Ashes 2019...

[Geoff Parkstone]

Yep...thank goodness for Buttler...and Leach again!
Not over convinced by the latter’s bowling but he shows more commitment and game awareness than many. Seems to be one of the few to grasp the concept of a five day Test match.

What are the chances of GP’s long awaited Oval trip coinciding with a Steve Smith duck?

He's 14% of the way to 100

[ramAnag]

He's 14% of the way to 100

An ominous 22% now GP.
Hope you saw the four wickets in the first hour. Rest of the day beginning to look a bit predictably tedious...still at least the sun’s out.

[Geoff Parkstone]

60%

[ramAnag]

60%

You could have chosen a much worse day though, GP.

You know how the ‘81 series became known as ‘Botham’s Ashes’?
Reckon this year’s will be remembered as the ‘Is Smith still ‘kin in Ashes’.

[Geoff Parkstone]

It was a decent enough day made better by the last ball DRS. Smith out for lowest score of series. Joffra over bowled and Broad underbowled as if carrying an injury. Leach dropped one Sir Geoffrey's old mum could have caught. Curran bowled better than his first couple of overs suggested he would. Burns catch pretty good, so much so I assumed Stokes had swapped fielding position.

One curiosity. You can no longer use cash anywhere in the ground. Everywhere card only.

Beer was decent, not the usual yellow fizzy piss. Real ale stands etc. Someone threw food as Ian Healey at end of the day, and he picked it up and ate it. A grape I believe.

Not in MA class, but another good thing was that trains screwed up by jumper at Balham meaning I didn't have to suffer Derby Cardiff on Sky

[ramAnag]

Too blasé this afternoon imo. With two full days left we should have been batting till lunch tomorrow and setting 500.
Hope this doesn’t come back to haunt them.

[Geoff Parkstone]

+/- 400 should be enough on a pitch that has deteriorated a little. Denly to get a 3-for?

Anyway with Sir Geoffrey Leach in residence in the morning, we may still be batting at lunch

[AdiSalisbury]

About right, pleased with that performance. A lead of just over 400 will be nice. Need to get into Australia's middle order by lunch tomorrow, so a good opportunity. Don't want to give them too short a time to bat or they'll rescue a draw.

[Geoff Parkstone]

Bye bye Smiffy, sandpaper can't save you now

[ramAnag]

So there we go...Root’s luck finally changes...ignominious defeat is avoided and the series is ‘squared’.
Farewell Bayliss, Beefy and Gower...thanks for the memories.
Not a bad summer...thrashed Pakistan in the ODI’s, won the World Cup and levelled the Ashes series. Could have been better I suppose but let’s be grateful for what we got.