NFR - Millions of cricket fans have just choked

[Thailand Mick]

The goat Joe Root has his 100 in Australia. Fantastic

[alfie]

Not bad for a so called "average" player

[bobbo]

We all thought this tour we were good enough to beat them . Sadly it doesn't look like it .

[Woolly Mammoth]

We all thought this tour we were good enough to beat them . Sadly it doesn't look like it .

Don't be sad.
It is a test of a cricketers ability over a 5 day period, which is why they are called tests, and it turns out to be a best of five tests.

[Deeping_white]

We all thought this tour we were good enough to beat them . Sadly it doesn't look like it .

Ability wise I think we are genuinely better; we have a better bowling attack overall because whilst the Aussies have Starc who is the best bowler in the Ashes, the drop off from him is quite severe. Batting wise I would say we are better, unfortunately the mentality to grind out big totals and see off Starc whilst milking other bowlers just isn't there and probably why we won't win the ashes. The hundred is a plague on modern cricket and means that most of our players outside of Root have a T20 or worse mindset rather than being happy to play themselves into a decent score and see us compete against the  better bowling attacks in the world

[Plodder]

We all thought this tour we were good enough to beat them . Sadly it doesn't look like it .

Ability wise I think we are genuinely better; we have a better bowling attack overall because whilst the Aussies have Starc who is the best bowler in the Ashes, the drop off from him is quite severe. Batting wise I would say we are better, unfortunately the mentality to grind out big totals and see off Starc whilst milking other bowlers just isn't there and probably why we won't win the ashes. The hundred is a plague on modern cricket and means that most of our players outside of Root have a T20 or worse mindset rather than being happy to play themselves into a decent score and see us compete against the  better bowling attacks in the world

I am not sure our bowling attack will be better than Australia's when/if Cummins and Hazlewood return, and their selectors select Lyon rather than Naser. I also think the batting is pretty even too, for the reason you give - the dominance of The Hundred and T20 cricket in the schedule. England's top eight in this match all have the potential to make big runs, but apart from Root and Stokes who grew up playing far more "red ball" cricket, the rest rarely display the mentality needed to build proper big Test innings regularly.

I was frustrated by Will Jacks, who had played intelligently and calmly, until he suddenly decided to search for booming drives to balls outside the off stump from Starc. He had a reprieve the ball before he got out, but didn't learn from it. Another example of the lack of patience and nous needed to play a match influencing innings in the longer format.

Atkinson and Carse also should have been looking to support Root and chisel out 20-30 run partnerships with him.  Different in the case of Archer, as by that stage, there was an argument for getting on with it or getting out to give England some overs to use the new ball under lights.  However, whether it was under instruction from management team or their own decision, Root and Archer astutely adapted in the last ten minutes to playing lower risk shots and accumulating.  That was the sort of smart thinking Test cricket requires. If they can bat another 30-45 minutes tomorrow, even if only scoring a few, that will put more yards into Starc's legs, give Australia less batting time in in favourable conditions in the first two sessions and more in the trickier conditions in the third session, and will mean the English pace bowlers will be fresher bowling at that time. without having had to bowl two sessions beforehand.

That is what the  "has beens" (or "never weres" in my case  ) mean about intelligence in Test cricket, and adapting the approach to circumstances.

[Plodder]

And to address the original post, what a master class in Test match batting by Root, who deserves all the priase for that innings. Arguably, he has kept the series alive.

[H4usuallysitting]

And at The Gabba

[H4usuallysitting]

And to address the original post, what a master class in Test match batting by Root, who deserves all the priase for that innings. Arguably, he has kept the series alive.

Archer has also done his bit

[sunburywhite]

Sadly more often than not (and just not England) they will be gone within 5 overs in the morning