AUSTRALIA VICTORIOUS INDIA VANQUISHED

[@rajeshsmusical]

It would have been 4-1 if not for the rain

[@fasterout777]

Interesting to hear your comments regarding the ideal bowling attack in Australia. Whilst on the surface the approach of choosing 4 pace bowlers is correct it's important to note that India's bowling attack this series was Bhumra....then a massive void to Siraj. From there the first change bowlers were poor and this was highl;ighted in the final innings in Sydney where India bowled poorly. The key difference is that Australia carries 3 elite fast bowlers and a bowling all-rounder in Webster/ Green/ Marsh/ Abbott. Lyon then becomes a luxury. To have Boland in "reserve" is just daunting for opposition teams.

[@sivaramannagarajan7521]

Australian perspective.. Webster shaping up developing as a good batsman..he needs to add couple of kms to his pace bowling, must get into 130s, something like Tony Dodemaide, former Australian swing bowler. He made the difference in the final test. Boland and Cummins incredible. Starc very much rhythm bowler, bowled well in patches only. Australia to find replacement to Mitch in another year. Was a great bowler, slowly injury seems to hurting him more than ever. Kwajha, may not survive long, too many technical issues.. Sam konstas.. improve your technique, defense must be compact, to drive in V... reduce your gimmicks and that would not take you far and eork on basics Smith and Marnus...a few more years ..marnus to cutdown loose shots especially cutting towards gully.. Carey , WK pretty good, to improve his batting especially round the wicket incoming angle. Pat Cummins happens to be the best in the world, what a phenomenal cricketeter, he made the difference at the end to this seties and my MOS. Well Indian cricket has lots of talent and would bounce back once they get rid of Kohlis and Rohits who are done with. Kohlis non cricketing acts , in fact many times atleast some times not graceful. With Pant Jaiswal Rahul and Jurel India must form the core with Bumrah, and some young fast bowlers. Cheers to Australia for triumphing the series, a wonderful one. Cricket fan from India, Siva

[@Chris-vq5vr]

Spot on.

[@TheSimonhughes]

@@Chris-vq5vr

[@TheSimonhughes]

⁠well said

[@Bluemusic66]

Webster isn’t adding any km’s, he’s 31.

[@opalruby13]

The pitches in Australia are definitely not doctored for home ground advantage. The perennial problem curators have in Australia is that Test matches are played on grounds that are used more for AFL than cricket, which this makes it hard to prepare a proper cricket pitch. After the MCG got a poor rating from the ICC in 2017 the curators now figure it’s better to err on the side of life rather than produce a dead track. Visitors complain about Indian pitches because they’re deliberately prepared to order by the BCCI. Trust me CA and the Australian team did NOT want that SCG snakepit.

[@TheSimonhughes]

I believe you! That sounds eminently right

[@sentimentalbloke185]

@@TheSimonhughes If any player or administrator went to the curator of an Australian test venue & 'ordered' a particular type of pitch they would be sent on their way pretty rapidly by said curator.

[@sivaramannagarajan7521]

Absolutely

[@diannehogan7605]

I think the test pitches are drop-in these days. What goes on in winter has no effect on them.

[@opalruby13]

@ The SCG and the Gabba are not drop-ins, despite pressure from the Sydney Swans and the Brisbane Lions.

[@anthonykent9387]

Great discussion. Thanks. Spinners are required for over rates. Bring back rest days in test cricket, it’s better for pace bowlers, captains can be more aggressive enforcing the follow on option and gives more time for pitches to age during a game which offers more for spinners.

[@TheSimonhughes]

Nice idea it’ll never happen!

[@matthewkimber4513]

You're not winning the Ashes 🤣 Get real. You have two proper batters and that bowling attack is merely adequate at best ( unless Joffra shows up) Hoping that Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood and Boland are just too old and slow in 11 months time seems a bit of wishful thinking. 4-0 or if I'm being nice 3-1

[@amaledward2147]

Who is Joffra? I thought she got her visa canceled

[@woopimagpie]

The only hope England has is if Pat Cummins gets injured. He's an incredibly strategic captain and England can't match him. Bazball will fail miserably on the seaming Australian decks. Look at what happened to India when they started swinging. Even if the big four aren't in top form we have a cartel of fast bowling talent waiting in the wings. Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, and Sean Abbott are all easily able to step in, and if you prefer some youth then Spencer Johnson and Lance Morris are other options. And of course we already have Beau Webster and Cam Green.

