Australia vs England - The Ashes 2021/22

Top Contributors
Test will most likely be a draw unless we keep our foot on England's throat with the ball.

Sent from my SM-G781B using Tapatalk
 
Have seen it in the past that when the metronomic Josh Hazlewood has someone take the long handle to him he does not seem to have an answer. Prime example being the Stokes assault at Headingley in 2019. He also copped a hiding from Buttler in the T20 WC.
 
Last edited:
Our pacemen put up a master class on how to bowl, and exploit that deck. Some of the plans and execution to key bats was clinical. Hazlewood to Root.. Cummins to Stokes, Starc to Buttler. Perfectly executed..
 
Last edited:
Head did something similar today to Stokes white ball like assault two years ago. To be brutally honest the SAussie skipper faced some woeful England bowling which fed him many runs.
 
Sharkman84 said:
‘Get stuffed WA’: Proof state has lost the plot:

Aussie cricket fans have laughed off suggestions from Western Australia it should host the second Ashes Test in a swap with Adelaide despite the state’s tough border restrictions.
www.news.com.au

‘Get stuffed WA’: Shameless move proves state has officially lost the plot

Cricket Australia has stripped Perth of the fifth Ashes Test over complications arising from Western Australia’s Covid border restrictions.
www.news.com.au www.news.com.au

Sent from my SM-G781B using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

AussieRitchie said:
Welcome to the forum Sharkman and to the new Ashes thread.. call me Richie or Baggers.
Waiting for a response from TJ on this. He is from WA. Personally I am disappointed for the many fans that will miss watching and being enthralled by Test match cricket at what I regard as one of the great world cricket venues.
Click to expand...

The government has been pretty consistent with its dealings regarding sport over the past 18 months or so, they were the same with the AFL who decided to have a bye between the Preliminary Finals and Grand Finals to accommodate the requirements of the government at that stage. The fact that they refused to give in to Cricket Australia (CA) isn't surprising although it is disappointing for cricket fans here.

There are a few reasons why the current government decided to take this approach:
  1. COVID-19 has mostly been kept at bay here. WA has had three short lockdowns since the national lockdown in April-May 2020 and life has been able to go on with relative normality since that period. People here have become accustomed to this and the freedoms that come with it compared to cities in the eastern states and also overseas. It is also something that the vast majority of people here are supportive of and the the way the government has handled COVID-19 was reflected in the record landslide victory they had in the state election held in March 2021.
  2. The economy has been going very, very strongly here in that time. 2020/21 saw the government post a surplus of over $5B which is completely unheard of in such times and has helped turn things around financially when compared with the end of the previous government's tenure. It has put the current government in a much better position financially that has enabled them to commit to projects that are needed across the state.
  3. The Health system here has some issues and has been neglected somewhat for the best part of the decade with the current government and also the previous government not doing enough to solve the problems. It's only really in the last few months that the current government has started to sink a lot of money and resources into fixing the problem, knowing that COVID-19 will eventually come in here once the borders come down. The Health system will need some time to increase capacity in terms of beds and also equipment plus astaff to make sure they can handle any surges or increases in activity once the borders come down.
  4. The current government has always taken a conservative approach (despite being a left-wing party) to manage the situation as best as possible. The remote areas of the state, in particular the Aboriginal communities are vulnerable and will be even more so once the borders are relaxed. Vaccination rates have been slower than other states and territories which has led to a slower uptake of the vaccine. Given the slower uptake and the way the health system is at the moment, the government wants to get a very large majority (90% of the 12+ population) vaccinated before opening the borders in order to reduce infections and any potential deaths from the virus.

To be fair, CA have generally shafted the WACA a lot in recent times which doesn't really help their cause, particularly with the public's opinion of them at the moment. Not playing test matches in one of the world's best stadiums is rather disappointing and fans here have somewhat had enough of being treated in such a way. While this occasion was self inflicted, not getting a test for the Indian series last summer was poor and the replacement game being Afghanistan was just insulting. You've got to add to that the lack of ODI and T20 Internationals here at times, ODI's that start at 11:20am with some Scorchers' home games beginning at 4:10pm which is exceptionally inconvenient.

I do agree that it is disapointing for the fans here as it's an Ashes test that we'll miss out on. I have no doubt that the stadium could have got 50k plus to the opening couple of days of the game with good crowds on the following days afterwards. Hopefully things will be sorted for the following summer although I anticipate we'll probably get a West Indies test rather than a South African one.
 
Sharkman84 said:
I've been on the forum since 2013 and ran a cricket group with a Kiwi bloke from here on Facebook several years ago.

I'll be on here more often now that I got rid of my social media accounts.

Sent from my SM-G781B using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Ask your Kiwi mate to come back here, always good to have a different point of view and a voice from a fan of another cricketing nation.
 
AussieRitchie said:
Said these conditions will suit a specialist swingman like Starc. Makes it even more odd that they did not play their best at the art James Anderson.

Baggers
Click to expand...

Anderson was rested I hear but there were rumours of a calf issue so I imagine the ECB erred on the side of caution and rested him. Broad wasn't picked in favour of Jack Leach which has proven to be the wrong call thus far.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top