Blunders, thunders in these Ashes!

The first three Tests in the Ashes series have been exciting plenty of scintillating cricket the odd questionable tactic and some glaring examples of administrational blunderingThe series has provided ample batting highlights including the stubborn resistance of Usman Khawaja and the skilful placement of Joe Root Therersquos been abundant audacity ranging from the unlikely pairing of Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett to the brilliant counterattacking stroke play of Travis Head and Mitch Marsh Skipper Ben Stokes oscillates between sedate defence and explosive hitting that sends the ball sailing deep into the crowdThe series is littered with batsmen who have made starts but failed to convert them into a match winning score I was uncertain about Harry Brookrsquos talent leading into the series but his second innings that piloted England to a much needed victory in the third Test confirmed his outstanding abilityJonny BairstowAustraliarsquos bowling has been headed by Pat Cummins who is a stand out performer Mitchell Starc displayed great attacking skill in a spirited attempt to bring Australia victory and with it the urn at Headingley With the serious injury to Nathan Lyon at Lordrsquos itrsquos obvious how much Australia depended on its consistent offspinnerEngland reliy heavily on the skill of Stuart Broad and his choke hold on David Warner to spearhead their attack They belatedly introduced the bighearted Mark Wood into the series and he proved his worth with a high speed attack at HeadingleyWoodrsquos inclusion highlighted a perennial English failingmdashselection Not only did they fail to introduce Woodrsquos threatening pace until the third Test but theyrsquove chosen a batfirst wicketkeeper in Jonny Bairstow whose mistakes with the gloves have cost his side dearly They also chose to offer red carpet treatment to Moeen Ali who in his prime was never much of a bowling or batting threat to AustraliaJoe Root and Usman KhawajaEnglandrsquos fumbling failure to catch securely and save runs on the ground has been one of the main differences between the two teamsThe captaincy styles of Cummins and Stokes are very different but they both admirably try to achieve victory from the first delivery Stokes has done wonders in cajoling England into the priority ofmdashas it should bemdash scoring runs and taking wicketsThe regular bouncer barragemdashutilised by both sidesmdashis not a plausible tactic as it is too demanding on the bowler The resultant scattered field placings are also a surefire signal to any flinteyed batsman The most effective weapon of the bouncer is still surpriseThere has been a number of controversies headed by Bairstowrsquos second innings dismissal at Lordrsquos Bairstow was out and his thoughtlessness was the result of an abject failure to respect his wicket What Alex Carey did was simply smart cricket there was no deviousness involved and the crowd reaction was despicable including the ludicrous cries of ldquocheatrdquoAlso Read Ashes 2023 Aussies abused after Jonny Bairstowrsquos controversial dismissalIf Bairstow was trying to highlight the way etiquette has been ignored a batsman should be ready to face up when the bowler is in position to begin his run his thought process is commendable but his method was totally wrongUmpires have been lax in not enforcing this unwritten rule and the administrators are negligent for not backing arbiters to the hilt It served to further expose the administrators inaction They havenrsquot had the guts to explain some of the more controversial laws Consequently the players undeservedly hear despicable chants of ldquocheatrdquo from an illinformed publicIn the case of a replay for catches perhaps the administrators havenrsquot explained the process because there is overwhelming evidence that this method doesnrsquot always provide the truth This is further evidence of how the administrators make the mistakes but itrsquos the players who suffer the consequencesMidway through the Lordrsquos Test I felt Australia was poised to run away with the Ashes however I failed to factor in Stokesrsquos outstanding inspirational qualities Australia will still win the Ashes but itrsquoll be a hard fight against an England side that continues to compete despite poor selection