Ashes Tour

[Admin]

We scrape a draw, just as a matter of interest yesterday BT showed cricket from the West Indies, Australia and New Zealand

ESPN View

England 294 (Bairstow 113, Stokes 66, Boland 4-36) and 9 for 270 (Crawley 77, Stokes 60, Boland 3-30) drew with Australia 8 for 416 dec (Khawaja 137, Smith 67, Broad 5-101) and 6 for 265 dec (Khawaja 101*, Green 74, Leach 4-84)

There is no such thing as a dead rubber in Test cricket. Australia, 3-0 up, having dominated the game, had their dreams of a whitewash shattered as England finally salvaged something from the wreck of this Ashes tour with Jack Leach, Stuart Broad and James Anderson surviving 64 balls under floodlights to secure a thrilling draw at the SCG.




Leach and Broad faced 52 of them, most of which were against Pat Cummins, Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc before bad light forced Australia to turn to Steve Smith and he almost became a hero with the ball. He prized out Leach, his first Test scalp since 2016, caught at slip after England's spinner had battled manfully for 34 balls without error.

It left Broad and Anderson to survive six balls each from Nathan Lyon and Smith respectively and England's veterans held on. It was only the second time in Ashes history a team had saved a game nine-down in the fourth innings, the first being the famous 2005 draw at Manchester.



High-quality half-centuries from Zak Crawley and Ben Stokes and a brave 105-ball 41 from Jonny Bairstow had earlier put England in a position to save the Test. However, Australia will rue a raft of errors that have seen a chance at an Ashes whitewash literally slip through their fingers. They dropped three catches and missed a run out on the final day. Scott Boland bowled magnificently to take 3 for 30 while Cummins almost turned the game with two wickets in three balls. But questions will be asked of the delayed declaration yesterday, as Australia failed for the second year in a row to bowl a side out on the final day the SCG wiith Lyon and Starc taking just two wickets between them.

Thanks largely to the excellent work of Crawley and Stokes, England were just three down at lunch, four down at tea and 5 for 218 with just 16 overs remaining and Bairstow and Jos Buttler at the crease facing the second new ball before the game took a thrilling twist.

Cummins delivered two huge blows in three balls with two extraordinary inswingers to put Australia on the brink of victory. Buttler, batting bravely with a broken finger that will force him out of the final Test, copped a vicious inswinger from Cummins. He over-balanced and hit his boot with his bat. The bat swivelled as a result at the precise moment the ball sneaked through and thundered into the back pad. Umpire Paul Reiffel gave it not out but Cummins reviewed and it was smashing middle and leg. Two balls later, Cummins delivered a searing inswinging yorker that hit Mark Wood flush on the front foot. Reiffel gave it out immediately and Wood knew his fate as he hobbled to his feet after crumpling over when he was struck. He reviewed but it was fruitless.

Bairstow then nicked Starc to second slip but the normally reliable Smith grassed the chance low to his right. Smith redeemed himself not long after, insisting Cummins place a silly mid-off for Boland in addition to the short leg. Boland's belligerent length produced some nip off the seam, caught Bairstow's inside edge and ricocheted onto pad before ballooning up to Labuschagne leaving Australia just two scalps to take in more than 10 overs.

But Leach and Broad were magnificent. As Australia failed to extract any real venom from the pitch, they defended their off stump with their lives. Broad was literally put on his backside by a cracking Cummins bouncer. But he kept his wits about him and his gloves out of the way. Lyon too couldn't break through having earlier bowled two beauties to dismiss Dawid Malan and Stokes.

Smith conjured one final piece of magic to give Australia hope. He pitched in the footmarks outside Leach's off stump, but it didn't turn as much as anticipated, the nick brushed Alex Carey's thigh and David Warner held well at slip.

Earlier, Crawley played with a freedom that has not been seen on this Ashes tour from any of England's openers. He struck 13 boundaries and scored at an incredibly brisk rate. His 77 from 100 balls was the fastest Test innings by an Englishman in terms of strike-rate in 17 years. He also had 77 of England's first 91 runs.

Crawley moved his guard almost outside off stump and profited by picking off anything straight from Australia's quicks. He was also savage on the short ball, pounding several pull shots forward of square. It took a peach to dismiss him. Cameron Green delivered a searing yorker that hit Crawley flush on the toe. He was one of three wickets to fall in the opening session.

