The Cricket Thread

[darlowolf64]

I saw him hit a 50 over ton at the fag end of his Warwickshire career so he has always had it in the locker. He seemed to get bogged down with surviving in the past so hopefully he has progressed as we desperately need county batsmen putting huge pressure on Crawley/Duckegg.

Surviving isn't a bad trait for a batsman to have, looking at some of the efforts put in by the England top order!

 

[Tony Towner]

This regime has made team selections for the last 2 years based on this series and this series alone. They've continued to select an opener with a record low average for the number of Tests played. They've picked a spinner way out of his depth because of how he'd perform in Australia and then not picked him.

They forced our greatest ever bowler into retirement because he was too slow for Australia then selected players who can't pitch it on a consistent length, whilst getting rolled over by fast medium from the opposition.

They've thrown series away, the last Ashes, India last Summer because style is more important than substance.

Despite all the focus being on this series they now admit to going in to it under prepared, then over prepared and the players not being able to play their natural games.

All that and they are given the chance to learn from it...what a load of bollocks

 

[Sniffer]

Agree with all that @Tony Towner but the faith shown in certain players was justified as they had proven on occasions that they could do ‘proper’ test cricket. The bullshit mantra of backing them no matter what when pissing their wickets away has led to their own demise.
The Stokes/McCullum ultra positive ultra aggressive theory isn’t too dissimilar to what Morgan bought to the ODI game however the players themselves were capable of adapting to suit. This lot with the exception of a couple haven’t been able to or haven’t been arsed enough to do so when it’s mattered.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Surviving isn't a bad trait for a batsman to have, looking at some of the efforts put in by the England top order!

You can't just pootle along with a strike rate of about 30 though. The scoreboard goes nowhere and it puts pressure on the guy at the other end. Didn't work with Sibley, or Compton, or Denly. If you have no shots then it's worthless.

Cook and Trott would be regarded as defensive players but both scored way quicker than any of those three (as well as obviously just being miles better).

 

[Wilf Wolf]

You can't just pootle along with a strike rate of about 30 though. The scoreboard goes nowhere and it puts pressure on the guy at the other end. Didn't work with Sibley, or Compton, or Denly. If you have no shots then it's worthless.

Cook and Trott would be regarded as defensive players but both scored way quicker than any of those three (as well as obviously just being miles better).

A couple of openers seeing off the new ball would make a huge difference to the players lower down the order.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

So we set them a target of 160. Better than it looked when Bethell came to the crease.

I am NOT expecting a Headingley 1981 result as we sort of lack a Bob Willis.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

You will wake up to the unsurprising news of a loss.

Australia got home by five wickets. England actually fought hard on the final day and every run was hard work for the Aussies at times. Shame about stuffing a good position in the first innings. It always felt at least 100 short, and so it proved.

Questions for Key and Stokes and McCullum and they are all staying

Who on earth opens the batting? Crawley has a clear weakness outside off stump. Duckett has one between his ears in that he just cannot leave a ball. He is great when it comes off, but clownish when it doesn't.

Is Bethell and Root the 3 and 4 from now until Root retires? It should be, and Bethell needs to be backed and also exposed to a LOT more cricket to cement the place his talent deserves.

Can Pope get back in? I don't think so. He needs to improve a lot though.

Can Brook please, please, please discover some inner Boycott? He is a battering ram and clearly will be in the side for many years but clubbing a swift fifty is not as good for the team as churning out a hundred and more. We need the top five to grind teams into the dust, not flash it about and all be back in the hutch by tea.

Can Stokes keep injury free? Hope so, as he bowled very well, and is a leader on the field. His batting has gone backwards though.

Do we want Jamie Smith with the gloves? He seems fairly reliable at keeper. His batting is a bit feast and famine, and he clearly suffers from utter and complete idiocy. First innings dismissal was an absolute bloody disgrace.

Can we please find a spinner. We clearly don't trust Jacks and we trust the alternatives even less. Oh for a Swann right about now. TBQFH, oh for a John bloody Emburey.

