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Cook scored big against the Windies in a series that England lost a test at home. He has had numerous partners.
England's other problem is that people aren't stepping up to the number three position. This has been a problem for a long time now. Bell and KP didn't want to bat. Root is not keen either. Whereas in Australia and I dare say SA batsmen are willing to step up.
'I may be a Senator but I am not stupid'
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Root needs to go up one spot anyway.
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David
Well done Aussies, great bowling today. 3 nil after Perth!
The batting line up should be
Cook
Stoneman
Root
Malan
Bairstow
Stokes if he is exonerated. If not Foakes with the gloves
Ali
Then the bowlers.
'I may be a Senator but I am not stupid'
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That is the problem, who is going to replace him? Cook has been past it for years and when you throw in his average record against Australia the tourists are possibly going to be 1 or 2 down early on every time and the England to describe England's top order as bog average would be paying them a compliment. They have a couple of average County Cricket players in Stoneman, Vince and Malan who despite showing something the in the first dig in Brisbane have looked average since. Moeen Ali isn't a Test number 6 and his bowling isn't looking threatening at all and Bairstow doesn't know how to bat with the tail.
Australia aren't exempt either, Jimmy Anderson's spell on Monday night showed how brittle the Australia line up is against the moving ball. Only problem is those conditions probably won't be replicated again through the series and Anderson also has a pretty average record down under.
England's best hope now is to draw the series because they are not coming back from 2-0 down.
I thought Cook's average against Australia was actually quite good (in the 40s), although it is uneven as it's inflated by a small number of really big scores amongst the cheap wickets. But England have been lax about getting a replacement/partner, and Stoneman's not the long-term answer as he's already 30.
Many before the first test were bemoaning our batting line-up;
- Warner and Smith were shoo-ins, but an opening partner for Warner? (Renshaw was expected to get the nod, despite his poor Shield form.)
- Khawaja is well supported by the selectors but is brittle and doesn't always perform, so should Smith have been at 3?
- Handscomb's done fairly well, but there was talk of bringing in a more experienced player at 5 for the Ashes.
- SOS at 6? Almost everyone thought that was a crazy idea (~200 runs in 3 innings and player of the match!)
- Paine as wicketkeeper? When Bancroft's name was being floated by the selectors I thought he would be behind the stumps as Paine hasn't been pulling up trees in the shield.
Bancroft's had 1 good innings, 2 poor, and 1 cut short by Warner getting him run out. The others (the 2nd innings at Adelaide apart) have all performed, and should be in the runs again at the WACA (although, it is the WACA, almost anything's possible - except an English win!) That should cement their places for the Melbourne and Sydney tests, barring injuries, and we might see a completely unchanged side for all five tests, something I don't recall for a while.
Only the bowling line-up has been pretty fixed for a while now: Lyon, plus whichever of our quicks is currently fit.
Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon
Alister Cook's average is inflated by his stellar 2010/2011 tour where he scored 766 runs and only batted 7 times and he averaged 127.66. The rest of his career in Australia 27.60, 24.60 and currently 15.50 on this tour. You can even look at his form against Australia in England which isn't crash hot, he has only averaged over 30 twice in a series against Australia in his career.
Renshaw left the door open with his poor Shield form and Bancroft wasn't just knocking on door, he smashed it in. Having said that I wish the Aussie selectors would pick and stick sometimes. After 30 Tests Hashim Amla averaged about 27 and he now averages a tick under 50.
I'd argue the opposite for Khawaja who has been in and out of the side frequently. Handscombe will be very susceptible to a decent bowler who can swing the ball because he plays back in his crease. He's be LBW 2 or 3 times out of 4 already this series? He'll be nicknamed Handsplumb by time they get to Sydney.
Shaun Marsh has performed well since being recalled even though there were others in front of him.
Paine hadn't even kept wickets for Tasmania in the past 2 seasons, initially dropped for some kid who's name eludes me at the moment in 2016/17 and Matthew Wade went back to Tasmania for this season and Paine was 2nd in line to Wade (who for the record is an awful wicket keeper).
Our bowling attack is rather settled and even I'm not that surprised by Nathan Lyon, he is leading wicket taker for the year with 55.
As for England, it seems to have been a revolving door at the top of the order since Andrew Strauss retired a few years ago. Bairstow needs to bat above Ali who I would have thought might be under some pressure because he's a passenger at this stage. Should Root move to 3? Your guess is probably as good as mine.
Australia are going alright in home conditions but it's not like the Australian side of 1995 -late 2000's. There have been times where England have been on top in the series but only for a session or maybe a day.
No one in the top 4 or 5 sides can seem to win away from home at the moment in Test Cricket until they get a tour of Minnow bashing e.g West Indies (who beat England in England this year) apart from Australia and South Africa trading wins in each others back yards probably because the conditions are virtually the same.
The long sobs of autumn's violins wound my heart with a monotonous languor
Given that Anderson will be turning 37 during the next Ashes Series in England in 2019 it's highly likely that this will be his swansong against Australia. Yes Ambrose, Walsh and Akram played till their late 30s but they had more economical actions and didn't suffer the injuries that Anderson has had.Australia aren't exempt either, Jimmy Anderson's spell on Monday night showed how brittle the Australia line up is against the moving ball. Only problem is those conditions probably won't be replicated again through the series and Anderson also has a pretty average record down under.
The other news for that series is that there will be no test at Trent Bridge, Durham and Cardiff as the venues were announced in 2014.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cri...-miss-out.html
'I may be a Senator but I am not stupid'
https://omny.fm/shows/the-alan-jones-breakfast-show/cameron-clyne
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https://www.change.org/p/rugby-australia-petition-for-cameron-clyne-to-resign-as-chairman-of-the-rugby-australia-board
Give it away Cooky, you're rubbish.
'I may be a Senator but I am not stupid'
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Not sure on the draw, Australia have gone back to picking a number 6 who averages 21.
'I may be a Senator but I am not stupid'
https://omny.fm/shows/the-alan-jones-breakfast-show/cameron-clyne
Link to Senate Report http://www.aph.gov.au/senate_ca
https://www.change.org/p/rugby-australia-petition-for-cameron-clyne-to-resign-as-chairman-of-the-rugby-australia-board
Shame they'll have to get the blokes in front of him first and this deck isn't offering much on Day 1.