[spireitematt]

England won't win the Ashes. They don't look good enough. The test side is very poor and when compared to sides from 2015, 2013, 2010-11, 2009 and 2005 it looks nowhere the standard as those teams. We have focused too much on white ball cricket and the one day game including the T20. I also think the other problem is players getting picked by certain County teams. The selection committee are nothing but a bunch of private old school boys. Just because someone is good at one day cricket doesn't mean they'll be any good at test level and vice versa.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

It's going to be a tough ask, as we've now got to win two Tests out of three and avoid defeat in the other, but there are positives from this Lord's Test. The Aussie batting order is hardly any better than England's, especially with Warner out of nick. Steve Smith was the difference between the sides at Edgbaston, and we've now seen how the pace of Archer unsettles him. They're not invincible, and England aren't out of this series.

That said, I think Jason Roy as a Test opener was a noble experiment that now has to end; he's not up to it, and only got parachuted in on the back of the World Cup euphoria.

[Lord Snooty]

Jeffrey Archer will win us the Ashes.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

My favourite Jofra Archer novel is Not A Ponna More, Not A Ponna Less.

[spireitematt]

It's going to be a tough ask, as we've now got to win two Tests out of three and avoid defeat in the other, but there are positives from this Lord's Test.  The Aussie batting order is hardly any better than England's, especially with Warner out of nick.  Steve Smith was the difference between the sides at Edgbaston, and we've now seen how the pace of Archer unsettles him.  They're not invincible, and England aren't out of this series.

That said, I think Jason Roy as a Test opener was a noble experiment that now has to end; he's not up to it, and only got parachuted in on the back of the World Cup euphoria.

Test at Headingley is now a must win. Lose that and we've lost the Ashes. Even if we win two out of three and avoid defeat in the other then Australia will retain them because they won them in Australia a few years ago.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Even if we win two out of three and avoid defeat in the other then Australia will retain them because they won them in Australia a few years ago.

Think you've got a bit confused there; to win two out of the three remaining Tests and avoid defeat in the third would allow England to win the series 2-1. The next match is certainly a must-not-lose, but we could conceivably draw it and still win the Ashes with back-to-back victories in the fourth and fifth Tests.

[spireitematt]

Even if we win two out of three and avoid defeat in the other then Australia will retain them because they won them in Australia a few years ago.

Think you've got a bit confused there; to win two out of the three remaining Tests and avoid defeat in the third would allow England to win the series 2-1.  The next match is certainly a must-not-lose, but we could conceivably draw it and still win the Ashes with back-to-back victories in the fourth and fifth Tests.

Yeah your right. The chances of that happening though is pretty slim, only reason we managed to get a draw at Lord's though was the weather helped.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

The weather helped Australia, not England! An extra session in that Test and it would have been an England win. To be honest, they should have won it in the time they had anyway; Roy dropping Travis Head at slip after tea was the crucial moment. Hence my original comment that this is a winnable series - the two sides are pretty much evenly matched.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Confirmed that Steve Smith will miss the Headingley Test. Even allowing for our terrible record there, that really turns this one into a match we have to win.

[Lord Snooty]

Well that turned out alright. Aus all out for 179 and 6 wickets for Archer.