peasy23 Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 First tour game in South Africa starts in 2 weeks ahead of a 2-month all-format tour. A lot of questions surrounding the Test selection. Burns, Sibley, Crawley (?), Denly, Root, Stokes, Pope, Bairstow (?), Buttler, Moeen (?), Leach (?), Parkinson (?), Anderson (?), Wood (?), Archer, Broad, S Curran, Woakes (?), Mahmood (?) Personally, as far as test matches go I can't see them ditching Sibley after just 2 matches, so the first 4 stays as Burns, Sibley, Denly and Root.5 & 6 Stokes and Pope or vice versa7 Bairstow or ButtlerIf they want a spinner then it has to be Moeen at 8, then 3 quicker bowlers after that, and that varies depending on who is fit. If they are all fit then Archer, Broad and Anderson, if Anderson is still injured then Woakes in his place. I do think there is a good case though for picking 4 seamers and for Root to bowl more.They had a lengthy chat last night on TMS before play started saying how hard it was for Archer to bowl quickly consistently. I don't remember that ever being a problem for Ambrose, Walsh etc. If he is going to bowl the same speeds as Broad then they would be as well leaving him out and playing Woakes or Curran who can swing it more. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lichtie78 Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 Outside Raval their top 7 all average 40+. Australia have several that do too, Warner, Smith, Khawaja, Head, Labuschagne. India have Kohli, Pujara, Rahane, Agarwal, Sharma, Pant etc. England only have Root which shows how behind in Test Cricket England are right now.Australia vs New Zealand should be an absolute belter of a series. Fancy New Zealand to cause a bit of an upset...although will be hard given there’s a D/N test, and how good australia are in those. SA vs England should be good as well. South African cricket seems to be at a real low ebb, I’m not sure about the ins and outs of it but a lot of it seems political with the race quotas, Kolpak players etc. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Tarmo Kink Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 Personally, as far as test matches go I can't see them ditching Sibley after just 2 matches, so the first 4 stays as Burns, Sibley, Denly and Root.5 & 6 Stokes and Pope or vice versa7 Bairstow or ButtlerIf they want a spinner then it has to be Moeen at 8, then 3 quicker bowlers after that, and that varies depending on who is fit. If they are all fit then Archer, Broad and Anderson, if Anderson is still injured then Woakes in his place. I do think there is a good case though for picking 4 seamers and for Root to bowl more.They had a lengthy chat last night on TMS before play started saying how hard it was for Archer to bowl quickly consistently. I don't remember that ever being a problem for Ambrose, Walsh etc. If he is going to bowl the same speeds as Broad then they would be as well leaving him out and playing Woakes or Curran who can swing it more.My lineup would be:Burns, Sibley, Denly, Root, Stokes, Pope, Buttler, Moeen, Archer, Broad, Anderson.Curran if Anderson isn’t fit and Leach if Moeen isn’t back. Crawley, Bairstow, Woakes and Parkinson (or one of Leach/Moeen) in reserve. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jupiter Jazz Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 Bob Willis dead. Gutted. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Tarmo Kink Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 Bob Willis dead. Gutted.I am genuinely gutted about that. Wondered why he wasn’t on the debate show recently as I always enjoy him on that. Rest in peace, Bob. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTG Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 29 minutes ago, Jupiter Jazz said: Bob Willis dead. Gutted. Snap. Terrific player in his day and an outstanding commentator and analyst. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peasy23 Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 Bob Willis dead. Gutted.Genuinely saddened by that. My first memory of watching cricket is the 81 Headingley Ashes test, and as brilliant as Botham and Dilley's stand was, it would have counted for nothing without Willis steaming in and skittling the Aussies out. I was just watching him and Botham reminiscing about it on Sky last week. Sky have a lot of cheerleaders on their sports coverage at times, but Bob played his role of being the complete opposite brilliantly. He got some stick from the players at times, but a lot of his criticism about England in red ball cricket has been bang on the money. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin_Nevis Posted December 5, 2019 Share Posted December 5, 2019 Bob Willis dead. Gutted.Likewise. I thoroughly enjoyed his merciless (if often OTT) takedowns of England's test performances. