Geoff Lemon's Blog, page 48
December 10, 2021
Joe Root and England refuse to buckle at the Ashes – The Final Word podcast
Emma John offers her thoughts on day three of the first Test before Adam Collins and Geoff Lemon share their views from the Gabba
Do you know a lost cause when you see one? Emma hails the nerveless Joe Root and Dawid Malan for refusing to fold on day three of the first Test, setting up a proper contest at the Gabba.
Adam and Geoff echo those thoughts as the England pair showed excellent temperament, with the rules of Test cricket continuing to be thrown out of the window and giving Australia plenty to think about.
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Ashes 2021-22: Australia v England first Test, day three – as it happened
An England injury update: Stokes is ok to bowl, Robinson is fine and only had cramp... but Dawid Malan isn’t out there today. Did a hamstring, apparently, from chasing leather all day. Zak Crawley is out there in his place.
Here come the players, into the bright Brisbane sunshine. Travis Head resumes on 112 not out, of course. He’s joined by Mitchell Starc out there, with Australia’s lead at 196. Chris Woakes has the ball in hand. Here we go then...
Continue reading...December 9, 2021
Australia cement stronghold on first Ashes Test – The Final Word podcast
Emma John offers her thoughts on day two of the series before Adam Collins and Geoff Lemon share their views from the Gabba
The Final Word podcast will be here after every day’s play of the Ashes.
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify.
Continue reading...December 8, 2021
David Warner’s charmed Ashes innings reflects career defined by the unlikely | Geoff Lemon
He was warming up for the series, out of tune, unconvincing, and still made one of the match’s defining scores
There is, no one will be surprised to hear, a cussedness to David Warner. A stubbornness born from a deep well of confidence that goes undiluted by criticism, by the doubt of others, or even by the realities in front of him. In part, like many top athletes, it is fuelled by those doubts, a pushing back against them. For the most part though, with Warner, it seems to be innate, a refusal to accept as real the limits that others might.
It was like this when Warner was picked for Australia’s T20 team having never even played first-class cricket for New South Wales. He couldn’t succeed, but he did. And the same when he was a T20 player coming into Test cricket, a gamble that could never come off, except it did. Hundreds flowed. They were mostly short and fast, showing that he couldn’t bat long, except he started to do just that. Then after his sandpaper ban, and his 2019 Ashes disaster, there was no way he could succeed as much as before, except he did. A triple hundred, an Allan Border medal, the unlikely achieved with typical Warner ostentation.
Continue reading...Ashes storm blows in as England suffer at the Gabba – The Final Word podcast
Emma John offers her thoughts on day one of the series before Adam Collins and Geoff Lemon share their views from the Gabba
After day one of the 2021-22 Ashes series at the Gabba, Emma looks back on the regular roars around the Gabba that signalled how grim a day it was for England, from the very first ball onwards. And then from the ground, Adam and Geoff ruminate on the state of play. With Joe Root getting a duck and Pat Cummins getting a five-fer, the captains’ days couldn’t have been more contrasting.
The Final Word podcast will be here after every day’s play of the Ashes.
Continue reading...December 7, 2021
Ashes 2021-22: Australia v England first Test, day one – as it happened
England bowled out for 147 on the first day of the series as new Australia captain Pat Cummins took five wickets at the Gabba
Here comes Patrick Cummins in his green blazer, and the crowd breaks out into applause as he walks to the middle for the first time.
I’ll tell you what, I didn’t see Broad warm up with the others, he was hanging out with Bairstow, who isn’t playing.
The Gabba hosted Ashes novelty and normality – then came the first ball
Day one of the first Test was a dramatic mesh of delight, surprise and a premature rendition of The Great Escape
It wasn’t entirely a novelty, seeing crowds roll up to fill Brisbane’s Gabba ground, given that life in the state of Queensland has proceeded largely as normal throughout the pandemic years. There was still some novelty, though, given it had been nearly a year since the Australian men’s team had last played a Test match. That had been in the middle of January at … the Gabba, meaning the ground has now hosted back-to-back Tests for the first time in its history, despite the long break in between.
Nor was this first day of a Test match an entirely normal one, given that travellers from interstate and overseas were still prohibited from entering the state without doing a fortnight’s quarantine. But it was normal enough in having a full house for an Ashes contest, vocal and voluble in response to the action on field.
Continue reading...December 6, 2021
Early Ashes team selection hints at degree of surety for Australia but things can change quickly | Geoff Lemon
The hosts will be hoping to gather enough runs against England, while relying in large part on their old firm of bowlers
With Australia’s Test XI for Brisbane named four days in advance, it shows that some clarity of thought has been retained within the camp after a turbulent couple of weeks. As with any home contest, the Ashes series is Australia’s to lose, and even more so given how ropey England’s 2021 has been. But expectations exist to be upset, and this is largely the same Australian side soundly beaten last season by India after dominating the first Test, and that hasn’t played since.
Starting at the top, no one manifests being unproven like Marcus Harris. He has earned his spot in the manner always prescribed: 5,001 runs averaging 51 in first-class cricket outside Tests in the past five years before this season, which he started with another Sheffield Shield ton. If anyone will be sympathetic to the domestic haymaker it will be selector George Bailey, with the grass from his playing days still lodged in his spikes.
Continue reading...December 5, 2021
Introducing: The Final Word Ashes Daily 2021/22
During the 2021-22 Ashes series, join Emma John, Geoff Lemon and Adam Collins at stumps each day to hear their unique take on the day’s play. Emma will be coming to you from London, where she will be staying up all night to watch, while Geoff and Adam will be on the ground in Australia
Continue reading...December 4, 2021
Australia and England must find way through Bear Hunt of Ashes obstacles | Geoff Lemon
From Tim Paine’s resignation to border closures, the buildup to this Ashes series has been about everything but cricket
With the first Ashes Test almost upon us, some things have finally started to settle. In Australia, Tim Paine’s exit as captain and player has been absorbed, with not much time needed to get used to Pat Cummins as the entirely expected successor. A new wicketkeeper and a new vice-captain have been chosen, largely as predicted.
In the UK, five weeks after releasing the statement that “Yorkshire County Cricket Club is pleased to announce the actions it has taken” over its investigation into racism, which recommended no action against any of the offenders, the club’s new management has sacked the old staff en masse. Given Yorkshire’s intransigence until now, it was the only viable method of slate-cleaning. Accordingly, the cricket administrators of both countries will be eager to claim some goodwill on entering this marquee series.
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