Also Hameed will only last 2 tests. His shot selection is too limited. Puts too much pressure on his square cut. Also the pressure'll get to him.


Burns
Crawley
Malan
Root
Pope
Stokes
Buttler
Woakes
Robinson
Leach
Broad/Anderson

The tail isn't that long. Robinson averages 22 in FC and Leach is underrated with the bat.

I love Woakes but unless he's improve dramatically in away conditions then he shouldn't be playing now Stokes is back.

No point in playing weaker bowlers just to slightly improve the batting.

Wood absolutely has to play and is likely to be our main threat with the ball. Stokes will also need to be used in short bursts so he can bowl with pace and hostility. Robinson and Anderson can bowl the longer more accurate spells. He's made a great start to his career but I think Robinson could be a real star in this series, whether that's enough to not get battered, we will find out.

Essex seamer Sam Cook has been added to the Lions squad.

https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/2312420

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

Enjoy the sight of England smashing the Aussies while it lasts chaps

Info about England coaches, team arrival etc:

https://www.ecb.co.uk/england/men/news/2338214/england-men-confirm-coaching-appointments-for-australia-tours

Australian squad for the first two Tests:

Tim Paine (c, wk), Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Steve Smith, David Warner.

Hi, sorry guys 5-0 it is.

Though… the weather here has been quite poor and last year it rained quite a bit throughout the summer so you guys might pull off a couple of draws 🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️

Not sure why Australia don’t give Zampa a go in Tests. He was the best spinner at the World Cup and they need a match-winning spinner. Lyon just doesn’t cut it.

Pretty sure Australia win win, maybe 3 or 4-1.

Australia’s bowling is phenomenal (apart from Lyon), so the key for England to be competitive will be to get on top of Smith, Warner & Labuschagne and hold them to sub-350 regularly like India did last time.

I think you’re underrating Lyon. He’s class and will pick up a few wickets this summer.

Tim Paine has stepped down as Australia captain over a previous "sexting" incident. He is still in the squad. Vice-captain Pat Cummins could take over as skipper.

https://www.skysports.com/cricket/news/12175/12472101/tim-paine-steps-down-as-australia-test-captain-ahead-of-the-ashes-amid-sexting-scandal

comment by Robbb Marsh (U22716)
posted 1 day, 12 hours ago
I think you’re underrating Lyon. He’s class and will pick up a few wickets this summer.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
More to the point, we're facking terrible against him

@englandcricket
A frustrating rain-interrupted day in our first warm-up match between our Ashes and Lions squads. Rory Burns (39*) & @HaseebHameed97 (53*) took our Ashes squad to 98/0 before rain resulted in an early abandonment to play.

https://twitter.com/cricketrustling/status/1463079374434062336?s=21

Wasn’t sure where to post this but had to somewhere.

How haven’t I seen that before, hilarious

comment by Neo (U9135)
posted 51 minutes ago
https://twitter.com/cricketrustling/status/1463079374434062336?s=21

Wasn’t sure where to post this but had to somewhere.

How haven’t I seen that before, hilarious
----------------------------------------------------------------------

I dont get why England practice in Brisbaine or in Queensland it always rains. They should have gonne to Perth or something like that. They have similar pitches. Now it looks like most of the batting line up. will not have even batted in the middle before the series begings which is ridiculous.

'Tim Paine will take an indefinite leave of absence from all cricket “for the foreseeable future”, throwing into serious doubt his availability for both the Ashes and his future in the international game'.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/nov/26/extremely-concerned-tim-paine-takes-leave-of-absence-from-all-cricket

good luck to him

Pat Cummins is the new Aussie captain with Steve "Sandpaper" Smith as his deputy.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/59347333

Absolutely comical scenes for England's Ashes prep. Genuinely ridiculous. And then you have Mark Wood being gobby enough to say he wants to stick one up the Aussies. Absolute moron.

Faaackinell it's gonna be ugly

England are going to get torn a new aris, sadly, Fragile batting line up, a lack of express pace bowling and question marks over the spinners. I`m going all Glenn McGrath and predicting 5-0

Alex Carey will keep wicket for Australia in the first two Tests at least.

https://www.cricket.com.au/news/australia-ashes-test-wicketkeeper-debut-alex-carey-josh-inglis-squad-change-gabba-tim-paine/2021-12-02

Meanwhile it looks like England are actually playing some cricket!

BBC says day 2 of the second practice game was washed out too - is that not right?

Seems likely. No time to bat or bowl in the field before the first test. just seems daft to me