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4th Ashes Test in Melbourne ends in a draw (Aus 327 & 263/4d, Eng 491); Australia lead series 3-0

Robert said:
So much for my theory about his eyes going. His bat looked a mile wide.

He seems to have become hit and miss this past year, though. I still think they should drop him to #3, to get the maximum runs out his last two years.
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That's a good idea, would like to see him at no.3 or no.4. Who would open though? Will be tough to replace him even a Cook which has significant wear/tear
 
Robert said:
So much for my theory about his eyes going. His bat looked a mile wide.

He seems to have become hit and miss this past year, though. I still think they should drop him to #3, to get the maximum runs out his last two years.
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Many of us were starting to worry that he was a goner. We are all happy to be proven 100% wrong I think.

Agreed that his long-term future may not be in opening the batting anymore. There is too much peril for him facing the new ball on spicier wickets - I would argue that his reflexes have indeed slowed slightly under those conditions. He sees the fast, shiny ball (particularly when aimed at his head) a bit later than he used to and this is causing him to suffer many a cheap dismissal. He was out hooking in Brisbane and I can’t remember Alastair Cook ever getting out hooking - in the past he would pull those balls to the boundary for four.

Grinding teams to death on these slower, lower wickets meanwhile is his speciality - so he should bat at either 3 or 4, with Root occupying the other spot. And Stoneman + Hameed to open.

In my opinion, rightly or wrongly Alastair has secured his place in the team for the rest of his career with this innings. He will be permitted by the selectors to dine out on it for as long as he wishes. Hopefully he does not overstay his welcome and equally I am praying that this was not his last monster score.

Life in the old dog yet!!
 
James said:
Many of us were starting to worry that he was a goner. We are all happy to be proven 100% wrong I think.

Agreed that his long-term future may not be in opening the batting anymore. There is too much peril for him facing the new ball on spicier wickets - I would argue that his reflexes have indeed slowed slightly under those conditions. He sees the fast, shiny ball (particularly when aimed at his head) a bit later than he used to and this is causing him to suffer many a cheap dismissal. He was out hooking in Brisbane and I can’t remember Alastair Cook ever getting out hooking - in the past he would pull those balls to the boundary for four.

Grinding teams to death on these slower, lower wickets meanwhile is his speciality - so he should bat at either 3 or 4, with Root occupying the other spot. And Stoneman + Hameed to open.

In my opinion, rightly or wrongly Alastair has secured his place in the team for the rest of his career with this innings. He will be permitted by the selectors to dine out on it for as long as he wishes. Hopefully he does not overstay his welcome and equally I am praying that this was not his last monster score.

Life in the old dog yet!!
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I was never proven wrong always had faith in Cook, his mental fortitude has always been his main strength which makes him very un-English or should I be saying un-Yorkshire ;)
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="und" dir="ltr">&#55358;&#56611;&#55358;&#56611;&#55358;&#56611;&#55357;&#56906;&#55357;&#56906;&#55357;&#56906; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ashes?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ashes</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cook?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cook</a> <a href="https://t.co/cQkSmY08Nz">pic.twitter.com/cQkSmY08Nz</a></p>— James Taylor (@jamestaylor20) <a href="https://twitter.com/jamestaylor20/status/946311061694803968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Abdullah719 said:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="und" dir="ltr">������������ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ashes?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ashes</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cook?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cook</a> <a href="https://t.co/cQkSmY08Nz">pic.twitter.com/cQkSmY08Nz</a></p>— James Taylor (@jamestaylor20) <a href="https://twitter.com/jamestaylor20/status/946311061694803968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Serves those bogan ad makers right.
 
Robert said:
Envy is a sad thing to witness.

England and Australia have a strong bond, like brothers who are ferocious rivals but love each other for all that. We’ll be contesting the Ashes long after everyone else stops playing tests. Last, as we we were first.

Well done England today. Don’t shout too loud, but Jimmy is heading for his best every Australian series. Eighteen wickets so far, with three innings left? Broad finally shows up. Great to see Cheffy turn back the clock. Hope he piles it on tomorrow, got to apply scoreboard pressure to win this.
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With the rampant ill-discipline and one of your star players deciding to go brawling in the streets weeks before the tour. Doesn't seem to me England treating this "ferocious rivalry" with the respect and demands it requires.
 
Clouds over the ground.....

Orthodox new ball swing for England, then reverse due to the abrasive wicket?
 
Alastair Cook carries his bat after Anderson is out on the first ball of the day, I wouldn't mind having the cherry in my hand right now if I were England
 
USofA said:
From 88,000+ to just a smattering of people today. What's wrong?
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Fairweather Aussies, only show up when their team is on top. Never been the most patriotic bunch to be fair.
 
Good solid start by Australia. England need some quick wickets.
 
