Ivo Francis Walter Bligh, the 8th Earl of Darnley.

No, not the band. Though their hit song "End of the Road" off the album CooleyHighHarmony , does seem apt after today's day of play (insert sad face emoji). It was like watch men play against boys, almost as one sided as the 2022 AFL Grand Final (Sorry Matt - too soon?). The Green Caps added just 20 to their overnight total, but Woakes took his 5th wicket for the innings by claiming the prized scalp of Josh Hazelnuts. Aussies out for 317 from 90 overs, and that's mainly due to Tony Starc's red ink of 36 - attributed to using his wife's bat .  However, I think the key story today is Postman Pat. I'm only 45 and have been watching Test Cricket for a paltry 33 years, but I don't think I have seen a captain have a worse day of cricket than Pat during Day 2 of the 4th Test. while his efforts could not be described as "village" or like one of my favourite village clips , it was pretty bad. Can I just say from the outset, that he doesn't have m...

Well, almost - it was on the 4th June 1993 - but i wanted a catchy title. "Hands up who thinks there should be a spinner in the line up?"  Most of you would know what ball and when it happened; it's definitely one of the Top 5 Ashes moments. For those that have no idea what I'm talking about - enjoy ! The thing that surprises me most about this ball as I re-watch it is that Brendan Julian got to bowl 5 overs before The King bowled his first ball in his first Ashes campaign. Now getting onto spin, I heard various news outlets say that the Aussies are entering the 4th Test without a spinner - unusual for Manchester, and to which some are disappointed: Travis has right to be dirty too. As far as selectors are concerned, the Green Caps are carrying 5 all rounders into this test. With the prospect of rain, the Aussies have been training in a most novel way. This version of tennis cricket definitely gets the "hand-eye" going. But enough of alternate training tec...

Welcome back. Back to work and I'm inundated with things to complete with not enough time. I know, I'll put that off and write another blog entry... Plenty of things to talk about as we approach Wednesday's start to the all important Fourth Test. Given draws have been taken out of the equation because of Bazball, it seems that whoever wins the "Tussle at Trafford" - just a working title, will win the Ashes for 2023. One of the main things to address is the Aussie top order. Given the top 4 (minus Uzzie) have only 1 ton and 1 fifty between them in the last 18 innings, it is not the usual consistent performance we've become accustomed to.  The new boss of Cricket Australia, former NSW Premier, Mike Baird, has a solution. He's going to open the batting in place of The Pool Cleaner. In the spirit of like for like, Mr. Baird is a lefty, but if we're serious about minimising Draco Malfoy's impact of bowling great areas from around the wicket, perhaps we ...