Haseeb Hameed's horror tour continued. He registered his sixth single-figure score and nicked off twice in his 9. He survived the first off Cummins when Carey put him down in a similar fashion to the first innings, diving late to his right with one hand. He didn't survive the second off Boland.

Lyon removed Malan for the fifth time in Test cricket eight overs later. Malan paid dearly for his penchant for trying to cut Lyon off the back foot, as a quicker 95kph arm-ball skidded on and crashed into off stump.


Australia could have had four before lunch. Marcus Harris dropped a very tough chance at short leg off Cummins. Stokes was only 16 at the time. It proved very costly. Stokes battled through the pain of a side strain to make 60 from 123 balls, his second half-century of the match.

He lost skipper Joe Root who was undone by Boland for the third time in three innings and was caught behind the wicket for the eighth time in the series. Boland's immaculate length and hint of nip away scratched the outside edge as Root tried to defend.

Bairstow should have been run out next over trying for a suicidal two to fine leg. Lyon's throw was a missile that barely missed at the keeper's end but Carey failed to glove it cleanly thinking it would hit the stumps direct. It took Australia 22 overs to break through again with Lyon producing his best ball of the match. Sharp bounce and turn undid Stokes as he fended to slip. But that was the last wicket Lyon would take on the final day.

[Admin]

ellerive Oval, known commercially as Blundstone Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a cricket and Australian rules football ground located in Bellerive, a suburb on the eastern shore of Hobart, Australia, holding 20,000 people - the second largest capacity stadium in Tasmania. It is the only venue in Tasmania which hosts international Cricket matches.

The venue is the home ground for the state cricket teams, the Tasmanian Tigers and Hobart Hurricanes, as well as a venue for international Test matches since 1989 and one-day matches since 1988. It is also the secondary home ground for AFL club North Melbourne, who play three home games a season at the venue. The stadium has undergone significant redevelopment to accommodate such events.

Football and cricket first started being played in the area where Bellerive Oval is now in the mid-to-late 19th century. In 1884 the first football match on record from the area was played between Carlton and Bellerive. In 1913 the piece of land located between the now Beach, Church and Derwent streets was sold to the Clarence council. One year later, the new Bellerive recreation ground was ready for use.[citation needed]

The ground barely changed from then until the mid-1980s. During this time the ground had a hump in the centre of the ground making only the top half of players visible from the other side of the ground. There was a shed for players located where the main pavilion now stands. There was a hill on the outer (where the hill now is) that could accommodate two rows of vehicles, the small scoreboard stood on the outer close to where the electronic scoreboard is now, and the time clock sat about halfway up a training light tower. The police booth sat, until very recently,[when?] in the north-east corner of the oval. A concrete cricket pitch served for local junior teams until the 1956/57 season, when it was replaced by a turf wicket.[citation needed]

In 1948 The Clarence Football Club, a tenant of the ground, applied to join the Tasmanian Football League, and the ground had to upgrade to TFL standards.[citation needed]

Some minor upgrades were made in the 1960s, clubrooms were built in 1961, and in 1963 a small grandstand (seating about 500) and a new PA system were installed.[citation needed]

TCA moves to Bellerive
In 1977, Tasmania gained admission into the Sheffield Shield and a plan was put in place by the TCA to move from its headquarters at the TCA Ground on the Domain to a new oval. Bellerive Oval was chosen ahead of KGV Oval and North Hobart Oval. $2,200,000 was spent building new grandstands, training nets, a hill, new surface and centre wicket, the old TCA Ground scoreboard was relocated there, and the masterpiece—the three-level Members' Pavilion was constructed.[citation needed]

The newly refurbished ground was opened in 1986 for a TFL Statewide League roster match between Clarence and Hobart, which was won by Clarence before a crowd of 3,562. Significant damage to the newly laid turf resulted in the scheduling of no more football matches for that season.[citation needed]

The move was made in 1987 under TCA Chairman Denis Rogers, in time for its first international match—between Sri Lanka and New Zealand—on 12 January 1988, before a crowd of 6,500.[2]

