Tonked in 2nd Ashes test ..2-0 down

[Chris cooper]

Watching England bat is like watching saints trying to score !! Hopeless 😞 

[Doctoroncall]

I normally get up early to listen to the Ashes series but not this year. England haven’t prepared well although it has been difficult with the Pandemic. I would not be surprised if it was a 5-0 white wash especially if the last test goes back to Brisbane where England have a poor record. Only weather can help us!

[saint1977]

I’m not surprised how the series is turning out, I thought Stokes might make some of the margins of defeat lesser but he’s so rusty he hasn’t got up to speed yet. Ultimately, in 2011/12, whilst our bowlers did a great job you could rely on the top 3 - Strauss, Cook and Trott - to make runs and the middle and lower order could attack when the ball went soft. 

It’s many years since I had any faith in the batting. People say it’s because there’s too much T20 but who just won the WC last month with a lot of the Ashes squad? The issue in England is that 4 day cricket is either played when the leaves are either yet to come out on the trees or falling off them. People aren’t learning the basics of technique on half decent surfaces and spinners don’t get a chance on shit, slow, seaming pitches where club bowlers take stacks of wickets. Old Trafford and the Oval should be the benchmarks.

So for me a choice between T20 Blast and The Hundred in future summers so there’s some 4 day action in decent conditions.

As for this series, covid rules mean that a new coach such as Kallis can’t be flown in. I would ask Jason Gillespie if he wants to take charge for the next 3 and go from there. He knows Root well and Australian conditions. Silverwood has been as out of his depth in the last 12 months as Pellegrino was at Saints. Not picking Broad on a bouncy green seamer and preferring Leach was such a bad decision - and people were saying it 30 minutes before the start, not with hindsight - that even Les Reed would have thought it bizarre. Then Leach gets flogged when we needed him for a dry pitch at Adelaide. I’d sack him now and get the pain over with. His ideas were good - build big totals, bat longer and build a genuinely quick attack like 2005. Sadly, the weird selections, rotation and over bowling of Archer put paid to that. Other key players such as Moeen didn’t know where they stood and retired. 

Root and Malan are the only players who can bat at this level, Stokes when match fit. Buttler fought harder today but seems stuck in mindset. Even when the top order briefly fired last summer, he still got out for nowt so the argument that he wasn’t being given platforms to express himself fell flat. 

Lions players have had no cricket so not many easy fixes. I’d like to see Mahmood come in though - at 90mph the nicks carry properly. Saw him for Lancs v York’s and had them 21/6 on a flat pitch with pace and bounce. Garton as well - left arm quick with variety. Batter options are trickier - not sure say Alex Lees would do a lot better than the failing openers even with some games behind him. Biggest disappointment has been Pope - does have the technique but looked like a 13 year old boy playing men’s cricket in Adelaide. 

Root is a great batsman but poor skipper. No options to succeed him though.

Edited 20 December, 2021 by saint1977

[badgerx16]

According to Andy Saltzman  in this calendar year England have had the worst record ever in terms of average runs scored by the fall of the second wicket in Test matches. Only the fact that Joe Root, coming in at #4, has the fourth highest individual total of runs in a calendar year has kept things from being truly appalling.

Edited 20 December, 2021 by badgerx16

[Tamesaint]

2 hours ago, saint1977 said:

I’m not surprised how the series is turning out, I thought Stokes might make some of the margins of defeat lesser but he’s so rusty he hasn’t got up to speed yet. Ultimately, in 2011/12, whilst our bowlers did a great job you could rely on the top 3 - Strauss, Cook and Trott - to make runs and the middle and lower order could attack when the ball went soft. 

It’s many years since I had any faith in the batting. People say it’s because there’s too much T20 but who just won the WC last month with a lot of the Ashes squad? The issue in England is that 4 day cricket is either played when the leaves are either yet to come out on the trees or falling off them. People aren’t learning the basics of technique on half decent surfaces and spinners don’t get a chance on shit, slow, seaming pitches where club bowlers take stacks of wickets. Old Trafford and the Oval should be the benchmarks.

So for me a choice between T20 Blast and The Hundred in future summers so there’s some 4 day action in decent conditions.

