Australia [284 & 487/7d] beat England [374 & 146] by 251 runs in the 1st Ashes Test, lead series 1-0

last year against ind here, eng made 287 batting first and india were out 270, second innings eng only made 180 and india couldnt chase a small total down.

Not convinced with roy being a test player.

Is Anderson out of the game? He will be missed..

Depends how big a lead eng gets.
 
Smith's comeback and hundred is the stuff of documentary films. Talk about redemption.

Those final two partnerships have wrested the momentum Australia's way.

The Edgbaston pitch tends to quicken up on Day 2. England need to bat time and ensure they don't have too much to do in the 4th innings.
 
well its interesting, atherton was talking about swing, it usually swings in the first two sessions and then it stops in the third.

Eng should target 380 tomorrow
 
Won test series in Australia, Caribbean where England were minnowesque. Actually HTB is high praise for England who can't even bully at home like we do.

Won against the weakest Australian team in history.

Then lost in England with the supposed best ever Indian fast attack against the weakest England batting in history.
 
well its interesting, atherton was talking about swing, it usually swings in the first two sessions and then it stops in the third.

Eng should target 380 tomorrow

I will be surprised if England pass 200.
 
England needs one or two big centuries and they can win this. 284 is not a huge total. They can easily bat Australia out of this game but they need to bat well.
 
England needs one or two big centuries and they can win this. 284 is not a huge total. They can easily bat Australia out of this game but they need to bat well.

chasing 200 last innings will be difficult, End needs a 100 lead from first innings.
 
England needed to keep Australia under 180 with that start. 280 is a good and possibly winning score.
 
Won against the weakest Australian team in history.

Then lost in England with the supposed best ever Indian fast attack against the weakest England batting in history.

Weakest Aussie team in history would have thrashed your lot senseless. Anyway the 2010/11 OZ team was weaker than this.
 
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Weakest Aussie team in history would have thrashed your lot senseless. Anyway the 2010/11 OZ team was weaker than this.
Smith and Warner would have battered India. No way they would have won the series in Aus if those two were there.
 
England should be kicking themselves. Let Australia recover from a very bad situation
 
Smith and Warner would have battered India. No way they would have won the series in Aus if those two were there.

Probably. But it is delusional to think any team could have beaten Oz in Oz even without those two.
 
England messed things up.

284 is a very good score considering Australia's collapse.
 
Got to love this, when Smith has this effect, (booing and abusing) you know its not because they are confident of winning.

Who are “they” ? Just a few English nationalist types who should accept that Smith served his time, and move on.
 
Weakest Aussie team in history would have thrashed your lot senseless. Anyway the 2010/11 OZ team was weaker than this.

I doubt both those statements.

The Australian batting without Warner and Smith was feeble.

Ponting, Clarke, Haddin, Harris, Hussey, Katich and Johnson would walk into the current Australian squad.
 
Probably. But it is delusional to think any team could have beaten Oz in Oz even without those two.

well Soiuth Africa has done it multiple times even with the two in the line up so its stupid to say no won would have won.

However credit to India they were very good not sure about Warner but Smith is arguably the greatest test player of this century and a win by India without him will always a question mark.
 
India are a fine side but I wouldn't have give them any chance of winning the Aus series last year if Warner and Smith were playing.
 
I doubt both those statements.

The Australian batting without Warner and Smith was feeble.

Ponting, Clarke, Haddin, Harris, Hussey, Katich and Johnson would walk into the current Australian squad.

England lost comfortably to the windies around the same time . As for the second statement, Ponting was well past it, Clarke hit his peak only in 2011 and Johnson was nothing like the menace he would eventually become. An attack of Hazelwood/Starc/Cummins/Lyon is comfortably superior and one of the best attacks Australia have ever had.
 
England lost comfortably to the windies around the same time . As for the second statement, Ponting was well past it, Clarke hit his peak only in 2011 and Johnson was nothing like the menace he would eventually become. An attack of Hazelwood/Starc/Cummins/Lyon is comfortably superior and one of the best attacks Australia have ever had.

Johnson busted up the Saffers with an 8fer prior to that series. So I say that he had a quiet series in 2010/11 because the excellent English batting got in his head and knocked him off his line. He and Harris get into the current side, as would all the other Aussies I mentioned. Ponting was still better in 10/11 than anything they have now bar Smith and Warner.

Not saying the current England side aren’t HTBs, just that it’s a bit rich to hear it from an Indian.
 
