The Official Cricket Thread

[Jairzinho]

Minor point ( and I like Buttler ) but with about 30 minutes only left to get a draw , he seemed to make no effort to shield Broad from the strike at all.

 

Yeah, I didn't like that. These little opportunities he has to take to prove he's a capable test batsman. 

[Guest LFD]

[Son of L8]

Cook basically needs to step down or get pushed now. He's obviously tottering on the edge of going, and therefore the odds of him captaining the next Ashes series are effectively nil. If he clung on now, it'd still be over by the end of the summer anyway and its obviously going to be Root, so Root needs to be given the series against the Saffers and Windies to get his head into the job and get some experience before captaining against Australia. Dithering around like a bunch of fannies and then changing captains in the middle or late in the summer would be utterly typical of the fucking ECB, and would hamstring us for the next Ashes. It can't happen, so change it up now while there's a long transition period available before the summer starts.

[Guest Pistonbroke]

Cook basically needs to step down or get pushed now. He's obviously tottering on the edge of going, and therefore the odds of him captaining the next Ashes series are effectively nil. If he clung on now, it'd still be over by the end of the summer anyway and its obviously going to be Root, so Root needs to be given the series against the Saffers and Windies to get his head into the job and get some experience before captaining against Australia. Dithering around like a bunch of fannies and then changing captains in the middle or late in the summer would be utterly typical of the fucking ECB, and would hamstring us for the next Ashes. It can't happen, so change it up now while there's a long transition period available before the summer starts.

 

That's far too sensible for the ECB to consider. 

[Jairzinho]

I think there is roughly 0% chance of the ECB fucking him off. Only chance is him resigning. Which I think he might do. He can't enjoy being a fucking shite captain.

[Guest Pistonbroke]

Agnew and Boycs are on his case so he might. 

[lifetime fan]

He'll walk, the only reason there's been any debate about it was because he said this might be his last series.

 

He'll wait till the new year, start of county pre season and announce he just wants to concentrate on his batting.

[Josef Svejk]

Excuse my ignorance, but has any side in history scored 400+ first innings runs in consecutive tests and lost both (by an innings+!)?

[Jairzinho]

Doubt it, and the latest one was the highest first innings score to then go on and lose by an innings.

[Guest Pistonbroke]

We shat the bed more than a 90 YO pensioner with Lactose intolerance and IBS after having a curry and 4 slices of full fat cheesecake for afters. 

[Josef Svejk]

England took 29 wickets in the last three tests, unless I'm much mistaken.

 

Impressive...

[Jairzinho]

Yeah, not bad that. Nearly half as many as you'd usually need to win the three games.

[Manny]

The spinners aren't good enough to mask the shortcomings of a one-dimensional captain.

 

The captain isn't good enough to make up for a lack of quality spinners.

 

I'm wondering why I entertained thoughts of anything other than a dry bumming.

[Jairzinho]

It's a team full of one day all rounders led by Tim nice but dim.

[Jose Jones]

LFD, on 21 Dec 2016 - 03:06 AM, said:

 

Broad and Stokes averages are the wrong way around.

 

I disagree with Jairz saying it's a team of one-day all rounders on the batting side, even though the batsmen have obviously disgraced themselves with a few collapses. Cook and Root are established test class batsmen and Bairstow is getting there. Hameed and Jennings look more like classic dour openers if anything.

 

It's the bowlers that really are the all rounders though - which looks a real problem for England for the future as Broad and Anderson get on.

[A_S]

So looking to the Ashes in just 11 months time, who will be in the 1st Test (barring injury) for England? 

 

Cook

Hameed

Root ©

Ali

?

Bairstow (+)

Stokes

Woakes

Broad

?

Anderson

 

Admittedly, I'm not up with what's happening on the county scene, but aside from a couple of iffy spots, the current team on paper looks like it would do ok in Australian conditions. So on those question marks:

 

Is there any specialist spinner doing well in FC cricket? Or is the thinking to persist with Rashid? 