As for this series, covid rules mean that a new coach such as Kallis can’t be flown in. I would ask Jason Gillespie if he wants to take charge for the next 3 and go from there. He knows Root well and Australian conditions. Silverwood has been as out of his depth in the last 12 months as Pellegrino was at Saints. Not picking Broad on a bouncy green seamer and preferring Leach was such a bad decision - and people were saying it 30 minutes before the start, not with hindsight - that even Les Reed would have thought it bizarre. Then Leach gets flogged when we needed him for a dry pitch at Adelaide. I’d sack him now and get the pain over with. His ideas were good - build big totals, bat longer and build a genuinely quick attack like 2005. Sadly, the weird selections, rotation and over bowling of Archer put paid to that. Other key players such as Moeen didn’t know where they stood and retired. 

Root and Malan are the only players who can bat at this level, Stokes when match fit. Buttler fought harder today but seems stuck in mindset. Even when the top order briefly fired last summer, he still got out for nowt so the argument that he wasn’t being given platforms to express himself fell flat. 

Lions players have had no cricket so not many easy fixes. I’d like to see Mahmood come in though - at 90mph the nicks carry properly. Saw him for Lancs v York’s and had them 21/6 on a flat pitch with pace and bounce. Garton as well - left arm quick with variety. Batter options are trickier - not sure say Alex Lees would do a lot better than the failing openers even with some games behind him. Biggest disappointment has been Pope - does have the technique but looked like a 13 year old boy playing men’s cricket in Adelaide. 

Root is a great batsman but poor skipper. No options to succeed him though.

An excellent post. So many good points. Gillespie would be a wonderful replacement for Silverwood but he isn't going to leave Adelaide and the Big Bash this season. I agree that we have over prioritised white ball cricket and red ball cricket is suffering. It comes as no surprise that we are being stuffed in the Ashes but I would say that when it comes to the white ball we are different class.  

True Australia won the T20 World cup - but that became a bit of a farce as the dew in the UAE meant that the team who won the toss and bowled first invariably won the match. Australia were fortunate in that respect. In the head to head game we gave the Aussies the cricket equivalent of a 9 nil thrashing.

English prowess in T20 is demonstrated in the Big Bash. Every team has at least 1 Englishman ....  and some have 2 or 3. Whether it is Billings, Hales or Jordan so often the stand out performances come from English players. 

The only problem is that white ball cricket can be very enjoyable and very satisfying but most English cricket fans would swap all our white ball successes for a team that could win the Ashes in Australia.    

[The Cat]

White ball cricket has probably also taken away the winter games our players used to play for state sides in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. All their players have some exposure to our county cricket yet I don't think any of ours go and play out there now.

It's all well and good being able to wallop a ball 100 metres in 20/20 but that technique counts for pretty much nothing in test cricket.

Bowling wise we are still ok in tests. Batting is horrific outside of about 3 players. 

[badgerx16]

It was reported that 7 of the 11 that started the first test were playing their first match in Australia.

The obsession with targetting the day/night matches, two out of the five, was ridiculous. It is all well and good to think that bowling with the pink ball under the lights favours our quick bowlers, but there is no guarantee that England would be bowling for the one session each day, let alone have a ball in suitable condition.

[The Cat]

Totally agree with badger.

Chris Silverwood seems like a bit of a shit coach and our test team has been largely crap under him. Got absolutely battered in India last winter, lost away to New Zealand, lost at home to India albeit they ran off from the last game and now embarrassed in Australia.

 

[badgerx16]

An Australian view of England...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/59741381

[saint1977]

32 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

An Australian view of England...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/59741381

Then compare it with the oaf Silverwood’s comments https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/59739472

Fucking clueless. Agree with Ponting’s comments about Root as well - if he was frustrating at the bowling lengths, what has he done about that on the pitch? Woakes shouldn’t be in the side in those conditions, I agree with Maxwell on that. He is merely a bonus at 8 if the batters bar Malan and Root show some backbone against the newer ball. We all know the deal there, you see off the Kookaburra for 25 overs. 

Ponting might not be a bad interim choice to put fireworks up a few backsides for the last 3 Tests if Gillespie stays with the BBL. His status in the game might help Root with squad discipline. Not the traditional boozing variety, but following better plans set out by someone who understands local conditions and international cricket more broadly. It’s three more hefty defeats if Silverwood the ECB corporate boy stays on. Then again, that weak chinned CEO Harrison was hardly going to be decisive after Adelaide was he?

