Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[Vaskiy]

They have already lost one opener and there might be another tomorrow. This match has also slipped away from England they are struggling and especially in batting. Neither the openers are in form nor the lower middle order. The whole team is dependent on Malan and Root. If this continues they will lose all the matches in this series.

England lost 3 wickets for 70 runs. Malan was in form. I thought Malan and Root's partnership would be long in today's innings as well. But Malan was out for 20 runs. The match now depends on the root. In fact, even if Root plays well now, I don't think England will be able to draw the match. Because, even if Root survives at the crease, other batsmen will not be able to fight against the Australian bowlers for long.

More 90 overs to be played with six wickets left England can't draw the game. End of day 4 England have lost 4 wickets for 82 runs. More 386 runs required in the last day. Ben Stokes is on the grease, Ollie Pope and Jos Butler are left as batsmen. So, the match is in the hands of Australia. Second innings of Australia isn't that better, just because of the high first innings score they're taking the lead.

[Mahdirakib]

More 90 overs to be played with six wickets left England can't draw the game. End of day 4 England have lost 4 wickets for 82 runs. More 386 runs required in the last day. Ben Stokes is on the grease, Ollie Pope and Jos Butler are left as batsmen. So, the match is in the hands of Australia. Second innings of Australia isn't that better, just because of the high first innings score they're taking the lead.

Undoubtedly England will loss the match. Their batters are struggling again. Still they have some good batman, but all of them are in off form. England need to chase huge run to get the victory with their remaining 6 wickets, which won't be possible in the last day. And I believe their batsman won't be able to play for long on day 5. Betting odds is almost 10 on draw and it is 1.04 for Australia win.

[CDC AP]

More 90 overs to be played with six wickets left England can't draw the game. End of day 4 England have lost 4 wickets for 82 runs. More 386 runs required in the last day. Ben Stokes is on the grease, Ollie Pope and Jos Butler are left as batsmen. So, the match is in the hands of Australia. Second innings of Australia isn't that better, just because of the high first innings score they're taking the lead.

Undoubtedly England will loss the match. Their batters are struggling again. Still they have some good batman, but all of them are in off form. England need to chase huge run to get the victory with their remaining 6 wickets, which won't be possible in the last day. And I believe their batsman won't be able to play for long on day 5. Betting odds is almost 10 on draw and it is 1.04 for Australia win.

Well the match will not last even half a day. Looking at england batting performance even batting one session would be a challange for them. Root already out and only stokes a solid batsman left. They can collapse yet again as they collapsed last two times also. England batting is really bad. As soon as root gets out they always get bundled out cheapely.

[blatchcorn]

England was never good and no one was feeling good about them just some hype was created by few media reports which was ended after first test result and now second test result is going to be giving them complete silent because all realizes it's just dumb team which can perform some better at home against weak sides.

And playing against Australia, India and New Zealand is completely different thing, so they fail here very badly now mostly peoples feeling this ashes is going to end with result of 5 - 0 which is not wrong because with current players and form it's surely written of the wall. Just some good rain can give them good relief from this, otherwise they are going to be completely outclass by all one off best team in current cricket game in this format.

I dont think England is weak team, they are just outclassed by professional cricket of Australia. Current England team is much better then what they were in 1996, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011 WC. I do agree that there was hype before ashes that England is much stronger then Aus. Aus just broke that hype by there quality performance in first two matches.

[eaLiTy]

~
Well the match will not last even half a day. Looking at england batting performance even batting one session would be a challange for them. Root already out and only stokes a solid batsman left. They can collapse yet again as they collapsed last two times also. England batting is really bad. As soon as root gets out they always get bundled out cheapely.

After watching the three innings they played in the Ashes, there is nothing much they will do in this match, their plan is to play as long as possible and delay the loss, which batsman will test the patience of Australian bowlers is to be seen as they have not done that till now and now they are playing to save the match, they will fold soon but expect some cameo performance.

[TheGreatPython]

I dont think England is weak team, they are just outclassed by professional cricket of Australia. Current England team is much better then what they were in 1996, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011 WC. I do agree that there was hype before ashes that England is much stronger then Aus. Aus just broke that hype by there quality performance in first two matches.

Here you are not right because current team is completely useless in technique and have nothing to face Australian quality pace attack just how they are doing like Burns, Hameed and few others just Root and Malan both have some better figures all others are giving wickets like crap because they are very poor in quality. Recently their form is not good just very few players able to have done something good at home all others are doing worst which will continue for some more time because their counties are also having not good quality batsmen which is now main concern for them.

