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*Official* 1st Test at the SWALEC Stadium

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
Think they wanted to open old scars and didn't adapt quickly enough. Guess they thought if they could rough us up early then they may win the series on the opening day as we may not be mentally strong enough to come back.
Yeah I think this is spot on. They bowled much better in the second innings after (finally) realising this wasn't going to work.
 

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
Johnson not attempting his cutter at all (or dide he?) baffled me. Surely on a slowish pitch it's a good idea.
He definitely did bowl a few cutters, especially in the second innings. I was half-expecting him to come on and bowl a spell of primarily cutters though, especially given the new balance of the attack, and that never happened.
 

flibbertyjibber

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Yeah I think this is spot on. They bowled much better in the second innings after (finally) realising this wasn't going to work.
Think they can go with the same plan but just Johnson to do it in the remaining tests. Hazlewood is good enough to just bowl his stuff and to be honest we have no idea how fit Starc will be. Guess the scan he has probably gone for will be telling.
 

Top_Cat

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Gob

International Coach
No point in asking MJ to do the run containing role.He would have to cut his pace down for that and he might not go over 4 rpo but I can guarantee that he won't be picking wickets. If he continues to perform like he did in the 1st test then I'd rather bring in Skinny Pete to do the containing job
For bowlers like Starc and Johnson,its up to the captain to set the field to make sure that they won't bleed. Have a third man,deep cover and deep mid wicket and set the mid off,mid on much straighter and put the rest in catching positions and let it rip. It might sound defensive but you just cant have two blokes going over 4 rpo. Starc in particular is going to bowl a ball with the batsman's name on it and you just have to damage control in between those balls.
 

LegionOfBrad

International Debutant
Read some comments from Lehman after the game which included (another) dig at the pitch. Along with the fact he felt that they did nothing wrong in the way they played Moeen.

I realise some of it is for press consumption and not what they're saying internally but the attitude to things doesn't seem right. They can only think of one way to play and don't seem to want to play the situation.

Also as predicted. There would have been no play at all today. There was probably at least a draw there to be had.
 

LegionOfBrad

International Debutant
I'd be surprised if it kept him out of the second test, given how well he bowled through it.
I guess it depends on the injury. If it's anything that could break down after 2 days. Surely they won't risk him. If he went down in test they could be left with Johnson having to bowl a lot of overs.
 

Furball

Evil Scotsman
McGrath said in his masterclass he wasn't thinking about taking a wicket every over let alone every ball. Just keep it in the right areas, Warne is just a hyperactive child.
Thing is if you watch his masterclass, Warne was a big advocate of attacking bowling with defensive fields.
 

Spark

Global Moderator
Yeah he was a big fan of a spread-ish field early to allow him to work his way into a spell without going for too many runs.
 

Stapel

International Regular
Graeme Swann said that as well. His first 4-6 overs he wanted to go for less than 10.
Yet he had a habbit of taking a wicket in hsi first over. Possibly more myth than statistical truth?

Otherwise I agree with the idea. Makes sense
 

TheJediBrah

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Read some comments from Lehman after the game which included (another) dig at the pitch. Along with the fact he felt that they did nothing wrong in the way they played Moeen.
That inevitably happens when you answer direct questions from the media, they then go away and edit it to make it sound like he was complaining about the pitch when he was just briefly responding to a pointed question.

Any adult should know how this works.
 

Son Of Coco

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Mate has posted photos of him out with the English team after the match. They don't look like a bad bunch of blokes. Have asked for verification they are actually complete and utter ****s so the rest of my Ashes viewing experience isn't ruined.

Didn't see Anderson or Broad in the shot, so there's still a glimmer of hope.
 

Riggins

International Captain
How much credit are we giving Trevor Bayliss for this win and in particular Cook's captaincy? Like, 100% right?
 

Midwinter

State Captain
What was Johnson's highest speed
The highest speed I saw was 142
And a few in the 139/140 mark

Did he get higher than that ?
 

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