Edited 21 December, 2021 by saint1977

[badgerx16]

Silverwood said that when you pick a team "....not everybody will agree with you". His problem is that he picked a team that nobody agreed with. When Ollie Robinson was reduced to bowling off-spin things dissolved into farce.

Edited 21 December, 2021 by badgerx16

[saint1977]

On 20/12/2021 at 16:16, The Cat said:

White ball cricket has probably also taken away the winter games our players used to play for state sides in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. All their players have some exposure to our county cricket yet I don't think any of ours go and play out there now.

It's all well and good being able to wallop a ball 100 metres in 20/20 but that technique counts for pretty much nothing in test cricket.

Bowling wise we are still ok in tests. Batting is horrific outside of about 3 players. 

You are onto something there. The England Lions tours are a joke these days, it’s not like the 1990s and 2000s where they played decent first class sides, with the rise of franchise cricket it’s only experience of the conditions they receive, but against average club opponents. Take Ollie Pope, has shown enough technique for Tests but mentally lacking. Would like to see him sign a 2 year deal with one of the Australian State sides to finish off his development in the Sheffield Shield. Other nations used to send their best prospects to English counties to complete their development. 

Would like to see other youngsters playing in SA, NZ and India 4 day competitions not just the franchise T20s. Hoggard really benefited from playing for Orange Free State and opening the bowling. I’d respect and prefer that experience playing tough, competitive cricket with better coaches than England Lions soft cricket, which is no better than the Premier League u23 shambles we all deride on the main board.

[saint1977]

Even by the Silverwood era performances, that was pathetic. What was the point of keeping him on with all of the talk of him issuing bollockings and clear the air talks? It worked about as well as one of Ralph’s half time specials and cleared the air about as much as a bedroom after a Christmas Day dinner laden with sprouts.

ECB has to be under existential threat as well. Scrap T20 Blast, don’t need that and the Hundred, and with the counties agent Silverwood gone a new non English coach won’t mind if half a dozen of the counties are either forced part time or 50 overs only with them joining Minor Counties for 4 day stuff. T20 Blast is keeping too big a first class domestic structure propped up but it’s killing the national team by spreading the actual talent far too thinly. 

[badgerx16]

That average score when Root comes in at two wickets down continues to fall.

[badgerx16]

38 minutes ago, saint1977 said:

Even by the Silverwood era performances, that was pathetic. What was the point of keeping him on with all of the talk of him issuing bollockings and clear the air talks? It worked about as well as one of Ralph’s half time specials and cleared the air about as much as a bedroom after a Christmas Day dinner laden with sprouts.

ECB has to be under existential threat as well. Scrap T20 Blast, don’t need that and the Hundred, and with the counties agent Silverwood gone a new non English coach won’t mind if half a dozen of the counties are either forced part time or 50 overs only with them joining Minor Counties for 4 day stuff. T20 Blast is keeping too big a first class domestic structure propped up but it’s killing the national team by spreading the actual talent far too thinly. 

How many 4 day matches do the central contract players actually play during our summer ?

Edited 26 December, 2021 by badgerx16

[saint1977]

16 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

How many 4 day matches do the central contract players actually play during our summer ?

Not many, but it’s more that the 4 day matches are never played in the summer. They are either played before leaves are on trees or when they are starting to fall off. Hence very low scores on damp slow pitches where local club level medium pacers at 70mph who wouldn’t get a game in the Australian grade system take 9-40 etc. Not ideal for younger players with some talent and potential to play higher learning horrendous habits.

Doesn’t get spinners into the games at all either. It’s about as far from international cricket standards and conditions as you can get. The better conditions more representative of those international cricket is played in are taken up by a packed schedule of 50 overs/T20/Hundred.

Silverwood is useless but he doesn’t design the poxy schedule, that’s the ECB. Fletcher and Baylis saw the system for what it is - production line for England players in the three formats - without a good England team it’s all null and void. They neutered the counties power and brought national success, but the counties hated them and plotted in the media. With Silverwood there they have regained the steering wheel although the Hundred might be a springboard to get first class counties down to 8-12 or so. So the replacement has to be someone the counties would despise. 

Edited 26 December, 2021 by saint1977

[LGTL]

23/4 after the bowlers worked tirelessly to restrict the Aussies to a 80 run lead. 
 

