The Ashes: Two Day Test matches! Grrrrr – Rulebook could not hold back!
Perth was bizarre to watch.
England stuff up, effectively being 1-105 just after lunch on the second day to LOSE on the same day is ridiculous, that’s kids cricket stuff.
To get the opposition gun out for 80 odd runs and then fold like a packet of cards; no, this was the elite, it was funny and bizarre. It contained horrendous, moronic batting and that’s being polite.
It was arrogant and ignorant. It was, we will play our game, stuff the rest, bugger any remote common sense.
We will just try and drive on the up in Perth. Hell, there isn’t anyone remotely involved and follows cricket in Australia know that attempting to bat like that in WA doesn’t work.
If England had shown some application it surely was going to end up one up. Granted the Aussies 2nd innings included a truly breathtaking innings from Travis Head but England created the possibility of it happening not thru the Aussies brilliance but by the Pom’s stupidity.
Now to Melbourne.
Why, oh why, after the brilliant pitch last season v India at the MCG didn’t the curator attempt to replicate it. Gee, surely after the WA Test there was the warning signs. Adelaide pitch was flat and got the desired perfect finish a result on Day 5 but no, let’s leave more grass on the pitch FFS! Yes it seamed way too much and incredibly for a Test match in Australia. It was more like an early-season English pitch. Ok, yes, more bounce and quicker but it had similarities!
But I’m furious with the batting from both sides. Ohh, it was a pitch with your name on it so you had to get ‘em quick.
GARBAGE! Oh, for a fighting Ian Chappell, an Alan Border ugly 50 or John Edrich and Geoff Boycott saying ‘you’re gunna to have to get me out, I’m not throwing it away I’m going to fight’! It was everything that’s wrong with the modern game
20-20, hell even the hundred I’m going to blast my way out, stuff technique! Yes idiotic by Australia as well.
There’s Steve Smith in the second dig at least showing a bit of fight and the tail tries to hit their way thru, huh again grrrrr!
S Smith taking a single first ball of the over batting with the number 11, again bizarre. If the Aussies hadn’t put it in the too hard basket another 50 odd runs might have been enough.
Mark Taylor with Mike Brearley are the best two captains for purely tactical reasons I’ve seen. Tubby’s sides had one weakness, the old dead rubber. Was this Test effectively that ?
Two day Test matches have enormous financial repercussions which end up filtering through far less money for grass roots cricket. I admit I’m still seething and the game overall has been massively short changed. (Your suggestions below in the comments section ).
For mine you wear the baggy green, it’s the greatest honour a player can receive, wear it with pride and play the game in the right manner, give it your utmost and imo that didn’t happen.
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I think the players have got off very lightly, the MCG curator has been thrown under the bus. He’s an easy scapegoat.
Some of the batting on show was appalling
All valid points Malcolm. The biggest no brainer is not just replicating the pitch of 2024/25, which resulted in the best Test match I’ve ever attended.
But also furious at Australia’s batting on day two. Head batted well but Smith was really the only one who really dug in. We also found his taking a single off the first ball of each over a bit puzzling, the only rationale we could come up with was that they thought every run was extremely valuable at that stage?
Head is my favourite player at the moment and I love how he played, but really didn’t like the way he laughed when dismissed and the message that sent to the rest of the team.
The dismissals of Carey (player of the summer behind Starc), Green and Khawaja were horrible.
The dead rubber syndrome maybe has some merit as Australia certainly played like a team that had wrapped up the series and had already done the hard work.
With day three a sellout, there’s so much waste attached to this Test match. And yes the financial repercussions of 2-3 lost days of play will hit hard not just now but in future TV rights deals and ultimately affect us all at grassroots level.
I know that losing two (three?) days of the BDT has a huge revenue impact, but I would be worried abut the management of Cricket Australia if it relies so heavily on those two days at the financial margin – surely some insurance/hedging should have been in place. Doesn’t it rain in Melbourne occasionally?
Having said that, no-one wants a two day Ashes Test in Melbourne, especially with the juicy prospect of a New Zealand tour next year – good luck with the crowds for that one.
And there is no current Shield form to assess possible replacements for those that don’t value their wicket, so fingers crossed for Sydney.
Fair comment Malcolm.
At a time when Test cricket has never been more popular its players are making it redundant.
Greg Chappell also commented
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/memo-to-australia-and-england-honour-the-format-that-has-elevated-you-1517475
Mmm, interesting to see the attitude of batsmen these days when faced with a less than perfect pitch.
I’m amazed that curators who should know exactly what they are preparing deviate from their previous good preparations and go in a different direction. What were they expecting was going to happen?!!
