I suspect if he went way out of line there are enough senior players in the squad that he’d have been told to pull his head in.
Otherwise, yeah - I’d rather have every single player in the squad absolutely burning to play every single test than being a bit indifferent about selection.
Thread title could be
Champing at the Brits
Although wouldn’t really apply to Archer, by birth anyway.
I asked you not to make me play the song.
I’m 7mins in and this is the best content I’ve heard in years!
Changing at the Twits covers them all
The McCullum ‘over-prepared’ line, the Jofffra bring-pillow-to-start-of-play, the Joffra bowl like the wind only when no second spell is possible, and get chirpy then schooled, the Trescothick ‘we haven’t discussed driving on the up as an issue’….
The overall whiff of arrogance, and refusal to take responsibility at any level, while the ship slides under.
You can imagine pommy cricket fans’ heads exploding. (Just reflect on that in an idle moment, if you need a lift.)
I mean anything is mathematically possible, but they’d be in despair right now.
They genuinely don’t get it.
(After the First Test).
“Look, you can call us rubbish, call us whatever you want,” Stokes said. "We didn’t have the Test match that we wanted to. We were great in passages of that game… but I think arrogant might be a little bit too far.
“But that’s okay. We’ll take the rough with the smooth. I’d rather words like ‘rubbish’, but ‘arrogant’, I’m not so sure about that.”
Don’t think he sooked.
He was absolutely filthy. Which we’ve never ever seen from him before.
But the day after he was there on the sidelines, chirping up, supporting the rest. and was first to congratulate Neser walking off
Yes I think he has been one of the best 2 or 3 players in the series to date. The difference between him and Smith (a part timer) is stark. And they didn’t bring a proper keeper, the guy from the Lions squad is 18yo and hasn’t played a FC game yet.
Why are they all scheduled for 5 days?
FWIW, I’m glad they’re arrogant. I mean, ridiculously, supremely arrogant.
That’s the only reason they’re not 2-0. It’s not because they can’t play, or they’ve been unlucky, it’s arrogance that’s caused their downfall and it goes through their entire system, from selection, to preparation, to tactics, to shot selection…just…everything.
I do realise you have to separate the English media and past players from the team, but the absolute contempt with which they were talking about the Australian team before the series…
I’ll shoosh…rant over soon…but…
The idea that we could be 0-14 in our last three tours of a country, say India…
To then go in thinking we were going to smash them…
To say, we are not going to play to the conditions, we’re going to play our natural game, and that will be more than good enough.
To not select a side with consideration of the pitches and conditions.
lol. And again, to choose to go after a bowler with a sub 15 average in his own country, to establish dominance…
If Australia did any of that, I’d be livid beyond words.
But of course there’s no way we would ever be that stupid, or that arrogant.
Can you imagine Zac Crawley getting 60 games for 5 tons for Aus?
And he’s not even under any pressure
I think maybe the most laughable thing is the Lions squad they’ve brought out. You would think there would be a handful of the guys who have been around the setup but not quite stuck - Sibley, Foakes, one to three Overtons.
To be ready to go. Play some warmup matches, cover for injuries, see what happens.
You’d be wrong. They’re nearly all under 21. There’s 2 guys who haven’t played a FC game. That’s saying - to all and sundry - “our XI is our XI”.
They’ll throw their backs out sucking themselves off before they open their eyes.
My folks are English, so normally I’m barracking for a good, close Ashes (with Australia ultimately coming out on top, of course).
Not this lot. Nah, fark 'em…
The pure arrogance.
The hubris.
The completely unwarranted strutting.
The avoidance of hard graft.
Grind them 5-0.
The fact that this is a fairly ordinary Australian team just makes it all the sweeter.
It’s finally dawning on the Brit public they’ve been had and, once that bubble bursts, careers will be ended, and rightfully so.
The English Lions have proven they are really good at putting up a typical English performance in Australia.
Crawley has averaged more than Ussie the last 2 years..
The Bison has announced his retirement from first class cricket at the end of this season. Well done big fellah.
nail the simple things, and not have a participation trophy mentality that i’m awesome i’m great, I can do whatever i want and no one can stop me, and if we play to our best we can beat anyone bullshit.
I used to criticise aussie players who had the attention span of a potatoe and would throw their wickets away cos they wanted to play shots, at the wrong time of the game, or momentum against them, but jesus england take the cake.
It’s actually odd watching them go, and then the justifications and ass coverings, it’s actually like watching Essendon try and PR spin the supporter base. how you can sit there and say you prepared too much essentially, when they are having fun kicking soccer balls around, bringing pillows to the ground, and then drop catches, bowl half assed, and bat like your mum still tells you you’re the most awesomest batsman in the world when you make a duck, it’s actually quite odd watching such levels of delusion.
Team selection for Adelaide might give the selectors a headache or three.
Captain Cummins is available for selection. Who’s going to be dropped for him ? Doggett, I suppose. Starc, Boland and Neser all warrant re-selection, which with Cummins will give us four pace men, just like the old West Indies. Doggett bowled fairly well, and his day will come, buyt not yet…
Then there’s the Green giant. I know the Australian cricket moguls are obsessed with the concept of the all-rounder, and Green was okay, but does his form with bat or ball warrant selection instead of, say, a spinner ? Anyway, hasn’t Starc earned the right to be considered an all-rounder ?
And speaking of spinners, what about Nathan Lyon ? Yes, Adelaide is his home ground, so he might well be selected to play there - but who will make way for him ? Inglish wasn’t too effective in the match, so perhaps he could be asked to step aside for Lyon - only that would weaken the batting. Can we afford to pick an offie who is a worse than average bat, and whose current bowling is not really effective until the last day of the match ?
Also, given the way Lyon cracked the sheets over not being selected for Brisbane, does he need a reminder that It’s not all about him - it’s about the team ? Out of a squad of 16 only 11 get to play; for once he was asked to carry the water bottles and did his best Trumpian imitation as a result. We won handsomely without him, so do we really need him?
There are other, younger spinners, too, who might deserve a chance…