The first Test match in Tasmania was played at Bellerive from 16–20 December 1989, between Australia and Sri Lanka.[3][4] Shortly afterwards, the new electronic scoreboard and Northern Stand were erected.[citation needed]

In 2007, the venue saw the Tasmanian Tigers win the state's first Pura Cup, and in 2008 the ground hosted its first Ford Ranger Cup final, also won by Tasmania.[citation needed]

The oval became the first top-class cricket facility in Australia to sign a naming-rights sponsor in October 2011. An agreement with Blundstone Footwear attached the name "Blundstone Arena",[5] which was temporarily discontinued during the ground's use in the 2015 Cricket World Cup.[6]

Structures and facilities

Members' Stand in 2009
In 1999, the Federal Government announced that it would contribute $5 million to upgrade Bellerive. The TCA added $10 million, on loan from the state government, and the Clarence City Council $1 million, enabling a $16 million upgrade. The first part of this upgrade was the state-of-the-art indoor nets. The 6,000-seat Southern Stand came next, which blocked winds and views of the Derwent, and contained the new media centre. The new Members' Area was the last of the upgrades, along with new perimeter fence and entry gates. The Members' Area features press and radio media areas, corporate boxes and lunchrooms, as well as the players areas, members' bars and TCA offices. The redevelopment was officially opened on 11 January 2003, when an overcrowd of 16,719 (official capacity 16000) witnessed a thrilling one-day match between Australia and England, the victory going to Australia. Tasmanian Tiger Shane Watson became the hero for Australia, bowling the very tense final over.[citation needed]

To allow for day-night matches to be played at the venue, four light towers were installed in 2009 at a cost of A$4.8 million, enabling one-day international (ODI) and Twenty20 cricket matches to be played there.[7] The installation of these lights sparked significant debate from groups both for and against the new towers.[8][9]

The ground was scheduled for further redevelopment by 2015, with the state government providing $15 million to expand the Southern Stand and Members' Stand, increasing the ground's capacity to over 20,000 for the 2015 Cricket World Cup, along with an Ashes Test in the future, and the possibility of locking-in a long-term commitment for AFL games. AFL Tasmania is also looking at moving its offices to the ground as part of the redevelopment.[10] At the official launch of the renovated stadium, it was announced that the new stand would be named the Ricky Ponting Stand, and the existing Southern Stand would be named the David Boon Stand.[11]

[Admin]

Was going so well until I got out of bed

Australia 6 for 241 (Head 101, Green 74) vs England

An accomplished century from Travis Head wrested back control for Australia on an entertaining first day of the fifth and final Ashes Test, which was ultimately curtailed by rain.



It must have felt like three steps forward, 224 back for England as Australia slumped to 3 for 12 inside the first 10 overs then recovered to 6 for 236 by the time Cameron Green fell shortly before steady drizzle halted play in the third session of the day-night fixture in Hobart.

After a particularly fruitless day for Mark Wood, he employed short-ball tactics to finally prise out a dangerous-looking Green and offer some hope for the tourists. Green had played an excellent innings, unfurling some breath-taking cover drives en route to his 74, but it was Head - with whom he shared a 121-stand for the fifth wicket - who stole the show.




Returning to the side after his Covid-enforced absence in Sydney, Head scored his second century of the series - this one off just 112 balls - before falling to the very next delivery, chipping Chris Woakes to Ollie Robinson at mid-on to fall for 101.

Head screamed "No!" as the ball looped up off the bat for a soft dismissal to give England a much-needed breakthrough shortly before the tea break and, had he managed to stick around, Australia's claims to have won the day would have been reinforced. As it happened, the hosts finished the day in a far better position than had seemed likely in the first 90 minutes or so.

With England having won the toss on a green pitch providing movement off the seam early, Robinson returned after missing the drawn fourth Test at the SCG and cashed in. He had David Warner out for a 22-ball duck with a delivery that was just back of a length and just outside off to find a decent edge, taken by Zak Crawley at second slip.

He could have had Marnus Labuschagne out a short time later, but Crawley spilled the chance diving across Joe Root from second slip. But Robinson struck again to dismiss Steven Smith for a rare Ashes duck, taken this time by Crawley to bookend the dismissal of Usman Khawaja, caught in the slips by Root off Stuart Broad for 6.