Young’y agree 1 million per cent.Luke yep not to replicate preparation and try and prepare a replica pitch of last season- mind boggling and yes re Travis it was a good ball but it was hardly- Ambrose to Blewett it wasn’t unplayable while I get the smile I’m in your camp.and yep horrendous shots.Swish fair point re insurance it would be interesting to know the costs and yep it’s insane having the big bash not shield games while test series is on shows it is all -$$$ based.Bazz yep v sad and spot on.Russell thanks for that probably as animated as I’ve ever heard from-Greg.River Boy yep v v depressing by the batsman and mind boggling by the curator geez worried about a pitch breaking up on day -3 and 4 hello it’s supposed to ! Thanks folks
Some good points here RB. I was furious too but I’m not sure who with exactly? They say a poor tradesman always blames his tools. Well maybe poor batting always blames the pitch.
But I think there are much deeper issues here. Questions about batting technique are very valid but we have blokes in the test team who are “released” to play a 20/20 game. I can’t see that as being a great preparation.
It seems to me that Test cricket is slowing becoming the support for 20/20 whereas it used to be the other way around. This means tests will be continually played frantically and poor technique will be brushed aside as “that’s just the way he plays”.
Sponsors, caterers, and the ground Trusts themselves can’t afford two day tests. It’s not sustainable. So what will give?
I think several posters have used the word “waste” and that is the most appropriate for this Test match that might have been! Just think of the Sunday where another bumper crowd of 80k plus were certain to attend. The simple human stories of those who were all set for a special day at one of the spiritual homes of cricket, only for it to be all over.
Yes. Steve Smith – did he manage his bowlers correctly in the fateful 4th innings? Boland and Richardson were kept out of the attack while Starc & Neser delivered several horribly expensive overs. And YES – what would a Langer, or Border or S. Waugh have done on that dodgy wicket? They wouldn’t have surrendered!
3 factors at blame
3-0 dead rubber, game had no intensity, felt that in the ground
Modern batters don’t grind!
Wicket was finished incorrectly
Add them up 2day with no consequences for anyone
This Test was a disgrace all round, Rulebook.
I thought Usman’s dismissal was the worst – hooking down fine leg’s throat second ball. Bloody hell.
I am not sure that Cameron Green is a test player.
When you’re on the same page as Greg Chappell, I reckon you’re onto something.
Suggestions? My cousin had a left field one: Three innings apiece instead of two!
Spot on OBP.
Let the ball go. Fight through the worst of the conditions. Wear a few.
Test cricket is hard. It’s supposed to be hard.
Makes me wonder what we’ve been watching.
Makes me reflect on the meaning I gave to it.
Right now I think I made the mistake of giving it meaning, myself.
I invested emotionally and financially.
Perhaps in the future I shouldn’t make those mistakes.
Dips spot on yes world wide it’s v much -20-20 rules with test matches a distant -2nd a huge worry for real cricket lovers likewise I shake my head in frustration and can’t see a positive solution.Tony good point re the human side of it being ruined ( as I have spoken to likewise re the ridiculous charges car park and entering has driven pensioners away and destroyed catch ups and vitally mental health) Richardson and Boland should have been used far earlier in the 4th innings not-Steve Smiths finest hour tactically.Scott hard to disagree personally every test match is a huge event for mine it was the best part of-Steve Waughs captaincy the ruthlessness yep modern batters can’t adapt grrrr is being polite my real feelings are harsher and yep bizarre re the pitch.Smokie gee there were some contenders for worst shot played we desperately need-Cam Green with the age of our side to come good huge questions mentality imo.Mark definitely adds validity when -GS Chappell is so critical also.A few of us were talking solutions and yes 3 innings idea came up I’m not sure but I’m firm in thinking it’s ridiculous that 3 days nothing happens while players get full pay.OBP yes I’m likewise it’s left a bitter and questionable taste thank you
Australia’s batting was disgraceful, that aside, the pitch was pretty ordinary for a Test Match. To be worried about a drop in pitch in the back end of a test that we never got to is ridiculous. Drop-ins in my experience do not deuterate, they tend to be very good right to the end. So unfortunately the curator got it very wrong. Lets hope they get it right in Sydney and The Aussies Go 4-1 up in a Test that gets into a 5th Day.
Rulebook I agree with you on both counts. First the Melbourne curator – ex WACA curator Matt Page – didn’t have to leave extra grass on it because it was going to be hot on days 3 and 4 and the batting this series has been pathetic at times. He produced a great pitch last year, stop being paranoid about the 2017 pitch that the ICC marked as poor, just because Alistair Cook batted through the poms’ innings and made 244 not out.
Second the batting was rubbish, like in Perth and even for parts of the other 2 tests. Bat like crap and don’t worry because we wont drop you, seems to be the directive from both teams’ management. Look at Perth test last year 16 wickets the first day, India made 150, Oz replied with 104 and then India batted properly like it was a Test not a T20 game and made 6/480 odd. Jaiswal who loves to thrash it around the park, controlled his urges and made 160 off 300 balls not 75 like some players seem to want to do this series.