This batting line up wouldn’t look out of place in club cricket - pathetic. 

[Lord Duckhunter]

Test cricket is incredibly popular in this country, but the powers that be are doing everything they can to undermine it. Stop trying to recreate the IPL and attract a different audience. Nippers aren’t stupid, they’re quite capable of sitting down and understanding the intricate ebbs and flows of the proper game. Why the headlong rush into becoming another version of baseball? Australia seem able to treat test cricket with the respect it deserves, and prepare people to play it. They seem to have the balance right between the modern world and tradition, why can’t we? 

[aintforever]

There are no excuses, we are just not very good it it. It’s fucking embarrassing.

[Lord Duckhunter]

12 minutes ago, aintforever said:

There are no excuses, we are just not very good it it. It’s fucking embarrassing.

Course there’s excuses for the individual players. The batsmen don’t get enough games where they can learn how to build an innings, don’t play enough of the long form of the game. Aren’t given enough time or practise on Aussie wickets.
 

What are they expected to do, arrange their own games? 

[The Cat]

5 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Course there’s excuses for the individual players. The batsmen don’t get enough games where they can learn how to build an innings, don’t play enough of the long form of the game. Aren’t given enough time or practise on Aussie wickets.
 

What are they expected to do, arrange their own games? 

Some of them used to do just that but the rise in the sheer number of 20/20 leagues around the world has meant that people would rather go play in the Bangladesh Bash or whatever and earn a fair whack rather than play 4 day cricket in the Southern Hemisphere.

Same result though, they don't learn the skills needed to build innings on the pitches we play on in our winter which makes the test team worse.

The Southern Hemisphere players pile over here in our summer because we are the only nation playing at that time. They learn to play in our conditions against our players so have a huge advantage. 

Not sure how we can redress the balance other than making people go and play state cricket in the winter but we'd have to presumably pay them more than they'll get for having a knock about in some random 20/20 league or they'll tell the ECB to do one.

[Lighthouse]

Good f*cking grief.

[StDunko]

We should have just played the 20/20 side and played like it was limited overs. I bet they'd have scored more runs than this test team.

[Gingeletiss]

3 hours ago, Lighthouse said:

Good f*cking grief.

Try living here 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

[Tamesaint]

Where the fuck do we go from here?

We clearly need to find a batsman or 3 who can at least get into double figures. Do we try Burns and Pope again? Is there anyone still out there from the Lions who could be drafted in? Can we pinch one of the BBL players such as Vince, Hales or Billings? At least they have played some cricket recently. Do we think outside the box and try weird things - like playing Woakes as an opener?

Answers on a postcard to Chris Silverwood ... mind you the useless lump would probably ignore them. 

[egg]

What an absolute shambles. The squad never looked like the right one, and it's proved to be worse than it looked. If those players Bairstow, Crawley, Lawrence, Hameed have all had 4 test ducks this year, and Burns has had 6. None of them are good enough.

[egg]

2 minutes ago, SalmonSi said:

So, small businesses are being shut down all over the world, and people banned from taking holidays, but sportsmen can travel to the other side of the world at no risk to anyone. OK, yeah. Got it. 🤣🤣

I see you're still going with this character mate...decent effort but boring af now. 

[Weston Super Saint]

4 minutes ago, SalmonSi said:

So, small businesses are being shut down all over the world, and people banned from taking holidays, but sportsmen can travel to the other side of the world at no risk to anyone. OK, yeah. Got it. 🤣🤣

I'm not convinced you have 'got it'.

Those sportsmen you refer to had to isolate for 10 days in an hotel when they got to Australia to significantly reduce the risk.  That's a lot of inconvenience and expense. Most people taking holidays can't afford to do that (in terms of both time and money).

[whelk]

We have had many drubbings down under in my lifetime but fucking hell this team is poor. To win by an innings when posting 267…unbelievable 

[Turkish]

21 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Course there’s excuses for the individual players. The batsmen don’t get enough games where they can learn how to build an innings, don’t play enough of the long form of the game. Aren’t given enough time or practise on Aussie wickets.
 

What are they expected to do, arrange their own games? 

We need a few more stat geeks to point out X runs, X wickets, how many inches out the third slip was from the perfect position to field against a leg side spinner etc before we can really know what went wrong.  