Tongue looks the real deal. Archer (when fit) is the real deal. Two excellent quicks there. Plus Stokes when fit can get through overs and pick up a lot of wickets. After that, Carse is too short and wide, Potts gets tanked all around...The bowling needs to up the discipline levels. There is a bloke in his forties up at Lancashire who could provide a few tips. Or indeed his mate who will be looking on from the commentary box.

 

[Sniffer]

Not that it made a difference but there was another shocking snicko go against us last night. Spike as it went past the bat, albeit a small one, but not given.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Snicko has had as good a series as Duckett

 

[Sniffer]

Brook on a final warning about his off field behaviour after an altercation with a bouncer after being refused entry to a nightclub the night before an ODI in New Zealand.
He’s meant to be the captain FFS.

 

[jd1981]

Terrible tour again in Australia and keep saying if you rock with no preparation expect to get a terrible result.
Someone or a few should be sacked for this but probably won’t and it’ll all be ok when they win a home series in the perfect conditions for our players.

 

[Wilf Wolf]

Given McCullum’s defence of Bazball in the face of overwhelming evidence it wasn’t working in the first three Tests I’m far from convinced he’s the best man to oversee a change to playing in a more traditional way. I’d love to hear his views on Smith’s dismissal in the first innings and Hacks’ in the second.

 

[leedswolf]

'Whoever signed off England's tour has to go' - Agnew column - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/articles/c3r1wg5407lo

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Someone on the bbc feed posted about they can't understand how Australia get so many wickets in the first over, and England simply cannot.

I will assist. With a full squad they hand the new ball to Starc. If he is injured they hand it to Cummins, if both are injured they hand it to Hazelwood, and so on. With a crisis they can still hand it to Neser or Boland

We hand it to Archer. When he is injured we seemed to think it was a good idea to hand it to Carse.

Starc can relentlessly land it on a sixpence. So can Cummins. So can Hazlewood.

Alas, Carse is lucky to consistently land it in the same postcode.

 

[KiwiWolf61]

Starc can relentlessly land it on a sixpence. So can Cummins. So can Hazlewood.

Alas, Carse is lucky to consistently land it in the same postcode.

Fucking priceless !

 

[leedswolf]

310K views · 2K reactions | Bumble was every Pom in the last half an hour as Australia piled on the pain 😭 | Triple M Cricket

Bumble was every Pom in the last half an hour as Australia piled on the pain 😭

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[Tony Towner]

Carse isn't an opening bowler, doesn't even do it at County level. At International level he's 2nd change. Atkinson had a poor series before injury, but as Aggers says his head has been scrambled by the attitude expected by the leadership. Started bowling half trackers and batting irresponsibly, rather than doing what he does well. With the correct mentality and professionalism we're an opener and a spinner off being a top Test side.

If we ever get that then the question will be can the likes of Duckett, Smith and Brook have their brains reprogrammed or are they too far gone. Try to get Stokes to stay on, bring in Hameed and groom him for captaincy after 12 months if he justifies his place.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

I think Hameed is an excellent shout.

 

[Mel Evo]

Agree about trying Hameed again. Suspect he’ll never quite make it, but not allowing him to compete for a place against the cosy couple currently doing WTF they like up there would be doubling down on one of the may mistakes made so far.

Not read the Agnew column yet. Even before the Brook story broke it seemed the reality was this tour was way too out of control for an immediate vote of confidence in Key and Baz before a (quick) enquiry. Simply seems like another mistake, before finding out we’d been out on the toot the night before a match. The politest thing you could say about a Brook captaincy is that he could lead unencumbered by too many thoughts in his head.

 

[Sniffer]

Th

Agree about trying Hameed again. Suspect he’ll never quite make it, but not allowing him to compete for a place against the cosy couple currently doing WTF they like up there would be doubling down on one of the may mistakes made so far.

Not read the Agnew column yet. Even before the Brook story broke it seemed the reality was this tour was way too out of control for an immediate vote of confidence in Key and Baz before a (quick) enquiry. Simply seems like another mistake, before finding out we’d been out on the toot the night before a match. The politest thing you could say about a Brook captaincy is that he could lead unencumbered by too many thoughts in his head.

There are thoughts in his head?

Wack it?
Beer o’clock?