostly bowled at fast medium at best since.Also the selection to bat Bairstow at no 3 was ridiculous.If he’s to play it’s as a batsman/wicketkeeper or not at all.He’s played 73 Test Matches,scored only 6 centuries and averages 34.45.
If England are to win back the Ashes,they should concentrate on players who will win them back,not might win them back.I understand with Covid and bio security bubbles etc it’s asking too much of players to play every game.But to make 3 or 4 changes every Test Match is surely not the way to go?

Bairstow clean bowled again…That gives him a pair for the game…I rest my case!

When I heard that Mr Warner was going to do some commentary on TV,I gave thanks that I currently live back in the UK.That was until I turned the Channel 4 coverage of the 3rd Test here and heard Graeme (aren’t I a funny guy) Swan strutting his stuff…It makes you want to cry!!!!!

I don’t wish to sound like a nark (difficult for me but I do try!) but does anyone really care about this series? Any credibility it had was lost for me when Australia didn’t send their full strength side after the South African series was cancelled.

Bairstow is approaching the end of his Test career.The number of times he’s either clean bowled or plumb LBW tells you everything.He’s a good player,a good lad (when not headbutting people as a welcome) but short of Test class as a batsman.

He’s already captained England once before against the West Indies last summer…England lost!

They got it wrong Paul.Olly Stone was the best of the bowlers in the last test.They picked Archer and although he took a wicket he bowled 5 overs of medium paced rubbish yesterday.He’s allegedly in the side to provide some shock and awe but not for the first time he hasn’t delivered.
They really couldn’t pick Bess.He looks like he’s got the bowling yips at the moment.Full toss,long hop,full toss etc.

That was a joke from Ben Stokes and the rest of the England team.It quite clearly hit the ground.The way they’ve behaved in this game so far has been disgraceful.Their batting effort was pathetic and the dissent they showed in the field was terrible.The press here (England) were very quick to get stuck into Virat Kohli in the last test but seem to have overlooked what went on yesterday.

An interesting article Gary..a good read.Don’t hold your breath with Australia giving up the Boxing Day Test.That will simply not happen.It always amuses me when the ACB or Cricket Australia bangs on about the great tradition of the Boxing Day Test.I can remember going to a one dayer on Boxing day at the MCG back in the early 1990’s (against Pakistan I think) Also,the Adelaide test was always traditionally over the Australia day weekend.That tradition went out the window years ago as well.Money talks and Cricket Australia,like the other big three,will look after themselves and just throw a few scraps at the other test playing nations and tell them to be grateful for that.It’s very shortsighted and incredibly sad for all of us that love Test Cricket.

Great post…could not agree more.

From the very first over Agnew,Vaughan and their mates continually bagged the wicket.It was relentless for the duration of the game.The bottom line was that England seriously underperformed in this game.Their batsman were clueless,their bowling was poor and they dropped far too many catches.Yet all we’re hearing about here is how bad the wicket was and how many test matches Kohli should be suspended for.If you’re a betting man,put it all on India winning the series 3-1.

A top class article David….you really nailed it….well done mate.

I don’t see a problem with that.In a 2 hour session the guys must get a bit peckish…I just want to know who had the lamingtons in their strides?

Hello Steve….you raise a fair point.My issue with Justin Langer is that,in my opinion,he has far too much to say.When a coach/manager puts himself in the frontline win,lose or draw,he deserves more scrutiny than a coach who takes a backseat and let’s the players do the talking.I’m comparing JL with Englands coach,Chris Silverwood,who rarely comments about anything.During the recent Sri Lanka series it was hard to find anything he said about it at all.He let his captain and players do all the talking and take all the plaudits.Ravi Shastri seemed to follow the same road.It’s the players game.Let them speak.
Langer is a likeable man and was obviously a fine player but,again in my humble opinion,his style of intense in your face coaching is very much yesterday.He’s got a very experienced squad of players.I’d much prefer to hear from them,not him.

