1) By far and away my overriding thought is that I’m still a huge fan of it. We wouldn’t have had the unbelievable highs of last year without it and they said at the time it would lead to some days like yesterday but they would stick with it. Good. Yes, it’s not fun seeing us get completely dominated by the Aussies and getting out to silly shots (Joe and Harry, I’m looking at you in particular!) but I’ll take that for the times when it comes off.
2) My understanding of Bazball is that it to play positively at all times rather than try to belt every ball for four. They might need to remember this!
3) After the first innings at Edgebaston (the field to Kwaje) they seem to have run out of ideas as to how it applies when bowling. I’d like to see them focus on this next.
4) The commentators and Vaughan in particular can do one as they were so in favour last year but now, after one poor performance they’re all dead set against.
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You can "play positively" by doing a Brian Close on short balls, instead of lobbing it to the bloke on the boundary waiting to receive it.
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Time to bring back Dom Sibley.
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No.
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Christ
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Is bodyline going to negate it.
Is this what we’re going to have to watch for the next month.
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There are other ways to play cricket?
Surely playing the way that kids do - ie trying to hit everything as hard as possibly - is the best way to cricket?
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Well your tip
worked well davos
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What an absolute joke
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I’ve missed the third over. Anything happened?
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Heh you can tell risky is a posh boy
Doesn't understand sport is meant to be fun
Oh oh oh we lost a wicket and my ego is bruised. Who cares, go again
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Wot Davos sed.
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Feels like every time risky comes back from a flounce he is less and less "cheeky scamp" and more and more "depressed loser".
Wanna talk about it risky?
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100% wot RR sed.
I miss the old Risky.
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He talks about Jim being in a doom spiral and I think that is pure projection.
All of his rof "allies" have managed to stick to their flounce presumably because they have actual mates in the real world (or a new baby).
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Back to bazball, we are still going at a reasonable lick despite those early wickets. We have to keep believing until it is over. That is the whole point of bazball. If we can keep going, the quicks will tire and Lyon isn't going to bowl.
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It’s a shitshow royalty
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Another one gone…
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Yeah not ideal.
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I told you so
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As always cookie and risky two cheeks of the same shit splattered arse.
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And another one
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As ever RR not sure it she’s a girl or a girl
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Good one, didn't even need italics, only one typo. No notes.
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I hope I'm wrong but I'm starting to worry it's only successful against teams you're better than already.
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2 down at stumps and we were favourites, 3 down and Oz slight favourites, 4 down and Oz strong favourites any more than 4 and game over.
First 30 mins tomorrow crucial.
Stokes is the only man on earth who can do this.
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Not a chance I’m afraid. Lose by 200.
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Oz strong favourites Jim. That's as far as I will go. We've been in worse scrapes.
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Remember I’m on my doom spiral!
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Random ripples in the matrix
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Eddies in the space time continuum.
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Get her
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Odds
England all out for under 200 - evens
England lose - 1/10
England win - 10/1
Stick a quid on and have fun.
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It’s now become gormless and moronic batting.
Declaring on that first evening at Edgbaston will be seen, in years to come, as the hubristic peak of Bazball.
Fat Bob will have resigned by September.
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Don’t agree at all. Bazball will continue as long as Stokes can take the field (although, judging from his current wincing, that might mean it is over within the next couple of weeks).
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Marshall, I take no exception whatsoever to your plagiarism.
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Rejoin
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Not surprised that red trouser inherited wealth marshall does not like a bit of excitement
He thinks cricket should be 2 an over and shake hands
The sport is dying lad and baz is here to save it by getting new support like me
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It’s not dying. Hth.
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As a Johnny come lately to the great game, Davos has as much authority on tactics as a panda.
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Anyone checked the viewing figures of test cricket?
I hear only England is gaining a proportional increase due to getting working class people like me into it
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And yes happy to admit I know nothing about tactics but absolutely love seeing a geezer smash a ball
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As for "getting working class people into it" and "love seeing a geezer smash a ball", anyone with any knowledge of the history of the game will know that the gritty working-class, largely Northern, batting style of the "Players" (as epitomised by Hutton etc) contrasted with the cavalier Southern upper class style of the "Gentlemen".
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Gritty northern types like Mike Atherton.
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Bazball doesn’t appear to work with sustained periods of pressure from short stiff chin music
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“working class people like me”
ChatshitGPT fail
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I think the series was an overriding success for Bazball.
Yes there were bad days and poor shots but the overall performance was amazing!
Bazball for ever.
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Agreed lad
Lots of new fans and nearly beat the world's best
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Hard agree - most exciting ashes for years, bums on seats. It was only the weather that bailed out the Aussies.
lol @ MH
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Heh at Marshall
Absolutely pwned
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Jim, see how I had faith almost a month ago and then lost it.
That mad innings getting duped by short stuff over and over. We'd be sipping champagne with a 3-1 win now otherwise.
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Yeah - the problem was that I was losing it then. Let’s both keep the faith for the whole of the next series (really tough one in India) and see if it works.
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Deal, but if it doesn't work then we agree to doom the entire following series.
*offers pinky for shaking*
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*shakes pinky in the safe knowledge that it won’t be needed*
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Heh. What a day!
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Word.
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Good series. We were comfortable better than Australia in three games and almost as good in a fourth, the Edgbaston test. Im not completely sold on Bazball, but I have revised my opinion of it. I think it helps bowlers more than batsmen actually.
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Laz - I think you need to get used to it as, while Ben and Baz are there, this is how we’ll play.
Unfortunately, I cannot see it surviving them so I hope they work together for a very long time and Ben’s knee holds up.
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yup
ROF trip to the cricket a necessity, I think.
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Having watched a shedload of Ashes series victories at home I cannot understand how you lot can be so gleeful that we only drew the series (and against a team with basically 3 bowlers).
And no way was it ‘the best ever series’.
1981 is still the Gold Standard, followed by 2005 and 1977.
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Problem with bazball is that it can get the team get carried away by the hype - that T1D1 declaration was on reflection possibly the worst decision over the whole series and could well have cost England the overall ashes win.
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Bazball transformed this England squad's (give or take) performance from losing lots to winning lots. Looking forward to the Moneyball style feature with lots of Hollywood A listers acting the key England roles. Matt Damon as Broad for starters.
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The problem wasn’t declaring but in picking the wrong attack. The worst decision was to go in with an attack of Anderson, Robinson, Broad and half fit Moeen and Stokes.
Also being undercooked for a home series in June is pretty unforgivable.
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Woakes and Woody won their ashes 2-0 and would have been 3-0 but for the weather.
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I think it is probably the best way to play given our current batsmen. With the exception of Root, the current crop’s natural game is not based on a ‘traditional’ test strike rate and running for singles. They tried to play a more defensive game under Root as captain and it was a disaster. As far as I am concerned, Bazball has been less about hitting every ball to the boundary, and more about (i) allowing the batsmen to play their natural game and (ii) not being dropped for the odd bad performance as a result of playing that game.
But if we had a load of Cook, Trott and Root type batsmen then I’d assume we’d revert to a game based on a slower strike rate and accumulating runs as well as boundries.
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