The Cricket Thread

[peasy23]

You can accuse Watto of many thing, but certainly not poor bowling.

He was sorely missed by the Aussies in the second innings when England's scoring got out of control, his economy rate is superb. Only criticism could be that he doesn't take enough wickets, he has 64 wickets in 68 innings bowled, but with an economy rate of less than 2.76 per over. There are very few more economic than that.

[Christophe]

wimmin's ashes

Laura Marsh's half century was an admirable effort but it occupied 291 balls, with the Kent all-rounder's first boundary being struck off her 225th delivery. This on a ground with a very fast outfield.

proper proper proper creekit, take note Trotty mate.

[AberdeenBud]

He was sorely missed by the Aussies in the second innings when England's scoring got out of control, his economy rate is superb. Only criticism could be that he doesn't take enough wickets, he has 64 wickets in 68 innings bowled, but with an economy rate of less than 2.76 per over. There are very few more economic than that.

IIRC Sky showed his maiden % as being close to 50% and double that of the next best bowler.

[die hard doonhamer]

I see Mohammed Asif has finally admitted his role in the spot fixing scandal. Does anyone think these guys will return to test cricket when their bans are over? Asif will be 32, Butt 30 and Amir 24 when their 5 year bans are up. I can only reasonably see Amir coming back, he looked to have huge potential.

[Reynard]

I see Mohammed Asif has finally admitted his role in the spot fixing scandal. Does anyone think these guys will return to test cricket when their bans are over? Asif will be 32, Butt 30 and Amir 24 when their 5 year bans are up. I can only reasonably see Amir coming back, he looked to have huge potential.

Amir did look like he would be an outstanding bowler. He had a good action, he was fast, he swung it and moved it around on surfaces ordinarly bowlers would struggle on. I felt quite gutted that were were going to be deprived of seeing that kid grow into a top quality bowler, maybe he can come back from this? A shame.

[Reynard]

I agree with most of that but I think Watson is one of the worst no. 6's ever. As you say he is an LBW disaster zone and England appear to have worked him out. His bowling is poor and he is as slow as a week in the jail in the field. Plus I would not be surprised if the rumours of him being a bad influence in the dressing room were true.

I dont think so. He will never sort out his LBW issue, but he can score runs up there no bother. He is in there for his bowling as much as anything anyway, he is a very important bowler to the Aussies, and the fact he can help build pressure by simply bowling maidens is worth a lot to them. Its actually a big part of their bowling plan in this series and he has made his contribution. I have no idea whether the tales of him being disruptive are true or not. I doubt it though as you simply cant have that on a long tour like this. Im sure not all players get on brilliantly with their team mates, thats pretty normal and in cricketing circles on long tours they know how to cope with these things, its not exactly unusual.

[MB]

I see Mohammed Asif has finally admitted his role in the spot fixing scandal. Does anyone think these guys will return to test cricket when their bans are over? Asif will be 32, Butt 30 and Amir 24 when their 5 year bans are up. I can only reasonably see Amir coming back, he looked to have huge potential.

 

 

Amir did look like he would be an outstanding bowler. He had a good action, he was fast, he swung it and moved it around on surfaces ordinarly bowlers would struggle on.  I felt quite gutted that were were going to be deprived of seeing that kid grow into a top quality bowler, maybe he can come back from this? A shame.

Amir looked absolutely outstanding and I was also gutted when his role in the spot fixing scandal was exposed. I'll never forget listening to Michael Holding fighting back the tears talking about Amir. I hope we see this lad again because he looked very special indeed.

[Charlie Lytwyn]

Watson the worst no. 6 ever?

Nah. That was Stuart "the walking wicket" Carlisle of Zimbabwe, who also opened as well, bless him. Makes Watson look like Brian Lara by comparison.

[Fuctifano]

I would also think there were a number of English candidates in the 90s / early 00s for worst ever #6. Aftab Habib anyone?

Bresnan out of the 5th test and a fair bit after that with a stress fracture in the back. Short term this probably means Tremlett will play instead next week, he might have done anyway in place of Anderson had Bresnan not been crocked.

[Reynard]

I would also think there were a number of English candidates in the 90s / early 00s for worst ever #6. Aftab Habib anyone?

Bresnan out of the 5th test and a fair bit after that with a stress fracture in the back. Short term this probably means Tremlett will play instead next week, he might have done anyway in place of Anderson had Bresnan not been crocked.

It is probably going to be Tremlett in for Bresnan then. No rest for Jimmy yet. Too bad for Bresnan actually as he did a good job when he has played so far. Tremlett should do OK though and he might ruffle the Aussies a bit. He probably isn't going to rip through their batting line up all the same, but if he is on song he is a big problem on fast bouncy wickets.