 

Is there any thought to get another batsman in to go ahead of Bairstow, to allow the keeping/batting/bowling all-rounder trio at the ideal spots of 6,7,8? It's much of a muchness as to their positions, but who would be the next bat in line? Can Jennings bat in the middle order? 

 

Will Anderson make it to the next Ashes? He's getting on, had a couple of injury issues and doesn't have the greatest record in Australia. That said, with a pink-ball Test scheduled, that's at least one set of conditions that should suit him more. I guess it comes down to whether there is anyone better coming through the ranks? 

 

I like Hameed opening with Cook for the simple reason that both seem to put a price on their wicket and Australia's new ball combination of Starc and Hazlewood is one area of the current team that has been going along nicely even in this recent rough patch. Get through that and there are plenty of more aggressive batsmen from 3-8 that can move the game along. 

 

For the record, I can see Australia's team changing about as much as England's: 

 

Warner

Renshaw

Khawaja

Smith

Handscomb

?

?

Starc

?

Hazlewood

Lyon

 

 

Batsman or all-rounder at 6? It's been a tough one to settle on for a while now. Maddinson has started horribly, now it's looking like a rookie all-rounder might get a start on Boxing Day. 

 

The keeping issue is a problem. Neither Wade nor Nevill have shown enough recently to nail down a spot. Nevill was always thought to be the better keeper, but was averaging low 20s with the bat, while Wade hasn't done much with the bat since coming back, the one area he was meant to be stronger in. 

 

The last fast-bowling spot is simply who will be fit at the time, but it's not an area of huge concern (unlike the ones just mentioned), as there are a number who have done a reasonable job at Test level that can come in if needed. 

[Jose Jones]

Aussie_Scouser, on 21 Dec 2016 - 3:39 PM, said:

 

So looking to the Ashes in just 11 months time, who will be in the 1st Test (barring injury) for England?

 

Cook

Hameed

Jennings

Root ©

Bairstow (+)

Stokes

Ali

Woakes

Broad

Anderson

 

 

 

Just one spot up for grabs for England as above.

Could be a batsman at 5 (most likely) paceman (next most likely - probably Finn or Wood) or spinner (probably Rashid).

[A_S]

Just one spot up for grabs for England as above.

Could be a batsman at 5 (most likely) paceman (next most likely - probably Finn or Wood) or spinner (probably Rashid).

 

Finn is a good shout, if he can get back to some of his old form. If Jennings could slot in somewhere 3-6 that would be another problem solved too. 

 

As bad as it looks for England now, I'm not too confident of getting much more out of the upcoming tour of India. Not when Kohli, Ashwin and Jadeja are at the top of their games, supported well by the rest of the team. 

[Jairzinho]

Broad and Stokes averages are the wrong way around.

 

I disagree with Jairz saying it's a team of one-day all rounders on the batting side, even though the batsmen have obviously disgraced themselves with a few collapses. Cook and Root are established test class batsmen and Bairstow is getting there. Hameed and Jennings look more like classic dour openers if anything.

 

It's the bowlers that really are the all rounders though - which looks a real problem for England for the future as Broad and Anderson get on.

 

Yeah, I obviously didn't mean all eleven of them.

 

Cook, Root, and Bairstow are good test batsmen, and Hameed looks very promising. Not entirely convinced with Jennings' technique. But from 4/5 down, there is no-one seemingly capable of playing, with any regularity, a proper gritty test innings. One that adapts to the conditions and situation of the game. They're all batsmen that require a flat, hard track, with some mediocre seamers bowlers at them.

 

The seam bowling I think is less of an issue. I'm not as concerned about losing Anderson and Broad. Finding bowlers to swing and seam the ball at home won't be tricky. We need someone else to bowl off spin, because Ali is fucking awful, and there is no chance a leggie is getting bowled at home.

