Ashes 2019 - Smith fails as Aus plunge to defeat

I think the Lord's test tends to cloud people's judgment of the 2013 series. The first and 4th tests were excellent games of cricket fought on a knife's edge for most. The first test stayed on the knife edge to it's final gasp and the 4th was only removed from there by one of Stewey's specials late on the 4th day. 2015 was just bizarre.

This is an easy series to predict on the surface with England looking like they have no openers and a bunch of desperately out of form middle order players, and racing at least one bowler back from injury. Bancroft and Warner just batted well in the intra squad match, Smith is perpetually in form and the bowlers are never an issue. We've got the better spinner before England name there's and we have a more varied pace attack too. That all suggests to me that Oz have their best shot in years and have no excuses not to take it. But is cricket ever so simple?