England will be going in with quite a long tail though especially with Prior having done f**k all with the bat. He is due some runs though but he is way out of form and his keeping is fairly shit too anyway. I can understand why Geoffrey is calling on Bairstow to be given more wicket keeping duties in the near future with an eye on replacing Prior in due course. Bairstow coming in at seven makes a bit more sense than him coming in at six with his flawed technique and playing across the line all the time. As a destructive wicket keeper/batsman in the Prior type mould he will do for me actually.

Bresnan has to put his body right through the mill in order to bowl at "test pace" and it is certainly going to take its toll on him if he plays many more tests. Its a shame as he is quite close to being a half decent all rounder type if he can manage to bat like he did in the last test, he is no mug as a batsman and should have shown it a lot more for England. Hopefully he can be fit enough to get in the tour party.

[Jupiter Jazz]

Personally would rather see Kieswetter or Buttler replacing Prior over time. Kieswetter is one of if not the form batsman in the country and should be playing as a bat only ahead of Bairstow now.

[Fuctifano]

Some performance from Northants to win the T20 by 102 runs, David Willey (son of Peter) took the headlines- 60 off 27 balls, 4 wickets, including 9, 10 and jack with a hat trick to seal it, a catch, a direct hit run out from long on, and best of all a mid-game interview where he said he was glad he'd smacked Dernbach around a bit because he doesn't particularly like him.

Always good to see one of the smaller, less heralded counties winning rather than Surrey / Yorks / Lancs.

Edited August 17, 2013 by Fuctifano

[The Woolshed]

Everything he touched in that final turned gold. Was loving the crowd giving Wilson so much air time. Looked completely clueless as to why haha.

[WullieBroonIsGod]

England squad for the fifth test.

Cook ©, Anderson, Bairstow, Bell, Broad, Finn, Kerrigan, Pietersen, Prior, Root, Trott, Swann Tremlett, Woakes.

[The Woolshed]

I like the idea of Kerrigan getting a try. Seems to have a very good county record. As for Woakes, I still don't think he's developed as I thought 2/3 years ago he might. His batting and bowling are both good, but neither are excellent. And whether this is good enough for Test cricket remains to be seen. I have my doubts though.

[WullieBroonIsGod]

I like the idea of Kerrigan getting a try. Seems to have a very good county record. As for Woakes, I still don't think he's developed as I thought 2/3 years ago he might. His batting and bowling are both good, but neither are excellent. And whether this is good enough for Test cricket remains to be seen. I have my doubts though.

Yeah I tend to agree. I think if an allrounder is selected, he has to be test class at one discipline. Kallis etc. Though in fairness they really are few and far between.

[Arthur Orton]

I think Panesar's off field behaviour will possibly do for him long term. Can't see him coming back unless he get's himself sorted out.

Edited August 18, 2013 by Tynieness

[Fuctifano]

Probably worth getting Kerrigan and Woakes into the squad, if not the XI for this test with a view to the last spot or injury backups for the return series.

As it stands, if they're all fit then you'd have the XI that started the last test, plus 5 more (Bairstow will be reserve keeper)

Tremlett

Finn

Reserve batsman (probably Taylor)

Second spinner (looks like Kerrigan has went ahead of Tredwell / Monty)

Final spot (Onions / Woakes / AN Other)

I can see Onions being the man to miss out if everyone is fit.

I did also read on twitter this morning that Monty's maybe had more indiscretions in the past wee while but only the pissing on a bouncer one has come to light.

[Reynard]

I think Panesar's off field behaviour will possibly do for him long term. Can't see him coming back unless he get's himself sorted out.

He's finished, whatever has gone wrong in his personal life has spilled over into his cricket now. A shame really as he is a good bowler and was being picked for squads ahead of Kerrigam because he is a better bowler at the moment.

As for who plays. Neither of the two newbies willplay. Its a sdtraight pick between Finn and Tremlett. I saw Tremlett in some t20 game last week and he was barely scraping 80mph and looked unfit. I think this was maybe down to the run up being wet and he was protecting himself a bit, but his record in county cricket has not exactly been screaming at the selectors to pick him. I'd still possibly sway towards Finn, he is younger and he is faster and the oval wicket should suit him OK. That said, it would also suit a fully fit Tremlett and if there is any doubt whatsoever about his ability to lay it on the line in this test he shouldnt be getting picked. Everyone knows what he could do when he was fit, but although he has been getting over in for his county, he hasn't been getting rave reviews. Those two are both new ball bowlers and need to be given the fucking new ball so they can make the most of their game.

I dont see any other unenforced changes for this. The Tremlett thing is the only real area they might debate I think. I suppose they will be lookig hard at him in practice though and he was drafted in for the last test for the same reason.

[Fuctifano]

aye, Monty has been binned by Sussex with 2 years still left on his deal. Long way back from there to international cricket, time's not really on his side either at 31.