Geoff Lemon's Blog, page 46
December 22, 2021
From the Final Word Ashes podcast: Australia go 2-0 up
It’s been a while since you’ve heard from us but we wanted to bring you the latest episode from our sister podcast in Australia; the Final Word. In it, Emma John, Geoff Lemon and Adam Collins discuss each day of play during the 2021-22 Ashes series between Australia and England – including this episode where they offer their thoughts on the final day of the second Test.
If you like what you hear, make sure to subscribe to The Final Word wherever you get your podcasts
Emma reflects on England’s (ultimately unsuccessful) rearguard battle and Jos Buttler’s doomed but dogged resistance.
Then Adam and Geoff ponder another satisfactory day for Australia, look ahead to the third Test and examine the selection questions for both sides.
Continue reading...
December 21, 2021
Cricket fans urged to wear masks amid concern over risk posed by Boxing Day Test
The Melbourne Cricket Club will implement Covid-19 protocols to welcome fans to the MCG for the Boxing Day Test but the ground’s capacity will not be limited, despite the Omicron variant increasing cases of the virus across Victoria’s capital.
The state’s acting premier James Merlino confirmed on Tuesday that a capacity crowd of over 90,000 people would be allowed to attend the match, although MCC CEO Stuart Fox said on Wednesday he anticipated a figure closer to 70,000 based on ticket sales so far.
Continue reading...December 20, 2021
An Ashes whitewash looked far-fetched two weeks ago – not any more | Geoff Lemon
A comprehensive victory achieved without their captain and two best bowlers means talk of Australia winning 5-0 again is not just for laughs
Five-nil now has a life of its own. Whenever England come to Australia for an Ashes tour, it has become traditional to speculate about the prospect of a series whitewash. What started as a comedy routine by Glenn McGrath has become pre-series bravado from home pundits, a performative dance on the ramparts as invaders approach the keep. On most recent tours, though, it has been the visitors who end up living in a state of siege. And after Australia went 2-0 up by winning the second Test in Adelaide, that scoreline is beginning to look very plausible.
It is true that England fought hard on the fifth day and night of the match while seeking an unlikely draw, and there will be emphasis on the positives the touring squad can take from that. But the batting resistance was offered by a wicketkeeper and four bowlers, while the specialist operators above them once again combined in surrender. With the ball, meanwhile, those redoubtable bowlers were toothless against Australia when it mattered, and only found their dentures when the game was gone.
Continue reading...Buttler dogged but doomed as Australia go 2-0 up – The Final Word podcast
Emma John offers her thoughts on the final day of the second Test before Adam Collins and Geoff Lemon look ahead to the rest of the series
Emma reflects on England’s (ultimately unsuccessful) rearguard battle and Jos Buttler’s doomed but dogged resistance.
Then Adam and Geoff ponder another satisfactory day for Australia, look ahead to the third Test and examine the selection questions for both sides.
Continue reading...December 19, 2021
Australia pile Ashes agony on Root and England – The Final Word podcast
Emma John offers her thoughts on day three of the second Test before Adam Collins and Geoff Lemon share their views from Adelaide
Emma finds a glimmer of joy at the day-night Test – England fans sleep through most of the carnage – while dissecting the tourists’ latest capitulation.
Then Geoff and Adam reflect on another fine day for Australia, with Cameron Green’s emergence giving the hosts an extra lift.
Continue reading...Covid chaos in the media ranks points to wider precarity of this Ashes series
A series that means everything to both boards financially could easily be derailed by an outbreak at the wrong moment
As Jhye Richardson and Michael Neser went to sleep after the fourth day of the Adelaide Ashes Test, they could easily have been wondering about what might soon come to pass. Both have bowled well as Australia’s replacement fast bowlers, and over the first four days neither has outperformed the other.
Richardson bowled aggressively in the first innings without a wicket, Neser more economically took one. Richardson has so far taken two in the second innings, Neser another. Patrick Cummins will definitely return for the Melbourne Test, Josh Hazlewood might. If there is still a vacancy, the fifth day in Adelaide may yet decide who takes it.
Continue reading...December 18, 2021
Cameron Green bests Joe Root again to prove increasing worth to Australia | Geoff Lemon
All-rounder’s numbers are not too special but he has curtailed England by twice removing their talisman in these Ashes
Decades from now, when some awkward teenager in a biosecure bunker tries to forget about the grimness of the dying planet outside by scrolling through old cricket statistics on their settlement’s offline intranet, they will think that Joe Root in 2021 must have been kissed on the nose by a sunbeam. Not only did he get to spend time outdoors, above ground, with no concern for atmospheric chlorine or flying sharks, but he made runs wherever he went, against all-comers, racing up the record list like a 12-legged scorpion up a respirator pipe.
For his final stanza, the tour of Australia, his numbers will carry on the earlier prolific trend, at least through the first two matches in Brisbane and Adelaide. In neither match, though, has he done what he did in almost every other series this year: make centuries. Touring in Asia, three matches brought him 228, 186 and 218. Four matches in England brought 109, an unbeaten 180 and 121.
Continue reading...England’s Ashes deja vu leaves Australia in total control – The Final Word podcast
Emma John offers her thoughts on day three of the second Test before Adam Collins and Geoff Lemon share their views from Adelaide
Emma starts with a suggestion for England fans regarding a suitable soundtrack to accompany watching the highlights. At least the few that were there for the tourists.
Then Adam and Geoff lap up the Vitamin D from Adelaide and another day of eventual dominance for Australia.
Continue reading...December 17, 2021
Steve Smith’s latest knock a reminder of what could have been for Australia | Geoff Lemon
Thanks to a combination of scandal, the pandemic and a reduced touring programme, Smith has an aura of lost potential
In 2017, Steve Smith began what can now be mapped as his highest batting peak. Three centuries in four Tests while leading a tour of India, a feat no visiting captain has bettered, while holding his team in the series until a final defeat 2-1. Then home for an Ashes series that he opened with a match-winning hundred at Brisbane, followed with a double in Perth, and sealed with a hundred in Sydney, winning 4-0 with 687 runs at an average of over 137. Three months later came the Cape Town sandpaper affair, and his year-long ban ended up being an absence from Test cricket of 16 months.
What has happened since has been the waste of Smith, the squandering by Cricket Australia of their most extraordinary batting talent since Don Bradman.
Continue reading...Australia turn up the Ashes heat on England – The Final Word podcast
Emma John offers her thoughts on day two of the second Test before Adam Collins and Geoff Lemon share their views from Adelaide
Emma starts off by looking back as England did something differently, at least in terms of their length, but some things remained the same: drops.
A warm Geoff and Adam reflect on Australia’s plan coming together almost perfectly: the tourists bowling in the worst of the heat, then the lower order piling on the runs, Steve Smith declaring and then getting early wickets under the lights.
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