They need to change few things for better quality, but they have very poor record for this all which is the biggest problem ECB need to overhaul all system.

[Haunebu]

Aus just broke that hype by there quality performance in first two matches.

True. One sided Aussie domination surprised me. Their recent T-20 World Cup win coupled with their home ground advantage boosted team morale due to which they have been performing really well recently.

Players like Warner, Marnus etc continue performing consistently which has helped other players in their team like Smith(Has been in a slump for sometime now) perform well too.

Their plan is to play as long as possible and delay the loss, which batsman will test the patience of Australian bowlers is to be seen as they have not done that till now and now they are playing to save the match, they will fold soon but expect some cameo performance.

They already lost 4 wickets so far and are struggling against the Aussie bowlers currently. Am expecting them to get bowled out within 150-200 at this rate.

[Sithara007]

They already lost 4 wickets so far and are struggling against the Aussie bowlers currently. Am expecting them to get bowled out within 150-200 at this rate.

Batting is going to be tough on 5th day, and that too against experienced bowlers like Starc and Lyon. BTW, did anyone noticed that the Australian playing XI had two players who were born in South Africa? I guess this is the first time that has happened in test matches. Teams like New Zealand usually have 3-4 South Africans in their playing XI, but for quite some time Australia never had any foreign born players in their XI. Now with the inclusion of Marnus Labuschagne and Michael Neser, it is slowly changing.

[JSRAW]

^^ So that's a actual reason of English surrender   They should boycott South Africa and New Zealand for not sending enough talent to their shore. Spirit of cricket is in danger cause of Protea and Kiwis.

ECB should go on offensive mode and start poaching more players from the subcontinent, especially Pakistan.

They are still batting so moral victory. 

[Shagnasty]

So england are already 6 down and Australia going for another win may be in couple of hours. 2 wickets already this morning and butler and woakes are batting currently and after this only main bowlers are there. May be they will survive the first session and in thr second session they win all out and australia will get their second win of this ashes series.

[JSRAW]

And just like that its 2-0.

Poms did manage to save their face (Well kinda) by dragging game into final session and face 113 overs, some might argue that they only won 1-ish session in this match and its true but they also showed some sort of resistance on final day so that's a positive considering they were setting new milestone on "How to collapse" every time they came to bat.

English batters also making Green look good. Same guy went wicketless last summer.

No WTC finals for the Poms (ICC also docked the points). If we go simply by existing schedule scenario then Pakistan is hot fav, followed by Australia and may be India if they manage to compete in SA.

[romero121]

And just like that its 2-0.

Poms did manage to save their face (Well kinda) by dragging game into final session and face 113 overs, some might argue that they only won 1-ish session in this match and its true but they also showed some sort of resistance on final day so that's a positive considering they were setting new milestone on "How to collapse" every time they came to bat.

English batters also making Green look good. Same guy went wicketless last summer.

This time there is good resistance, because on the last day of the match with six wickets left England have managed to face almost 70 overs. Though the scoring is very slow, the team have withstood a long. This is something positive from the team, if this positive move continues by the upcoming match England could give a better play. Anyhow the series has almost into the hands of Australia.

[UmerIdrees]

^^ So that's a actual reason of English surrender   They should boycott South Africa and New Zealand for not sending enough talent to their shore. Spirit of cricket is in danger cause of Protea and Kiwis.

ECB should go on offensive mode and start poaching more players from the subcontinent, especially Pakistan.

They are still batting so moral victory. 

If ECB can give a place in a national team plus an England nationality, many from the subcontinent will happily leave the country for the sake of money. They would sell their soul for money. 

Australia winning first two tests; you can call it home advantage 

[CDC AP]

Another poor performance from England specially inthe batting department. Their batting line up collapses again and again just after the wicket of root fells. Their batting unit is not able to perform as a team. Today butler showed some resistant but that was not enough. Looking like a whitewash to me this series if rain done not spoil any of the matches  .

[GbitG]

^^ So that's a actual reason of English surrender   They should boycott South Africa and New Zealand for not sending enough talent to their shore. Spirit of cricket is in danger cause of Protea and Kiwis.

ECB should go on offensive mode and start poaching more players from the subcontinent, especially Pakistan.