[@peterchilds7176]

England players will be leaving midday through the series like 2014/15. 😂

[@TheSimonhughes]

⁠but we might have Dan Worrell!

[@TheSimonhughes]

⁠I take your point but I think it’ll be closer than you think

[@headswillroll89]

I thought of all batsmen all series beau Webster had the most traditional test cricket style and looked the most comfortable of all.. I know we only have a small sample. But imagine a team with Webster and green in it for the ashes...

[@garyneilporth1973]

When Australia has a wet winter and a wet start to summer, Aussie wickets will always favour seam bowlers.

[@mjames4709]

Interesting analysis from afar. Well done boys . Can't wait until the Poms get here for the 'real' Test series.

[@opalruby13]

What are you talking about “the real Test series”? A lot of people don’t realise how the demographics of Australia are changing. The BGT is as important as the Ashes now.

[@TheSimonhughes]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@sentimentalbloke185]

@@opalruby13 no, it's not.

[@instagraham8]

India paid for over bowling Bumrah. Bumrah was the main reason India didn’t lose 5 nil.

[@diannehogan7605]

Trouble is, if they had bowled Bumrah less Australia's batsmen would have made more runs for less wickets. It's a real balancing act when your team has one brilliant bowler and a lot of average bowlers.

[@barryballsit4944]

I was at the Boxing Day Test, day 5 magnificent. Tend to agree, England have a good chance to win the series. What England needs is pace, pace, pace.

[@sivaramannagarajan7521]

We cricket lovers look forward to ashes 25-26. Top class Australian bowling vs attacking english batsman...assuming Cummins, Mitch, Boland and Josh being fully fit and with Webster developing and shaping as a good medium pace bowler it would be fantastic.. Duckett, Crawley, Brook attacking batsman with solid Pope, Root, Stokes things would be interesting. If Mark wood is available, bowling at 150 kmph, it would be exciting.. others Atkinson, carse are just okish and may not run through Australian top order. .only Mark wood could and his fitness is hence key for the upcoming series. English WK, is that Smith or Foakes or Bairstow to play ? Smith, Marnus form is key to the series. To me australia after long long time gotten an excellent cricketer in the form of Webster, who plays proper cricketing shots and it's pleasing to watch his batting.. Assuming CamGreen fit, australia must play both. Mcksweeny and Konstas both could be explored at Srilanka and based on that performance, opening slot could be finalized...overall interesting series ahead and I fancy australia having an edge over english team. Cheers. Siva, India.

[@matthewkimber4513]

I agree that the SCG pitch was poor but I think it was a mistake not deliberate.

[@woopimagpie]

Yes, it's a new method they're trying due to the end of the footy season being so close to the start of the cricket season making it very difficult to prepare the pitches in time. It didn't quite work as intended, but it's the first time they've tried it. No doubt they'll hone their methods are perfect it in years to come. It was certainly better than the minefield at the gabba when we played South Africa in 2022.

[@2111bigad]

Yes - it was the challenge of getting the pitch ready after the AFL season and an unusually wet/humid November/December. And in any case - why would you prepare a pitch to suit Bumrah? I think if Australia wanted a pitch made to order it would have been flat - to negate Bumrah and back their overall attack to be better than India's overall attack, and to make a draw an option to seal the series. The team definitely did not want this type of pitch.

[@opalruby13]

@@2111bigadYes, Peter Lalor of Cricket Et Al said the Australian team was furious when they saw the pitch. Australia’s traditional method of winning at home is to back their skilled bowlers to get out opposing batsmen on fast, bouncy but true pitches, while their batsmen prosper. And in Sydney you just play until the rain inevitably ushers in a draw. Those days are long gone.

[@Moby79]

Australian pitches are in that transition phase with drop in pitches. All our test venues are stadiums that are used for football and other events. Melbourne has just about got it right Adelaide has the day/night pink ball test and the other 3 have had some issues in the last couple of years. Eventually it will be sorted. The ball is the bigger issue.

[@williamschubert4819]

And it was at it's worst on day one and from the second day just bowler friendly

[@instagraham8]

1997 Ashes. England won the first test. Australia won the 3,4 and 5 tests. England won the 6th by 19 runs. Lost the first test but won the series. So it has happened since the 1960’s.

[@michaelismichael4640]

Yes but that was, as you note, a six Test series, not a five match Series.

[@2111bigad]

It was the first since the 60's IN Australia - they have done it overseas in that time as you correctly note.

[@TheSimonhughes]

Good shout. Think I should have added ‘in Australia.’

