englandtilidie

At last. England’s cricketers secure their first Ashes Test victory after 18 matches in Australia since 2011 amid the bizarre circumstances of a game that finished in less then two of the scheduled five. In fact I noted a post on socials highlighting that from the time the game started at 11.00 local time in Melbourne to the moment it finished at 20.25 in local time Hawaii it was all played on one global Boxing Day. Crazy, and some…….

That brings the total of days played to just 13 in four matches. Not an ideal illustration of what we call the longer format game given the variety of other versions prevailing these days and this latest debacle will open up a real discussion as to its validity/credibility. We can surely no longer call it the purest form of the cricket art although technically some pedants will still claim it’s a “Test”. To start with the pitch was cut to a length (10mm rather than the usual 7-8mm) that made the track lively to say the least, and which certainly didn’t lend itself to the game going the full distance .What the feck were they thinking as the cutting blades went about their task. Since 2015, when England also arrived 3-0 down and Alastair Cook ground out an unbeaten 244 over seven hours to earn a draw that brought huge criticism of another kind for the pitch it’s been prepared to be more lively ever since.

Riveting viewing given the pace of the ever-changing scenarios that kept me glued all night to the TV screen with the far superior radio commentary from @bbctms , but the speed of conclusion has, once again, to remain a real concern for all who love this beautiful game. Yes it was the same for both sides, and ironically we showed more application and discipline with both bat and ball this time than we have in almost all of the previous three Tests, but 36 wickets and neither side scoring over 200 has produced more questions than answers on many different levels.

Cricket Australia will be hugely out of pocket at the end of this severely truncated Ashes series with seemingly no insurance cover for income loss/ticket refunds, such as we have in England, despite the series being sponsored by an insurance company. Go figure. Many England fans will have travelled out to enjoy Day 3 onwards having completed their domestic Xmas duties. Although, when I go, I fly from London on Xmas Eve and head straight to the MCG when the plane arrives on Boxing Day some won’t have that luxury of independence. Whether they have tickets for the 5th Test in Sydney can not be assumed and even for the locals there’s the huge disappointment of not attending their days of choice/limited availability option for a sporting occasion that is so eagerly anticipated.

Compensation options to cover the remaining days currently being thrown in the hat include playing one-day beer matches (reversing the batting order too, I hope, in best village cricket tradition) to a Third Innings which at first sight seems to present problems of its own but seems to be gathering some traction. Either way though it’s all masking the main problem as I see it. Blame the MCG pitch on this occasion but the reality is that players globally now just don’t have the technique/patience/application/discipline that a full 5 Day Test demands either with bat or ball. This has to be addressed on an international scale if the Test format is to survive but sadly it seems many nations, and indeed an increasing number of players just don’t care, preferring the more lucrative short-game knockabouts. Cricket purists such as me should be, and are, rightly alarmed.

As for England’s victory-achieving performance I said in my previous post here https://englandtilidie.co.uk/2025/12/22/rip-bazball/ “How we play the two remaining Tests may yet still define the way ahead and they have the opportunity to recover some pride and show us how much it means at least. No point throwing the baby out with the bath water but a check of the temperature and a bit of quality control meanwhile wouldn’t go amiss.” Well, we’ve completed part one of that mission but many questions remain.

Josh Tongue bowled very well to win MOTM and even Carse found some much needed consistent line/ length to go with his wicket-taking thus far but fitness concerns remain over Atkinson who had to leave the fray with hamstring issues to add to the now injury-absent Archer. Bethell finally got to show what he can do under pressure after Duckett and Crawley had laid the best foundation base in many a while, although that’s a very low bar. Root and Stokes showed what a variable, and sometimes unplayable, pitch it was by trying to see the innings out with different partners but both going cheaply even with their level of ability. It was perhaps fitting, but definitely ironic, that Brooks should be there at the end given his self-inflicted departures in previous innings.

So we move on to Sydney and what we hope will be wonderful cricket contest over the full 5 days ending with an England win but does it really matter if we don’t get that outcome or even half of it? Either way England have lost another Ashes series through lack of technique and application with both bat and ball. Dodgy pitches shouldn’t mask the key discussions ahead, or should that be the discussions ahead on Key remaining in his post. Bazball to stay? McCullum to go anyhow despite a contract to the Ashes’ end in 2027? Introducing new players into the squad, giving those on the fringes a chance to show what they can do, should be a minimum change as bigger answers are sought from top to bottom.

One thing we do know for sure though is that the incredible support from https://barmyarmy.com/ will remain a wonderful constant through thick and thin. They, and all of us who keep believing, will still be shouting the same mantra from the terraces and the rooftops….. Come on England !!!!

Day 1 of the Third Test in Adelaide brought a mix of fortunes for both teams after Pat Cummins marked his return to the fray, and captaincy, to win the toss and elected to bat on a pitch bound to produce runs. Australia ended up scoring 326, losing 8 wickets in the process with Archer back to his best for England and finishing the day with 3-29 from 16 excellent overs in the searing heat, but it was Snickogate that stole the headlines.

Carey was on 72 and the Aussies 245-6 when he attempted a cut off the bowling of England’s Josh Tongue and the ball travelled through to the gloves of keeper Jamie Smith to loud appeals from the fielding team that didn’t impress umpire Raza. The subsequent review and Snicko sound showed there was contact between bat and ball but TV umpire Gaffaney ruled otherwise because he deemed that the ball was too far away from the bat despite the contact sound/image. Eh? Sorry? You what?

Well, it seems that the technology (that’s been in question a few times recently) is only as good as the operator and BBG Sports, the company that provides Snicko had this to say afterwards in the wake of Carey admitting he had hit the ball. “the only conclusion that can be drawn from this, is that the Snicko operator at the time must have selected the incorrect stump mic for audio processing. In light of this, BBG Sports takes full responsibility for the error.” Yes folks, it seems that the sound used for the review was taken from the stump mic at the bowler’s end, not one of the three that Carey was defending.

He went on to make a maiden Test century finishing with 106 leaving England now needing to mop up the tail quickly and give themselves as much use as possible of a flat pitch in temperatures expected to reach 40C. This will drain the bowlers and fielders more than the batsmen but it still won’t be easy for the visitors and, as I called for in my previous piece here, England will need to show a big change in attitude if they are to take full advantage of what needs to be at least 2 days of run accumulation to put any kind of pressure on Australia who only need a draw to retain the precious urn.

Fail in that exercise as the pitch deteriorates and favours spin in the last two days and they can kiss their Ashes hopes goodbye. The Aussies chose to bring back veteran Nathan Lyon, an off spinner with 562 Test wickets to his name and weave his magic on a track with which he is very familiar having begun his cricketing journey on the Adelaide Oval groundstaff. Compare that to England’s choice of part-time off spinner Will Jacks who has compiled a grand total of 9, made up almost entirely from his headline-making 6-161 on his debut against Pakistan in 2022. England’s quicks and seamers will probably have to get most of the job done but the pitch will help him in Australia’s 2nd innings after his 1st innings haul of 2 so far while going for 105 off 20.

Day 2 though will be a case of England’s batters having to show what they can really do under pressure while the pitch and conditions remain in their favour. See off Starc and Cummins, apply themselves, take sensible opportunities off the lesser seamers and pay respect to Lyon even on a flat track. They have the skills but application and discipline have never been more required in what has now become the three most important sessions in Bazball’s rollercoaster ride.

Come on England !!