RexRex
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ECB's entire 100 strategy revolves around capturing a small slice of the Indian viewership market. I don't think it will work.
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Ashes 2025/26: Australia vs England | 4th Test | Melbourne | December 26-30 | Pre-Match Discussion
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ECB's entire 100 strategy revolves around capturing a small slice of the Indian viewership market. I don't think it will work.
@gibsyhesperis @RexRex
ECB cannot make meaningful domestic reforms because counties hold the votes - despite some barely producing international standard talent, and haemorrhaging money every year.
18 FC counties are just too many, proven by the declining quality of CC cricket over the last decade. Collectively they can't produce one international standard spinner !
Even when counties led their own review this summer, they rejected all proposals on the table.
The truth is FC cricket globally is in service of its national teams, not the other way around. Reform shouldn't be held hostage by dwindling county memberships consisting of 90 year olds who don't want to see fewer games at their ground because they saw Ted Dexter with their grandma there in 1958. How many more Ashes humiliations will it take before the penny drops ?
ECB cannot make meaningful domestic reforms because counties hold the votes - despite some barely producing international standard talent, and haemorrhaging money every year.
18 FC counties are just too many, proven by the declining quality of CC cricket over the last decade. Collectively they can't produce one international standard spinner !
Even when counties led their own review this summer, they rejected all proposals on the table.
The truth is FC cricket globally is in service of its national teams, not the other way around. Reform shouldn't be held hostage by dwindling county memberships consisting of 90 year olds who don't want to see fewer games at their ground because they saw Ted Dexter with their grandma there in 1958. How many more Ashes humiliations will it take before the penny drops ?
RedwoodOriginal
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1. Travis Head
2. Jake Weatherald
3. Marnus Labuschagne
4. Steve Smith
5. Usman Khawaja
6. Cameron Green
7. Alex Carey
8. Michael Neser
9. Mitchell Starc
10. Todd Murphy
11. Scott Boland
2. Jake Weatherald
3. Marnus Labuschagne
4. Steve Smith
5. Usman Khawaja
6. Cameron Green
7. Alex Carey
8. Michael Neser
9. Mitchell Starc
10. Todd Murphy
11. Scott Boland
DeadlyVenom
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Strauss review made sense.
I'm sure we had a better format during Covid. Where the top teams moved into div 1 and there was a div 3 for that year alone.
Now is actually the best time to sort things out. The ECB has a lot of cash after flogging their crisp packet 100 teams to naive Indian buyers.
gibsyhesperis
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Nothing will now change.
The only driver would have been if the smaller counties eg Derbyshire, Northamptonshire etc were to have folded financially.
The sale of the Hundred franchises has pumped a huge amount of money into the game in England. After the first 250 mill is distributed equally between the 18 counties, the “non-host” counties (ie without a home Hundred side) will share between £250-400 mill.
Paradoxically, the Hundred will be the thing that keeps the totally unsustainable structure of first class cricket going.
Devadwal
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Australia hasn’t named Todd Murphy for the Boxing Day test, they’ll play four of quicks.
Smith in for Inglis , Neser, Doggett, Richardson battling for the last two spots
RedwoodOriginal
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Infact, i'd get Wesbter in for Green
aarizzler720
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Green's home avg has been pretty poor
Nikhil_cric
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Archer cannot play back to back Test matches. That's part of the deal when you decide to employ him as your premier Test bowler
His body cannot the load of bowling in all 3 formats, especially Test cricket
I wouldn't say overrated. He won a World Cup for England.
It's an issue for a lot of bowlers especially those who bowl as quick as he does
He couldn't even win them the 4th Test. No chance in 5th Test. He would've trundling
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Smith returns with Aussies to pick four quicks for Boxing Day
Australia will take an all-pace attack into the Boxing Day Test but stand-in skipper Steve Smith says the hosts are yet to settle on their final XI for the fourth Ashes Test.
Smith said selectors want another look at a "quite furry" MCG surface tomorrow morning before settling on the final make up of their pace attack, with Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser and returning quick Jhye Richardson in line to fill the final two spots.
Smith's return from an inner-ear issue to lead the side in Pat Cummins' absence means Josh Inglis has been squeezed out of the XI, with veteran batter Usman Khawaja doing enough to hold his spot with scores of 82 and 40 following his late reprieve in Adelaide.
Australia XII for fourth Test: Travis Head, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Usman Khawaja, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson
It will be the second time in the series Australia have picked a four-pronged specialist pace attack with Doggett and Neser both playing in the day-night second Test in Brisbane, the latter taking five wickets in the second innings.