[@BruceLund-is1sy]

How are the poms going to cope with the Australian barrage?

[@octurn]

Totally totally agree! The next English touring team for the Ashes should be made up entirely of bachelors.

[@TheSimonhughes]

😅

[@petergilbert3861]

Well said, player comments spot on. Pitch absolute crap, below standard. We’ll see about who wins the ashes. The best batting team wins. Australia has the superior bowling attack. The poms are pretty good as well. Can’t wait.

[@wahistoryandme8961]

Kohli should have got a match ban

[@TheSimonhughes]

Yes I agree

[@tonyross5799]

Australia will qualify for the WTC Final, provided they do not get 8 penalty points for slow over rates against Sri Lanka, lots of overs from the spinners for sure.

[@TheSimonhughes]

Well no seamer wants to bowl lots in Sri Lanka anyway!

[@snoopy7690]

SCG pitch was sub-standard as it got worse as the match progressed. Overall, the pitches in the series were too favourable to fast bowing and seamers at the expense of spin bowling and of 5-day tests. Actually, this tended to favour India because of its over-reliance on Bumrah.

[@diannehogan7605]

No way was the pitch doctored. Australia only needed a draw to win the series, so this pitch was literally the opposite of what they would have wanted.

[@ufo_ninja]

England a middling team that have won only 11 from 22 matches with 10 losses think they can beat Australia in Australia Where they haven’t won a test in 11 years. Dear o dear. How do I get to be this optimistic in life.

[@TheSimonhughes]

Have to be optimistic in life!

[@777greglee]

England's bowlers will bowl too short next Summer. They always do in Australia. England's batters will struggle with the bounce: they always do. England will crumble and lose 3-1. They always do. As to the Sydney pitch: it wasn't great but do remember that Sydney is the rainiest test venue in the world. I don't mind a three- day pitch there.

[@opalruby13]

Much as I felt short-changed when the match ended early midway through Day 3, by the late afternoon the rainclouds were apparently coming over the ground….

[@jamesc264]

Typical English..We will win ashes next time in Australia..Keep dreaming!

[@TheSimonhughes]

We like to dream it keeps us going!

[@Pinpadprompts]

The new kookaburra has killed defensive batting and spin bowling. Every touring team will play four seamers in Australia now. How much did jadeja, Lyon, Ashwin or Washington offer this series? All passengers with the bowl whose only function was to absorb time so the seamers can recover. Traditional defensive batting looks like you are just marking time until you receive an unplayable delivery.

[@woopimagpie]

The pitches had a part to play in that too. Perth was a fast bowlers paradise, nothing new there, it always has been. Brisbane looked okay, but we didn't get to see what it was really like because the rain kept altering the conditions making it the proverbial "sticky wicket". Melbourne was a flat track batting bonanza, and Sydney was a nest of snakes that may have evolved but we didn't get to see that because the game was over too quickly. It was probably only Adelaide that offered a reasonably even contest between bat and ball, much as it always has. By and large Australian pitches have always favoured the seamers, the old SCG pitches being the only exception, but we haven't really seen that in Sydney in recent times.

[@Pinpadprompts]

@woopimagpie I thought the MCG had plenty of life in it, wasn't the MCG road of old.

[@opalruby13]

@@woopimagpieThe MCG wasn’t a flat track; it had enough movement all through the match but it was a bit of a slower pitch which also gave good batting a chance. Hence the five day duration. The SCG was a slow seamer on the first day but when it quickened up on Day 2 it was almost unplayable except for rank bad balls.

[@sentimentalbloke185]

You should rename your channel to The Wishful Thinker. Poms have no show next season.

[@TheSimonhughes]

ok, if you say so....!

[@matthewkimber4513]

Bumrah was almost impossible to play with a straight bat. Constas started ramping him at the MCG only after he played and missed several times. Glad to hear you talk about the new Kookaburra, it's a big deal.

[@Pinpadprompts]

@@matthewkimber4513 I thought Boland was at least as good as Bumrah in the series. Without the Australian 2nd innings in Brisbane where Australia were slogging on a waterlogged pitch, Boland has the better figures.

[@TheSimonhughes]

Thanks. 😊

[@arpanbera7655]

Bolland had Cummings starc with him. Grow up. ​@@Pinpadprompts

[@mikeellis4345]

Huh ? Win the ashes England? You are dreaming

[@TheSimonhughes]

you have to dream if you're english

[@gregoryray9920]

​@@TheSimonhughesAnd like soggy chips😂