Cricket

Chris O'Connor said:
For Johannesburg i think theyll stick with Bess to rotate the seamers, if Archer is fully fit then Curran looks the man to miss out for me.

Wood, Broad, Archer, Stokes and Bess looks a good attack for the Wanderers.

Five seamers seems overkill and Bess can contain allowing short spells from the really quick Wood and Archer with Broad opening the bowling. Stokes isn't normally overused these days as a seamer so Bess will play a vital role.

Sam Curran hasn't any real pace and the Wanderers is a ground where real pace can pay dividends, the tail will be longish but Bess has made a test fifty and Wood showed he can be a useful hitter.

Buttler is under serious pressure for his place and urgently needs to contribute with the bat, Ben Foakes looks almost a shoe in for Sri Lanka and Buttler won't find it easy to get back in. Both Foakes and Bairstow are his competition and both will be eyeing up the keeper role after Sri Lanka.
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I'm a big admirer of Foulkes but he had a poor season with the bat last year, hence him fading from the scene. I agree about Buttler, though, and it could be that England will 'rest' him for Sri Lanka. Foulkes is bar far the best keeper of the three and I'd like to see Bairstow earn a recall through runs for Yorkshire next season rather than a seemingly automatic recall, so it would be good if they selectors could show some faith in Foulkes.
 
Chris O'Connor said:
Bess is far from experienced and still learning the art but rarely have England had a spinner who's such a quick learner with such a perfect temperament to cope.

He's not only shown his abilities as a containing bowler in the last test but now with conditions more in his favour has turned up and exceeded expectations as a wicket taker. If Root had caught Nortje, as he could and should have, he'd have six

He's still young and spinners don't normally reach their prime until their late twenties at the earliest but his future looks bright indeed.

It was a massively fortuitous stroke of luck or good thinking when they looked outside of the squad for a replacement to Leach having mistakenly left him out in the first place, but he's capitalised fully on it.
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I agree that it's great to see Bess improving - however, I would say that SA are the worst of all the major test playing teams at playing spin. Sri Lanka, in conditions that will almost certainly favour him more, will be a bigger test, even though their current side is mediocre.

Chris O'Connor said:
Not sure he'll stay in the side when Aiden Markram gets fit again.
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Given the state of their batting and the possible retirement of Du Plessis, those two and Elgar could bat at 1, 2, and 3.
 
BigMick said:
I'm a big admirer of Foulkes but he had a poor season with the bat last year, hence him fading from the scene. I agree about Buttler, though, and it could be that England will 'rest' him for Sri Lanka. Foulkes is bar far the best keeper of the three and I'd like to see Bairstow earn a recall through runs for Yorkshire next season rather than a seemingly automatic recall, so it would be good if they selectors could show some faith in Foulkes.
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Yes Foukes batting has been far from impressive in the championship this season, the championship for the most part takes place at the start and end of the county season. It is almost the outside wrapper for the glut of white ball cricket that encapsulates most of the season and therefore tends to give green result seaming wickets suitable for the 70 mph dibbly dobbly seamers that move the ball a bit in the air and off the seam and that predominate in the county game.

Foukes has never had any real pretentions as a batter on English wickets, or for that matter on most wickets outside the subcontinent, Sri Lanka however provide wickets that are spin friendly, although sometimes slow, turners. There is no pace, no seam movement, no movement through the air, no intimidation factor and no fear, being able to bat well on such a wicket hardly makes you a good batter on normal domestic wickets with only Taunton coming close.

We can judge that his run of domestic low scores won't give Foukes any real confidence when going into bat but it's to be hoped the special circumstances that is Sri Lanka and memories of having batted exceptionally well there before on his last visit, will still serve him well if called upon.

Tbh because of the above reasoning it's unlikely Foukes would be there for longer than Sri Lanka because of his inability to bat in English (or any non subcontinental conditions he doesn't cope well with the moving ball. It would therefore badly affect the balance of the side if the keeper is a non batter. I see Buttler and Bairstow battling for the position thos summer as the balance of the side is better with a batsman keeper and there isn't too much standing up to spin in England.
 
Chris O'Connor said:
Yes Foukes batting has been far from impressive in the championship this season, the championship for the most part takes place at the start and end of the county season. It is almost the outside wrapper for the glut of white ball cricket that encapsulates most of the season and therefore tends to give green result seaming wickets suitable for the 70 mph dibbly dobbly seamers that move the ball a bit in the air and off the seam and that predominate in the county game.

Foukes has never had any real pretentions as a batter on English wickets, or for that matter on most wickets outside the subcontinent, Sri Lanka however provide wickets that are spin friendly, although sometimes slow, turners. There is no pace, no seam movement, no movement through the air, no intimidation factor and no fear, being able to bat well on such a wicket hardly makes you a good batter on normal domestic wickets with only Taunton coming close.

