Cricket

[TheGayTent]

Bad toss to lose 

[kaosmark2]

14 hours ago, TheGayTent said:

Bad toss to lose 

Looks it. Desperately need some early wickets with the new ball this morning. Tough ask.

[mjsell]

I like Englands plan. Force the follow-on on themselves, then get a bit of the lead and have India bat last. Masterstroke.

[kaosmark2]

Gutted for Hameed, he does look class though.

Why was Dawson called up over Jack Leach? No argument with Jennings, but that's now 4 spinners preferred to the leading wicket taker...

[TheGayTent]

27 minutes ago, kaosmark2 said:

Gutted for Hameed, he does look class though.

Why was Dawson called up over Jack Leach? No argument with Jennings, but that's now 4 spinners preferred to the leading wicket taker...

Same reason Ansari was picked in the first place....

[kaosmark2]

1 hour ago, TheGayTent said:

Same reason Ansari was picked in the first place....

Trying to validate the performance programme thing?

[TheGayTent]

4 minutes ago, kaosmark2 said:

Trying to validate the performance programme thing?

I was more thinking the obsession with picking "spinners" that can bat a bit. 

[kaosmark2]

48 minutes ago, TheGayTent said:

I was more thinking the obsession with picking "spinners" that can bat a bit. 

Ah, that.

[kaosmark2]

Wait years for an opener then 2 come at once... 

Put Root back to 4 where he scored the most of his runs. 

[TheGayTent]

Let's not get ahead of ourselves 

[kaosmark2]

The whole "scoring one century at the top of the order then being atrocious next series" thing that Robson, Lyth and to a lesser extent Root had?

Still promising though, a century in India is a lot bigger than a century at Headingley.

Edited December 8, 2016 by kaosmark2

[TheGayTent]

On 08/12/2016 at 7:09 PM, kaosmark2 said:

The whole "scoring one century at the top of the order then being atrocious next series" thing that Robson, Lyth and to a lesser extent Root had?

Still promising though, a century in India is a lot bigger than a century at Headingley.

An 8/10 catch away from having a pair on debut. 

[kaosmark2]

Root's habit of looking completely comfortable and then getting out in the 70s/80s is getting irritating.

Still our best batsman by a long distance.

[TheGayTent]

3 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

Root's habit of looking completely comfortable and then getting out in the 70s/80s is getting irritating.

Still our best batsman by a long distance.

Very minor irritant 

[kaosmark2]

1 hour ago, TheGayTent said:

Very minor irritant 

A 50 in every test in the series isn't to be sniffed at. Just a shame he's not converting many. Could be the difference between losses and draws (probably not a win).

[TheGayTent]

So Cook has resigned as captain. Annoyed - partly because I think the captaincy is the last thing Root needs. 

Edited February 6, 2017 by TheGayTent

[kaosmark2]

Was just coming to post about this.

Not sure how it'll impact things. Not sure about Root as a captain, or whether it'll affect his batting, but I'm pretty sure Cook's will improve a bit with the weight lifted. I'm expecting to see a lot of the 40s and 50s he's been getting converted in the next 18 months.

I'm wondering with vague hope whether another candidate might present themselves. I absolutely don't want it to go to Stokes, but there could be other options. Broad did a decent job for T20s a while ago, and I'm less worried about him overbowling himself than I would have been a few years ago. Woakes strikes me a fairly sharp thinker but while he had a great year will he be a staple of the team if Wood/Finn find fitness/form respectively?

There's Butler as well, limited overs vice and was praised for the job in Bangladesh, but he's only just regained his Test place and hasn't exactly secured it yet.

I'm being overly hopeful and speculative really, it's almost certainly going to be Root. Just having a ponder about alternatives.

[TheGayTent]

44 minutes ago, kaosmark2 said:

Was just coming to post about this.

Not sure how it'll impact things. Not sure about Root as a captain, or whether it'll affect his batting, but I'm pretty sure Cook's will improve a bit with the weight lifted. I'm expecting to see a lot of the 40s and 50s he's been getting converted in the next 18 months.

It will be Root. It wouldn't be a surprise to see Cook's average increase but Root's tail off. Swings and roundabouts. 

[TheGayTent]

I quite like Selvey's idea to move Cook to 3, can see it's merits. 

[kaosmark2]

Where did he say that? Twitter?

[TheGayTent]

10 minutes ago, kaosmark2 said:

Where did he say that? Twitter?

In his article in the cricketer 

[TheGayTent]

Root and Stokes then. It's going to be interesting....tough start with SA a decent side and probably much improved on what we came up against over the 15/16 winter with many of their injured players back. Also Rabada is 18 months more experienced and has now played in English conditions too. 

That said, if they could beat SA in a test series and then easily dismiss the Windies, they would at least go to Oz with a lot of confidence. 

Interesting next 6 months ahead. 

[TheGayTent]

10 minutes ago, Scruffylovemonster said:

Is anyone worried that it may affect his batting? I think he's got the strength of character for it not to long term, but may see an initial dip, which is bad timing as SA will be tough. 

Having said all that, I don't see who else could have got it. Also, does he play 1d or T20 (I don't follow either closely - only really keep an eye on results) and if so does that affect Eoin Morgan's captaincy? 

Worried? Yes, but usually it's pointless worrying. Vaughan apart, the captaincy doesn't make much difference to a England batsmen's average. 

Morgan stays as captain for now. I suspect when he goes, they'll pick another and not Root too - I suspect Root will be rested fairly often from the one day stuff so making him captain would be daft - the schedule is too much IMO.

Edited February 15, 2017 by TheGayTent

[kaosmark2]

Also worth noting about the SA team is that Faf Du Plessis seems more comfortable in the captaincy than Amla or ABDV did. We played them at a good time when we were over there.

I am worried about the captaincy affecting Root, but it could go either way, down like Vaughan's or up like Kohli. I also think Cook's batting will improve notably with the burden lifted. At 32 I feel he's still got a couple of his best years ahead.

[TheGayTent]

Things getting interesting in Bangalore.