Rootin' for Joe etc...

[Ducks Deluxe]

The cloud is lifting and the sun breaking through by the minute...I can see the Pentland Hills clearly now,although Stockbridge is much closer to the coast... Still can't believe that I'm not going to be there....

DD....

[forestfan]

Anderson out for six weeks, so must be a doubt for the start of the India series.

[Ducks Deluxe]

Ah....more bowling rotation,and chaos for tfc, ensues!

DD....

[ooozzzie]

Its all happening in Edinburgh this weekend isn't it. Good you enjoyed the Stones DD, I wondered about England batting first, but I think they will have to play hard to win, and England most certainly will not want to lose this, enough flack coming their way after the 1st Test against Pakistan. Good Start for Scotland though.

[Ducks Deluxe]

Good Lord!...371 for the inserted Scotland.....potential for serious amount of embarrassment!

DD...

[Ducks Deluxe]

What an imperious display from Bairstow at his best! Poor bowling ,shoddy fielding and short boundaries. This is becoming very interesting..

Oh...various Rolling Stones in the crowd,as predicted!

DD....

[Bluearmy16]

Well what an embarrassing defeat!! What a game though. Shouldn’t have put them in! looked a belting wicket, always up against it chasing that much!!

[Ducks Deluxe]

Goodness me....The Scotland bowling and fielding improved progressively....a super finish....Still can't believe that I didn't get a few of the 4,000 tickets! There are some good pubs in Stockbridge!

Cricket played in a good spirit in a beautiful setting...the way it should be!

I wonder what The Oval will bring on Wednesday?


DD....

[blahblah]

I am a) an utter music snob and b) one who can't stand large outdoor events!

Ditto, and was the result any sort of surprise\shock?

I only caught the latter half of England's cnt give a fk response on the radio

[liquidfootball2]

It'll take more than sandpaper to smooth out the rough edges in this Aussie ODI side. There is a sameness and similarity to their bowling attack of Tye, Richardson and Neser that make it easy to get used to the variations and pace.

Australia will have to make some changes if they're to give England any sort of challenge.

[Maldini]

They’re reasonably well placed to win the game that I’m watching.


Edit: Moeen and Willey have steadied the ship.

[Ducks Deluxe]

England have made a meal of this...As I have said many times before ,my heart sinks when I see that both Roy and Hales are playing....

DD...

[forestfan]

England have made a meal of this...As I have said many times before ,my heart sinks when I see that both Roy and Hales are playing....

DD...

Well, rather them than waste of space Billings down at #7 or #8... we need Stokes and Woakes back though and then we could lose a specialist batsman. Roy and Hales are both all or nothing players really.

[liquidfootball2]

Still a comfortable enough win with six overs in the tank, if not as comfortable as it might have been.

Australia's total miles below par after electing to bat, the cluster of three wickets gave Australia a little hope but the back of a relatively easy chase had been broken.

Willey and Alli even though the latter fell, finished the job with few further alarms (besides the late wicket).

The strength in depth is not as strong as they might have thought and this ODI side do miss Stokes and Woakes.

[liquidfootball2]

This depleted Australian side has just been thoroughly demolished and has left their strength in depth looking quite shockingly thin without their mainline bowlers and sandpaper stars.

England too had struggled without Stokes and Woakes at The Grange, and at that time more than a few doubts about our own bowling reserves were being expressed. So it was perhaps the perfect time for the tourists to play them, and for their understudies to push their own names forward.

They had a sniff at one point in the first game, even if England ran out fairly comfortable winners at the death, but were then completely outplayed and never really in the picture in the second.

Today in the third they were finally and utterly broken bit by bit and it all fell apart, their bowling disappeared to neighbouring counties and a monumental total amassed, their morale was smashed and their batting, predictably weak, just fell apart.

The truth is this record breaking win wasn't even much of a shock to anyone, and that's what's truly remarkable.

England had what now looks very much like an embarrassing blip in Scotland but since then normal service has been resumed and they've just continued their long run of exemplary ODI success.

[Ducks Deluxe]

Well..in a world of numerous meaningless odis that was certainly pretty historic.

Roy and Hales both firing in the same game...goodness me...if only we could count on it....Interesting to hear Tufnell ( I think) saying at the start of the 2nd game that he wondered if Roy was a "luxury."

I wish the media would shut up about the...so called World Cup..It is a year away,for goodness sake and,as we know, in short form cricket anyone can beat anyone on a given day.

Always good to stick it to the Aussies...but I found the second innings rather tedious...nowhere near as good as the Worcs/Kent game the other day,in my opinion...

I read that the non playing St**es is going to be dragged around with the T20 team...silly billies!

DD..

[liquidfootball2]

England's ODI side really are a special team to watch at this moment, never have we been this powerful, this imperious and this dominant over such a long period.

