The Ashes 2019

[James Cutting]

Keeps getting better

[Mike]

Cummins out lbw, 122-8.

[iainpeden]

While I have come to accept names and numbers on the backs of football shirts and even one-day cricket team shirts why is it needed for test cricket? What do the numbers signify anyway?

[Mike]

I didn't know either so had a quick Google (I think it looks cheap and nasty in test cricket) :-

Why have players got shirt numbers in The Ashes?
TEST cricket is steeped in tradition and cricket whites are an integral part of that.

For 142 years, players in the international game have worn white shirts and trousers, free of shirt numbers or names.

But in this year's Ashes series, that has changed with players from both sides donning whites emblazoned with their surnames and a chosen number.

Fans of County cricket know that this has been the case for years, but the sudden change may be jarring to some traditionalists.

The ECB hope that by introducing names on the back of shirts will help fans in the stands and at home to quickly identify who is who on the field.

In ODI cricket, names on shirt have been the norm for the last 30 years or so.

Coloured uniforms worn in the 1992 World Cup were the first to feature player names, while squad numbers were added in 1999.

The Ashes series is part of the new World Test Championship, which will run over the next two years and is designed by the ICC to make Test cricket more accessible and exciting for a new audience.

[Gary]

Boycott was saying it's about time they got numbers on the shirts on TMS. Each to their own I guess, take some getting used too

[Mike]

Oh God, I thought they would have put down that blind, silly old miserable Yorkie git by now.

[James Cutting]

Some of the ex-cricketers on TMS are baffling me - Backing Smith? Saying its "water under the bridge"? That's crazy - bloke's a cheat! End of!! Unbelievable.

[Gary]

Yeah I was shaking my head at that too, try saying that to the Barmy Army

[Gary]

England again struggling to finish off an innings, Aussie gone from 122 for 8 to 205 for 8

[Mike]

That's Siddle gone.

[Mike]

The Aussies have now gone from 122-8 to 257-9, if only Jimmy Anderson hadn't been injured.

[Mike]

Smith bowled out for 144, Aussies all out for 284. England will now bat for a couple of overs and, hopefully, not lose any wickets.

[Gary]

Hopefully no batting collapses either

[Mike]

Day 2 about to start with England on 10-0.

[Mike]

Oh dear, here we go. Roy gone and it's 22-1

[Gary]

Made it to lunch without anymore wickets, 71-1, trail by 213

[Mike]

122-1 and that's the 100 partnership for Burns & Root.

[James Cutting]

Nice and steady, good start

[Mike]

Root out for 57, 154-2 now.

[James Cutting]

Denly out for 18, 189-3, new ball making a difference...