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[ppccopener]

This English batting lineup doesn't look like it's able to score 300+

If only Root and Cook gets going there is a possibility but if both are out cheaply then 200+ is hard

This is very accurate, and it's been like this for a good couple of years. In home series and on our pitches we get away with it because our bowlers can bail the batsmen out with movement off the pitches other teams struggle with....

Away from home our bowling can look up and down a bit so we need more runs to cover.

All is not lost however, the Gabba has been a fortress for the Aussies first up that's why the first match is there.

Stokes missing is a huge dent to the team, he has boosted the score from number 6

[enlightened]

For what going out? Ban all of them then... Bored of people making out their the perfect specimen and put no foot wrong.

Who's making out they are perfect? I'm certainly not!

[enlightened]

173/0 => This will hurt Root more than England's second innings collapse. Bowling needs to step up and respond. Batting first England did a decent job, but the inability to keep up pressure apart from Broad/Anderson seems to be hurting England the most.

Agreed .. this is a big worry. Our bowling looked very ineffective. Add that to the fact that Cook looks out of touch and that Root looked all at sea in the first innings against Lyon.... doesn't bode well. I fear that our less capped batsmen will become too negative and will scratch around for 20-30 runs before perishing. The coaches have a lot of work to do!

[dynamiccoins]

Why all the laughing at the Bancroft interview, was it because the media had been played?

The whole thing is very weird.

[csnew]

Thought the bancroft interview was hilarious. And I thought footballers were dumb. Gosh even smith laughing at his responses

[jonny77]

Why all the laughing at the Bancroft interview, was it because the media had been played?

The whole thing is very weird.

I reckon so. There was obviously nothing behind it and the Aussies have just let it run without confirming/denying anything until the end of the test to unsettle England. If it had been an actual headbutt I'm pretty sure we'd have known about it by now. Barstow meets Bancroft, stumbles and heads touch. Aussies use it to stir things up and let press report a headbutt, then when the games won confirm it was nothing. Everyone's been played.

[dynamiccoins]

I reckon so. There was obviously nothing behind it and the Aussies have just let it run without confirming/denying anything until the end of the test to unsettle England. If it had been an actual headbutt I'm pretty sure we'd have known about it by now. Barstow meets Bancroft, stumbles and heads touch. Aussies use it to stir things up and let press report a headbutt, then when the games won confirm it was nothing. Everyone's been played.

I do wonder if sometimes I takes life too seriously, but to be laughing about potential violence when we live in a culture where the getting drunk and fighting is a serious problem. I don't know, maybe its because a mate of mine got a good kicking on a night out a while back that I'm touchy about the subject.

Still I thought the whole thing being treated as a joke was a bit off, whatever happened.

Subject done for me though - back to the cricket.

[jonny77]

 After what happened with Stokes it shouldn't have been made a joke of and Bancroft and Smith were like a couple of schoolkids in the press conference. The Aussie team and the England team should have come out and  said it was nothing. The press have obviously reported it as a headbutt and the Aussies haven't done anything to correct them mid-test, but you wouldn't expect them to.

[northernboy1987]

Aggers was saying on Twitter yesterday that his understanding of the Bancroft v Bairstow incident was "I understand from the camp that Bairstow and Bancroft were having a drink together. Their heads met. They carried on drinking together.". Deffo sounds like a storm in a teacup to me.

[Number4]

Oh no Aussies having a laugh at a storm in a teacup... How rude.... I understand why no one ever accused you poms of having a sense of humour... Haha

On another note your change bowlers were ordinary in the second innings.

[rickjames]

For the love of God can we get Stokes out there ASAP

[iand123]

The description of the event sounds very odd, almost like Bairstow causally headbutted Bancroft as some sort of welcome. A lot of ginger aggression in this England team

[Kieron_BT]

The description of the event sounds very odd, almost like Bairstow causally headbutted Bancroft as some sort of welcome. A lot of ginger aggression in this England team

All I can vision is the ginger wildling from Game Of Thrones and some sort of historic ritual where they crack heads together as a welcome!

I'm a huge Ice Hockey fan and see this at the end of games, but to be fair they usually have helmets on!

[jonny77]

Oh no Aussies having a laugh at a storm in a teacup... How rude.... I understand why no one ever accused you poms of having a sense of humour... Haha

On another note your change bowlers were ordinary in the second innings.

I've no problem with having a laugh at something, we'd be doing the same probs if it was the other way round, but its a delicate subject at the minute following Stokes, so should  have been cleared up earlier for Bairstows sake and it still hasn't been. Just listening to a journo on the radio about it and people are still calling it a headbutt, which it clearly wasn't.

Agreed on the bowling though, but then everyone i know has never rated Ball, I thought Woakes outside of the UK could struggle and Alib don't think Ali was 100% fit. Although he isn't a top class spinner in my opinion anyway.

[mo_town]

There is a slight difference between a head butt and bashing someone's head in...just saying...

Also, the England follow up bowlers were very ordinary.