The Ashes 25/26

[AKCJ]

I can't remember a side collapsing like that from that much of a winning position before.

 

To go from a lead of roughly 110 with 9 wickets in hand to losing inside 5 hours is insane.

[The boy Linacre]

For me they are an arrogant boys club (Key, Baz, Stokes), & flat track bullies, haven’t beaten Oz or India in the last 4 series +.

They got away with one with the 1st innings and have learnt nothing from Brooks cock up in the last India test, & the 1st Ashes tests here last time.

Heard TMS at the end Aggers said how hard & different pink ball Cricket is but Stokes batters still aren’t playing a 2 day match arranged for them & got a bit aggy when Agnew pushed him for an answer.

Even Vaughan & McGrath said, surprisingly they are professional cricketers, why wouldn’t spend some extra time in the middle.

Mcgrath said how defensive Stokes when he’s on the end of it, Crawley, Brooks & the others need to own it & take some responsibility.

Chances of winning the series now massively reduced. Dicks.

 

[RowlattsFox]

I have defended the approach in the past, and Travis Head shown that if done rightly and it comes off there is nothing wrong with it. 

 

The ironic thing for me is that they talk about bazball being them backing themselves but it actually shows the opposite. It shows that they don't back themselves to have the skills or ability to bat long periods and play 'traditionally', that they must score quickly because they will get out anyway. 

 

I'm not against it, and we've been shit in Australia in many ways and styles but its almost impossible for it to consistently come off. 

 

The bowlers coming out in the first innings and not even trying to stick around and then the middle order today just have to let it calm down a bit. The more chaotic it gets the worse they become. 

[deejdeej]

Actually feels like a bit of a mockery to Test cricket and fans that have looked forward to the Ashes that it can be over in 2 days 

 

Defo wouldn't be saying that if we'd won mind!

[Wsl]

And spare a thought for Starc - first 10 wicket haul in an Ashes series in Australia for 20 years I've heard, and he still is beaten to Man of the Match.

[trabuch]

2 hours ago, Wsl said:

And spare a thought for Starc - first 10 wicket haul in an Ashes series in Australia for 20 years I've heard, and he still is beaten to Man of the Match.

Classic pro batter bias.

[Blueman1967]

7 hours ago, RowlattsFox said:

I have defended the approach in the past, and Travis Head shown that if done rightly and it comes off there is nothing wrong with it. 

 

The ironic thing for me is that they talk about bazball being them backing themselves but it actually shows the opposite. It shows that they don't back themselves to have the skills or ability to bat long periods and play 'traditionally', that they must score quickly because they will get out anyway. 

 

I'm not against it, and we've been shit in Australia in many ways and styles but its almost impossible for it to consistently come off. 

 

The bowlers coming out in the first innings and not even trying to stick around and then the middle order today just have to let it calm down a bit. The more chaotic it gets the worse they become. 

Aussies have been scoring quick for years, we had their version 2nd innings

[The Year Of The Fox]

Selling 2x flights to Sydney Tuesday, flights to Brisbane on 3rd, and 2x tickets for 4 (I mean 2) days at Brisbane £2200 each

[Corky]

This Test proves why the debate about who bats at three is redundant. We in effect have three openers presently.

[STEVIE B]

7 minutes ago, Corky said:

This Test proves why the debate about who bats at three is redundant. We in effect have three openers presently.

Spot on. Although if you're in the top 4 of most sides, from club cricket to International elite, 3 & 4 could be in very early. They're padded up ready for a reason. 

 

Crawley plays with a carefree style, which is infuriating. Brook is going the same way, talent in abundance, but his arrogance is catching up. 

[trabuch]

The ECB seems to hate long form cricket. I expect there is a money reason for this. But you would think that five days of hugely popular cricket was a good thing. A two day test is a ****ing abomination.

They will blame the county championship somehow. Even though none of these giiggle and hit willy pullers hardly played any 4 day cricket this year. Oh - and we still had to put up with the kukuburra ball ruining it for us for half the season for some unimaginable reason.