If selected on Boxing Day, it will be Neser's first red ball Test match with his previous three appearances all pink-ball encounters.
It means Victorian spinner Todd Murphy's dream of a home Boxing Day Test has been put on hold for now, with Richardson edging closer to his first Test in four years.
"It's exciting to see Richardson back into the fold, he's had a pretty long layoff with injury, and we know the skills he can possess," Smith said.
"He's done it against England before in an Ashes. We've seen when he's had the opportunity at this level, he's been outstanding."
Smith revealed the final 12 for the fourth NRMA Insurance Test against England following Australia's final training session on Christmas morning.
"We've landed on a 12, we just want to take a look at the wicket tomorrow," he said.
"We're going to be playing four quicks and no spinner. (The pitch) has 10mm of grass, quite furry, quite green.
"I dare say it's going to offer quite a bit, particularly (day one) is similar conditions to today, quite cold and overcast so I dare say there's going to be quite a bit of movement.
"You just got to play what surface you're presented with; this one looks like it's going to offer a fair bit of assistance for the seam bowlers and the weather throughout the week looks conducive for that too.
"I think if Nathan (Lyon) was (available), we'd probably still be having the same conversation as well, so it's certainly nothing to do with Todd's skill."
Khawaja will slide to No.5 in the batting line up due to Smith's return with Australia understandably not keen to break up the Travis Head-Jake Weatherald opening union following Head's second century of the series in the previous match.
It's set to be Khawaja's first time batting at five since his stunning Test comeback almost four years ago when he hit twin centuries at the SCG in the fourth Test of the last Ashes series Down Under.
Alex Carey will remain at No.6 following his 106 and 72 in Australia's Ashes-clinching third Test victory, meaning allrounder Cameron Green will slot in at seven.
Green edged out Inglis for the final batting spot with the pair the only Australian batters yet to score a half-century in the series.
After taking an unassailable 3-0 lead, Australia were forced into two of their changes for the fourth Test at the MCG, with Cummins (management) and Nathan Lyon (hamstring) to miss the rest of the series.
But Smith said he was back to feeling "100 per cent" ahead of Boxing Day after he was a late out on the first morning of the previous Test.
"I had a few bad days before the (Adelaide) Test and the first couple of days of the (match until) all my vestibular stuff settled down," he said.
"It was a shame to miss that one, it looked like a pretty nice wicket for batting.
"I was watching in the hotel those first two days and wished I could have been out there, but it was the right call at that stage (because) I was struggling.
"(It was) fortunate that Usman was able to come in and play the way he did … in that first innings."
The tourists announced their XI for Boxing Day Test on Wednesday with Jacob Bethell replacing struggling batter Ollie Pope at No.3 and seamer Gus Atkinson recalled for Jofra Archer, who has been ruled out of the series with a side strain.
www.cricket.com.au
Australia will take an all-pace attack into the Boxing Day Test but stand-in skipper Steve Smith says the hosts are yet to settle on their final XI for the fourth Ashes Test.
Smith said selectors want another look at a "quite furry" MCG surface tomorrow morning before settling on the final make up of their pace attack, with Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser and returning quick Jhye Richardson in line to fill the final two spots.
Smith's return from an inner-ear issue to lead the side in Pat Cummins' absence means Josh Inglis has been squeezed out of the XI, with veteran batter Usman Khawaja doing enough to hold his spot with scores of 82 and 40 following his late reprieve in Adelaide.
Australia XII for fourth Test: Travis Head, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Usman Khawaja, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson
It will be the second time in the series Australia have picked a four-pronged specialist pace attack with Doggett and Neser both playing in the day-night second Test in Brisbane, the latter taking five wickets in the second innings.
If selected on Boxing Day, it will be Neser's first red ball Test match with his previous three appearances all pink-ball encounters.
It means Victorian spinner Todd Murphy's dream of a home Boxing Day Test has been put on hold for now, with Richardson edging closer to his first Test in four years.
"It's exciting to see Richardson back into the fold, he's had a pretty long layoff with injury, and we know the skills he can possess," Smith said.
"He's done it against England before in an Ashes. We've seen when he's had the opportunity at this level, he's been outstanding."
Smith revealed the final 12 for the fourth NRMA Insurance Test against England following Australia's final training session on Christmas morning.
"We've landed on a 12, we just want to take a look at the wicket tomorrow," he said.
"We're going to be playing four quicks and no spinner. (The pitch) has 10mm of grass, quite furry, quite green.
