Cricket

[kaosmark2]

Well I had a thoroughly fun 3 days (days 3-5) at Headingley. England may have been pretty awful for a lot of it, but I still saw some excellent cricket. Really exciting and enjoyable Test match, and the young English players looked promising, Ali's century was absolutely fantastic.

We need a new captain in the near future, but I don't think the India series is the time to throw someone in, particularly as it's probably going to be someone fairly young.

I definitely think Jordan will be a Test cricketer in future, but I feel we have to bring Stokes back for the India series.

Not sure the decision to play a semi-fit Prior has been vindicated either.

[TheGayTent]

You've got your wish and Stokes is in for Jordan.

Looks like a bad toss for Cook to lose but Jimmy has just taken the first wicket.

[TheGayTent]

Wicket was really getting a hammering from the commentators, experts, journos alike during the luncheon interval.

However, England take two wickets straight after the resumption. Key wickets of Pujara and Kohli (who I'm looking forward to watching at Old Trafford) too.

First was a cracking catch by Bell too and nice to see Cook making some proactive decisions with his field.

[TheGayTent]

Some afternoon session, 4-4 at one stage !

[pink_triangle]

im going tomorrow, hope we don't do anything stupid today and are in a competitive position.

[TheGayTent]

im going tomorrow, hope we don't do anything stupid today and are in a competitive position.

I hope you see Cook batting (and not when we're following on ! )

[kaosmark2]

I hope you see Cook batting (and not when we're following on ! )

Been a while since anyone's seen that.

We've become really bad at wrapping up tails in the past few years. Yet again we get them down and then there's a big partnership for one of the last wickets.

[TheGayTent]

Been a while since anyone's seen that.

We've become really bad at wrapping up tails in the past few years. Yet again we get them down and then there's a big partnership for one of the last wickets.

I think it's a good sign myself. Pitch is still great for batting. England to post 600+

[kaosmark2]

I think it's a good sign myself. Pitch is still great for batting. England to post 600+

I'm not really faulting the bowlers, as you say, the pitch looks like a batting paradise, I was more talking about it as a long term problem, be it Sri Lanka, Aussies, NZ, Windies or whoever, it's happened a lot in the past 2-3 years.

[TheGayTent]

I'm not really faulting the bowlers, as you say, the pitch looks like a batting paradise, I was more talking about it as a long term problem, be it Sri Lanka, Aussies, NZ, Windies or whoever, it's happened a lot in the past 2-3 years.

I think in part it's due to the lack of rabbits nowadays. It's simply not acceptable to be that bad anymore. When I first started watching test cricket we had batsmen as poor as Panesar batting as high as 8. Now it's not unusual to have no.11s that have a number of 50s to their name.

You only have to look at this England team - all of our top 8 have test hundreds. That simply didn't happen before.

[kaosmark2]

I think in part it's due to the lack of rabbits nowadays. It's simply not acceptable to be that bad anymore. When I first started watching test cricket we had batsmen as poor as Panesar batting as high as 8. Now it's not unusual to have no.11s that have a number of 50s to their name.

You only have to look at this England team - all of our top 8 have test hundreds. That simply didn't happen before.

True, I get why records constantly get broken in that respect, but at the height of the Strauss era we choked the middle order of runs and blistered through the bottom order. It seems like England suffer from it more other Test teams at present. Maybe that's just my perception.

[TheGayTent]

True, I get why records constantly get broken in that respect, but at the height of the Strauss era we choked the middle order of runs and blistered through the bottom order. It seems like England suffer from it more other Test teams at present. Maybe that's just my perception.

For most of the Strauss era we had a bowling unit teaming with caps and experience - and we were a bloody good team.

Cook's team has the opposite. Stokes, Jordan, Plunkett, etc have less than 20(?) tests between them?

Plus of course, we have no spinner of the quality of Swann to bamboozle tail enders.

Cook really is having no luck with the bat is he.

[kaosmark2]

For most of the Strauss era we had a bowling unit teaming with caps and experience - and we were a bloody good team.