All up a very disappointing series so far. Offered the prospect of the first time in an Oz series since 1982-83 for the series to be decided in the 5th test and has delivered very little. I watched Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton do their video for Sky Cricket, and Nasser said there was a 2 day test in 1946 and the next one was Ather’s team that beat the Windies at Headingly in 2000 and there have been 11 more since then.
I looked it up on Cricinfo at this link https://www.espncricinfo.com/records/shortest-matches-by-days-283076
and there have been 27 x 2 day test matches out of 2615 tests. So roughly 1% of all Test matches.
But between 1877 and 1896 there were 9 in 49 tests when the international game was young and you had uncovered pitches and timeless Tests to compensate. Then between 1897 and 1936, still had the uncovered wickets and timeless test era, there were 5 more x 2 day Tests from 201 Tests. So 14 of the first 250 Tests or approx 5.5% only went for 2 days.
In 1946 Oz travelled to NZ, Bradman stayed home, and we played the Kiwis in a one off Test. The Kiwis made 42 and 54, Oz declared 8/199 and won by an Innings and 103 runs, within 2 days and didn’t consider the Kiwis worthy enough to play a Test against them again, until 1973.
Nasser was right that at Headingly in 2000 the poms beat the Windies in 2 days by and innings. That was test number 1508 and was the1,233rd Test match that had been played since that NZ v Oz Test in 1946.
The next 2 dayer was in 2002, and including that 2002 game there have been 11 x 2 day tests since England beat the Windies at Headingly in 2000 in another 1107 tests. So that is approximately 1% consistent with the 148 year history of test cricket. So dopey T20 batting style in Test matches seems to have replaced uncovered wickets as a reason to produce 2 day test matches.
But the players might get punished for the 2 x 2 day and 1 x 3 day test at the Gabba this series through their wallet. The MOU between the Cricketer’s Association and Cricket Australia says they will share 26% of all revenue streams that are included in the CBA. There are media reports that Cricket Australia has lost $30m through lost ticket sales/refunds, merchandising, signage and advertising revenue and supposedly broadcasters can claw back media rights payments for lost revenue due to shortened tests.
If that $30m is correct, then the players will lose about $8m? How much of that will be effectively paid for by the Test batsmen who played stupid shots, gave Pommie slips fielders catching practice or ran themselves out?? How much of that will be borne by bowlers who did their job and bowled accurately to dopey Pommie batsmen??
Geoff yes a curator worrying about a pitch breaking up huh !
Exactly what a pitch is supposed to do and totally agree yet to see a drop in crack up : the old considered perfect pitch bit in it early then best batting conditions followed up by some cracking and the odd ball misbehaving.Poor batting but a pitch which would have got you sacked comparable to majority of work stuff ups in other forms of employment thank you
Great points rulebook
The pitch was not great but at least Matt Page took ownership of it and explained.
The batting on both sides was embarrassing, and it looked like both sides and sections of the media were happy to lay the blame at the pitch and not tough it up.
England didn’t win it, they just lost less wickets if that makes sense. Seriously Brook instead of batting himself in charges the first ball in the first innings at 3/8. He got lucky. Plunkett in the second innings was lucky he was not early when he tried some random Bazball shots at the start of innings.
Maybe I am getting too old and this is the new way and I don’t appreciate 20/20 and Bazball cricket.
I just watched recently Kim Hughes tough it out on a poor Day 1 pitch in 1981 and he was rewarded with 100 and he came in out 3/8 and saw the score 4/23. Hughes then was the least likely as he was the flamboyant batsman.
When you are used to Border, Boon, Steve Waugh and even Ponting grit it out when you are in a tough situation, that type of batting is hard to watch but maybe I am now old and not the target audience to appreciate the new form of good batting
Papa superb and excellent research v interesting yes 20 -20 has a lot to answer for as does attitude and leniencies given by selectors and management- don’t mind the criticism batting coach-Michael De Vineto has received either ( shouldn’t just be batting coach tho ) admit I hadn’t thought of the potential loss of revenue re the players- obviously they haven’t either hope it happens.Agree re v rough on the bowlers.
Rodney couldn’t agree more geez would have loved -Brook to get out 1 st ball.The Kim Hughes innings is my favourite ever innings and should be used as a blueprint it was attacking but not dumb like so many in the most recent test match and he only went on the charge when batting with the number -11 Terry Alderman who was a mile worse with the blade than anyone else in the aussie side.thank you !
Rulebook it’s good that – G Chappell- M Hayden etc have come out and criticized the batting,interesting point by Papa above
Its unusual that the batting didnt improve much in the second innings.
The suggestion of a third innings has some merit.
If a game doesnt last 2 full days a third innings would be triggered. The match would be guaranteed to at least go into the third day.
Just as the follow on is to discourage tame draws the third innings could ensure a match lasts more than two days.
Of course both teams could collude and declare their first innings at 0/0 and ruin the concept.