[Trout-Tickler]

Saw on twitter that extras is the 3rd highest run scorer for England this year! 🤣

[saint1977]

16 hours ago, The Cat said:

Some of them used to do just that but the rise in the sheer number of 20/20 leagues around the world has meant that people would rather go play in the Bangladesh Bash or whatever and earn a fair whack rather than play 4 day cricket in the Southern Hemisphere.

Same result though, they don't learn the skills needed to build innings on the pitches we play on in our winter which makes the test team worse.

The Southern Hemisphere players pile over here in our summer because we are the only nation playing at that time. They learn to play in our conditions against our players so have a huge advantage. 

Not sure how we can redress the balance other than making people go and play state cricket in the winter but we'd have to presumably pay them more than they'll get for having a knock about in some random 20/20 league or they'll tell the ECB to do one.

Could have responded to either you or LD because you both see the essence of the issue. The ECB is basically bankrupt as a governing body and is trying to spread the resources too thinly across 18 counties in all 3 formats which is unsustainable. Hence the Hundred and T20 Blast trying to prop them all up and 4 day cricket shunted to April, May and September when the wickets won’t last barely 2 days and the club robbers have a seaming ball with your name on it so you might as well play a few loose shots anyway. Make the Blast and 50 overs April and May and roll the shit out of the wicket. You’ll lose a few games to rain but if counties need it they have to compromise. 

4 day season June and July for the best conditions and Hundred in August and early Sept for holidays and families. County final in Sept to crown it off. 

New governing organisation needed as well as new national coach and skipper - they have made dreadful errors over last 18 months even given the above. The ECB seems to be run by Finance, Marketing and HR. When those three functions run your organisation to game is up and time to fold. You lose your core products chasing the pound coin to keep a bottom heavy structure afloat which underpin everything because those functions don’t have the brains to understand them, in this instance Test cricket. Most of the Aussie Test team just won the T20 WC because they play in better conditions to learn technique for all formats.

The beat domestic youngsters need an extension of the central contracts system through scholarships to ensure they play 4 day premium cricket in Australia, SA, NZ and India. Don’t mind them playing say BBL whilst they are there. There’s plenty of has beens in English cricket eg Hales to go around for the other various global T20 tournaments. Need a Rod Marsh figure to oversee the new system, someone Southern Hemisphere who will face the counties down. The counties themselves will need to assess how many of them are viable post pandemic for all 3 formats. 4 day cricket probably better with maximum 12 counties.

Edited 28 December, 2021 by saint1977

[egg]

21 minutes ago, saint1977 said:

Could have responded to either you or LD because you both see the essence of the issue. The ECB is basically bankrupt as a governing body and is trying to spread the resources too thinly across 18 counties in all 3 formats which is unsustainable. Hence the Hundred and T20 Blast trying to prop them all up and 4 day cricket shunted to April, May and September when the wickets won’t last barely 2 days and the club robbers have a seaming ball with your name on it so you might as well play a few loose shots anyway. Make the Blast and 50 overs April and May and roll the shit out of the wicket. You’ll lose a few games to rain but if counties need it they have to compromise. 

4 day season June and July for the best conditions and Hundred in August and early Sept for holidays and families. County final in Sept to crown it off. 

New governing organisation needed as well as new national coach and skipper - they have made dreadful errors over last 18 months even given the above. The ECB seems to be run by Finance, Marketing and HR. When those three functions run your organisation to game is up and time to fold. You lose your core products chasing the pound coin to keep a bottom heavy structure afloat which underpin everything because those functions don’t have the brains to understand them, in this instance Test cricket. Most of the Aussie Test team just won the T20 WC because they play in better conditions to learn technique for all formats.

The beat domestic youngsters need an extension of the central contracts system through scholarships to ensure they play 4 day premium cricket in Australia, SA, NZ and India. Don’t mind them playing say BBL whilst they are there. There’s plenty of has beens in English cricket eg Hales to go around for the other various global T20 tournaments. Need a Rod Marsh figure to oversee the new system, someone Southern Hemisphere who will face the counties down. The counties themselves will need to assess how many of them are viable post pandemic for all 3 formats. 4 day cricket probably better with maximum 12 counties.