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Tarmo Kink Posted December 5, 2019 Share Posted December 5, 2019 It has been hinted that England are going to continue with the all-seam policy going into SA. Not sure how I feel about that, and not sure where it leaves Leach, Moeen and Parkinson in terms if squad selection. Anderson will apparently be fit, and Bairstow too, which I disagree with as what’s the point of being dropped for 2 matches and then picked again? He must have impressed the selectors in those T20 and T10 matches he’s been playing. Another slightly bizarre rumour is that Jennings (shudder) will be back for Sri Lanka. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eednud Posted December 7, 2019 Share Posted December 7, 2019 Victoria v Western Australia Sheffield Shield game at the MCG suspended during second session of first day due to a dangerous pitch.https://www.cricket.com.au/news/mcg-pitch-marsh-sheffield-shield-victoria-western-australia-dangerous-umpires-match-referee/2019-12-07 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lichtie78 Posted December 7, 2019 Share Posted December 7, 2019 Victoria v Western Australia Sheffield Shield game at the MCG suspended during second session of first day due to a dangerous pitch.https://www.cricket.com.au/news/mcg-pitch-marsh-sheffield-shield-victoria-western-australia-dangerous-umpires-match-referee/2019-12-07Pitch at MCG has been a shambles for ages. Think it still uses the old style of drop in wicket, unlike the new ones at Adelaide and Perth. Takes a few months to replace and is a non-starter apparently because of the aussie rules. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Tarmo Kink Posted December 7, 2019 Share Posted December 7, 2019 Bairstow, Wood, Anderson in. Mahmood out. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Tarmo Kink Posted December 7, 2019 Share Posted December 7, 2019 Bairstow, Wood, Anderson in. Mahmood out. Moeen apparently rejected the chance to come back, saying he’s taking a break from Test cricket. He may come back for Sri Lanka in spinning conditions, but I suspect not considering his selection for the Pakistan Super League at the same time.Means Leach is pretty much a guaranteed starter in SL with Parkinson probably starting over there too. They used 3 spinners (Mo, Rashid, Leach) last time but they might bowl Denly and Root more. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Tarmo Kink Posted December 7, 2019 Share Posted December 7, 2019 Bairstow, Wood, Anderson in. Mahmood out. Moeen apparently rejected the chance to come back, saying he’s taking a break from Test cricket. He may come back for Sri Lanka in spinning conditions, but I suspect not considering his selection for the Pakistan Super League at the same time.Means Leach is pretty much a guaranteed starter in SL with Parkinson probably starting over there too. They used 3 spinners (Mo, Rashid, Leach) last time but they might bowl Denly and Root more. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eednud Posted December 7, 2019 Share Posted December 7, 2019 Pitch at MCG has been a shambles for ages. Think it still uses the old style of drop in wicket, unlike the new ones at Adelaide and Perth. Takes a few months to replace and is a non-starter apparently because of the aussie rules.The Vic- WA game has been abandoned. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
die hard doonhamer Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 Scotland playing in the CWC league 2 against the USA in the UAE at the moment. USA won the toss and batted first, scoring 282/8. Scotland just lost their second wicket, 16-2 from 4.2. Both openers gone. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Tarmo Kink Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 Scotland playing in the CWC league 2 against the USA in the UAE at the moment. USA won the toss and batted first, scoring 282/8. Scotland just lost their second wicket, 16-2 from 4.2. Both openers gone. USA beat the UAE yesterday and have set a decent total of 282. They’re also coming straight off participating (although the came last in Group B ) in the Super50, the West Indies’ 50-over competition. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
die hard doonhamer Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 Michael Jones brings up his 50. MacLeod still there on 39. 109/2 from 23.3. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzyBear Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 Gubbed by 35 runs. -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
die hard doonhamer Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 Fell apart once the Budge/MacLeod partnership was broken. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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