Post Ashes Thread

Paddy O'Dors

Striker
Rather than get stuck in the end of the 5th test thread thought it might be good to start a thread to reflect on the series overall.

Personally, England had the better team but too much being under prepared and muddled thinking with batting line ups was our undoing.
 


Rather than get stuck in the end of the 5th test thread thought it might be good to start a thread to reflect on the series overall.

Personally, England had the better team but too much being under prepared and muddled thinking with batting line ups was our undoing.
Is it time for massive change?
 
Burns - I think he’s shown the ability and temperament to go forward as our opener, good series for him - 7/10

Denly - performed well opening, would have been nice to see him get his 100 yesterday. It’s his spot for now - 6/10

Root - his inability to convert 50s is a huge concern. Could do with a decent rest now before NZ - 6/10

Stokes - iconic performance at Headingley which will be remembered for years to come. Proven himself as world class yet again, especially with the bat - 9/10

Bairstow - poor series with the bat, if he’s got the gloves he needs to be at 7 IMO - 5/10

Buttler - bounced back in the last couple of games with some decent runs, again probably done enough to deserve his place going forward - 6/10

Curran - only one game which was a huge shame as he performed well. Offers variation with his left arm bowling, and should have had more of a chance IMO -

Woakes - another in need of a rest. He could be the one to drop out when Stokes/Anderson are fit - 5/10

Archer - exciting! Disappointing bowling performance 1st innings at Old Trafford but his performances other than that have been excellent - 8/10

Leach - cult status with the bat after Headingley, and he’s bowled well enough. Decision to be made between him and Ali - 6/10

Broad - bowled superbly. Really stood up in Anderson’s absence - 8/10

Roy - should not have been in the side as an opener, superb white ball player but not a test match batsman - 4/10

Ali - hopefully finds his form and gets back in the side soon as he’s a key part of our side when on form.

Overton - strange pick. Did alright, nothing more or less but again, not test match standard.

Anderson - huge, huge miss. Hopefully we see him back in the side.

You could look at it and say we haven’t won the series because of weather at Lords and some freakish batting from an all time great. Let ourselves down with some poor selections, captaincy and batting but it’s nice to see us win today and tie the series.

I actually don’t think the side is too far off, some tweaks and fine tuning needed but what a summer!!
 
Think we need to hugely focus on the Test cricket side now. The WC was a brilliant opportunity to win a home tournament - we've done it and now we go back to test cricket.

We came close to winning both but now we need to develop players and a style that suits us. I don't think there was a great deal between the teams I reckon the difference was just that they dug un more when they were under pressure. Dropped catches and a missed wicket here and there.

Steve Smith was probably the big difference. They had a World class batsman

They still haven't won a series in England for what will be 22 years.
 
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Pope and Sibley can not be ignored going forward imo, need to be looking to build a team that can bat for a long time and isn’t full of white ball bashers. Winning the last match of the series shouldn’t cloud the fact that our batting has been largely horrendous since Ireland.

Bairstow out, Denly at 3 for a year and a bit, Sibley and Burns opening and Pope at 5.
 
Pope and Sibley can not be ignored going forward imo, need to be looking to build a team that can bat for a long time and isn’t full of white ball bashers. Winning the last match of the series shouldn’t cloud the fact that our batting has been largely horrendous since Ireland.

Bairstow out, Denly at 3 for a year and a bit, Sibley and Burns opening and Pope at 5.

This team this series has done their best to bat a lot of time like

Bar the 67 nobody can excuse them of playing that loosely

Agree with your changes though

Although none of us have seen sibley play I bet I agree 100% in principle

Just think the change of batting has happened we have tried to it

Look at how slowly root and stokes have batted
 
The more I think about it the more I think the change in coach could be the best thing to happen to us.
Bayliss was brought in to win the World Cup, he achieved that and now moves on. If the next coach concentrates on tests then maybe the mentality and performance of the team will improve?
 
This team this series has done their best to bat a lot of time like

Bar the 67 nobody can excuse them of playing that loosely

Agree with your changes though

Although none of us have seen sibley play I bet I agree 100% in principle

Just think the change of batting has happened we have tried to it

Look at how slowly root and stokes have batted
Yeah they’ve dug in quite a bit. Denly and Burns have played a few gritty innings which we’ll need more of going forward. Just want to make sure we aren’t regularly getting bowled for less than 150 anymore.
 
They still haven't won a series in England for what will be 22 years.

Yeah well England haven't even won a single test in Australia for what will be 11 years. England haven't much to crow about with regards to away Ashes unfortunately and I'm not sure what to expect there in 2 years time. Its the nature of test cricket at the moment, home dominated.

Jimmy says he wants to be there down under still which is good to hear.
 
Yeah well England haven't even won a single test in Australia for what will be 11 years. England haven't much to crow about with regards to away Ashes unfortunately and I'm not sure what to expect there in 2 years time. Its the nature of test cricket at the moment, home dominated.

Jimmy says he wants to be there down under still which is good to hear.
Going to be a nightmare trying to get Smith out on Aussie roads in two years. Archer will need a lot of help, can’t just rely on him.
 
Rather than get stuck in the end of the 5th test thread thought it might be good to start a thread to reflect on the series overall.

Personally, England had the better team but too much being under prepared and muddled thinking with batting line ups was our undoing.
Steven Smith was the stand out difference between the 2 teams. That said, Stokes reached a new level this summer
They had Cummins and Hazelwood, but Archer and Broad were more than a match
Both teams were weak in the batting department

Take Smith out of the equation and we win 3-1 IMHO
Decent result overall really, don’t think we did enough to win the series. As frustrating as they’ve been at times I’m already looking forward to the next one, roll on Nov 20th.

Also, a winter tour with a Boxing Day test is always a treat
Agree. 5th Test was the only one where we won the majority of sessions. Headingly was a total freak occurrence
 
If Steve Smith had had a good series instead of an exceptional one England would have won the ashes imo

Root averaged 32.50 and got 0 centuries.

If Root averaged the average he actually has and had some match winning performances he England might have won also. You know Root was once compared to Kohli, Smith and Williamson.

England's best player didn't perform this series, Australia's did.
 
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Few problems for me: Anderson, Root and Ali. Think Mo is really important to our sides balance and it’s such a shame he was basically unpickable as a good Ali is really effective in English conditions. Jimmy speaks for himself really - take 650 test wickets out of any team and they’d struggle - I also bet he’d have gave smith a lot to think about in English conditions as well. Root having an awful series as both captain and batter didn’t help either.
I’m very happy with the general team though and don’t think we need big changes going forward. I think the new coach will be the significant change we need and would go pretty much same team with Mo and Jimmy back for Leach and Curran/Woakes. Possibly the extra bat (pope for me) in for one of the bowlers as well once stokes is fit again
 
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