But then Head and Labuschagne restored order for Australia as Wood came on for a brief but expensive spell, conceding 11 runs off one of this three overs and 15 off another. Head was particularly aggressive, moving from 4 off five deliveries at the drinks break to 26 off 20. Labuschagne chimed in with a belligerent clip off Woakes over midwicket for a one-bounce four to move into the 40s.

The pair put on 71 runs together before Labuschagne fell in comical fashion, tangled up by a full, straight Broad delivery round his legs and toppling face-first to the ground as the ball clattered into his stumps to be out for 44. That made it 4 for 83 for Australia and provided endless amusing memes, even for the hosts, who also saw the funny side if the smiles and giggles from the dressing room was anything to go by.

Labuschagne's dismissal spurred Head to press on with their counterattack. He was already travelling at a good clip and brought up his fifty from 53 balls, punishing a Woakes short ball outside leg stump with a deft flick to the fine leg boundary. Two balls later, Head pummelled Woakes wide of mid-off for another four.

With the Bellerive Oval pitch known to flatten out quite quickly, England's bowlers were always going to have to nail their lines and lengths after a relatively brief period of assistance. Instead, they struggled.


Wood and Woakes conceded 112 runs in 20 overs between them up to the tea break for just one wicket - that of Head, who had looked slightly nervous on 99 when he lofted the ball over a leaping Woakes' outstretched hand to safe ground just in front of Robinson two balls before bringing up his century on the next ball, working into the off side for two.

Compounding the tourists' decision to rest swing-bowling maestro James Anderson, Root was forced to bowl 10 overs in the first two sessions on a green top when Robinson had to leave the field with stiffness in his lower back. Robinson bowled just one over in the middle session in which Australia scored 130 runs for the loss of one wicket from 28 overs and he remained out of the attack.

Green was fantastic, making it back-to-back fifties after matching his score in the second innings in Sydney. But when he fell, it came down to Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc to dig in before what started as faint drizzle set in.

[Admin]

Australia 303 and 3 for 37 (Smith 17*, Boland 3*) lead England 188 (Cummins 4-45) by 152 runs ESPN

Australia's seamers, led by Pat Cummins, ran rampant over England's flat-lining batting order to bundle the tourists out for just 188 on an eventful second day of the fifth and final Ashes Test.

By the close, the hosts had extended their lead - which was 115 runs after England's first innings - to 152, but Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood had given the tourists some reason to hope after claiming cheap top-order wickets as Australia finished on 3 for 37 in their second innings with Steve Smith unbeaten on 17 and nightwatchman Scott Boland on 3.


Australia's quicks managed to keep the pink ball talking for an extended period under the lights on a day when 17 wickets fell in Hobart. Cummins took 4 for 45 and Mitchell Starc 3 for 53 with No. 8 Woakes England's top-scorer with 36, followed by Joe Root's 34 and Sam Billings, whose 29 on debut was solid.

Broad and Woakes took advantage of the conditions to reduce Australia to 2 for 5 in the fourth over, with David Warner making a pair after falling to his nemesis Broad for the 14th time in Tests thanks to a brilliant diving catch by Ollie Pope at point and Marnus Labuschagne strangled down the leg side off Woakes to give Billings his first Test catch.

At the start of the day, Australia added 62 runs for the loss of four wickets with Alex Carey unable to convert his start of 24 and Nathan Lyon making a bright cameo worth 31 off just 27 balls, including three sixes off Wood, before he was last man out with the hosts first-innings total on 303.

England's reply started in calamitous style when Rory Burns was run out for a duck, called through by opening partner Zak Crawley for a single that was very risky at best and found short of his ground by a direct hit from Labuschagne in the covers. Debate raged over whether the run was on and whether Burns had done enough to make it home after a slight hesitation two-thirds of the way down the pitch and failing to dive, but the outcome was beyond question.

Crawley followed for 18 when he provided Cummins' first wicket, well caught by Travis Head leaping high at short leg, and England were two wickets down by the dinner break.

From there it became an all-too-familiar tale for England's batters as they fell woefully short of the 300-mark needed to challenge Australia and which has eluded them all series. Each time a partnership looked like forming, it was prised apart by Australia's bowlers.

Joe Root and Dawid Malan put on 49 runs before both fell in quick succession during a passage of play which also claimed Ben Stokes as England lost three wickets for seven runs in the space of 21 deliveries.

Malan was fortunate, on 13, when Australia shunned a review after having a caught-behind appeal turned down off the bowling of Cameron Green, with replays suggesting an edge. But Malan was eventually out to a leg-side strangle off Cummins, who then trapped Root lbw, before Mitchell Starc had Stokes superbly caught by Lyon at point.

Pope fell fishing unnecessarily outside off stump at a Boland delivery to send an edge through to wicketkeeper Carey, leaving it to Billings and Woakes to construct England's second-highest stand of 42 for the seventh wicket.

Green accounted for Billings, caught by Boland at long leg, and Woakes finally fell to Starc, having survived two dropped catches in the slip cordon and initially being given not out when the Australian fielders believed he'd been caught down the leg side. The hosts reviewed and the DRS revealed the tiniest hot spot as the ball passed the bat and Woakes was gone after a valuable knock in the context of England's innings, as they quickly subsided to 188 all out. But England needed more from someone, anyone.

It came from their seamers, with Broad and Woakes making early inroads before Wood snared the wicket of Usman Khawaja with a spicy bouncer which caught the glove as Khawaja took evasive action and sailed through to Billings.

Olllie Robinson had come in further down England's batting order than usual at No. 11, indicating that the back spasms which restricted him to bowling a solitary over across the last two sessions on Friday would keep him out of the attack during Australia's second innings. But he did come on late in the evening session to relieve Woakes and bowled four overs.

Billings said after play that the ball had become soft and the seam had flattened out early in Australia's first innings, where Head starred with a century, by way of explaining England's struggles to get much from it after the first 20 overs or so on the opening day. While the contrasting bowling performance on Saturday gave England something to aim for, their inability to make enough runs could well come back to bite them once more.

[man in the stand]

No surprise - another collapse. Blaming county cricket will now start!

[Admin]

ESPN View of a spineless collapse

Australia 303 (Head 101, Green 74) and 155 (Carey 48, Wood 6-37) beat England 188 (Cummins 4-45) and 124 (Boland 3-18, Green 3-21, Cummins 3-42) by 146 runs

Australia's seamers, sparked by an electric Cameron Green spell, ran through England to win the fifth and final Test in Hobart by 146 runs inside three days and seal the Ashes 4-0.

Despite Mark Wood's best efforts to keep his side in the contest with a stunning six-wicket haul that contained England's target to 271, the tourist were found sorely wanting as they lost 10 wickets for 56 runs in 22.5 overs.

Rory Burns and Zak Crawley started the chase brightly enough, but once Green dismissed Burns on the stroke of tea, they collapsed to be all out for 124. Green finished with 3 for 21, while Scott Boland and Pat Cummins also took three wickets apiece in a dominant display by Australia.

Wood did everything in his power to give England a chance with a relentless short-ball barrage that began with a vicious bouncer that removed Usman Khawaja, caught behind off the glove as he took evasive action late on the second evening, and which yielded five more wickets on Sunday to give him career-best figures of 6 for 37 as Australia were bundled out in their second innings for 155.

That it fell to England's brittle batting line-up to finish the job was beyond his control, although in keeping the target under the 300-mark which the tourists had failed to reach all series gave a glimmer of hope. That their failure to even threaten came as no surprise at all rammed home the running theme of this Ashes.

In truth, Wood had switched to a short-ball tactic earlier, after tea on the opening day, to snatch three first-innings wickets after toiling long and hard for no reward. His effort all series has been beyond question but so too has the feeling that he deserved a greater return. He finally got it

Going into this match, Wood had taken eight wickets at 37.62, but after his stellar display in Hobart he increased his haul to 17 at an average of 26.64.

Wood's extra pace and bounce did for nightwatchman Boland, who feathered a catch to wicketkeeper Sam Billings and first-innings centurion Travis Head, caught down the leg side. When he sucked Steve Smith into a hook which careered off the top edge to Dawid Malan at long leg, Wood had removed yet another dangerous Australian batter.

