The Cricket Thread

[lemonjelly]

I am getting as annoyed as you lot with that which shall not be named, although my annoyance is purely for selfish reasons in that it impacts the ease of taking my wife to/from work.

 

[Carrotdude]

I think we may need to give Bairstow the gloves and bring Brook in to bolster the batting.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Losing in six and a bit sessions is pretty terrible. Good bowling by SA to give them credit.

Brook and Robinson in for Foakes and Potts for me. Fuck knows what you do with the opening situation, I might be tempted to take a flyer on Duckett.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Ben Foakes since his 2021 recall:

42*, 2, 12, 8, 1, 13, 42, 1, 33, 11*, 7, 2, 7, 32*, 56, 12*, 0, 6, 0

287 runs @ 19.13 (1 50, 0 100s)

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Just out of curiosity, everyone from the current XI's batting record since 1 Jan 2021:

Alex Lees: 397 runs @ 24.81
Zak Crawley: 670 runs @ 18.61
Ollie Pope: 742 runs @ 25.58
Joe Root: 2649 runs @ 58.86
Jonny Bairstow: 1403 runs @ 45.25
Ben Stokes: 892 runs @ 28.77
Ben Foakes: 287 runs @ 19.13
Stuart Broad: 188 runs @ 11.75
Matthew Potts: 30 runs @ 7.50
Jack Leach: 180 runs @ 10.58
Jimmy Anderson: 68 runs @ 5.23

 

[Johnny75]

Yikes, the state of Crawley as a test player is embarrassing.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I've gone along with it for a while on the lines of "there isn't anyone else, you're as well giving him a go" but it just isn't working. I mean there really isn't anyone else who you can authoritatively promote. I've said Duckett but that's a bit of a stab in the dark, he wasn't very good in his first go. I don't think you can go with Hameed because he's always going to be screwed on any surface that has any bounce, he was atrocious in Australia. We won't go back to Burns and/or Sibley, they're shit. Jennings is surely a no go. Haines is injured.

 

[Trips]

I really wish Stokes would start batting properly, which he is more than capable of, rather than swinging at everything and defending it by saying "that's how I want us to play"

 

[WarwickWolf]

I really wish Stokes would start batting properly, which he is more than capable of, rather than swinging at everything and defending it by saying "that's how I want us to play"

AKA the Pietersen defence. Except no defence shown.

 

[Tony Towner]

I really wish Stokes would start batting properly, which he is more than capable of, rather than swinging at everything and defending it by saying "that's how I want us to play"

I'm away so didn't see any of the Test, but a defeat is a good thing if it knocks some of the hubris off him.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

It was an absolute thrashing. South African bowling unit were incredibly impressive.

 

[Trips]

The thing is, the team doesn't play like that. Lees, Crawley, Root, Pope arent swinging at everything. It's just how he wants to bat! It's a 5 day game ffs, there's a time to attack and a time to rein it in

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Lees got out to bad prods rather than haymakers. Crawley got out due to irreparable flaws (being shit being the most significant). Root got two tremendous deliveries and one borderline umpires call.

 

[Carrotdude]

The analysis on Sky showed how far in front of the body Lees and Crawley play the ball. It’s just bad technique especially for an opener. Pope will always flirt outside off as it’s his natural game and why he isn’t really a number 3 - there was a good article on cricinfo about how he’s such an unnatural leaver of a ball.

If Root and Bairstow have bad games we’re pretty much done

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Lees
Duckett
Pope
Root
Brook
Stokes
Bairstow
Robinson
Broad
Leach
Anderson

That looks a bit more sturdy to me. No guarantees but we can't rely on two players doing all the batting forever.

 

[Tony Towner]

Robinson for Potts

 

[Carrotdude]

I’ll be amazed if he makes it through the match

 

[North Shropshire Lad]

Lees
Duckett
Pope
Root
Brook
Stokes
Bairstow
Robinson
Broad
Leach
Anderson

That looks a bit more sturdy to me. No guarantees but we can't rely on two players doing all the batting forever.

Looks much stronger. Maybe harsh on Foakes [and contradictory to what I think a test line up should be] but our batting needs strengthening and this does that.

EDIT: I thought that 'was' the side and not DW's suggestion. Crawley keeps his place... Get the argument that there's no one else but eventually you have to move on. Is Duckett still on the naughty step until Jimmy retires?

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

*Surely* that can't still be an issue.

I don't even know if he'd be any good, he's just the best I can immediately think of with Haines injured (he hadn't had a great season beforehand anyway).

 

[North Shropshire Lad]

I'm not sure that he's the answer either, but he has a First Class record superior to almost all the openers since he spilt his drink on our best ever bowlers head.