It's often completely forgotten that amidst the winter ashes carnage the ODI side ran out such easy 1-4 winners, and even if this Australian team pales in comparison it still has Marsh, Maxwell (not today) and Finch as well as Jason Lyon and the promise of a young quick in Billy Kerslake, competitive enough if England weren't breaking all records.

Even if occasionally embarrassed when not at full throttle, this side's aberrations are becoming far rarer and regulation massacres the norm.

It is an annoyance the Cricket World Cup keeps getting mentioned, the wheels can come off in a year and our record at ICC ODI tournaments is one of never ending disappointment and failure. The public pays money to watch them now, not to see how they might be in twelve months time.

We should enjoy this for the present and not think too far ahead, as it's now not the future, and this golden era that might well become remembered as our real halcyon days .

[Ducks Deluxe]

Liquid,that is a very good piece of writing....All of this can easily go in a heartbeat....I hope that Morgan's part in all of this gets due recognition...I remember getting laughed out of court when suggesting that he be brought into the Ashes squad to inject gravitas, experience and discipline after the demise of the horrendous Stokes...(I suspect that only Jim agrees with me regarding Stokes!)

All of this can easily be blown away....so enjoy it whilst it lasts...

DD...

[liquidfootball2]

Thank you DD.

I do try my best and enjoy a little Aussie bashing too.

A golden generation, where have I heard that before?

[Ducks Deluxe]

What can I say?.....This one really,really had every thing.Very pleased for Buttler...a calm,intelligent ,articulate ,modest and polite man. He really must be the Captain in waiting.

...And people think that cricket is a boring game!

DD.

[liquidfootball2]

What can I say?.....This one really,really had every thing.Very pleased for Buttler...a calm,intelligent ,articulate ,modest and polite man. He really must be the Captain in waiting.

...And people think that cricket is a boring game!

DD.

A truly remarkable innings, surely his finest in this format even if one of his slowest, the maturity and responsibility shown throughout in transforming an apparently hopeless position to one of thrilling victory marks him out as a very special cricketer.

His star has never shone brighter and these latest exploits coming on the back of such sterling work in the IPL and Pakistani test matches have catapulted him into the very top echelon of current cricketers performing in all three versions of the game.

[forestfan]

Not every day you whitewash Australia... or maybe sandpaper them down before whitewashing them? This one looked a lost cause for a while but with someone like Buttler there’s always a chance.

10 years ago our approach in one-day cricket was “KP or bust” and more recently than that it was “270 will win you the majority of games”. Now it’s a case of anything is possible with this batting line-up. So many matchwinners that even if a few fail there’s someone else to step up.

[Ducks Deluxe]

I see that the Lions have been given a serious Gubbin '(s!)....ouch...

DD...

[jimwinn]

You might say that the Aussies are rubbish at most sports at present

Football, cricket, swimming to name a few

Hilarious

[Ducks Deluxe]

Rugby...an under strength Ireland side won the series!

DD

[forestfan]

They’re beatable at anything right now. Can we take them on at Aussie Rules? Surfing? Barbecuing? Gratuitous use of the C word?

[liquidfootball2]

Outclassed again, this time Australia lose the T20

[Ducks Deluxe]

A few thoughts on the eve of the next ODI I with India. Great to see Joe get runs the other day....This came just after Swann and MV ( who I can't stand) suggesting in commentary that he needs to stand down from the Test Captaincy to recover his form...and also expressing some concern as to his health....

I am sure that there is concern as to whether he will withstand the brutal Test Series ahead.....Great to see AC getting runs for the Lions but I am sure that it is no coincidence that Burns was Captain....shame that he didn't get any runs in the first innings....Stoneman was garbage again for Surrey yesterday...he can't possibly be picked....So......who will be vice captain...and probably Captain in waiting ,apart from Burns? ...Applications naming S***es will not be accepted!

DD

[forestfan]

I don’t know, I think Anderson was vice-captain in the winter, but at his age obviously isn’t the successor in waiting, and neither is Broad despite being a few years younger. The only other “senior” player really is Bairstow and he’s never really come across as leadership material. Buttler is perhaps a wildcard option for some time in the future, having already captained the white ball side on occasions, but I suspect the next long term Test captain hasn’t yet made his debut.

If they were to need a short-term stopgap over the next year or two, they could do a lot worse than bringing Morgan in, even if he were to bat at 8 as essentially a specialist captain.

[Ducks Deluxe]

Hello forestfan,I agree with you about Morgan...I made a case for him (probably here) over the Winter in Australia...I know he has played little first class cricket for some time,but he could be seconded in to play a Brearley type role....Advantages...he has calm gravitas ,he won't panic,huge International experience ,he knows everyone and vice versa.....he has nothing to prove...

Disadvantages...the obsession with the ECB for the "world cup"..cough..over Test Cricket...lack of much recent first class play...This can easily be rectified...unless he is playing ( again) in the West Indian bunfest...is it on this year? Haven't read anything yet...but then again,I don't care for it!

DD....