Edited 23 November 2025 by trabuch

[Super_horns]

One thing is for certain.

 

The team won’t charge their style at all and keep playing their shots .

[Corky]

6 hours ago, trabuch said:

The ECB seems to hate long form cricket. I expect there is a money reason for this. But you would think that five days of hugely popular cricket was a good thing. A two day test is a ****ing abomination.

They will blame the county championship somehow. Even though none of these giiggle and hit willy pullers hardly played any 4 day cricket this year. Oh - and we still had to put up with the kukuburra ball ruining it for us for half the season for some unimaginable reason.

I'm sure some will try but you cannot blame domestic cricket for this. This team plays a specific style against all opponents in all conditions, seemingly without repercussions. Certain players appear to remain indefinitely regardless of form or technique.

 

The issues are solely internal.

[when_you're_smiling]

8 minutes ago, Corky said:

I'm sure some will try but you cannot blame domestic cricket for this. This team plays a specific style against all opponents in all conditions, seemingly without repercussions. Certain players appear to remain indefinitely regardless of form or technique.

 

The issues are solely internal.

Also, those in the squad don’t even play domestic cricket. Bashir’s not even got a county. 

[Corky]

3 minutes ago, when_you're_smiling said:

Also, those in the squad don’t even play domestic cricket. Bashir’s not even got a county. 

I'm sure there was an admission that the regime weren't interested in domestic statistics and numbers, too.

[STEVIE B]

1 hour ago, Super_horns said:

One thing is for certain.

 

The team won’t charge their style at all and keep playing their shots .

I'm sure they weren't so reckless fairly recently, can't recall which Series. It was commented upon. 

Stokes mentioned that they'd tweaked 'Bazzball' slightly. 

 

They need to get try it again. The current approach will never work against good bowling attacks.

[RowlattsFox]

1 hour ago, Super_horns said:

One thing is for certain.

 

The team won’t charge their style at all and keep playing their shots .

If anything, they will point to Travis Head and say its the way to go. It just has to come off for a couple of them or they look stupid. 

[STEVIE B]

England's batsmen (who played at Perth) won't be playing in a warm up game. It's also with a pink ball, which is being used for the 2nd Test in Brisbane. 

 

Is this just more arrogance, or is a 2 day game really worth it ? 

Surely, they need to play in this, IMO. They have 11 days until the 2nd Test.......that's a lot of golf. 

 

[Wsl]

27 minutes ago, STEVIE B said:

England's batsmen (who played at Perth) won't be playing in a warm up game. It's also with a pink ball, which is being used for the 2nd Test in Brisbane. 

 

Is this just more arrogance, or is a 2 day game really worth it ? 

Surely, they need to play in this, IMO. They have 11 days until the 2nd Test.......that's a lot of golf. 

 

It's been laid on specially. But Stokes and McCullum are firm that it will only be Lions players. It is beyond stupid. The pink ball plays differently in its own right. The lighting conditions will be completely different. But I expect nothing less from this lot. I'm beginning to get really hacked off with the pair of them. It's the dishonesty of their arguments that annoy me. McCullum can't justify Head as proving Bazball works. Head never played a waft outside off stump. Australia didn't go to our Plan B (which never works) of endless short balls that will never bowl or lbw a player and so the risk of hitting it as Head did is nothing like the same as attempting a drive that was never on as you've got four people lined up to catch exactly that. Precisely how did McCullum think batting and bowling as we did in the second innings was ever going to win a match? He bangs on about how batting in that style he believes is the best way to put pressure on a team. We had pressure on the Aussies. We were 100 ahead having only lost 1 wicket. We then proceeded to remove all pressure from them by batting in that style. 

