Ashes 2013/14

[MikeH]

He's gone now.

Mostly we've got them out through their mistakes rather than brilliant bowling, it doesn't bode well. And I have no confidence that we can get 400 batting to get any kind of meaningful lead out of this.

[Alexander's Horse]

I watched most of the game or listened on the radio. It was played in a much better spirit.

The English fast bowlers made the cardinal mistake at the WACA of bowling far too short. You must pitch it up there and bowl an orthodox off-stump line.

This is common knowledge and it's always baffling to see sides get carried away with the extra bounce, exciting as it may be. Although it does tend to confirm the widespread belief that fast bowlers are rather thick.

Australia was able to get off the hook. Our century maker scored 81 of his runs on the onside.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

I really have to question this baffling determination to play Root at 3. I'd always take Bell in preference.

Cook needed that 72 badly. Let's hope he builds on it.

[Alexander's Horse]

Bell looks solid. Prior is having a shocker behind the stumps.

[MikeH]

I think they'll replace Prior for the next test. Too late.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

And with Broad now carrying an injury we are looking desperately short of options.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

And Root amassed 23 runs from his two innings. Just what you need from a number 3.

*Deep sigh*

So, about that selecting Onions?

[MikeH]

He got an 87, the highest score we've had, in the second test at #3 though.

Average of 31.25 at #3 this series vs. average of 14 at #5

Both not good enough.

[Alexander's Horse]

5 wickets and the Ashes are ours

[Alexander's Horse]

and then two more tests to rub it in

[pchang]

I think it would be more entertaining if the Ashes really were some old guy's cremated remains.

[MikeH]

I don't think Australia could find it any more entertaining at the moment.

Some small consolation in Stokes' innings.

[Alexander's Horse]

The game was played in a much better spirit

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Oh, for ****'s sake.

England and Nottinghamshire off-spinner Graeme Swann has announced his immediate retirement from cricket.
The 34-year-old has taken only seven wickets during this winter's Ashes series defeat and has ruled himself out of the rest of the tour in Australia.
Swann took 255 wickets in 60 Tests - the sixth highest tally for England.
"This decision has been very difficult seeing as the England team has been my family for seven years now, but I feel it is the right time," he said.

"I don't regret a single day of my career. Every high has been celebrated with verve and vigour and every low painfully accepted as a chance to learn and improve."
Swann's shock decision comes in a week that saw Australia secure an unassailable 3-0 series lead with two Tests to play and the player apologise for making comments on Facebook comparing his team's loss with rape.
His retirement means he will be unavailable for the fourth Test, starting in Melbourne on Boxing Day (Thursday), and further unsettles the England team following the departure of batsman Jonathan Trott with a stress-related illness earlier in the tour.
"I know I'm making the decision for the right reasons," added Swann. "My body doesn't like playing five-day cricket any more, and I don't feel I can justify my spot in the team in the latter stages of a game - and as a spinner, that's when you need to come into your own.
"With two games to go in Australia and then a fiercely competitive summer against Sri Lanka and India I feel that it is a great time for someone else to strap themselves in and hopefully enjoy the ride as much as I have," he added.
Swann, who was first named in an England squad back in 1999-2000, finally made his Test debut in 2008 and took four wickets against India in Chennai.

He established a reputation for taking wickets in the first over of a spell and went on to become the sixth-highest wicket-taker in his country's history during this Ashes series.
Despite struggling with elbow problems in recent years, Swann played in three Ashes series victories and helped England become the number one ranked side in the world in 2011.
He also took 104 wickets in 79 one-day internationals after making his debut against South Africa in Bloemfontein in 2000 at the age of 20 and spent a spell as the top-ranked ODI bowler in 2011.
In addition, he helped England clinch their first major global world title at the 2010 World Twenty20 in the Caribbean.
"My personal highlights include the three Ashes victories, which I will cherish for the rest of my life, and the World T20 victory in the West Indies, which ranks as my limited overs highlight," he added.

"I have met, played with and against, and become friends with some magnificent people throughout my journey and feel truly privileged to have been given these opportunities."
Former England captain Michael Vaughan said Swann had taken the decision "too soon".
He tweeted: "Spinners of his quality are a rare breed. Of all the England players over the last 20 years he is the one the team will miss the most."
BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew has described Swann as a "true character" who had made a "massive contribution" to England.
Agnew tweeted: "The general feeling was that this might be Swann's last tour, but this is unexpected.
"England's greatest challenge is replacing the man who was the lynchpin to their four-man attack."
England team director Andy Flower paid tribute to Swann's "outstanding contribution" to the team, adding: "His commitment, competitive spirit and sense of humour have been recognised and admired by team-mates and supporters alike, and he has played a big part in England's success over the last five years."

Mick Newell, director of cricket at Nottinghamshire, said Swann's carefree demeanour belied a studious attitude to the game.
"He joined us with a reputation for not taking things seriously but I found him to be very thoughtful about his cricket and very committed to improving his game," said Newell.
"He knows how to perk up a dressing room and he was an outstanding character to have in a cricket team.
"Swanny has been a dominant performer in Test cricket for six years and it will leave a huge gap in the England team because there is no outstanding spinner quite ready to fill the place that he will leave."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/25481772

He was the leading wicket-taker in the summer Ashes. You don't go from that to "washed-up has-been" in four months. This is just unbelievable.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

If the Ashes are going to be lost, they should be lost on the pitch. Not due to some of the stupidest selection policies I've ever seen, coupled with an England team that appears to be undergoing a collective nervous breakdown.

Flowers has to go. This tour is an unmitigated disaster. The saddest and sorriest showing since Kerry Packer neutered the Aussies in the 70s. Even the 2006/2007 massacre didn't see the England team tearing themselves apart off the pitch.