Savage Henry Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Is Bairstow really any better than Bell or Ballance? I'm not convinced. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerrdavidson95 Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Whats pleasing to see is England fail in their new "positive approach" after being hailed as tactical geniuses following the New Zealand series draw and a few good one day results. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
die hard doonhamer Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Is Bairstow really any better than Bell or Ballance? I'm not convinced. Maybe not in terms of full potential, but he is in fantastic form just now, which can't be ignored. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmothecat Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I'd agree with a lot of that, however with the push for Bairstow to be selected based on current form, the same principle doesn't appear to be applicable to Pietersen. Strauss has said that he can't be selected due to a "massive trust issue", yet the England captain has quite clearly lied through his teeth in his post-match interview regarding the preparation of the pitch. There's a difference between trust between the players and trust between the players and us. I've been in two minds about the decision, but they've made it and moved on. I would drop Bell and Lyth, get Bairstow and Rashid in and put Moeen up the order. Bairstow has an average this summer of over 100 in the county game, and whilst there's a difference between what he's faced playing for Yorkshire and the Aussie attack he is in great form and England's top order clearly isn't working. Even in Cardiff there were big question marks. Currently I would keep Ballance in for Edgbaston but I would think he's on thin ice. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage Henry Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 There's a difference between trust between the players and trust between the players and us. I've been in two minds about the decision, but they've made it and moved on. I would drop Bell and Lyth, get Bairstow and Rashid in and put Moeen up the order. Bairstow has an average this summer of over 100 in the county game, and whilst there's a difference between what he's faced playing for Yorkshire and the Aussie attack he is in great form and England's top order clearly isn't working. Even in Cardiff there were big question marks. Currently I would keep Ballance in for Edgbaston but I would think he's on thin ice. Trouble with bringing in Rashid and Bairstow for Lyth and Bell is that you are still an opener short. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainspotter Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 There's a difference between trust between the players and trust between the players and us. It's a fair point, though every unsuccessful campaign needs a scapegoat - it was Pietersen after the last Ashes and Moores after the World Cup. Cook has clearly lied regarding the pitch preparation, so should he be punted if England don't regain the Urn? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
die hard doonhamer Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Trouble with bringing in Rashid and Bairstow for Lyth and Bell is that you are still an opener short.Moeen to open, he seems to have batted everywhere else. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WullieBroonIsGod Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I always felt Nick Compton was unjustly thrown aside. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarto Mutiny Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I always felt Nick Compton was unjustly thrown aside. With hindsight, Michael Carberry wasn't that bad either. He usually failed to build on decent starts, but at least he made decent starts 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Skidmarks Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 It's 1-1 in the series. Fair enough the nature of the defeat might smart a little, but Lyth has had 4 tests in his career, Ballance was in great nick prior to this series and Bell is one of England's finest batsmen. Sweeping changes isn't England's style and they'll be anxious to avenge this. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dorlomin Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 It's 1-1 in the series. Fair enough the nature of the defeat might smart a little, but Lyth has had 4 tests in his career, Ballance was in great nick prior to this series and Bell is one of England's finest batsmen. Sweeping changes isn't England's style and they'll be anxious to avenge this. Ballance and Lyth have very obvious technical flaws that are being exploited by some of the fastest and most accurate bowlers in world cricket. Lyth has problems with width and Ballance is too deep in his crease. If your bat is mm's in the wrong place for thousands of a second too long these guys will have you. The Kiwis had injuries so there were places to hide, the Saffas with Steyn\Philander\Morkel are the only real comparable examination. Hazlewood looks like he has a big big career ahead of him, Starc is rapidly developing as a major and Johnson has bloomed a little late but is vying with Steyn for the best quick of the current era. Millimeters\milliseconds wrong and your f*cked. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swarley Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Who was the bowler who had a sly rub there? http://m.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/the-ashes/ashes-2015-video-goes-viral-after-woman-misses-chair-and-falls-down-20150718-gifi10.html 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
booitsme7 Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Who was the bowler who had a sly rub there? http://m.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/the-ashes/ashes-2015-video-goes-viral-after-woman-misses-chair-and-falls-down-20150718-gifi10.html Joe Root http://youtu.be/tL66piutuig 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjw Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 7 times in the last 14 Test innings England have been 50-3 or more down. They might get away with stats like that now and again but those kind of starts won't win ashes series. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Skidmarks Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Ballance and Lyth have very obvious technical flaws that are being exploited by some of the fastest and most accurate bowlers in world cricket. Lyth has problems with width and Ballance is too deep in his crease. If your bat is mm's in the wrong place for thousands of a second too long these guys will have you. The Kiwis had injuries so there were places to hide, the Saffas with Steyn\Philander\Morkel are the only real comparable examination. Hazlewood looks like he has a big big career ahead of him, Starc is rapidly developing as a major and Johnson has bloomed a little late but is vying with Steyn for the best quick of the current era. Millimeters\milliseconds wrong and your f*cked. Not buying the Kiwi comparison. Boult and Southee are two top bowlers and were swinging it. Lyth has had 8 innings and in one of them he bagged a century. Ballance had a fantastic average prior to the last game and had a great series against India. Everyone is going to point out flaws when things aren't going well like they have done previously to Cook, but it's how you work on them to develop your game like Steve Smith has done. Australia have fantastic bowlers and always will, you're demanding too much too soon. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H_B Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 (edited) Need at least 2 changes to the batting line up for the next test. The fact it's at Edgbaston might save Bell's place for one more test. Can't continue with Lyth and Ballance in the top 3 though. Problem is who do you pick? Bairstow should play, and you really have to go with Hales. He might fail, but I'd have more confidence in him than Lyth who looks awful. Edited July 20, 2015 by H_B 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WullieBroonIsGod Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 The real trouble is England have 3 of the top 4 woefully out of nick at the same time. Any side can carry an out of form player if others in the top 6 are scoring big hundreds, and in time the runs return. It wasn't that long ago Cook couldn't tell you where his off stump was. However, with numbers 1,3 and 4 all prodding tentatively or wafting outside off, the bowling side know they can get on top of them easily. Let's not forget Cardiff could have been very different if Haddin had held on to Root in the first innings. It's a tough call for Strauss, Ballance and Lyth have obvious flaws which can be worked on in the nets. Bell is a confidence issue, which isn't as easy to work on. Bairstow and Taylor are making runs in county cricket too, and will be just waiting on a phone call 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H_B Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Bairstow and Taylor are making runs in county cricket too, and will be just waiting on a phone call Australia have shown in the last test that the "be wary of making changes" lot are wrong as often as they are right. Watson and Haddin out and their replacements are an immediate success. If you have 3 guys who you fully expect will struggle to make 50 between them in the next innings, you have to take the chance to make changes. Worst case scenario, the likes of Hales, Taylor, Hildreth and Bairstow will make 7 too. which is all the other three are in all probability going to achieve. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Cort's Hamstring Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 With hindsight, Michael Carberry wasn't that bad either. He usually failed to build on decent starts, but at least he made decent starts Just looked it up, and I was surprised to see he was actually our second highest run scorer in that series. His one effort that sticks in the mind was him taking over 2 hours to score 12 runs in the 4th test, at a time when we were trying to extend our lead rather than bat out a draw. It was one of the most supremely pointless things I've ever seen in sport. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H_B Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 What's that Pietersen fella up to these days? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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