Fifth Ashes Test. The Oval.

[K]

The media speculation about G. Kirsten was wrong!

England appoint Chris Silverwood as men's head coach

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/27789946/england-appoint-chris-silverwood-men-head-coach


[Who is Silverwood?! ]

[K]

cricinfo:

"Warner exchanged notes with Broad after the series had finished and was full of respect for what he had been able to do against him, but secure in his mind that his game did not need a complete overhaul ahead of the Australia season - to such an extent that he only had his first net three days before New South Wales' opening Sheffield Shield match where he scored an excellent century at the Gabba.

"Me and Harry [Marcus Harris] spoke about it. What can you do? If it's in your first 10 balls and you get a good one, you can't do anything," Warner said. "I spoke to Broady about the one he bowled me at Lord's and he said to me it's probably one of the best balls he's ever bowled, up the slope and nipping back in, it's very difficult to do that repeatedly. I look back at that and just forget about it."

Broad's success against Warner came after the extensive work he had done on bowling round the wicket to left-handers, a tactic that has become a go-to for Broad over the last couple of years with impressive results. The Queensland quicks used that angle extensively - it appears he will see plenty of it in the future - and there were some moments of unease, especially against the tall Cameron Gannon.

"It was pleasing to hear Broady, the way he spoke about how he was trying to get me out," Warner said. "You can't generally play for the one that nips back because he's actually just trying to bowl scramble seam and hoping one comes back. All my hard work was for the ball going away from my bat and to his credit he bowled extremely well. He pitched the ball up [much more] than his [overall] career, he had to go work on a lot of things, and credit to him he's bowled fantastically to left-handers over the last 18 months." "


[Hmm... Not sure Ponting agrees with that. (Look at his comments in these Ashes threads.)]

[K]

Post-Ashes, the Economist's pre-Ashes comments sound on the money:

Not up to the Test

The Ashes will feature the weakest pair of cricket teams in decades

https://www.economist.com/game-theory/2019/07/31/the-ashes-will-feature-the-weakest-pair-of-cricket-teams-in-decades

Jul 31st 2019 by M.J.

"England’s Test team, by contrast, is mediocre. So is Australia’s. In fact, a statistical analysis of Ashes history suggests that, after 15 years of outstanding play, the quality of the two sides has fallen to a level last seen during the uninspiring 1990s.
...

The International Cricket Council (ICC) produces historical ratings, but the formula is not designed to predict results, and ignores home advantage. To some fans, this lack of a reliable benchmark of quality is frustrating. For others, it is part of the sport’s idiosyncratic joy.
...






... Both Australia and England reached their highest ever Elo ratings around a decade ago. The southern-hemisphere side climbed to 1,805 points in 2008, the all-time record for Test cricket. The “Poms”, meanwhile, made it to 1,670 in 2011, making them the world’s best team at the time. Since then both countries have suffered a gradual decline. Today they sit barely above 1,500.

One saving grace of these simultaneous slumps is that the two teams are well-matched. Mr Fuloria currently has Australia ahead by just ten Elo points.
...

But though this summer’s Ashes are finely balanced, they will feature several second-rate players. Not since 1995 have both teams had such a low Elo rating. If the forthcoming matches are remembered as classics, it will probably be thanks to tense, low-scoring games. There are unlikely to be many remarkable innings extending deep into the fourth or fifth day—as was so often the case between 2005 and 2015.
...

What explains this recent mediocrity? Three reasons stand out. First and most important is a dwindling stock of good Test batsmen, who generally have an average of at least 40 runs per dismissal in first-class games (which include Test matches and four-day fixtures between regional sides). In 2006 Australia could boast of ten such players in their Ashes squad of 16. This summer they have only selected three.

England’s batting woes are slightly different. They have plenty of players capable of scoring a few runs quickly in shorter ODI matches. But many of their World Cup stars have failed to consistently make large scores in first-class matches, since they often get themselves out rashly.

An over-reliance on this sort of player has made the English team susceptible to losing large numbers of wickets in clusters. One alarming statistic is that England have lost all of their wickets in a single session of Test cricket (lasting a couple of hours) four times since 2016, having not done so in the previous 78 years. Last week they suffered such a collapse against inexperienced Ireland. England’s Ashes squad contains just three batsmen with first-class averages greater than 40—a far cry from 2013, when they could choose between seven of them.

The dearth of English and Australian Test batsmen is probably a generational blip, akin to tennis’s lack of youngsters who can challenge Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic."