Cricket

Good win for Australia. Got out of trouble when 5 down and then 295 looked big on that surface.

I didn’t catch the England reply. Sounds like the bowlers did very well. Good to have games where there is a proper battle with ball and bat.

Everyone seems to love Moeen Ali but I am struggling to see why he is picked in any format at the moment.

I won’t be able to see Sunday’s game but hopefully the series is still alive for Weds. Bit of summer coming back too with a fine forecast for both.

Penultimate match of my season today. May not need every layer I own! It was 5deg C this Thursday morning when I set off to go kayaking in the Lakes.

Bruce

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Hopefully a good clean game today gentlemen, may the best team win and weather doesn’t play a part. :+1:

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Pete - weather forecast today per BBC is sunny intervals, gentle breeze and top of 22C in Mancs, with low % chance of rain.

An England win would be good to keep interest going - but I’m not confident, as the Aussie bowling unit looks very good.

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Weather set fair. Maybe a bit of dew late on as cool evenings now.

Smith back from concussion. England I suspect unchanged as is their normal way. May not be true for the last game if we go two down.

Bruce - chances of Malan getting a game?

Yep, Mrs Pete’s away babysitting and I’ve got a huge night. Local Aussies rules, cricket, TdF and F1, plus I might slip in some tennis. I’ll be exhausted.

Pete - Some Aussie Rules games I’ve seen didn’t appear to have any rules :smile:…is it still as combative as it used to be?

‘Combative’ being code for do many fights break out nowadays?

I was raised on League and like most “Notherners” knew little about the game (spent my youth following the North Sydney Bears NRL team it was a family tradition then they got kicked out) we use to call it ping pong, but was taken to a game by a client and have loved it ever since. It does have rules, but like most things in Aus they’re not easy to follow. It’s a good fast game, a lot of Irish guys have come over and been very successful. I really think it’s a game you need to see live at least once before you understand it.

Sorry I’ll get to trouble for thread drift. :scream:

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Oops yes but the new head rules have made it less so.

Mark Wood & Moeen Ali not playing, with both Currans in. Understandable given same strip as last game and Moeen’s bowling took some tap, with little/no turn. England without Stokes as the true all-rounder look unbalanced to me, with an absence of depth to the batting albeit, as in Tests, numbers 1-6 should get the bulk of the runs (all things crossed). We’ll see…could be a wicket made for Rashid in what will effectively be the 4th innings.

Watching the ODI while discovering my long-awaited Richard and Linda Thompson box-set is faulty, managed to miss 2 wickets while putting the return label on the package, Good bowling by Austraia, and England all look out of form.

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Impressive captaincy by Morgan, daring to bowl out his quicks to take the needed wickets, and take the chance of having the expensive Rashid to bowl at the death. Really exciting match.

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Yep - and strange the Aussies left so much to do. It was obviously an awkward wicket to bat on, which is often psychological when the pressure is on. Good to see the Currans and Woakes bowling length in an ODI.

It seems the position of Aussie team batting psychologist hasn’t been filled since the first T20.

Good to see a modest scoring game rather than a whackathon.

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I find Stuart Broad a really good commentator, he gives good insight into the way the players are thinking, he’s grown from a sulky young man when he started his playing career into a very articulate and charming speaker.

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Well that’s a bit disappointing when I went to bed we were well in control. Damn one all, good win congratulations (begrudgingly).

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Good win from a losing position by England (again). Langer’s expression at the end was a picture. Would like to see the dressing room afters for this as we saw so brilliantly in the previous behind the scenes TV series (forgotten what it was called but it was excellent). Best thing about the result is that it sets up Wednesday’s final game beautifully.

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Yeah I was so happy this morning, the prospect of another sleepless night brings no end of delight.

Is Wednesday’s game a day/night?

Ha ha, yes I know the feeling from watching Ashes in Australia when I had work the next day…never used to make it past the first couple of days. Wednesday is same day/night 1pm UK time start so sorry late night/early morning for you.

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I’ll look forward to November next year, then it’ll be your turn. :grin:

Indeed! On the plus side I am now retired so don’t need to get up for work in the morning, on the downside I am older so tend to fall asleep all too readily :joy:

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