Road to the 2017-18 Ashes in Australia

[S.Kennedy]

I think you'll give your self an aneurysm, Australia, deciding between your Cartwrights, Camerons, Heads and various Marshes. Still, it is good news from an English perspective. We are not the only ones with batting woes.

 

[Tangles]

Warner, Smith and Uzi in Australian conditions are formidable. You need 4 wickets before you get to the guys being debated. Good luck with that.

 

[Daemon]

It would be criminal to pitchfork Bancroft in over Renshaw

Whilst averages are not everything, Bancroft averages just 37 in FC cricket which is only equal to what Renshaw does in Test cricket

Plus Renshaw has scored a Test hundred before his 21st birthday...a telltale sign of a future star

People put way too much stock in early season Shield form

Yep. Facing Woakes etc will be a step down from shield cricket anyways, so I think they should persist with him regardless of form. He didn't grit through all that SC cricket for nothing.

 

[Spark]

Warner, Smith and Uzi in Australian conditions are formidable. You need 4 wickets before you get to the guys being debated. Good luck with that.

I rate Handscomb too, although he hasn't really proven himself against high quality pace bowling yet (one Test isn't enough)

 

[vicleggie]

I'm back BCs

 

[Gnske]

It would be criminal to pitchfork Bancroft in over Renshaw

Whilst averages are not everything, Bancroft averages just 37 in FC cricket which is only equal to what Renshaw does in Test cricket

Plus Renshaw has scored a Test hundred before his 21st birthday...a telltale sign of a future star

People put way too much stock in early season Shield form

Yeah Renshaw is going to be a regular Adrian Barath at this rate.

 

[vicleggie]

I rate Handscomb too, although he hasn't really proven himself against high quality pace bowling yet (one Test isn't enough)

Yeh but they're playing against England. Shouldn't be a problem

 

[S.Kennedy]

Taking Australian knee-jerk Shield selection conversations to their extremity your batting order would see Warner, Renshaw and Handscomb dropped, to be replaced by Bancroft, Ferguson, Hughes or J. Lehmann!

 

[Howe_zat]

I can't remember feeling less excited for an Ashes series. Even when we were crap.

Maybe I've fallen out of love with the game.

 

[Daemon]

Hopefully you guys do commentary again. Enjoyed you losing your cool and yelling "****ING IDIOT" out of nowhere when England was having a bit of a collapse.

 

[Pothas]

I can't remember feeling less excited for an Ashes series. Even when we were crap.

Maybe I've fallen out of love with the game.

If I avoid this place for a while then I actually really start to look forward to it.

 

[harsh.ag]

Yeah, too much snark here. If nothing else, feign some genuine excitement, ****s.

 

[Burgey]

Distinct lack of snark in this build up imo. As I exclusively noted a few days ago, Corrin being more interested in some libertarian fantasyland diminishes the build up.

I mean, I’ll happily pour **** on him over both his laughable political and cricketing views, but at least with the latter it doesn’t represent an abhorrent world view.

 

[Adders]

Whats with the Ravi Avatar Pothas? Did you lose a bet or are you campaigning for a comeback?

 

[Adders]

Distinct lack of snark in this build up imo.

There's snark.......it's just of a really low quality.

 

[Spark]

I can't remember feeling less excited for an Ashes series. Even when we were crap.

Maybe I've fallen out of love with the game.

The build-up seems oddly low-key tbh. Doesn't help that both sides are obviously mediocre.

 

[Pothas]

Whats with the Ravi Avatar Pothas? Did you lose a bet or are you campaigning for a comeback?

We all know he should be replacing Stokes.

 

[Adders]

The build-up seems oddly low-key tbh. Doesn't help that both sides are obviously mediocre.

Been that way for the last few though hasn't it?

 

[Daemon]

the womens ashes has been getting much more hype than previously at least. it's got a lot to do with the social media managers at CA and ECB imo. They're both comfortably the best media teams atm, even though the ECB one is clearly infatuated with Moeen.

 

[S.Kennedy]

Last close Ashes was 2009. Last great Ashes, and one of the best test series ever, was 2005. I did like 2009 though. All the rest have been one way traffic really - even 2015's helter-skelter which was 3-1 going into a dead rubber. I do really like the Ashes though; it usually has a lot of soap opera hysteria surrounding it and nothing changes things when you are on the losing side: whichever side loses you can bet there will be a series of sackings, retirements and hysterical punditry crying out for 'reform' when it is all done and dusted.

I doubt it will be as good as last winter's Border-Gavaskar though which was a brilliant series. Probably an easy 3-0ish Australian victory, then England will win the next one easily. That has been the pattern commencing 2006-7, immense home side advantage, a pattern only Strauss's 2010-11 side broke.