Great post Jero….The really great coaches,in all sports,tend to be seen and not heard too much.Sir Alex Ferguson hardly said anything to his players on match day.He said he coached/managed them 6 days a week.If he needed to give them a team talk before their game on a saturday,it meant he hadn’t done his job.
This Langer situation reminds me off when Peter Moores (twice!) became England’s coach and was twice sacked because he wouldn’t leave the players alone.A really good coach picks his moments but mostly stays in the background.Let the players speak for themselves.

I have to be honest and say I’m loving both this post and the resultant comments.When I read that Langer was trying to justify himself by getting stuck into a Test match cricketer for cramming a toasted sandwich into his strides before a session of play,I nearly choked on my warm pommy pint! In my nearly 50 years of watching and loving our game,I have never heard of anything so ridiculous.Can you imagine if Cameron Brancroft,when asked what he was doing,hadn’t pulled out a bit of sandpaper but whipped out a toasted ham and cheese sanger,a chico roll and a couple of dim sims instead??? What was Marnus (please shut up) thinking about!
Seriously though,Langer has always been an intense cricketer.There are so many stories about his over the top behaviour when he played for Middlesex and Somerset it’s just not funny.Cricket Australia must have been aware of all this when they appointed him…why aren’t they standing by him now?

A good article as always Paul.There’s great interest in this series over here (UK) because it looks like it will be shown on FTA Television,the first series to be shown on Channel 4 since the 2005 Ashes Series.Think about that for a moment…Alistair Cook never appeared in a Test Match on FTA TV in this country.After India’s stunning win over there,interest is at a wonderful high.England’s top order batting will be the key to the series.The openers didn’t cover themselves in glory in Sri Lanka.I fully expect England to play an attritional style of cricket.Bat long and bowl tight.In the last series over there,England actually made lots of decent 1st innings scores,400+.The problem was India came out and made 550-600+ plus in a hurry and gave England a decent thrashing in the end.Anyway,a decent series awaits us all.
On the subject of the Gabba.Was I the only one not surprised about the result? I’m a Brisbane boy and was always amazed that year after year,touring teams would roll up at the Gabba with zero match practice and duly get a hiding.As Peter posted,the only team in my 25 years of living there that got some serious match practice in before the first test was England in 2010/211.They got a comfortable draw and went on to win the series.India were well and truly battle hardened by the time they played there the other week and won.When next years Ashes schedule is released,if I see England playing one warm up in Tasmania before the first test,I will truly give up!

An interesting,thought provoking post Joe.Growing up in the UK….70’s and 80’s,I was always envious of Australia’s method of picking their Test Captains.It was said you picked your best team for that match and then picked your captain.From afar that seemed the way it was done.On the whole it seemed to work.Ian and Greg Chappell,Kim Hughes (perhaps not!)Alan Border (definitely) Mark Taylor,Steve Waugh,Ricky Ponting etc…on the whole it seemed to work,especially when you compared it to the fiasco that was the English way at that time.Mike Brearley always gets my interest.An obviously intelligent man but perhaps not quite as intelligent as he thought he was,he led a charmed life as English captain.He inherited a good (Tony Greig’s) side and then had the luck to play against vastly weakened opposition.He never captained England against the West Indies and only won the 1981 series as a result of Ian Bothams heroics.In 1979/80 he captained the side to Australia and lost 3-0 (only 3 Tests were played).After 39 Test matches,he averaged 22.8 as a batsmen!It was quite obvious from then on that England picked the captain first and the rest later.The worst one was Chris Cowdrey (son of you know who) who was picked as Captain against the West Indies,did absolutley nothing and was dropped never to be selected again.
Anyway,I digress.After Tim Paine’s very ordinary performances against India,why don’t Australia just pick their best squad of players for the SA Tour.Nominate Patrick Cummins as the captain for that tour and see how he goes.If it works give him the captaincy for the Ashes…one series at a time.Since when did the Australian Captaincy have a 3-5 year tenancy?
Just a thought from a frozen Pom hanging out for next years Ashes series…One last thought though…why has Justin Langer seemingly escaped from hardly any criticism ? Talk about being the Golden Boy!