Issue with the bails persists, ICC needs to do the basics right atleast. Ofcourse you dont want the bails to fall off due to wind but they should be dislodged when hit by the ball.

Its just in recent times we are seeing so many issues with the bails not dislodging.
 
Rory Burns has a chance to score his maiden century. He has no Test century in career yet (despite playing 8 games).
 
71/1 after 28.2 overs. England will take a big lead probably.

I feel that present Aussie bowling lineup is hyped up too much. It is good but it is not menacing like Aussies from the past.

Johnson was more menacing than all the Aussie pacers currently.
 
This is a tight and absorbing game. The Aussies can still come roaring back if they take a couple of quick wickets after lunch. I think it could be a very close match in the end. Rory Burns has batted superbly so far.
 
England can literally bat Aussies out of this game.

Whoever wins this Test will probably win the series too.
 
Pessimist?

They doing well, 350-400, eng will be on top..

Realist. This England side can collapse at any time, they are mostly shot-players with little stickability, though Stokes is improving.

Anyway played Burns....
 
Real test cricket this. England wearing away at the bowlers, heading for the best batting part of the day, against the old ball.
 
Burns on 55*.

He has a chance to score a massive century. It should seal his spot for a while.
 
I will be surprised if England pass 200.

lol . Vaughan yesterday end of days play said 284 was a winning total . 124/1 & on course to cross 400 .
Incidentally , both teams have done blunder in team selection .
 
What were Aussies thinking by dropping Starc for the opening game? Siddle is toothless compared to Starc.
 
Unbelievable selection by Australia. Cummins and Pattinson are way overrated.

Much like India dropping Shami in the Semis.
 
Starc would have taken some wickets with the older ball as he is an excellent exponent of reverse swing bowling.Australia made a blunder by not playing him.
 
Couldn’t believe it when they failed to pick both Starc AND Hazlewood. Starc in particular. Can’t believe our luck here.
 
lol . Vaughan yesterday end of days play said 284 was a winning total . 124/1 & on course to cross 400 .
Incidentally , both teams have done blunder in team selection .

Still might be all out <200.

I would have Bairstow at #5 and Foakes keeping else all about the same.
 
I believe that when england crosses the lead and if they are less casualties I think the likes of bairstow,stokes,jos butler and moeen ali can go beserk and bat Australia out of the game.
 
Cummins is the #1 ranked bowler in Tests.

Cummins has to pitch the ball up a bit further in ENglish conditions. Even in the world cup he struggled with his lengths. These pitches may not be super fast pitches. Back of the length balls are negotiated easily. It is a case of expanding your skills to do well everywhere. I am sure he will find a way soon.
 
Poms must try to bat Aussies out in first innings - a lead of 200 should be handy👍

I can recall 1998 Ashes opener, also played at Birmingham - Aussies got bundled for 119 or so by first lunch and Poms tools a ~300 lead; then Aussies posted 400+ and though ENG won comfortably, but the game went to almost last session.

Can Jimmy bowl in 2nd innings? That’s an equation of almost 200 runs - Aussies have cashed around 100 of those in first innings.
 
Cummins has to pitch the ball up a bit further in English conditions. Even in the world cup he struggled with his lengths. These pitches may not be super fast pitches. Back of the length balls are negotiated easily. It is a case of expanding your skills to do well everywhere. I am sure he will find a way soon.

this is typical cummins at the start of a big series, takes very little wickets at the first two matches, gets a few 4 wicket hauls towards the end and somehow ends up being the leading wicket taker for australia thereby maintaining his test ranking
 
The Australian bowling has looked threatening in the last half an hour.

They will have to carry on like this.
 
Burns is still there. He is on 92*.

If Aussies can get 2 more wickets before 220, it is game on.
 
Australia have been a bit unlucky. Hazelwood should definitely play in the next game.
 
Cummins is starting to look threatening.

Bairstow and Moen Ali have not been great in tests recently . So if Australia can get some quick wickets, they still have a chance.
 
It is very hard to rotate between just 4 bowlers for extended period of time. Lyon must step up here. Australia is missing an all rounder.
 
Burns has been playing very slowly.

He is on 92* and has consumed 207 balls. Strike rate of around 44.

194/3.
 
Excellent catch by Bancroft.

But but Cummins is overrated. 1 or 2 bad games and players be labelled as rubbish or overrated.
 
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