[Guest Pistonbroke]

Yeah, I obviously didn't mean all eleven of them.

 

Cook, Root, and Bairstow are good test batsmen, and Hameed looks very promising. Not entirely convinced with Jennings' technique. But from 4/5 down, there is no-one seemingly capable of playing, with any regularity, a proper gritty test innings. One that adapts to the conditions and situation of the game. They're all batsmen that require a flat, hard track, with some mediocre seamers bowlers at them.

 

The seam bowling I think is less of an issue. I'm not as concerned about losing Anderson and Broad. Finding bowlers to swing and seam the ball at home won't be tricky. We need someone else to bowl off spin, because Ali is fucking awful, and there is no chance a leggie is getting bowled at home.

 

Jennings is a good player, his one technical fault, or lack of adjustment to be more correct is that he is old school in how he faces spin. He offers a defensive shot with his bat behind his pad which brings LBW into things more than it should. Hopefully the coaches and the lad himself can work on that. Personally I hope they stick with him, although he'll probably have to move down the order a bit when Hameed is back. England wouldn't want a left handed partnership opening the batting on a regular basis. 

[Jose Jones]

Yeah, I obviously didn't mean all eleven of them.

 

Cook, Root, and Bairstow are good test batsmen, and Hameed looks very promising. Not entirely convinced with Jennings' technique. But from 4/5 down, there is no-one seemingly capable of playing, with any regularity, a proper gritty test innings. One that adapts to the conditions and situation of the game. They're all batsmen that require a flat, hard track, with some mediocre seamers bowlers at them.

 

The seam bowling I think is less of an issue. I'm not as concerned about losing Anderson and Broad. Finding bowlers to swing and seam the ball at home won't be tricky. We need someone else to bowl off spin, because Ali is fucking awful, and there is no chance a leggie is getting bowled at home.

I think Stokes and Ali are as good an option as you could really get at 6 and 7. Stokes batted pretty well in India and has smacked some match winning scores in other conditions.

Ali isn't good enough at 4, but he can bat in most conditions reasonably well and at 7 averaging high 30s is pretty decent. He just needs to average in the 30s with the ball.

 

It was allowing India to score 600 and 700 because we had no bowlers capable of taking wickets that was the main problem. We really never once looked capable of getting 20 wickets. Obviously the batsmen then succumbed to scoreboard pressure collapses which wasn't great either.

[Jairzinho]

I think Stokes and Ali are as good an option as you could really get at 6 and 7. Stokes batted pretty well in India and has smacked some match winning scores in other conditions.

Ali isn't good enough at 4, but he can bat in most conditions reasonably well and at 7 averaging high 30s is pretty decent. He just needs to average in the 30s with the ball.

 

It was allowing India to score 600 and 700 because we had no bowlers capable of taking wickets that was the main problem. We really never once looked capable of getting 20 wickets. Obviously the batsmen then succumbed to scoreboard pressure collapses which wasn't great either.

 

In the words of the great Major Tom...

[Ian Sea]

South Africa have brought about the demise of the last 4 England captains I think...

 

As for the starting 11 for Brisbane, I reckon;

 

Cook

Hameed

Jennings

Root ©

Borthwick

Stokes

Bairstow

Woakes

Rashid

Broad

Anderson

 

Lots of places up for grabs obviously. I think Root will be captain and will bat at 4. Can see Jennings batting at 3 when Hameed returns. Would like to see Borthwick have a go and think Ali may be dropped before the Ashes start given Rashid's progress and his habit of giving his wicket away.

 

I don't think there will be many changes to the bowling attack, our spinning options are limited but Jack Leach may get a call up. Ball and Finn won't be far away but Anderson, Broad and Woakes are inked in as it stands, despite a poor winter for each.

[Jose Jones]

In the words of the great Major Tom...

We don't really disagree, but you disagree?

[Jairzinho]

We don't really disagree, but you disagree?

 

I agree that you agree.