The Cricket Thread

[DeeTillEhDeh]

Stokes gone - it's over now.

 

England's batting in general has been poor throughout this series. It's not as if the wickets have been bowlers' paradises either - if anything, as Smith has shown (and Labuschange to a lesser extent), they are good batting wickets.

 

Too many have given their wickets by playing shots that are more akin to the 50 over or 20-20 game.

[Guest Moomintroll]

Will change my ideal line up yet again & go with this for NZ (bear in mind that Chris Woakes has a poor record outside the U.K.

Burns
Sibley
Root
Bairstow
Stokes ©
Roy
Foakes (wk)
Ali
Archer
Broad
Anderson ( if fit, if not then Curran at 9 & Archer/Broad at 10/11, or if Mark Wood can get fit then he directly replaces Jimmy)

Thoughts?

[DeeTillEhDeh]

The sort of game where they need a Boycott, Gooch or, even better, a Chris Tavare - they just don't seem to have that sort of player these days - I think you always need at least one to shore up one end of the wicket and let they others play from the opposite end.

 

 

[Sir Tarmo Kink]

Will change my ideal line up yet again & go with this for NZ (bear in mind that Chris Woakes has a poor record outside the U.K.

Burns
Sibley
Root
Bairstow
Stokes [emoji767]
Roy
Foakes (wk)
Ali
Archer
Broad
Anderson ( if fit, if not then Curran at 9 & Archer/Broad at 10/11, or if Mark Wood can get fit then he directly replaces Jimmy)

Thoughts?

I’d agree although apparently Bairstow is refusing to give up the gloves. Foakes is England’s best keeper by a mile. This is the last chance I’d give Roy as well.

[peasy23]

Will change my ideal line up yet again & go with this for NZ (bear in mind that Chris Woakes has a poor record outside the U.K.

Burns
Sibley
Root
Bairstow
Stokes [emoji2398]
Roy
Foakes (wk)
Ali
Archer
Broad
Anderson ( if fit, if not then Curran at 9 & Archer/Broad at 10/11, or if Mark Wood can get fit then he directly replaces Jimmy)

Thoughts?

They've discussed Bairstow moving up a few times on Tuffers and Vaughan on 5Live, as they suggest he might be a better option up there as long as he is not keeping wicket, it's the one fielding position that will be out there for every ball. I'd be worried that having Stokes as Captain would affect his game in the same way that Root seems to have been dragged down a bit by it.

Sadly I think England have to start planning for life without Jimmy Anderson. Whether Curran or Wood is the answer I don't know. I really hope Archer's drop off in pace has been his choice rather than something in the coaching. They ruined Finn when he was younger.

[peasy23]

I’d agree although apparently Bairstow is refusing to give up the gloves. Foakes is England’s best keeper by a mile. This is the last chance I’d give Roy as well.

Bairstow should just be told then that he plays where he is told to play and if he doesn't like it he can feck off.

[Guest Moomintroll]

I’d agree although apparently Bairstow is refusing to give up the gloves. Foakes is England’s best keeper by a mile. This is the last chance I’d give Roy as well.

Bairstow, much as I do like him, appears to be labouring under the misapprehension that that is his call to make. It really is not & Ed Smith needs to do his job & do what is best for the team. If Roy fails in NZ irrespective of where he plays in the order then he has had his chances as well, with half an eye on the fragility of the top order, bring in Ollie Pope as a number 3 & or an opener alongside Burns as a proven County Partnership vs the Saffas. Bring Sibley in to play first drop & shuffle Root, Bairstow & Stokes down 1 place.

[Guest Moomintroll]

They've discussed Bairstow moving up a few times on Tuffers and Vaughan on 5Live, as they suggest he might be a better option up there as long as he is not keeping wicket, it's the one fielding position that will be out there for every ball. I'd be worried that having Stokes as Captain would affect his game in the same way that Root seems to have been dragged down a bit by it.

Sadly I think England have to start planning for life without Jimmy Anderson. Whether Curran or Wood is the answer I don't know. I really hope Archer's drop off in pace has been his choice rather than something in the coaching. They ruined Finn when he was younger.

I feel that Stokes is the sort of person who will rise to the challenge whereas it seems to cow Root. Playing him at 6 as per my second permutation & keeping him as a fourth seamer will keep his workload manageable although a strong coach will be needed to prevent him overbowling himself for the wrong reasons when things aren't going his teams way.

[peasy23]

I feel that Stokes is the sort of person who will rise to the challenge whereas it seems to cow Root. Playing him at 6 as per my second permutation & keeping him as a fourth seamer will keep his workload manageable although a strong coach will be needed to prevent him overbowling himself for the wrong reasons when things aren't going his teams way.

Definitely a very different character, and as one of the current vice captains then he is one of the most likely to step up if they do decide to make a change. I'm inclined to think they'll stick with Root at least through the winter, and it will be his call to step down if he feels he has done all he can as skipper.

[die hard doonhamer]

1 hour ago, Moomintroll said:

1 hour ago, Savage Henry said:

I’m no gambler, but I reckon you could find some decent odds on England to win the Ashes at this point in proceedings.