Stuart Broad re-entered the attack with immediate effect, removing Green lbw on review for 23 before Wood sealed his five-wicket haul with the scalp of Mitchell Starc, caught by Ollie Pope at short leg. Wood almost had two in two when his next ball - a swift yorker - struck Cummins on the boot to be given out lbw, but Cummins had the decision overturned with replays showing the ball was missing off stump.

Adding to the drama on a pulsating day, Alex Carey was the beneficiary of two technology-led decisions that saw him reprieved on 19 and 30. On the first occasion, Carey dragged a Chris Woakes delivery onto his stumps and began making his way off the field only to return when it was deemed that Woakes had over-stepped with replays showing no definitive images of any part of his foot behind the line. Carey then had an lbw decision off Broad overturned when the DRS confirmed that the ball had pitched outside leg stump.

Carey went on to top-score for the innings, falling one run shy of his fifty when Broad had him caught behind. Wood then claimed his sixth, with a length ball that was bang on target as Cummins played and missed.

Burns was back in the side for the first time since he was dropped after the second Test in Adelaide, sporting an untethered hairstyle as he and Crawley played with some freedom to take England to 68 without loss at more than four runs an over.

It was the highest opening stand by either side in the series but when Green had Burns out chopping on to a delivery that angled in from around the wicket on what turned out to be the last ball before tea, there was danger in the air.


With Crawley looking in decent touch and the likes of Malan, Joe Root and Ben Stokes to come, there should have been more cause for optimism but England's performances throughout their tour of Australia had long ago curbed any enthusiasm for their chances.

Struck a nasty blow to the side of the helmet from Green, Malan lasted 13 more deliveries before he edged on to his stumps and when Green removed Crawley, edging behind to Carey with the second ball of his next over, he had figures of 3 for 17 from 4.2 overs.

Stokes fell hooking a Starc short ball to deep square leg, where Nathan Lyon took a strong catch running in from the boundary, and when Root copped an unplayable delivery from Boland - who was excellent again in just his third Test - that kept low and crashed into off stump, an England procession looked inevitable. And so it proved.

[lancsdes]

Another spineless English performance. I know I am bias with my liking for Somerset but nobody will persuade me that Craig Overton wouldn’t have done better over five tests. He would’ve shown some fight at least, as he did last time in Aus when injured.

With the batting we had, there was no hope anyway but I do wonder what an attack with Archer, Wood and Overton for a series might have done with Broad and Anderson rotated and Leach actually match fit to start. I expected Robinson to do well but it seems he has not proved fit enough. I expected Woakes to be useless.

I always take some consolation in English defeat by the fact that the Barmy Army suffer . It would be nice to think
Harrison and his corrupt shower of charlatans were suffering too but I rather think they don’t care. If they actually pay out under their bonus scheme, it shows they have as little self-awareness as the Prime Minister.

[Admin]

England docked 8 points for slow over rate they picked up 4 points in Sydney if they had stayed at home and forfeited the series they would have been better off

[Admin]

Comments by Root after the Test

Red ball cricket needs to be prioritised. Clearly it won't be ahead of the hundred but whether it is above something else, would be nice to see


So there you have it the England captain has basically said red ball cricket is not as important as a pub game Staggering

[Admin]

And so it begins

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/60016410

[alanw]

Jan 17, 2022 11:57:09 GMT Admin said:

And so it begins

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/60016410

I think Johnathan Agnew's proposal would be the end of county cricket. I certainly wouldn't want a franchise first class competition but I can see the logic if the priorities are the England team and making money.

[man in the stand]

 and so it begins part 2 - "Silverwood insists England players back him and points finger at county game"

Can't see Agger's proposal working either. It's impressive how well those played who were drafted in by Australia as replacements e.g. Boland

Can't think of solution myself though..

[chris]

The problem with Agnew's idea is that turning the first class game over to the 8 franchises + 2 more and doing away with the counties is where are the players going to come from.

It's all very well talking about a draft and saying that will ensure the best play the best. Fine in year one, there will be ready made players previously playing first class cricket for their counties. But 5 years down the line where will any new players come from? Franchises draft players in, they don't produce them. Do away with the county championship and their will be nowhere to draft players in from.

[man in the stand]

One of the better post ashes articles..

www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2022/jan/18/not-all-failings-of-englands-test-team-can-be-blamed-on-county-cricket

[Admin]

Silverwood and Giles potted