Starc roughs up the pitch outside the left handers off stump just lovely for Swanny. And the Aussies have lots of southpaws! Harris is quicker, and may be more accurate?
Good to see Warne back on the Sky commentary team. Hope to god he's replaced Andrew Strauss.
I thought Strauss was improving as the last test went on, he wasn't great to start with but I enjoyed him as he gave a genuine insight into the dressing room, the players etc
I have to say I would have gone with Bresnan in the first test purely because of the dry pitch and reverse swing but Finn would have been ideal for Lords. However, Bresnan's inclusion gives me more confidence in the batting ability of our tail.
The dropping of Finn does not sit well with me. One of the reasons the England team under Andy Flower has been so successful is consistency of selection (I think we dropped Crompton prematurely as well). I understand Finn is not in the greatest of form, however I would have backed him on his home ground to turn it around and get wickets.
On the flipside, we don't get to see the players day in day out, and how well they are training etc... So maybe Bresnan has worked hard and made the selectors pick him.
Can anyone offer a good reason on why England are not worth backing at 10/11 ?
A two horse race...
Lord's has a strange effect on visiting teams, this is the one ground everyone wants to win at and personally play well in.
The theory goes that most touring teams need to get the first Test under their belts to settle down and get used to English conditions and the second Test, traditionally at Lord's arrives before homesickness, injuries and whatever else kicks in. Lord's has generally played well for batsmen over the last few years as well.
Personally although I'm not much of a gambler I don't like those odds - if Australia have a good day or even a good first session they'll lengthen and you'll get a better deal, if England are on top by lunch then will they really get that much worse? I suspect after TB a lot of money has gone on an England win and the bookies are setting their odds accordingly.
Really annoyed they've dropped Finn. He had one bad bowling innings, but is still a much better wicket taker than Bresnan and averages 20 at Lords.
Good toss to win though.
A lot of those wickets were against Bangladesh though. Lord's looks good for batting on - and thankfully we'll get first dig on it. I doubt that we'll roll Australia over on it that cheaply and I'd prefer Bresnan for his ability to bowl longish spells rather than Finn.
Don't know too much about Finn but in the last 2 days at Trent Bridge the Aussies really laid into him and it clearly got to him as he was being knocked all over the park, fielding poorly etc. Maybe Flowers thinks he isn't up to it?
Don't know too much about Finn but in the last 2 days at Trent Bridge the Aussies really laid into him and it clearly got to him as he was being knocked all over the park, fielding poorly etc. Maybe Flowers thinks he isn't up to it?
90 Test wickets at an average of 29 or so is evidence that he is up to it. England only field four bowlers and like to bowl dry that is restrict the scoring and build pressure, a bowler who gets carted a bit too often puts pressure on the other bowlers who are more likely to rotated back into the attack.
Finn has a bit of a problem with his run up - coming off the long-run up he seems to lose a bit of fluency and seems to be getting slower rather than accelerating to the crease which he should be doing. He did shorten his run-up for the NZ home Tests and bowled well but he seemed to have reverted to a longer run-up at TB but not with the same results.
Comments
I see Khawaja and Harris are in for Cowan and Starc. Bit surprised about the latter.
Only one Ashes win for England there since 1934. 4 years ago.
Good toss to win though.
On the flipside, we don't get to see the players day in day out, and how well they are training etc... So maybe Bresnan has worked hard and made the selectors pick him.
Lord's has a strange effect on visiting teams, this is the one ground everyone wants to win at and personally play well in.
The theory goes that most touring teams need to get the first Test under their belts to settle down and get used to English conditions and the second Test, traditionally at Lord's arrives before homesickness, injuries and whatever else kicks in. Lord's has generally played well for batsmen over the last few years as well.
Personally although I'm not much of a gambler I don't like those odds - if Australia have a good day or even a good first session they'll lengthen and you'll get a better deal, if England are on top by lunch then will they really get that much worse? I suspect after TB a lot of money has gone on an England win and the bookies are setting their odds accordingly.
AN Cook lbw b Watson 12
Hope you enjoyed the marvellous reception and atmoshpere.
Finn has a bit of a problem with his run up - coming off the long-run up he seems to lose a bit of fluency and seems to be getting slower rather than accelerating to the crease which he should be doing. He did shorten his run-up for the NZ home Tests and bowled well but he seemed to have reverted to a longer run-up at TB but not with the same results.