The Ashes

[rsbaggy2]

Easy to catastrophise after a defeat like that
.

But it does come down to a tremendous innings by Head. Yes you can say we should have got more runs, but in truth we could have scored another 100 and I'm not sure it would have been enough given Heads innings.

And another day Head would have mis timed one of his aggressive shots early in the innings and it might have been a very different story. And it's not like we don't have players capable of replicating what Head did.

I'm not a massive fan of how we approach test cricket, but the loss today wasn't because of the approach, it was down to an extraordinary individual batting performance.

The loss TODAY was totally down to the  players being so conditioned to playing Bazball that they are unable/incapable of adjusting their mindset to suit the match situation. Test cricket requires a pretty full skillset, something that those out there don't seem to possess. And those that did have had it knocked out of them by the leadership at the top.

[Josh1873]

RS, spot on. Nice to read that unbiased view from a neutral.

[ElbowGrease73]

You do wonder where that leaves the batsmen mentally, in a series where they'll be constantly tested, and two world class bowlers due to return.

As with any sport if you win you take the plaudits, and if you lose, particularly within two days, you're going to get criticised.

To stand any chance in the series we really needed to start strong, but this defeat will take some getting over. You've got to take your chances when they come, and we haven't here again. Some old story against the Aussies in recent years.

[rsbaggy2]

"That's what we'll keep on doing we trust in out process and if the result don't go in our favour, we won't do different from that because we know, hand on heart, we know we put every ounce of ourselves into our training and we know and believe that this is the best way to operate."

Ben Stokes.
Humility in a stonking defeat = none.
Can't think he really believes that.

[Josh1873]

"That's what we'll keep on doing we trust in out process and if the result don't go in our favour, we won't do different from that because we know, hand on heart, we know we put every ounce of ourselves into our training and we know and believe that this is the best way to operate."

Ben Stokes.
Humility in a stonking defeat = none.
Can't think he really believes that.

That is fucking pathetic if he genuinely believes that. 

Let's hope he's just towing the Baz Ball line. Stokes can't be that thick.

[Albionmad]

What does Geoff Boycott think about that performance?

[pindgill]

"That's what we'll keep on doing we trust in out process and if the result don't go in our favour, we won't do different from that because we know, hand on heart, we know we put every ounce of ourselves into our training and we know and believe that this is the best way to operate."

Ben Stokes.
Humility in a stonking defeat = none.
Can't think he really believes that.

Last two series at home England against Australia & India both should have been won comfortably but it’s this damn bazzball mindset it’s losing tests against the best teams!!..
Head batted conservatively for the first 4/5 overs then went ours incapable of this McCullum and his management team seem to applaud getting out for a duck to an attacking slog/shot as much as a century!!..

[DemonicBaggie]

Easy to catastrophise after a defeat like that
.

But it does come down to a tremendous innings by Head. Yes you can say we should have got more runs, but in truth we could have scored another 100 and I'm not sure it would have been enough given Heads innings.

And another day Head would have mis timed one of his aggressive shots early in the innings and it might have been a very different story. And it's not like we don't have players capable of replicating what Head did.

I'm not a massive fan of how we approach test cricket, but the loss today wasn't because of the approach, it was down to an extraordinary individual batting performance.

The loss TODAY was totally down to the  players being so conditioned to playing Bazball that they are unable/incapable of adjusting their mindset to suit the match situation. Test cricket requires a pretty full skillset, something that those out there don't seem to possess. And those that did have had it knocked out of them by the leadership at the top.

Nail on head. 

We repeated our first innings failure; the Aussies learned, adapted and won. 

This all reminds me of when Glenn Hoddle moaned that penalty shootouts were ‘just a lottery’ and couldn’t figure out why we repeatedly lost them whilst teams like Germany usually won. All down to mindset and conditioning.

[SW4Baggie]

"That's what we'll keep on doing we trust in out process and if the result don't go in our favour, we won't do different from that because we know, hand on heart, we know we put every ounce of ourselves into our training and we know and believe that this is the best way to operate."

Ben Stokes.
Humility in a stonking defeat = none.
Can't think he really believes that.

Good to see Mason taking the same approach with today’s selection. 

I know a few people heading over for the test in Brisbane, hope they have day 1 and 2 tickets ?

[Shabby Russian]

Easy to catastrophise after a defeat like that
.

But it does come down to a tremendous innings by Head. Yes you can say we should have got more runs, but in truth we could have scored another 100 and I'm not sure it would have been enough given Heads innings.

And another day Head would have mis timed one of his aggressive shots early in the innings and it might have been a very different story. And it's not like we don't have players capable of replicating what Head did.

I'm not a massive fan of how we approach test cricket, but the loss today wasn't because of the approach, it was down to an extraordinary individual batting performance.

The loss TODAY was totally down to the  players being so conditioned to playing Bazball that they are unable/incapable of adjusting their mindset to suit the match situation. Test cricket requires a pretty full skillset, something that those out there don't seem to possess. And those that did have had it knocked out of them by the leadership at the top.

But as others have pointed out, Head played an aggressive form of cricket that totally aligned with the approach England's batters are encouraged to take. He just did it better today than any of our batsmen

Like I say, I'm not a fan of this approach to test cricket and I think other test nations are far better at reigning in when necessary than we are, but that's not what happened today.