Spot on 👍

[saint1977]

Whatever happens next, it seems certain that:

- Silverwood has managed his last Test. Isolated for this one and no point being a lame duck for Hobart seeing most media outlets seem certain he is being sacked. 
- Gary Kirsten strong early favourite for Test role, Collingwood for white ball role. The all in one head coach/chair of selectors/all formats role has been a disaster. Ironically, Kirsten should have been appointed in 2019 but it seems the process was loaded in favour of Silverwood by Ashley Giles and Harrison https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/chris-silverwood-s-position-as-england-head-coach-untenable-after-ashes-drubbing-1294775

- Giles and Harrison are under severe pressure to go as well and their positions seem untenable, especially after the mishandling of the Yorkshire situation for the latter. 
- With those Les/Ross level poor performers gone, the domestic system will be getting the biggest reform in its history so young players learn the game in the best and most competitive situations possible. Atherton suggests in the Telegraph three divisions of six with England Test players only really from the top division, Pietersen extending the Hundred principle to red ball but all heading the same way. Thorpe observing that 4 day games played in April and September where both teams are out for under 200 twice finishing in two days abysmal preparation for top level cricket - https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/mens-ashes-2021-22-graham-thorpe-england-batters-given-wake-up-call-by-ashes-mauling-1294965

[badgerx16]

Ignorant skate bastard walking up and down the steps in the batsman's eyeline as Jimmy Anderson runs in to bowl.

[badgerx16]

Can we not just forfeit this match now, bring the team home, and let one of them lend his visa to Novak Djokovic.

[Crab Lungs]

For the future: move the red ball fixtures to height of summer. James Vince please. Bairstow or Foakes with the gloves. Persist with Pope, Crawley - give them time, they’ve clearly got something. Pick a spinner and back them! 

Any chance we can never, ever see Ashley Giles again too, while we’re at it. Everything he touches goes to sh1t.

On another note, Sir Alastair still has the most fantastic hairline.

[Crab Lungs]

As for captain, God knows.. just not Root. Made some bizarre decisions and to be fair to him, looks utterly cooked.

[Crab Lungs]

On 28/12/2021 at 09:29, Trout-Tickler said:

Saw on twitter that extras is the 3rd highest run scorer for England this year! 🤣

Not out in every innings, too

[rallyboy]

While winning is within our grasp I reckon we can still lose this by over a hundred - the middle order have that in their locker.

[whelk]

I am not even entertaining the thought that we can get 170 runs and win this. But can’t help watching. 

[Lighthouse]

68-0 and then we lose all ten wickets for 56 runs. Just embarrassing.

[badgerx16]

England have 3 limited overs games scheduled against the Netherlands this summer. Seems about their level.

[badgerx16]

1 hour ago, Lighthouse said:

68-0 and then we lose all ten wickets for 56 runs. Just embarrassing.

TBF, Malan's head was probably scrambled as his wife gave birth yesterday, 6 weeks early. Doesn't explain the rest of the series though.

[skintsaint]

Worst thing is this Aussie team isn't even that good, with a big scandal right at the start of the series.

Thought our bowlers did a decent job this summer as was a thankless task when the batting side of the team where so shit. Probably the shittest batting I've seen in my lifetime.

[austsaint]

11 hours ago, badgerx16 said:

TBF, Malan's head was probably scrambled as his wife gave birth yesterday, 6 weeks early. Doesn't explain the rest of the series though.

I don't think I've seen three batsmen with worse Test Match techniques than Hameed, Burns and even Malan.

[ecuk268]

15 hours ago, austsaint said:

I don't think I've seen three batsmen with worse Test Match techniques than Hameed, Burns and even Malan.

The i newspaper gave a score from 1 to 10 to each of the team. 

Hameed got -1, the first time that they've awarded a negative score.

[skintsaint]

Unbelievably Justin Langer might be getting relieved of his role with the Aussie team, England could do a lot worse than getting him in if that happened.

[Lighthouse]

Should have taken Djokovic instead of Hameed. It took the Aussies two weeks to get him out.

[Doctoroncall]

22 hours ago, ecuk268 said:

The i newspaper gave a score from 1 to 10 to each of the team. 

Hameed got -1, the first time that they've awarded a negative score.

Hameed is a strange one as he showed great promise on his debut years ago. Is it possible for him to turn it around or is the damage from this latest excursion with the test team beyond repair?