Cook's team has the opposite. Stokes, Jordan, Plunkett, etc have less than 20(?) tests between them?

Plus of course, we have no spinner of the quality of Swann to bamboozle tail enders.

Cook really is having no luck with the bat is he.

Yeah. Right now I feel the team is really suffering the consequences of some of the decisions made in the last part of the Strauss era and early part of the Cook one. Decisions such as continually picking Bresnan even when out of form, mismanaging Finn's development, not getting Onions more Test experience (given how exhausted Anderson looks I really feel rotating Onions in in recent months would be a good move), not trying to prepare Panesar and other spinners appropriately for Swann's inevitable reitrement.

I'm not really trying to lay it as a blaming anyone, just a factor that the cricket team need to pick up on based on the past 18-30 months and see what they can do to help with it.

And yeah, Cook's having terrible luck. I'm sure that at some point his form will return, but it'll be worrying him and everyone in the England setup until it does.

[pink_triangle]

I hope you see Cook batting (and not when we're following on ! )

I have just realized that today is Thursday and not Friday, so I'm not going tomorrow! My head still works day 3 is Saturday!

[TheGayTent]

Cook getting out for 5 just feels like another nail in his slow walk to the exits....

The groundsman also needs shooting. The pitch is awful....

I felt sorry for him. Manner of his wicket for unfortunate, his foot work had been good up til then, and his captaincy when India were batting had been good.

[kaosmark2]

Nah, I don't think anyone should be debating his place in the side until the end of the series. That was just terrible luck.

[kaosmark2]

I disagree about debating his place in the side. Its all part of the business he is in. But agree it was unlucky...

I did say until the end of the series. The issue is a shortage of players with experience. We can't replace Cook with anyone who we could feel we can rely on. It has to get really bad to take the gamble, particularly considering how young most of our squad is.

Edited July 11, 2014 by kaosmark2

[kaosmark2]

I presume you are talking about a replacement captain ? I agree with you. Not easy.... Bell is the possibly the only other option ?

It still pisses me off we have one of the worlds best batsman sat at home doing fuck all at the moment. But that is another Cook success story.... This coupled with some of the poor series defeats, weak decision making and bad batting performance is really making me lose patient with him.

I think once you lose confidence in someone its hard to rally around them. I hope he turns it around but I don't see it happening.

I'm talking about batsmen as well as captain. While I think there's quality players who aren't playing (and not just KP), there's very few with more than a few Test caps.

I don't think Bell could ever be captain. Broad is the only real option within the team, maybe Root given he's captained the Lions.

The question to me is whether the team have lost confidence in him. I actually saw lots in the Sri Lanka series to take as a positive, inc. captaincy and field placings. I think giving Mathews free singles at Headingley was crazy, but better captains than Cook have been guilty of similar tactics.

[TheGayTent]

I reckon much of this talk about Cook's captaincy is nonsense.

I expect Cook to be captain until at least the ashes series next summer. Which is 10 tests away.

[kaosmark2]

I'd be surprised if there's a change soon. I think it'd have to go horribly wrong for one to happen, if we lost 3-2 I fully expect him to remain and think he should.

This partnership's looking good.

[TheGayTent]

This partnership's looking good.

Ssshhh

[TheGayTent]

Bazza - would you drop Cook?

If so, give me your starting XI, order, and captain for the next test

[TheGayTent]

As for Captain... I think the only real alternatives are Bell and Broad at this stage.

You think either would make a difference and be a better captain than Cook?

Generally speaking, bowlers don't often make great captains and Bell isn't a captain as long as I've got a whole in my arse.

On a different subject I reckon Anderson or Plunkett may be rested for the Lords test.

[TheGayTent]

This partnership's looking good.

See, that's your bloody fault !

[kaosmark2]

I'm sorry

I agree that I'd expect to see some rotation of the fast bowlers. Anderson definitely NEEDS a rest, but who do you bring in? Jordan? Onions? Woakes? Finn? No standout option in my mind, particularly for taking the new ball.