The Ashes Tour 2013

[Bangkokhatter]

That wicket seems a long time ago now. Good start by Australia and Watson seems to have taken his out LBW, out of the equation for now.

Interesting team selection by England, am now officially giving up predicting the team, I thought Chris Tremlet was odds on to get a game here

[BookMan]

Watson kicking off now

[BookMan]

 

Warner gone already. Good start, Jimmy.

Lucky we bat to #7 now

 

 

Really, I thought everyone batted until they ran out of wickets.

Declarations and winning totals aside though eh? But you knew that...

[BookMan]

Great session for the aussies!

[Exsexyman]

Welcome to test cricket Woakes and Kerrigan. I'm afraid i agree with Boycott, Woakes is a bits and pieces cricketer, maybe a handy one day player but nowhere near test class either as a batsman or bowler. First time i have seen Kerrigan, he was understandably a bit nervous but that was rubbish. Long hops every other ball, clearly out of his depth. Panesar is clearly far superior, lets hope he sorts his personal problems out before the winter. Can't believe Tremlett wasn't picked today, he would have been a real handful at the Oval. An unbelievably poor decision by the selectors.

[7by7]

It appears the state of the pitch played a big part in playing Kerrigan ahead of Tremlett.

Hope is first effort was down to nerves and he gets better.

The morning definitely belonged to Australia, but England fighting back after lunch.

Congrats to Watson on his hundred; without his effort Australia would be in dire straights indeed!

[Bangkokhatter]

It appears the state of the pitch played a big part in playing Kerrigan ahead of Tremlett.

Hope is first effort was down to nerves and he gets better.

The morning definitely belonged to Australia, but England fighting back after lunch.

Congrats to Watson on his hundred; without his effort Australia would be in dire straights indeed!

I agree with Micheal Vaughan's opinion, seems they picked him just to have a look. He was quite scathing on TMS that England moved away from the winning formula of 3 seamers and 1 spinner. Hindsight is a lovely thing but at 240 odd for 3 he may have a point.

Congrats also to Watson, surprised it was his first and looks like it's gonna be a big one.

[7by7]

First Ashes 100, third in total.

Although he's had twenty 50s before.

After being hit on the side of his head by an 80+ mph ball from Broad whilst in the 80s, to carry on to 176 was a marvellous performance.

Did you see the size of the bump behind his ear?

307 for 4 at the close makes it Australia's day

[BookMan]

Why did England pick Woakes and kerrigan?

[Bangkokhatter]

Why did England pick Woakes and kerrigan?

[7by7]

Why did England pick Woakes and kerrigan?

They needed a replacement for Bresnan, and Tremlett would have been the obvious choice as The Oval is his home ground.

But they also decided they wanted an attack of 3 seamers and two spinners because of the dry pitch.

So, as Bairstow has underperformed, Woakes as an all rounder in for him and Bresnan.

The obvious choice for second spinner is Panesar. But he had to be ruled out and is also unlikely to feature in the touring side due to his misdemeanours.

So England keen to try out a new spinner as they will need to have a second spinner in Australia in case Swann is sick or injured.

After a dodgy start, Woakes has done alright. He hasn't taken a wicket, but his runs per over figure of 3.46 is better than Broad's of 3.84.

As for Kerrigan; well, he can only get better!

Here are Jonathon Agnew's thoughts on the matter.

[7by7]

After being hit on the side of his head by an 80+ mph ball from Broad whilst in the 80s, to carry on to 176 was a marvellous performance.

Shane Watson says bump helped him to Test century

Australian batsman Shane Watson says the blow to his neck helped him to overcome the "nervous nineties" and go on to score 176 in the first day of the final Test at the Oval.

[7by7]

Start delayed by rain; forecast is showers all day.

So expect an on/off day at best.

[David48]

Unbelievably, I thought the test started today ...

Has been any play today yet?

[StreetCowboy]

Unbelievably, I thought the test started today ...

Has been any play today yet?

Not yet

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/23786923

SC

[7by7]

Play started at 14:30 BST.

But forecast not good.

Edited August 22, 2013 by 7by7

[7by7]

Unbelievably, I thought the test started today ...

Has been any play today yet?

Monday is a public holiday in the UK; so why the game started yesterday with a scheduled finish on Sunday is beyond me.

Maybe players and officials have a coach trip planned to the seaside for the holiday!

[StreetCowboy]

Unbelievably, I thought the test started today ...

Has been any play today yet?

