Head finally goes.
Aus still behind, and Smith actually needs some runs to give his series some sort of legitimacy. His poor performance has been quietly overshadowed by England's, and guys like Green.
Is it racist to say that was an incredibly shit and selfish review? Old mate wanting a last big innings. Watson-esque
Steve Smith is still going strong, as Australia move into the lead. He has his 27th 50+ Ashes score. He's level with Jack Hobbs and only Don Bradman (31) has more.
Beau Webster will be batting nine ( would be eight if not for the nightwatchman but still....) after bowling five overs.
Test Cricket is a pretty cruisy gig.
You could argue Uzzie actually won Australia this series. I mean, if he was honest about his fitness in the first test Head would never have opened, and that has been a resounding success.
Also Uzzie hasn't been the Aussie's worst batsman this summer.
If Green finally does something in this innings, could get very interesting for the Poms top order with Australia now 10 ahead.
there is actually a fair bit of batting to come (though Webster has been carrying gear all summer) so it could get seriously away from England if they don't watch out.
Smith finally gets a 100 this series
Easy when the pressure is off and your mates already won you the ashes champ
The England bowlers look utterly exhausted as the Aussie lead nears 100.
4-1 is going to be a fair reflection in the gulf in quality between these two teams.
@sparky said in Ashes 2025/6:
The England bowlers look utterly exhausted as the Aussie lead nears 100.
4-1 is going to be a fair reflection in the gulf in quality between these two teams.
Yeah a lead of near 100 is already looking tough. England could very easily be three or four down before they've even drawn level.
@sparky said in Ashes 2025/6:
@MN5 England look so tired.
A month and a half on the piss in the Aussie summer will do that to a bloke
More pies than a bakery from the England bowlers.
Ruthless stuff from Australia who are in total control of this match.
Oz innings all over. England will need 183 just to get them to bat again which given the extremely hit or miss nature of their batting, Stokes being injured and the fact they look like they want to get on the first plane to Heathrow might be bloody tough for them.
Webster with some nice batting against tired bowlers this morning.
Tongue gets Smith and Starc to continue an underrated but solid tour, Jacks gets Boland. Webster proves once again that he is a test quality player.
Jeez the Aussie coms love making excuses for Green don’t they
Dropped a sitter in the slips worse it would have been swallowed by Smith who he dived in front off
Webster makes the selectors look a bit silly with a double breakthrough (off another incredibly poor shot option, some of the batting this summer....) and England are suddenly under huge pressure
Makes you wonder if Jacks was under instructions to attack Webster from the start.
I have nothing planned tomorrow so would be great if England can show some back bone and bat into day 5 please
Bethell looks pretty classy. Wonder how the series turns out if he'd been playing over Ollie Pope. Hell, even just the Adelaide test could have been a big difference.
The difference between his first and second innings performances are pretty stark. Probably just an early career quirk, but wonder if there's something psychological there.
Bethell nabs his first first class century in a test match at the SCG.
Shit DOES NOT get better than that in cricket. Well played lad. Name will be up on the board forever, wonderful stuff.
@Cyclops said in Ashes 2025/6:
Bethell looks pretty classy. Wonder how the series turns out if he'd been playing over Ollie Pope. Hell, even just the Adelaide test could have been a big difference.
The difference between his first and second innings performances are pretty stark. Probably just an early career quirk, but wonder if there's something psychological there.
Was pointed out Bethell has faced more balls so far in this innings than Duckett faced all series. 232 vs 221
@mariner4life said in Ashes 2025/6:
Bit late to be talking shit now Carse.
Tbf the 3rd ump stitched him up
Rather than the high quality contest of two good teams, this entire Ashes summer is closer to a fucking meme.
Australia are making quite the meal of this chase.
Perfect opportunity for superstar Cam Green to win it for Australia and justify the hype.
Congratulations to Australia!
They were much better side with bat, ball and in the field, and at winning the big moments too. Fully deserving of a 4-1 win victory. They seem to have a lock on the urn these days. Starc, Head and Carey were huge and their fantastic performances were the highlights of this series.
England will take a little solace in winning a Test in Australia. Bethell, Carse and Tongue all emerged from a tough series with their reputations enhanced. Joe Root got, not one Test century in Australia, but two.
But the preparations and attitude were never remotely right from England. They only adapted their game to Australian conditions in the final two tests once Australia had retained the Ashes.
Rob Key, England's managing director, needs to carry the responsibility for not preparing his team well enough for the ultimate challenge. He should resign.
@KiwiMurph said in Ashes 2025/6:
Being punched and then fined 70k ?
That's a tough night out. Perhaps the bouncer didn't know who he was ?
Ricky Ponting came out of his issues ok though, maybe Brook will do the same......
@MN5 said in Ashes 2025/6:
Good effort to get six poms in there despite losing 4-1
on first glance it looks fucking stupid, but...
Head far and away the best bat, and best opener.
Crawley was actually the 2nd best opener.
The best 3 was actually Bethel, as Loosbuschange and especially Pope were average.
Root was the best 4
Brook the best 5.
Carey in to 6
Of the all rounders both Stokes and Green were average with the bat, but Stokes was good with the ball.
Starc walks in
The other 3 best bowlers in terms of output and actual game impact would be Boland, Neser and Tongue. Archer was actually pretty average, and i saw another team that included Carse who took a few wickets but bought most of them.
So you could very easily make a case that, based on performance in their spot alone, that the team should be 6-5 in favour of English players. Which is insane given a 4-1 result. It just shows how much the Aussies leaned on Head runs, Carey runs and keeping, and Starc wickets, ably backed up by spells from Boland and Neser.
Because they carried Weatherald, Labuschagne, Khawaja, and Green.
In fact, you look at that post, realise half the Australian batting line up struggled, and add in:
Hazlewwod didn't play a game
Cummins played 1, not fully fit.
Lyon was an absolute non-entity.
Smith missed a test and was not the dominant force
Root scored two hundreds in Australia.
These are all things that, in early October, should have signified a massive England win (especially given the "best English team" chat) and yet they series was over in a matter of days. This is the type of result that should result in a rethink and a rebuild.