[Revvatron]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

There were a couple of reverse scoops that Root did against the likes of Boland and Cummins. Sent them for 6. Such audacious batting by Root.

As much am enjoying bazball, I have to admit I didn't like Root playing such shots. Those look great but there are very few players left in cricket world who play classy cricketing shots and Joe is one of them. Hope he doesn't change his style completely.

[Fx14]

The CWC qualifiers are underway and West Indies do not last their quota of 50 overs against USA.

They desperately need a player with a temperament to bat through the entire innings.

[Chetan_Rao]

Test cricket is BORING, they say!

[NomadSK]

What an intense game. England was leading almost on all 5 days. First innings declaration will be questioned now. And what a fight back from Aussies. Minor dent to bazball ! Is it gonna be a replica of 2005 Ashes

Test at its best.

[kavensri]

I don't know why, but I was rooting for aussie win for the first time in my life!

[Emvi]

I am not at all a fan of Aussie cricket team, but, for some unexplainable reason, I am happy to see England lose the way they have!

It was an absolute thriller of a match!

[jkrishnakj]

And I was hoping Eng pulls off a win.

In the end, it was Test Cricket that won. Fantastic match. Both sides being stubborn on their respective style of test cricket, and taking it to the last 15 minutes of the 5th day is the recipe for making such matches epic.

[Eddy]

Test cricket in India can never be as exciting consistently.

The grounds & pitches
The crowds
The coverage
The commentary
The timings (you can watch 2 sessions after work in IST)

And the fact that you are watching almost as a netral.

Lovely. Looking forward to next one

[KPR]

Seeing this test match between Aus vs Eng I must admit that Sharmaji and his boys played against Cummins and his men in WTC. Let me treat Ashes as WTC final series then.

[Scarlet_Rider]

Originally Posted by kavensri

I don't know why, but I was rooting for aussie win for the first time in my life!

Originally Posted by Emvi

I am not at all a fan of Aussie cricket team, but, for some unexplainable reason, I am happy to see England lose the way they have!

Same here. I am not a fan of either side but wanted AUS to win, probably due to ENG's first innings declaration.

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by Eddy

The crowds

Was lovely to hear the crowd applaud every time a tail ender took a single

Amazing stuff.

[harry10]

Cummins was an excellent choice as Captain for Aussies. Ice cool in the chase. Never flinched, never went over aggressive, rotated strike and made sure Lyon plays as less as possible. Very Sensible stuff which is rarely seen these days of Bazball stuff.

Khawaja was great both innings and Rightly Player of the match. Robinson is really stupid to sledge him both innings when he is bowling his dibbly dobbly 125-130 speed.

Lyon picked 8 wickets in the game (maximum by any bowler both side). But, Indian Management is still wondering how can an off spinner pick wickets in England. Plus he made valuable runs in that partnership which sealed the game. Shows how right selections make win or loss decisions.

So,
Aussies- 1
Bazball- 0

Oh and yeah England media and fans still defending that first day declaration. They don't get a simple fact. A drawn game would have given them useful WTC points or they might have even won with 50 more runs who knows. Declaring on first day on a surface and conditions which were favorable for batting is a really stupid Captaincy decision.

[NomadSK]

Isn’t it perplexing that the captain of both the test teams opted out of the IPL 2023 (one well in advance and one during the tournament), which shows they both knew their priorities well in advance, which we Indians generally lack.

End result – We had a fantastic start to the Ashes. WTC was a friendly/warm-up game for Aussies.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Test cricket in India can never be as exciting consistently.

The pitches in England/Australia/SA have a lot to do with it! If you ensure there's a contest between bat & ball, there's bound to be a good game. In India, Tests get over on the 3rd day with Spinners taking truckloads of wickets! Coming back to the Ashes, Australia managed to win without much of a contribution from Smith & Marnus, something which England will be worried about going ahead.

[redCherry]

Originally Posted by NomadSK

Isn’t it perplexing that the captain of both the test teams opted out of the IPL 2023 (one well in advance and one during the tournament), which shows they both knew their priorities well in advance, which we Indians generally lack.

I disagree to the part in bold above.
We too know our priorities, and that's IPL for us, and that's not going to change unfortunately


On this Ashes series, I believe Australia will do well, after the good practice session they had in the WTC, but I think by the end of the series they may be tired due to this long series (WTC + Ashes) and it might turn out to be advantage England