5th Test at Hobart - 14-19 Jan 2022

[Burgey]

England probably needed another couple tonight to realistically be a chance, so to that extent it’s job done for Aus I suppose.

 

[TheJediBrah]

England probably needed another couple tonight to realistically be a chance, so to that extent it’s job done for Aus I suppose.

Part of me thinks this wicket could still flatten out quite a bit on days 3 and 4. If England are chasing 250 or even 300 they might not be out of it.

 

[wpdavid]

Part of me thinks this wicket could still flatten out quite a bit on days 3 and 4. If England are chasing 250 or even 300 they might not be out of it.

Take 100 off each of those and you may have a point. As Burgey said, England needed five wickets tonight to be in with any sort of a chance. Even then, your bowlers are far too good for our batters.

 

[Test Master]

Always knew Travis was class when I saw him a few years ago. He's had his doubters but the class and composure always shines through. If Usman and Head can show some consistency, I'd say Australia have the most frightening batting top order post late 2000's and 2010's since SA's Smith, Amla, Kallis, De Villiers.

 

[quincywagstaff]

I suspect Warner is going through a similar end-of-career phase that Hayden.

Has a dominant summer in 19/20 (Hayden's was 07/08) which suggests he could go well into his late 30s but starts picking up injuries and the brash confidence they've had in Australian conditions throughout their career disappears and it's a rapid decline from there.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

If tonight is typical of floodlit conditions at Hobart I don't rate our chances after tea tomorrow. If we're not batting by then the game is 100% gone instead of 99.9 anyway.

 

[quincywagstaff]

England probably needed another couple tonight to realistically be a chance, so to that extent it’s job done for Aus I suppose.

If Australia declared overnight I wouldn't back England to chase down the runs. One of the weakest batting lineups to tour Australia post-WSC.

And this is despite Hazlewood missing almost the entire series; as one of the commentators observed the pitches this series would've been heaven for him.

 

[ashley bach]

England probably needed another couple tonight to realistically be a chance, so to that extent it’s job done for Aus I suppose.

probably needed another 3 to be in it, even chasing only 250 would be a mission and a half for them.
Australia will rue that they SQUANDERED their chance in Sydney to let England slip away with a 4-0 non whitewash.
shame because now the English can tell their grandchildren about the time they once snaffled a draw down under.

 

[GIMH]

Just say we ****ed up the flight bookings, shake on the draw and never speak of this wretched series again

 

[ashley bach]

I say play them in most Tests, apart from your traditionals - Boxing Day, New Year's Test etc.

It might be a matter of opinion but Test cricket's viability relies on getting away from the sort of 'don't change how it's always been' mentality. People are less and less inclined to watch Test cricket during the day, at the ground and certainly on TV (where the money is made through broadcast dollars). I know I'm that way - I drift in and out during the day, I'll look on cricinfo regularly and get to a device when I can, but I have kids/a job/I'm on holiday now etc. But day/night Tests, I'm all in for the evening. I love the Australia D/N Test time slot, and I enjoy ours too.

I agree. ODIs went that way, and no one had a problem with it. In fact it added to the product. The ball works, by and large, which was always the biggest potential issue to D/N Tests.

I suppose it's a country-by-country consideration as to whether D/N Tests should be the norm. For example, in NZ, our Test cricket is very sparse in viewership both at the ground and on TV as a daytime product. We don't have a massive viewing public compared to most other countries in the world. D/N Tests, to me, are our best option unless we're talking Boxing Day/NYs Tests.

That might be different in somewhere like Australia where Melbourne/greater VIC has 4-5 million people, their country-wide viewership is much higher, or in India (not sure here) where again they have a much bigger pool of people to watch and attend, and certainly a more passionate viewership who will look to watch at all costs. England are also different in terms of their cricket culture of attending Test matches in numbers.

Hi Steve
you make some excellent points, and I totally understand how watching at night is better when you have a whole life to juggle around.
the questions we probably have to ask regarding these pink ball night tests are what are the consequences? and are they worth it?
from purely a cricket perspective, is the quality of cricket achieved worth the change overall?
lets look at the last 10 tests:
5 of them have been won by an innings, 2 of them by 300 runs, 1 by 10 wickets, 1 by 8 wickets and 1 by 4 wickets.
that's some serious blowouts going on there, only the match won by 4 wickets resembling anything near to exciting.
it would be great if a ball suited the conditions for everyone, but that's not even close at the moment.
wouldn't we rather be watching 4-5 days of cricket as opposed to 2.5-3.5 days?
remember if it's only 2.5 then there's no night session to watch anyway!
as long as teams get bowled out for 36, nobody's going to get to watch much cricket at all.

 

[Nintendo]

Green's worst figures of the series and even then was a bit unlucky, had malan on one that didn't get reviewed and had woakes on toast. If he can continue to make some runs at 6 and bowl like this he's gonna be a menace.

 

[Spark]

Green's worst figures of the series and even then was a bit unlucky, had malan on one that didn't get reviewed and had woakes on toast. If he can continue to make some runs at 6 and bowl like this he's gonna be a menace.

He looked a bit impatient today. Still dangerous and good value for his wicket (and obviously should have had another had they reviewed Malan), but for the first time this series he seemed to be getting frustrated with constantly beating the edge rather than nicking anyone off and serving up half volleys/legside bilge for easy boundaries, especially at the end of overs.

 

[ashley bach]

Green's worst figures of the series and even then was a bit unlucky, had malan on one that didn't get reviewed and had woakes on toast. If he can continue to make some runs at 6 and bowl like this he's gonna be a menace.

The Green machine is ready to throttle full bore ahead.
will be very interesting indeed how he fares on upcoming tours.

 

[Shri]

 

[Lillian Thomson]

I think it's fair to say that the Daily Mail headline writer isn't optimistic on our chances.

Unlikely England star Billings relishing Ashes chance despite defeat (msn.com)

 

[the big bambino]

Steve Smith's last chance. If he doesn't make a ton here he should be DROPPED

Smith > Wade.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Green's worst figures of the series and even then was a bit unlucky, had malan on one that didn't get reviewed and had woakes on toast. If he can continue to make some runs at 6 and bowl like this he's gonna be a menace.

One of those wickets where the batsmen always seem super lucky with all the play and misses, but even then the England lower order had more than their fair share

 

[Son Of Coco]

When Boland tons up just before lunch today, will he have done enough to claim Man of the Series honours to go along with his inevitable Australian of the Year gong on the 26th?

 

[Xix2565]

When Boland tons up just before lunch today, will he have done enough to claim Man of the Series honours to go along with his inevitable Australian of the Year gong on the 26th?

Needs a double I'm afraid.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Needs a double I'm afraid.

there is a precedent