It's The Ashes (again)

[SuperBob2002]

Early declaration in the 1st innings looking ill advised

As predicted unfortunately

I don't necessarily agree with the declaration but that's not what cost us. Simply put no genuine wicket keeper and the lack of a fully fit mainline spinner has cost us. 

All the talk of bazball, attacking cricket, positive brand etc. Ultimately if you play to the match situation, play sensibly and take your chances when they come AND have quality players you will win. No matter the style.

[pindgill]

Great match or game meaningless a loss is a loss!!!…Makes it vital for England to win the next test.

[Malcolm Tucker]

Early declaration in the 1st innings looking ill advised

As predicted unfortunately

Looks genius if we win the test at 7pm on the final day, though.

[DemonicBaggie]

Early declaration in the 1st innings looking ill advised

As predicted unfortunately

It provided us with a great test match.

And a defeat. Fugg being plucky losers.

Yup. Lose by two wickets having sacrificed two of ours has a certain sort of annoying karma to it. We fell into the same trap in the last test in NZ, and both games saw us lose to record-breaking innings from the opposition.
I'll simply repeat what I said after the first innings declaration - ruthlessness needed over philosophies.

[backsidebaggie]

What an amazing test match. Fantastic. Roll on the rest of the series. Fair play to Lyon, didn’t think he’d survive.

[Lurker#3]

Brilliant test match cricket in 2023. Please keep it coming.

I want more daft declarations, more insane fielding set ups and some barmy last day run scores.

You can shove, 2 blokes, blocking their way to 40 from 400 balls to make sure a draw is the worst case. Arses to that. That's how the game dies.

[Shabby Russian]

I have no problem with declaration given the way the game was at that time.

My only criticism of the current set up is the way we bat. Not enough care, which leads to too many entertaining cameo batting performances, when the players could make big scores.

Bat aggressively, but not recklessly. 

We should still have been batting at lunch on the second day. We might not have won, but I doubt we would have lost. And surely the goal is to win the Ashes, made more difficult by being 1 down.

What I would say is I am impressed with Stokes on field captaincy.

[ElbowGrease1973 II]

Early declaration in the 1st innings looking ill advised

As predicted unfortunately

I don't necessarily agree with the declaration but that's not what cost us. Simply put no genuine wicket keeper and the lack of a fully fit mainline spinner has cost us. 

All the talk of bazball, attacking cricket, positive brand etc. Ultimately if you play to the match situation, play sensibly and take your chances when they come AND have quality players you will win. No matter the style.

If you live by the sword, you die by the sword. I loved the attack intent of the declaration, and the message it sent out the Aussies. It didn't pay off this time, but Australia are test champions for a reason.

I do agree with you though Josh. If Bairstow had taken that routine stumping chance when Green hadn't scored in the first innings, I think we'd have had a 100 first innings lead. That would have seen us win the game.

Nevermind onto the next one, and the continuation of what will be an intriguing series.

[Ted Maul]

This is the best Australian team for pretty much a generation, reigning test champions and they've had to dig seriously deep to beat a young England team still finding their way in test cricket.

We'll be fine and at the end of the day there's no shame losing to this Australian side. Warner, Smith, Cummins, Lyon will go down as greats of the era.

[Tom Joad]

Quite a few ifs and buts there, most already mentioned but what an unusual pitch. I walked away from the ground thinking (for all the talk of missed chances), there were the fewest opportunities ive ever seen over 5 days. No chance of any run outs, few balls beating the bat, barely any edges to slip. Somehow it was a wonderful game despite all that.
That said, i see the plan but I was gutted when we declared with Root seeing it like a beachball. Never give a sucker an even break is my motto, and if he is Australian, then you stand on his throat. Finally, without looking for excuses as we lost fair and square, we need a cracking medical team as there ain't a lot of bowling choices. I'd have had Wood in for Edgbaston and the Oval, Robinson for the pitches that swing such as OT, Heading (and places like Trent Bridge). Then again, hindsight makes everything clear. Can't wait, sadly not a ticket available anywhere without paying 000s.