They are still batting so moral victory. 

If ECB can give a place in a national team plus an England nationality, many from the subcontinent will happily leave the country for the sake of money. They would sell their soul for money. 

Australia winning first two tests; you can call it home advantage 

I am not agreed here with you on this statement that it's home advantage they are playing very good and having these both wins by big margins against crapy English team which need some better players for this Ashes but completely fail to have quality players. Root and Malan two batsmen can't handle the very aggressive Australian bowling attack with Starc, Richardson, Nesser and Lyon all doing a very good job. After watching English team I was expecting 5 - 0 from Australia, but media hype was going for some tough competition which was completely fraud for having some better viewership and attention for this series which is now having nothing good for cricket fans.

[doomloop]

This time there is good resistance, because on the last day of the match with six wickets left England have managed to face almost 70 overs. Though the scoring is very slow, the team have withstood a long. This is something positive from the team, if this positive move continues by the upcoming match England could give a better play. Anyhow the series has almost into the hands of Australia.

Mate, with this, nothing positive going to happen with England because they are clearly outclassed and now down very badly against a quality team with their very poor performance. Now in England many having questions about these batsmen's skills because Burns and Hameed specially bringing moral down very badly. Now if England want to do some better than surely they need to change with having Root or Malan in opening pair then some better batsmen for covering them Buttler is also under serious criticism due to his drop catches on very crucial moments.

They have very few days which are not enough for having something positive, but they can change attitude and strategy for having some better results with they already lost this series.

[Swordsoffreedom]

Another poor performance from England specially inthe batting department. Their batting line up collapses again and again just after the wicket of root fells. Their batting unit is not able to perform as a team. Today butler showed some resistant but that was not enough. Looking like a whitewash to me this series if rain done not spoil any of the matches  .

England should plan for the long term. Otherwise, they can now focus on winning the next World Cup without worrying about the Test format. If the players practice accordingly, they may be able to perform well in the World Cup. After the World Cup they can make a successful team selection for the Test format. They badly need some experienced opener.

[pakhitheboss]

Another poor performance from England specially inthe batting department. Their batting line up collapses again and again just after the wicket of root fells. Their batting unit is not able to perform as a team. Today butler showed some resistant but that was not enough. Looking like a whitewash to me this series if rain done not spoil any of the matches  .

England should plan for the long term. Otherwise, they can now focus on winning the next World Cup without worrying about the Test format. If the players practice accordingly, they may be able to perform well in the World Cup. After the World Cup they can make a successful team selection for the Test format. They badly need some experienced opener.

I will still say that this English team is not that bad, they are far better than their predecessor. In my opinion, they lack the skills and experience to play test cricket. Australia has won the recent WC there morale is high and have players who have played all kinds of formats in cricket. With three more matches left in this series, the English side can still come back.

[Sithara007]

I will still say that this English team is not that bad, they are far better than their predecessor. In my opinion, they lack the skills and experience to play test cricket. Australia has won the recent WC there morale is high and have players who have played all kinds of formats in cricket. With three more matches left in this series, the English side can still come back.

The problem with England is that they are overdependent on a few players. For batting, they are dependent upon Joe Root. And the pace bowling pair of Anderson and Broad are supposed to carry the brunt of the bowling workload. There is hardly any contribution from the other players. Now look at the Australian team. They are well balanced. Apart from Smith and Labuschagne, others like Travis Head and David Warner are scoring runs. And in the bowling department, Jhye Richardson and Michael Neser have provided excellent support to Mitchell Starc. 

[JSRAW]

I will still say that this English team is not that bad, they are far better than their predecessor. In my opinion, they lack the skills and experience to play test cricket. Australia has won the recent WC there morale is high and have players who have played all kinds of formats in cricket. With three more matches left in this series, the English side can still come back.

Bhai you have to make up your mind first. They are better than their predecessor or They lack skills? Btw previous teams had champion batters like Cook, Bell and Pietersen. Their last won came back in 2010-11 series when they won 3-1. After that its just one sided affair so everything is going according to the script.

2013-14 Ashes in Australia  = 5-0
2017-18 Ashes in Australia  = 4-0

Only inspirational and collective team effort can save England now. I fear Root is going to lose his captaincy soon, he's not looking good as a captain. May be weakest English test captain in the last decade. Team selectors and management really fucked up their combination with rotation policy.

Plus Home advantage.