Should ALL Ashes games be played at Edgbaston? We do seem to produce the nailbiters!!!

Not bad, is it?
6.00 pm on the last day, all results still possible and a full house at Edgbaston.
Test Match cricket is still the best!

So glad I didn't have the time off to go. I would be a miserable wreck after that. People who say that the catches/stumping cost the game, well if England had got 500 like they should have, the whole circumstances would have been different and the same thing cannot happen twice if the scenario changes. Keeping Root on, well even I could see that Cummins was going to go for him and if I can see it then why couldn't the skipper. Wood must come in for Anderson who was unfit and had no form whatsoever. If I have to hear 'Cricket was the winner' or 'Pure Cricket' once more on the BBC site, I will scream like a banshee.

There were many potential turning points (as there always is in a test match) but bowing 23 no balls is unforgivable.

I'm thinking this past week has been a strong reason we should return to one single 18 team county championship. Firstly the format itself when played with no fear just kicks the crap out of any of the shorter format flotsam and jetsam.

Secondly, if and I say if the result no longer matters and it's entertainment that is THE key thing and if it's okay for England to lose 5-0 this series - so long as we've been entertaining - then I see no reason whatsoever why county cricket cannot return to the glory days of one single division 17 rounds of 4-day fixtures loads of festival grounds being used to host the matches no relegation so all youngsters can be given carte blanche to show what they can do and everyone have a similarly jolly time watching county cricket as 25,000 were able to yesterday

Grasp this opportunity while we can. County CHAMPIONSHIP CRICKET is the next best thing to what unfolded these past 5 days and must be restored to the centrepiece of the domestic season immediately.

mad wrote:

I'm thinking this past week has been a strong reason we should return to one single 18 team county championship. Firstly the format itself when played with no fear just kicks the crap out of any of the shorter format flotsam and jetsam.

Secondly, if and I say if the result no longer matters and it's entertainment that is THE key thing and if it's okay for England to lose 5-0 this series - so long as we've been entertaining - then I see no reason whatsoever why county cricket cannot return to the glory days of one single division 17 rounds of 4-day fixtures loads of festival grounds being used to host the matches no relegation so all youngsters can be given carte blanche to show what they can do and everyone have a similarly jolly time watching county cricket as 25,000 were able to yesterday

Grasp this opportunity while we can. County CHAMPIONSHIP CRICKET is the next best thing to what unfolded these past 5 days and must be restored to the centrepiece of the domestic season immediately.

I agree about the merits of the 4 day game but would prefer a 2 division of 9 teams playing home and away. However, the one day game is here to stay and will always draw the bigger crowd. The T20 has proved its popularity and should be the white ball game of choice. The trouble is the ECB have tried to cram in too many formats and keep trying to reinvent it (the Hundread being the latest with city teams). If the 18 counties played just CC and T20 both in a 2 division league structure with a T20 Finals day to end the one day season a simple fixture list would tell people when to expect games.

BristolBear wrote:

Is that 4 or 5 chances Bairstow has blown now? Not sure who’s selection has been a bigger bust him or Moeen.

I think the stats show it was a perfectly good pitch. a few too clever by half commentators called it wrong. George Dobell has been sticking up for it contrary to what was posted earlier. Most of the moaning came from amateur Aussie commentators on the first day when they weren't taking wickets. great test match!

LeicesterExile wrote:
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I agree about the merits of the 4 day game but would prefer a 2 division of 9 teams playing home and away. However, the one day game is here to stay and will always draw the bigger crowd. The T20 has proved its popularity and should be the white ball game of choice. The trouble is the ECB have tried to cram in too many formats and keep trying to reinvent it (the Hundread being the latest with city teams). If the 18 counties played just CC and T20 both in a 2 division league structure with a T20 Finals day to end the one day season a simple fixture list would tell people when to expect games.
That makes a lot of sense. 16 CC games 16 T20 and a knockout in the 50 overs. T20 Fridays with some local variance (Thurs in London) and maybe a fortnight mid-season dedicated to it.

My proposal is just to strip away the divisions altogether go back to a time when we last used to lose home Ashes series with some regularity in the mid 1990's and where county cricket was very strong indeed. The 2 divisions came in partly to try to arrest this abysmal record in home Ashes. But if what were hearing now is it doesn't even matter whether we win the Ashes as long as we play an exciting brand of cricket then there is little point in having 2 divisions any more. I loved Norwell's heroics last season but I'd trade any prospect of that occuring again for the chance for youngsters in Derby, Canterbury, Hove and Leicester to see top level cricket in mid-summer once again and generate new county cricket aficionados in all the shires not just 7 select cities. The advantages of having one 18 team Championship far outweigh the merits of two divisions if there is no fear of failure at test level why should there be fear of failure at county level? If two divisions are retained I'd have 3 up 3 down again. more churn = more potential winning counties in future spread the joy

As seen from the comfort of my settee, Edgbaston has looked a picture this week. Sun shining; full crowds; great cricket; and I'm much happier to enjoy the noise from the Hollies through my television rather than being amongst it! The Edgbaston crowd are a real bonus for England. Good for the city and the club.
Great match even though both sides could play better. Stokes' trickery in the field almost made up for having only two fit bowlers but, now that he's shown his hand, will the Aussies fall for it again? He'll need to channel his inner Dermot Reeve to keep the surprises coming.

