Ashes 2019...

[Geoff Parkstone]

So, Roy with 9 is the second highest scorer - maybe he is a class opener after all

[Geoff Parkstone]

62.5% of the runs off the bat came in boundaries - what does that tell you?

Every batsman who scored more than 4, hit a 4

8 batsmen caught behind or at first slip

[AdiSalisbury]

What the ****? I had a meeting at 11, left work at 1:15 to beat the holiday traffic, was expecting to come home and see England putting on an innings... And there's an Aussie at the crease on 17-1.

[StensonRam]

I didn't bother even going to work hoping to see England put em to the sword, still it's a day off in the sun

[ramAnag]

Are the Aussies wearing black arm bands to mourn the death of English (Test) cricket?

[AdiSalisbury]

Going to take something special now. If ever there was a way to lose a series in a morning, that was it.

[ramAnag]

What would these lot do without Smith?

Thrash us apparently!

[macstheman]

Tbf the Aussie's bowled superbly, very quick, full length, accurate deliveries. As a bowling unit with a choice of pace and fast medium high class bowlers, well supported by an excellent offie, they have arguably the best overall attack in test cricket.
Place that against a notoriously iffie batting side and well the answer is 67.

[AdiSalisbury]

No excuse for that though Mac, we had 4 days, no need to get out so soon

[ramAnag]

Not buying that entirely, mac.
Our bowlers, well Archer and Broad at least, bowled equally superbly in the last ninety minutes of the first day and Lyon is, imo, no Shane Warne and no better than Rashid or Ali at their best.
If you look at the individuals on both sides only Smith stands out above the rest as a batsman but somehow the Aussies will tough it out in a way that we don’t seem capable of.
Too many white ball cricketers perhaps and certainly the absence of at least one reliable opener leading to our best batsman regularly having to play that role after two or three balls, or overs at best, seems to be having a massive impact.
The captain’s confidence, along with the collective confidence of the team as a whole, must be in tatters right now and that is no frame of mind to be in when facing, as you describe, an aggressive and ‘high class’ bowling attack and probably chasing a target in excess of 350.
Be surprised, at this stage, if Buttler, Leach, Woakes and Roy (certainly not as an opener) are all in the side at Old Trafford but aside from Anderson (if fit) or Curran for Woakes and possibly Rashid for Leach, who is there that can make a real difference and bring some grit and determination to our fragile batting line up?