Cricket

[Le Chef]

or just bowl

Jordan looks Ok and will get better, but I'm struggling to see any coherent bowling strategy or line up - Rankin looks pants, Bresnan's a waste of a bowling spot.
I like Bopara but he's always asked to do the mopping up so rarely does he get through any overs and find any rhythm and Stokes like Jordan will get better, but he'll never be a strike bowler. Missing a dedicated spinner who can slow things down and hold an end would be a start. We don't seem to have any variety whatsoever when it comes to bowling.

Still don't get why KP isn't here, barmy

[Leyton388]

This is so **** its now funny.

[Le Chef]

Good start from England

[Jas]

**** finish!

[Shaggy]

[ame]https://twitter.com/NHoultCricket/status/424858365869981696[/ame]

[EwarWoo]

Pffft. yet he fails to get the hint about his test captaincy.

[RichC]

Let's be honest this tour has actually been that bad it's become almost amusing.

I'm thinking we're actually not going to win a match vs the Aussies

[EwarWoo]

I think once we hit 3-0 in the tests a loss in every other match became the best result for us to force some change.

[Shaggy]

Let's be honest this tour has actually been that bad it's become almost amusing.

I'm thinking we're actually not going to win a match vs the Aussies

Wouldn't mind if it was that all time great team of a few years ago but to this lot....jeez

As I've said before they're a good side but we're making them look totally invincible.

[Alex]

Pffft. yet he fails to get the hint about his test captaincy.

Hes not been so bad with the Test side, barring this series.

The one day team hasn't really been that awful over the last few years. We made the final of the ICC Trophy last year didn't we?

[RichC]

Wouldn't mind if it was that all time great team of a few years ago but to this lot....jeez

As I've said before they're a good side but we're making them look totally invincible.

We've made them look great, they're decent but far from great.

Wholesale changes need to be made IMO

[Buzzo]

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse for Cook...

England all-rounder and perennial underachiever, Ravi Bopara has backed Alastair Cook

Following the 5-0 Ashes defeat and three successive ODI losses, Cook said he could resign as skipper of the limited-overs team.
But Bopara said: "I would love for him to carry on and do both formats.
"I do believe that your best player should be your captain and I still believe that he is our best player."

Cook's scores down under
First Test: 13 & 65
Second Test: 3 & 1
Third Test: 72 & 0
Fourth Test: 27 & 51
Fifth Test: 7 & 7
First ODI: 4
Second ODI: 22
Third ODI: 35

Cook was left to consider his position after Australia took an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match one-day series.
His own lack of form has compounded his misery as he scored just 246 runs in 10 innings during the Ashes, while has has been dismissed for four, 22 and 35 in the ODIs.
England have now lost nine successive matches in various formats against Australia, with two more one-dayers and three Twenty20 matches remaining before they return home.
"Previous to this Ashes tour, he had a very good record [as captain]," Bopara said of his Essex team-mate.
"Although the captain always gets the blame, I don't think that's right."
Bopara himself has scored just 62 from three one-day innings in Australia, though he has taken two wickets and kept a tight economy rate of 3.93. He hasn't played a Test since July 2012, when he was dropped after a poor run of form against South Africa.
But he added: "It is a team game. The team needs to perform for you to win.
"The other players see it the same way. He is one of our most experienced players.
"He knows what he is doing. It is just a tough time and he is the sort of guy who will turn it around.
"I think that this is good for him and he will come out of it a much better person."

[Alex]

I dont want to Jinx it. But England might be on the verge of winning a game of something in Australia.

Aus need about 125 runs in 14 overs to win. About 9 an over. Currently they are going at about 5.3.

Lets just wait until the last few balls before we get too confident though

[EwarWoo]

Lets just wait until the last few balls before we get too confident though

317 is a massive target in the best of circumstances, we'd have to go some to lose these.

But then, this is England.

[RichC]

I dunno 5 wickets in hand and 12 overs left to score just over a hundred, I think they'll probably manage it.