I think a return to one division would be a huge backward step as by the halfway point in the season most matches would be meaningless. If there’s nothing to play for then the players aren’t going to play with the same intensity, thus the matches are more likely to be boring.

I get that but do feel that angle is overstated a tad. There are a couple of sides now in Div 1 with very little prospect of finishing 1st or getting relegated and a good number in Div 2 with nothing to play for already. It happens however many teams are in a league. You could ensure the intensity levels hold up by perhaps scheduling the local derby matches towards the end of the season. Warks 7th v Worcester 14th would still be a hard fought game. I think seeing the same counties year in year out gets pretty boring as does having to visit the same away venues. Used to be far better when in a 2 year cycle you got see all the counties play at your ground and only had to wait a year or two for trips to some of county crickets joys. It would massively help several counties increase their membership, profile etc... if they know they've got 2024's version of Brian Lara coming to play at their ground and 2025's version of Allan Donald. I'm frankly irritated we don't get to play at New Road once every two years, ditto Derby/Chesterfield, Northants, Colwyn Bay, Hove, Cheltenham and loads more

If test cricket is just a jolly up then county cricket should be allowed to be fun too - not reduced to the pressure of must win games to stay up and coaches unwilling to risk giving youngsters especially spinners a good run in the side. Think of how liberating T20 has been for young/unknown spinners. If T20 had relegation there's a realistic possibility we'd never have seen Jake Lintott

Either way, I do not want to see county cricket played in a 'Bazball, (Yes, I hate that term too) type of way and then silly field placings for the sake of it and captains who play on hunches rather than using their brain. I enjoyed the 18 team division where at least everyone played each other at some point and much better than the days of playing 22 3-day games, a bit like it is now where you play some teams twice but others only once. It is also important to play the CC during a Test series so that if there is an injury or loss of form, anyone coming into the side has got some games behind them in the same format.

Lawrence Booth, Paul Newman, Bumble and Nasser Hussain all slating the pitch in today's Daily Mail, Newman even described Gary Barwell as "the most sensitive man in cricket".

The pitch was a shocker no doubt but is Newman being a bit harsh on GB here?

I've seen (and occasionally played on) plenty of pitches that I would describe as shockers but I don't think this was one of them. It lacked pace and bounce and so wasn't a good Test match pitch BUT - it played its part in producing a great match. 36 wickets fell and more would have fallen if half a dozen chances had not been missed that should have been taken (plus a wicket fell to a no ball). So the pitch wasn't all that unfriendly to bowlers and we also saw some great batting.
As to Gary Barwell being over-sensitive, I suspect that he takes great pride in his work and in the work of his staff so it is perhaps natural that he resents criticism of the results of his and their work.
He has had plenty of well justified praise for pitches that he has produced in the past for international matches and also received awards so he is entitled to feel proud of what he has achieved overall since he arrived at Edgbaston.
What I would hope is that, regardless of whether or not he defends his pitch to others, he is asking himself what he could have done differently to produce a pitch with more pace. It's one thing to resent criticism from others and another to fail to be self critical.

Thing is Stokes had apparently asked for flat fast pitches. I've watched a lot of cricket at Edgbaston and can only remember one quick pitch. A pitch that was 22 yards of bleurgh was predictable. I'd like to see someone senior in English cricket say, the groundsman's job is to produce a pitch that produces a good contest between bat and ball and its the job of the players and coaches to win games on those pitches.

I think we can be proud of the test match and the pitch. Good for England and our County.

I think Gary has a perfect right to answer back (via Twitter).

I also think a lot of the criticism of the pitch started when the Aussies weren't getting wickets on the first day.

So - Moeen and Chris Woakes out of the team for Lord's - an all-seam attack with Joe Root as spinning back-up.

The Aussies must be licking their lips on seeing the length of that tail.

I wish someone at the ECB could Explain what Mark Wood is doing in the squad if they feel he is not yet fit enough to play. He is just a name on a sheet of paper then with no real purpose. Wood is 33 and will not be bowling at 94-95 mph for much longer. His career has been full of injury and so much time off that 28 Tests in 8 years is not that good. He will I feel, leave the game soon like Archer and Stone because he cannot go on being picked as a non-playing cricketer. So England might as well risk it all and let him loose on the opposition and if he breaks down again, then it will mess up the Test match but it's better than saying 2 years down the line that he is fit and ready when his best years are behind him. As for Woakes, he should retire from Tests so that he can at least spend the last few years of his career, actually playing and not being messed about by selectors who don't want to pick him.

Moronic Just Stop Oil protestors have delayed the game for a few minutes. A great example of how to get the public on your side.....