Monday is a public holiday in the UK; so why the game started yesterday with a scheduled finish on Sunday is beyond me.

Maybe players and officials have a coach trip planned to the seaside for the holiday!

Get the best of the traffic, eh? is it not a fiveday test?

[Bangkokhatter]

Why did England pick Woakes and kerrigan?

meant to say, so Watson could finally get an Ashes century

[7by7]

Unbelievably, I thought the test started today ...

Has been any play today yet?

Monday is a public holiday in the UK; so why the game started yesterday with a scheduled finish on Sunday is beyond me.

Maybe players and officials have a coach trip planned to the seaside for the holiday!

Get the best of the traffic, eh? is it not a fiveday test?

Yes it is a five day test.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

[7by7]

Light rain falling; still playing but if it gets any heavier off they'll come.

333 for 5; triple Nelson.

[StreetCowboy]

Unbelievably, I thought the test started today ...

Has been any play today yet?

Monday is a public holiday in the UK; so why the game started yesterday with a scheduled finish on Sunday is beyond me.

Maybe players and officials have a coach trip planned to the seaside for the holiday!

Get the best of the traffic, eh? is it not a fiveday test?

Yes it is a five day test.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

I suppose next thing you'll be telling me it's Thursday today. Are you in league with my calendar?

It's a sad day when half-wits who can't even work a diary are allowed to post on the internet

EDIT: Can't complain about an early wicket... plenty more to go, though

Edited August 22, 2013 by StreetCowboy

[7by7]

Deleted; nonsense.

Edited August 22, 2013 by 7by7

[StreetCowboy]

Deleted; nonsense.

Cracking! In the time between reading your post and clicking reply, you've edited it, so my reply is no longer relevant.

No argument intended. If I had counted my days as carefully as I had counted my pints, I would have started on yesterday, and got as far as tomorrowish, and concluded it was a manyday test...

SC

[7by7]

Sorry about that, between clicking 'post' and it coming up to view I got your drift.

But don't worry; my brain is due back from the cleaners any time now.

[StreetCowboy]

Sorry about that, between clicking 'post' and it coming up to view I got your drift.

But don't worry; my brain is due back from the cleaners any time now.

My apologies for the digression, but could the cleaner wipe out stains like this on my mind.

Out of interest, why do they set a time limit on test matches? Wouldn't it be better to say the game goes on, unless there's (say) three days lost due to rain, or the last train leaves for the next ground... I mean, it's not 20-20, is it, so why abandon the game to a draw when it's not finished?

SC

[7by7]

These days, the international schedules, including ODIs, and the demands of TV would make timeless tests difficult to arrange.

From Wikipedia.

The last ever timeless Test was the fifth Test between England and South Africa at Durban in 1939, which was abandoned as a draw after nine days of play spread over twelve days, otherwise the England team would have missed the boat for home. This match had started on 3 March. South Africa had set a target of 696 for England to win. By the time England had to leave to catch their boat home, on 14 March, England had reached 654 for 5 (the highest ever first-class fourth innings score).[1] This is the longest Test cricket match on record.

The ICC is considering implementing a timeless test for the final of the inaugural ICC World Test Championship, which is scheduled for 2017.

[StreetCowboy]

These days, the international schedules, including ODIs, and the demands of TV would make timeless tests difficult to arrange.

From Wikipedia.

The last ever timeless Test was the fifth Test between England and South Africa at Durban in 1939, which was abandoned as a draw after nine days of play spread over twelve days, otherwise the England team would have missed the boat for home. This match had started on 3 March. South Africa had set a target of 696 for England to win. By the time England had to leave to catch their boat home, on 14 March, England had reached 654 for 5 (the highest ever first-class fourth innings score).[1] This is the longest Test cricket match on record.

The ICC is considering implementing a timeless test for the final of the inaugural ICC World Test Championship, which is scheduled for 2017.

Accepting that there are constraints, why not play to the constraints? If it's a five day test affected by rain, why not play to the Tuesday or Wednesday? Isn't cricket more important than weather?

[7by7]

Time is added on for weather losses.

Weather permitting, the scheduled finish tonight is now 7pm, but they will play until 7:30 if necessary to get the 63 overs now scheduled for today in.

Then extra time will be added on tomorrow to make up for the rest of the time lost today.

But time lost on the 5th day is not carried over to a sixth.

Be nice if it were, but it hasn't happened post war.

[7by7]

Much to his surprise; Trott on to bowl.

Cooke running out of ideas; or a shrewd tactical move considering the conditions?