The Ashes - 2nd Test

faiz0

Who the hell in the England hierarchy thinks that Roy is a test opener? The guy is useless, totally out of his depth.

gavinl1967

Agreed.  He's a good batsman, but never a test opener.  What does he think he's doing trying to put the ball out the ground in the 2nd over.  Patience, see off the opening bowlers and the new ball.

Joe Root also needs moving back to number 4, because at the moment he's essentially coming in as a opener as our top order is so frail.  Although 2 ducks in a row is not good at all.

richp007

Stick ya mortgage on 2-0. Weather obviously isn't going to save us either.

Ashes are done.

Derek S-H

I'm no England fan (failed the Tebbit test, you see), but I was absolutely gobsmacked at what I saw. I'm not even going to list all the record-breaking stats associated with our "batting" performance as it makes for truly dismal reading.

What game were they playing? Do they actually understand the ethos and principles of Test cricket?

I am a West Indies fan, but I'm also a fan of the game and that was shocking and embarrassing. England failed miserably in all three disciplines yesterday and deserved nothing. I'm not a fan of the Geoffrey Boycott school of batting (bat all day for 45 not out), but that's clearly what is needed in the second innings to have any chance of even a draw: you occupy the crease and build your innings. Even I know that and I'm not a paid cricketer!

It's funny how Alistair Cook was so heavily criticised during his time as opener; how we could do with someone with his patience, application and mental fortitude now.

When In Rome

And so it is.

Of course it can't happen but they should all be fined, then sacked and we should start over.

People pay fantastic amounts of money to watch these so-called professional sportsmen.

Embarrassing, humiliating... add your own toppings.

Who would you keep?

Root, perhaps as a batsmen -  he has little captaincy acumen.

Archer, Broad and Stokes.

This Labuschagne who's just entering the test arena - how come it takes a rookie to show the English (and a few of the Australian batters too), how to play properly and keep your wicket?

The best thing about the agony of having to listen to TMS yesterday was when Agnew asked Boycitt if he thought Jason Roy has too many shots in his head.

My answer would be "I don't think he has ANY shots in his head".

Off to Torquay now for football, glad to forget about this comedy circus in which the Ashes have been handed over with a whimper.

Derek S-H

Michael Vaughan claims that we weren't "prepared properly" for the Ashes series - how is that even possible?

I know we won a 50-over World Cup, but so what? It's not The Ashes, is it?

Aggers claims that it's not just poor technique, but the wrong mindset at work:

Ashes 2019: 'England waste their chance - it feels like Ashes are gone'

Ironically enough, the batting coach is Graham Thorpe who was a fine player in his day and knew how to build a long innings. Twenty20's and ODI's are fine, but they're just the dressing, Test cricket is the full meal and should always be prioritised.

I imagine there'll be lots of soul-searching, finger pointing and blaming going on after this series has ended. Oh well, at least the pressure will be off for the final two Tests and maybe the players can express themselves fully.

When In Rome

Thorpe's head has gone.

So has Root's actually.

I heard someone say they are so embarrassed that they would happily hand the WC trophy to New Zealand.

Yes folks, things really are that bad.

Greg Hook

Hope no one has tickets to go and watch the cricket live tomorrow, you may need to find something else to do!

gavinl1967

Exactly the reason I bought a ticket for day 1 of the 4th Test

clydebest

The Aussies are looking rattled now.. because at this rate of knots will get beyond 50 before we are all out ... progress .