"I dare say it's going to offer quite a bit, particularly (day one) is similar conditions to today, quite cold and overcast so I dare say there's going to be quite a bit of movement.
"You just got to play what surface you're presented with; this one looks like it's going to offer a fair bit of assistance for the seam bowlers and the weather throughout the week looks conducive for that too.
"I think if Nathan (Lyon) was (available), we'd probably still be having the same conversation as well, so it's certainly nothing to do with Todd's skill."
Khawaja will slide to No.5 in the batting line up due to Smith's return with Australia understandably not keen to break up the Travis Head-Jake Weatherald opening union following Head's second century of the series in the previous match.
It's set to be Khawaja's first time batting at five since his stunning Test comeback almost four years ago when he hit twin centuries at the SCG in the fourth Test of the last Ashes series Down Under.
Alex Carey will remain at No.6 following his 106 and 72 in Australia's Ashes-clinching third Test victory, meaning allrounder Cameron Green will slot in at seven.
Green edged out Inglis for the final batting spot with the pair the only Australian batters yet to score a half-century in the series.
After taking an unassailable 3-0 lead, Australia were forced into two of their changes for the fourth Test at the MCG, with Cummins (management) and Nathan Lyon (hamstring) to miss the rest of the series.
But Smith said he was back to feeling "100 per cent" ahead of Boxing Day after he was a late out on the first morning of the previous Test.
"I had a few bad days before the (Adelaide) Test and the first couple of days of the (match until) all my vestibular stuff settled down," he said.
"It was a shame to miss that one, it looked like a pretty nice wicket for batting.
"I was watching in the hotel those first two days and wished I could have been out there, but it was the right call at that stage (because) I was struggling.
"(It was) fortunate that Usman was able to come in and play the way he did … in that first innings."
The tourists announced their XI for Boxing Day Test on Wednesday with Jacob Bethell replacing struggling batter Ollie Pope at No.3 and seamer Gus Atkinson recalled for Jofra Archer, who has been ruled out of the series with a side strain.
Smith returns with Aussies to pick four quicks for Boxing Day | cricket.com.au
Stand-in Australian captain says selectors want another look at the MCG surface before settling on...
www.cricket.com.au
Nikhil_cric
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There is no point to having a league without your best international players available.
They wanted private capital and a league because their bilateral rights value was declining . This is the consequence of that.
The Hundred will now take priority in the summer ahead of all Test tours except maybe the Ashes and, at best, an Indian tour.
RedwoodOriginal
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Doggett out, Richardson inAustralia hasn’t named Todd Murphy for the Boxing Day test, they’ll play four of quicks.
Smith in for Inglis , Neser, Doggett, Richardson battling for the last two spots
RedwoodOriginal
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He has had a poor year with bat and ball. Very hard to continue justifying his place over Webster
Nikhil_cric
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10 mm grass at the MCG! Last time, they had 10 mm length grass here, the Test match got over in 7 sessions , with Boland destroying England.
aboveandbeyond
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Agree. Dont get the raps over why Greens so overly hyped. From what I've seen of Webster, he certainly offers more in Test cricket.
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It will be interesting to see if they play with that amount of grass tomorrow. Maybe, Smith trying to play some mind games
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Australia have only lost two boxing day test matches since 2015.
RedwoodOriginal
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I can see why he is hyped. He is a proper all-rounder and someone with considerable talent. I can see him being a massive star for Australia in the future but that time hasn't come yet.
jnaveen1980
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All the important players missing a boxing day test is such a let down. Archer, Josh, Cummins, Lyon. But Scottie B is the biggest superstar even with their presence. Hope they unleash him infront of 100,000 people. This is going to be quiet a spectacle. Looking forward to it despite the absence of top players.
aboveandbeyond
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Until he consistently performs, its hype more than anything else.
RedwoodOriginal
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Scotty B is a true cult hero, especially in Melbourne. I expect him to get a raucous reception if Australia field first.
Hassan Ali won a champions trophy for pakistan. There are many examples of Bowlers starting with a bang.
And the player than won them the match and cup was Stokes.
Archer bowled well, but definitely an exaggeration to say he won them the cup.
You can see his ability during this series. He's supposedly at full fitness. Most of of his spells are 80-85mph, very little brain or effort. Even the innings he got wickets he was bowling trash.
RedwoodOriginal
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He is overrated but he played a defining role in England winning that World Cup too. Both things can be true. You can't attribute England's World Cup win to one single player, even if Stokes was arguably the most important one.
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