Moeen ‘ALL ROUNDER’ Ali have been utter rubbish both with bat and ball. He is complete liability outside of England and doesn’t warrant a selection neither as a batsman nor as a bowler. His bits and peice crap have been terribly exposed. Where are all his fans who were rating him as best allrounder LOL:ashwin

England should really try out Mason for last test in Sydney, as it is known to assist spinners. England management are really hard on young spinners as they never give opportunities to youngsters even when series is lost.
 
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2 wickets down at lunch and still 90 runs to reach parity. England in a good position but need to get Smith and Warner this afternoon to really hammer home the advantage. If Smith is one half of a big partnership then England could still face a very testing chase in the 4th innings.
 
volcyz said:
Stuart Broad plays Nathan Lyon better than Ali does
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Broad despite all the critics surrounding him played an important knock and supported Cook. Whereas Ali with his useless T20 style cameo was even more useless than Anderson’s duck. At least Anderson managed to hung around and allowed Cook to score unlike so called Allrounder LOL.
 
I saw my 1st cricket match live yesterday at the MCG and it felt like I was in heaven. My 2 fav ENG batsmen were at the crease and I was damn lucky to see Cook get his daddy double. Crowd and Barmy Army in particular were thunderous and wonderful. Atmosphere was awesome. A cricket lover's dream come true. Gonna be there for the T20 as well in MCG.
 
Play has not moved on much today. Looks like this might turn out to be a typical English rain-affected draw.

Even if we get a 98-over day tomorrow, then the match will probably be drawn. An Australia win would be almost entirely out of the question. However there would still be a minute chance of an England win.

Not 0-5 at least....
 
A frustrating day, but England can still win if they get Warner and Smith out early.
 
Warner getting a move on now, Australia have almost wiped out England's lead... almost 77 overs left.
 
Super flat pitch.

I can’t believe Aus onlybscored 300 in their first inngs.

Warner can score a double today and Smith can rack up another century.

Terrible terrible pitch.
 
Looking at the rough outside the leg stump England sure misses a proper leg spinner. In Australia Wrist spinners are always handy.
 
CanadianG00se said:
Moeen ‘ALL ROUNDER’ Ali have been utter rubbish both with bat and ball. He is complete liability outside of England and doesn’t warrant a selection neither as a batsman nor as a bowler. His bits and peice crap have been terribly exposed. Where are all his fans who were rating him as best allrounder LOL
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Captain seems to have lost faith in him. Has bowled only 8 out of the 91 overs in this innings.
 
Poor series for everyone from England bar Anderson.

Root, Broad and Moen in particular were very dismal.
 
Unfit pitch for test cricket.

Still, at least it won’t be 0-5 again. 0-3 would be a fair reflection on these two sides in Australia.

I would like to see Wood in for Curran and Crane in for Moeen for the final test. Poor Moeen is having a mare, I thought he would have got a century by now.
 
Truly thought we were looking at a 5-0 sweep here.

England did well to draw the test and might have won if the pitch wasn't such a dud!
 
Robert said:
Unfit pitch for test cricket.

Still, at least it won’t be 0-5 again. 0-3 would be a fair reflection on these two sides in Australia.

I would like to see Wood in for Curran and Crane in for Moeen for the final test. Poor Moeen is having a mare, I thought he would have got a century by now.
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I do not recall any off spinner (including Murali) having a good day in Australia without help of seamers. But leggies always do well in Australia because of bounce. This has been the history for decades. Not sure why teams don't pick leggies in their side when they tour Australia.
 
Do they not update player rankings after every match? With the scores Smith got in this match he should definitely be moving closer to Bradman.
 
Napa said:
Captain seems to have lost faith in him. Has bowled only 8 out of the 91 overs in this innings.
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Tbh Ali hasn’t really done anything to deserve much backing from captain. His bowling is complete useless, heck even Root has managed to outbowled him on same pitch. People have been criticising Broad and Cook for Ashes defeat but in my view Ali is biggest culprit. England management should understand that test matches are never won with bits and peices player and in this current England setup they seemed to carry 2 such players. Anyways i have been enjoying how Ali have been shown his rightful place. Getting few cheap wickets at home doesnt make one a Worldclass Allrounder.
 
jnaveen1980 said:
I do not recall any off spinner (including Murali) having a good day in Australia without help of seamers. But leggies always do well in Australia because of bounce. This has been the history for decades. Not sure why teams don't pick leggies in their side when they tour Australia.
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The only reason Ali have been selected ahead of Mason Crane is as the former is ‘allrounder’ and can bat( which he hasnt the entire ashes series). This ‘utility player’ mentality is reason why England suffered 4-0 defeat in India last year, now it seems they will have same fate in this Ashes series.
 
CanadianG00se said:
The only reason Ali have been selected ahead of Mason Crane is as the former is ‘allrounder’ and can bat( which he hasnt the entire ashes series). This ‘utility player’ mentality is reason why England suffered 4-0 defeat in India last year, now it seems they will have same fate in this Ashes series.
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Actually it was because Moeen was the best spinner in England and Wales, shocking as that reads.
 
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