We can judge that his run of domestic low scores won't give Foukes any real confidence when going into bat but it's to be hoped the special circumstances that is Sri Lanka and memories of having batted exceptionally well there before on his last visit, will still serve him well if called upon.

Tbh because of the above reasoning it's unlikely Foukes would be there for longer than Sri Lanka because of his inability to bat in English (or any non subcontinental conditions he doesn't cope well with the moving ball. It would therefore badly affect the balance of the side if the keeper is a non batter. I see Buttler and Bairstow battling for the position thos summer as the balance of the side is better with a batsman keeper and there isn't too much standing up to spin in England.
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Think you're being a little harsh about Foakes batting ability: his career average of 38 compares favourably with Buttler (32) and is only a little behind Bairstow (43). He certainly doesn't have the ability to play one of those genius innings that Buttler can play, but one of those hasn't been seen for a while, and the Bairstow of a couple of years ago was in a different class to Foakes with the bat, but I think he could slot in nicely at number 7. He regularly bats at 5 for Surrey - ahead of Pope, although that won't last for long! So for me, if they do pick him for Sri Lanka and he does well, he should stay in the team as long as he deserves to, home or away.

Having said that, it's not beyond Buttler to cement his place in the team by hammering a spectacular century at Jo'burg.
 
BigMick said:
Think you're being a little harsh about Foakes batting ability: his career average of 38 compares favourably with Buttler (32) and is only a little behind Bairstow (43). He certainly doesn't have the ability to play one of those genius innings that Buttler can play, but one of those hasn't been seen for a while, and the Bairstow of a couple of years ago was in a different class to Foakes with the bat, but I think he could slot in nicely at number 7. He regularly bats at 5 for Surrey - ahead of Pope, although that won't last for long! So for me, if they do pick him for Sri Lanka and he does well, he should stay in the team as long as he deserves to, home or away.

Having said that, it's not beyond Buttler to cement his place in the team by hammering a spectacular century at Jo'burg.
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Yes I was referring to his county batting form of last season, not his whole first class career. Over his whole career his batting isn't that bad at all but unfortunately he suffered a real dip last season. One season's poor returns aren't really enough to drop his career average that much but does point to an enduring lack of confidence as he never recovered form at any time.

Maybe, and I feel certain he'll tour and very likely play, he will make runs in Sri Lanka, good memories and favourite grounds do affect cricketers too and he's bound to feel right at home on those wickets. A few scores and confidence improved could well lead to a longer spell in the side although with balance in mind I suspect the probability is that Buttler and Bairstow will be exerting maximum pressure if they can make early season championship runs and will be preferred.

The Wanderers wicket for the fourth test will give no guide whatsoever for Sri Lanka, standing back to the seamers is not something Jos would be doing a lot of in Sri Lanka if selected in fact quite the opposite.

So although no guide whatsoever for Sri Lanka, the fourth test wicket is likely to suit Jos far more and he's much better with the far easier task of standing back. So his keeping ability standing back is good enough whereas standing up he falls well short off the mark. Runs will help his cause but he himself may also well decide that his future could lie in taking over the one day side captaincy after Eoin Morgan calls it a day, possibly after the two world T20 tournaments that are on the horizon.
 
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Archer fully fit after peppering Jos Buttler in the nets. Buttler, in for extra nets to try and do something about his miserable run, had to take several blows to the body as Jofra fired up to full throttle.

The enticing prospect of a revitalised Mark Wood and Jofra on a bouncy fast Wanderers wicket may be too tempting for Root to pass up and the prospect of five seamers is still possible.

I would play Bess and drop Curran but whoever he picks is likely to find the wicket of some help and they may find the variation and swing of Curran preferable. Last time Chris Woakes was the star turn finding plenty of help so it's not just raw pace that's suitable. Woakes himself is also very much another option.

Mark Wood hasn't played back to back tests in a week for some considerable time and they may elect to stay on the side of caution and leave him out for this one.

The England coach will be anxious to talk to Moeen who with Adil Rashid arrives this week for the one dayers. Moeen has said he's not ready to return to test cricket yet but hasn't completely ruled out the Sri Lanka tour.

England are preparing to leave Broad and Anderson at home for the Sri Lanka tour with at least two and possibly three spinners starting the tests. If two then Root and Denly could provide third spinner cover and give a real pace option with perhaps Wood and Archer relying on pace through the air on the notoriously slow and dead turners.
 
The U19 World Cup has started in South Africa. England lost their first match against the West Indies. England are playing Australia today : England 252-7 (50 overs), Australia 165-5, 33.2 overs. Need 87 off 13.3 overs.
 

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