When one goes there will probably be a domino effect, If Denly & Roy can keep out the next spells from Hazlewood & Cummins then they might have a chance of escaping with a draw. A bit harsh on Leach but they need to bring Curran in for the Oval, his home ground & will reduce the length of the tail. It is also usually such a pace friendly pitch that Root & Denly can get away with the odd spell alongside 5 pace bowlers.

They should have done that at Lord's. Curran should have played at least 4 tests in this series.

27 minutes ago, Moomintroll said:

Will change my ideal line up yet again & go with this for NZ (bear in mind that Chris Woakes has a poor record outside the U.K.

Burns
Sibley
Root
Bairstow
Stokes ©
Roy
Foakes (wk)
Ali
Archer
Broad
Anderson ( if fit, if not then Curran at 9 & Archer/Broad at 10/11, or if Mark Wood can get fit then he directly replaces Jimmy)

Thoughts?
 

Stokes should not be made captain. The team already rely on him to be the talisman with bat, ball and in the field. Just look at the captaincy records of Botham and Flintoff.

The gloves should definitely be taken from Bairstow and given to Foakes though.

[Guest Moomintroll]

Stokes should not be made captain. The team already rely on him to be the talisman with bat, ball and in the field. Just look at the captaincy records of Botham and Flintoff.
The gloves should definitely be taken from Bairstow and given to Foakes though.

I know there is that worry, but who else is there? Root is clearly not the answer & Stuart Broad seems to be the only other candidate which would be short termism at best. Stokes might just be 3rd time lucky in iconic all rounder terms & NZ and a transitional South Africa would be the ideal time to experiment.

[Sir Tarmo Kink]

I know there is that worry, but who else is there? Root is clearly not the answer & Stuart Broad seems to be the only other candidate which would be short termism at best. Stokes might just be 3rd time lucky in iconic all rounder terms & NZ and a transitional South Africa would be the ideal time to experiment.

Agree I can’t see who else they give it to. Buttler might be a shout for the white ball captaincy if Morgan chucks it but I wouldn’t be too convinced by him as Test captain. It’s got to be Stokes, his personality is a born winner, he’d thrive under captaincy although I think he may make some rash decisions.

[Guest Moomintroll]

 

Agree I can’t see who else they give it to. Buttler might be a shout for the white ball captaincy if Morgan chucks it but I wouldn’t be too convinced by him as Test captain. It’s got to be Stokes, his personality is a born winner, he’d thrive under captaincy although I think he may make some rash decisions.

He would, he will win some & lose some but no one will ever die wondering & to be honest he can't be any worse. I would definitely retire Jos from the red ball team & make him Captain of the white ball teams if Morgan does decide to chuck it, let him concentrate on being the best he can at what he is good at rather than continuing to overwork him.

 

[Savage Henry]

Stokes should not be made captain. The team already rely on him to be the talisman with bat, ball and in the field. Just look at the captaincy records of Botham and Flintoff.

The gloves should definitely be taken from Bairstow and given to Foakes though.

 

Give the gloves to Buttler, if you feel Bairstow can’t deal with it. I think Bairstow’s batting is more of an issue at this point. Either way, whoever you pick, if the wicketkeeper is batting anything higher than 7, you’ve got yourself the wrong England team.

 

I think we’ve probably got two openers now.

 

Denly

Burns

Root

Roy

Stokes

Curran

Buttler

Ali

Archer

Broad

Anderson

 

It might simply be that those in the current 16 or 17 players are the best we have. From having 2, 3 and 5 as the problem positions, we now have 4 and 7, which I guess is progress. I’m happy with Bairstow or Buttler with the gloves, but you could always switch Ali up to 7 and bring in Foakes if you want a better gloveman.

 

 

[peasy23]

Denly gone, gloves one from Lyon which really kicked up out of the rough, sharp catch by Labuschagne at short leg.

[peasy23]

If England are going to have any chance then Bairstow and Buttler have to survive until after tea.

[RandomGuy.]

I dont follow cricket in the slightest but have ended up watching this.

It seems absolutely ridiculous to me that Australia can score over 650 runs, take (as it stands), 15 wickets, yet could still end up drawing with an England side who have scored 316 runs and taken 14 wickets.

Just seems a bit pointless.

[Muzza81]

But a football team can dominate 90 minutes, have countless shots on target, all the possession and still end up drawing. Every football fan will have celebrated a draw at some point in their lives, cricket is no different. A draw from this situation would be phenomenal.

[Sir Tarmo Kink]

I understand what Random is saying, and it’s really frustrating when a team performs shite yet sneaks a draw with 1 wicket remaining, or because of the weather. However, in T20 and ODI cricket you can limit sides in 3 ways, by taking 10 wickets, limiting the opposition score and batting them out of the game. In Test cricket you pretty much have to do all three to win the game, which is why it’s the hardest form of cricket.

[RandomGuy.]

4 minutes ago, Muzza81 said:

But a football team can dominate 90 minutes, have countless shots on target, all the possession and still end up drawing. Every football fan will have celebrated a draw at some point in their lives, cricket is no different. A draw from this situation would be phenomenal.

But it's nothing like that. 

I just don't see any point in the whole thing if you can do both possible scoring things (runs/wickets) far better than your opposition, yet end up drawing.

In football it would be like a penalty shoot out, where one team scores five, the other scores one, yet they call it a draw because the final penalty taker took ages to take it and they ran out of time.