 

I know I shouldn't, but I really hope they get absolutely hammered in the second test. AUS have won 12/13 pink ball tests. I think we've played 3 against them, so we've hardly played any. And lost by 120 runs, 275 runs and 146 runs. And aside from that two day tour match, I don't know of any match cricket being scheduled for England to play. 

[STEVIE B]

1 hour ago, Wsl said:

It's been laid on specially. But Stokes and McCullum are firm that it will only be Lions players. It is beyond stupid. The pink ball plays differently in its own right. The lighting conditions will be completely different. But I expect nothing less from this lot. I'm beginning to get really hacked off with the pair of them. It's the dishonesty of their arguments that annoy me. McCullum can't justify Head as proving Bazball works. Head never played a waft outside off stump. Australia didn't go to our Plan B (which never works) of endless short balls that will never bowl or lbw a player and so the risk of hitting it as Head did is nothing like the same as attempting a drive that was never on as you've got four people lined up to catch exactly that. Precisely how did McCullum think batting and bowling as we did in the second innings was ever going to win a match? He bangs on about how batting in that style he believes is the best way to put pressure on a team. We had pressure on the Aussies. We were 100 ahead having only lost 1 wicket. We then proceeded to remove all pressure from them by batting in that style. 

 

I know I shouldn't, but I really hope they get absolutely hammered in the second test. AUS have won 12/13 pink ball tests. I think we've played 3 against them, so we've hardly played any. And lost by 120 runs, 275 runs and 146 runs. And aside from that two day tour match, I don't know of any match cricket being scheduled for England to play. 

Agnew has written a very good piece on the BBC. Definitely worth a read.

 

l keep banging on about it, Bazball is great, but Bazball with brains would be incredible !
Instead we get an arrogant approach against top bowling units & keep throwing games away. The current way will rarely work against good sides.
Crawley infuriates many England followers, but Brook is a massive concern. He has talent in abundance, unfortunately his arrogant, dismissive approach is letting him down.

 

The mantra of most, ‘But that’s the way l/we play’, is a lame excuse & must now annoy those that spend hard earned cash to watch their heroes give up winning positions so frivolously. 
 

 

Edited 24 November 2025 by STEVIE B

[Wsl]

They next play a match on the 4 December. 10 days from now. They'll have had three extra days off for not even playing a 5 day test. They travel on the Wednesday and don't even train until next Monday, let alone play a match. That's their idea of preparation. They can't have any complaints if virtually no one who wasn't going to Australia anyway bothers to pay good money to go and see the next Ashes series in Australia. I feel sorry for those who will have paid out thousands of pounds for this %&^$. 

[RowlattsFox]

Can't get my head around the fact it was meant to be day 4 today  

 

In the grand scheme of things, a 2-day match in Canberra is no preparation for a test match in Brisbane against Mitchell Starc. However it's another bad look for this squad. They'd just go, bat once and get caught anyway. 

 

 

[Wsl]

39 minutes ago, RowlattsFox said:

Can't get my head around the fact it was meant to be day 4 today  

 

In the grand scheme of things, a 2-day match in Canberra is no preparation for a test match in Brisbane against Mitchell Starc. However it's another bad look for this squad. They'd just go, bat once and get caught anyway.

 

 

That's a good point. It is a 12 hour flight. I did think, but what else are they doing? Didn't really pick up on the question as to whether they'd deliberately avoid it because a 3 balls faced and then out innings would only encourage the Aussies. Bowlers may find it useful though.

[STEVIE B]

6 minutes ago, Wsl said:

That's a good point. It is a 12 hour flight. I did think, but what else are they doing? Didn't really pick up on the question as to whether they'd deliberately avoid it because a 3 balls faced and then out innings would only encourage the Aussies. Bowlers may find it useful though.

12 hours ? I know it’s a big country, but that can’t be right. 

[Wsl]

12 minutes ago, STEVIE B said:

12 hours ? I know it’s a big country, but that can’t be right. 

whatever i saw, must have been my eyes and/or a typo. 1 hour 40. So there's no bloody excuse at all!!