The Silver Fern

Reiko Ioane got a meat pie last night for Leinster in their win against Ulster.

That's the big one. Crawley denied a hundred. Lyon on the charge. Vultures are circling above the England dressing room.

@Cyclops said in Ashes 2025/6:

Is England's next test series us in May or do they have something in between?

England's next Test series after this is against the BCs in June 2026. Tests at Lords, the Oval and Trent Bridge.

A beauty from Lyon. England on the edge of defeat.

Super dumb way by Harry Brook to get out.

Alex Carey becomes the first keeper ever in an Ashes game to score a century and a 50 in the same test.

Two most obvious things England can do to make themselves more competitive for the next Ashes tour to Australia.

1. Play some warm-up games in Australia's to acclimatise to local conditions.

2. Work hard on catching. Dropped catches have killed them in this series.

@KiwiPie said in Ashes 2025/6:

Point for discussion. Are there no top quality test players under 30? Starc, Head, Carey, Archer, Root, Stokes have been the standout players so far and all over 30. Is the focus on T20 producing a generation that can't bat or bowl for long? Answers on a postcard

The ECB have handed late July and August (the time when the weather and pitches are most suitable for cricket) over to The Hundred which is an even shorter game than T20.

Longer cricket formats such as T20, 50 overs and 4 day county games have been pushed to the edges of the season when weather and pitches are more variable to the clear detriment of the development of the England national teams.

270+ is already more than England are going to make batting 4th. Head and Carey have done well here.

How long until the declaration?

Off to take a certain job in Rugby Union?

Former Wales flanker Richard Parks teams up with Will Smith for Antarctica documentary.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz7n8lwr0jdo

Stokes and Archer show a bit of fight not rolling over in that last session and building a decent 9th wicket partnership.

England still over 150+ behind with only two wickets left. Australia very much in the driving seat and very much the better Cricket side. Their bowling was on the money today. England need a miracle to stay in this series.

England eight down and all at sea.

Australia are going to keep the little Urn.

Cricket ranks 14th in the UK in sports 18-35 year olds like to watch and 16th in sports they are fans of.

https://harris-interactive.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2019/10/Sports-Participation-Viewing-and-Fandom-in-the-UK-A-Harris-Interactive-Report.pdf

Its viewership in the UK is still solid among older men, but youngsters prefer other sports.

The chasm between Australia and England is likely to widened.

England needed their big dog batsmen to show up today and put in a huge performance. That didn't happen.

Australia are going to win the series in record time. Congratulations!

@KiwiMurph

The decision review system technology is mandatory in matches played in the World Test Championship, is provided by the host TV broadcaster of the home team.

In this series, the host broadcaster is Fox, which uses BBG Sports to provide Snicko.

In England, Sky Sports uses UltraEdge a French ball-tracking system which enables higher accuracy in review decision.

https://www.wisden.com/series/the-ashes-2025-26/cricket-news/snicko-vs-ultraedge-why-tv-umpire-correctly-followed-drs-protocol-in-smith-review-despite-gap-between-bat-and-ball

@MajorPom

My own view is that this is a nothing burger.

England thought it was a wicket so appealed. The on-field umpire gave Alex Carey not out. Carey admitted in the press conference that he felt something but he's under no obligation to walk and I'd encourage a player not to walk unless he's 100% certain he should be out and even then it's his choice.

England used a review, but the technology deployed didn't give sufficient evidence to overturn the on-field decision. So the TMO went with the umpire's decision.

Snicko's less good than the system used in England, but that's hardly news.

The Daily Mail are awarding England the Moral Ashes (again).

A close one.

It could go either way. But whichever way it goes, this will probably be the only TSF Team of the Year spot to go to a Kiwi.

WTF is Thomas Borthwick?