England squad, as you'd expect, unchanged for the first Pakistan test
Will the lineup change? I doubt it
Will the lineup change? I doubt it
Cricket
- Thread starter summerisle
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summerisle
The rain, it raineth every day
Is at Old Trafford again ?
Yes, first at Lancs, second two in Southampton
Chris O'Connor
Player Valuation: £35m
Wouldn't be at all surprised although to some extent they got away with a weak batting line up against the Windies thanks to Broad's batting heroics. Stokes being unable to bowl forced them down this route.
Pakistan are a better team and to go in with only 5 batsmen plus Buttler is really a risk when they could bring back Crawley. Stokes is the key for me, he bowled before play yesterday and if he can bowl next week he could easily be the fourth seamer. Dropping Bess and playing five seamers if the weather is dodgy might work although really the fifth seamer is usually hardy bowled as it's really one too many.
Same again, drop Bess for Crawley or drop a seamer (almost certainly Archer) for Crawley, seem the alternatives. Six batters just seems far more sensible if they want to score over 400 as per the plan. Pakistan really are a better side than the Windies.
Chris O'Connor
Player Valuation: £35m
Babar Azam and Azhar Ali are world class performers, Pakistan will score s lot more runs than the Windies and my inclination is it would be suicide to make it much more on only five batters to get the runs, we saw what the England lower order can do when they're all bowlers, if it hadn't been for Broad's exceptional hitting we would have absolutely collapsed from something for 4 to not much more all out.
We need that sixth batsman wicketkeeper and four bowlers. A balanced attack includes a spinner but we're lucky in that Stokes is an all rounder and can be that fourth seamer. I can't see them dropping Anderson in this test but probably will do the second. Jofra didn't have his best game and doesn't do enough with the dukes ball at a slower pace, he hardly gets any swing or movement. He needs harder pitches to be at his best where real pace gets full value (as does Wood).
india is the winter tour, Bess is learning and would be my choice to stand down if only considering this test, but he needs experience to improve before they go and there is no other cricket, so I think it unlikely they'll go down this route.
Same again or Crawley for Archer is my guess.
We need that sixth batsman wicketkeeper and four bowlers. A balanced attack includes a spinner but we're lucky in that Stokes is an all rounder and can be that fourth seamer. I can't see them dropping Anderson in this test but probably will do the second. Jofra didn't have his best game and doesn't do enough with the dukes ball at a slower pace, he hardly gets any swing or movement. He needs harder pitches to be at his best where real pace gets full value (as does Wood).
india is the winter tour, Bess is learning and would be my choice to stand down if only considering this test, but he needs experience to improve before they go and there is no other cricket, so I think it unlikely they'll go down this route.
Same again or Crawley for Archer is my guess.
summerisle
The rain, it raineth every day
I notice that Moeen Ali has been made vice-captain for the one-dayers against Ireland in the coming week. Could be an option for the test team further down the line.
Chris O'Connor
Player Valuation: £35m
Tbh with the virus situation and the way India is atm I wouldn't be that surprised if they don't go at all this Winter, and that's besides any second wave hitting here. Big question mark over cricket tours though, maybe an opportunity to go to the Carribbean if it's off?
At least the September October white ball leg, the tests aren't until Jan 2021
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Azam averages over 60 in Asia, but about 30 runs less everywhere else. It's one thing duffing Sri Lanka and Bangladesh around in friendly conditions. Quite another to do likewise to a decent attack in bowler friendly conditions.
Chris O'Connor
Player Valuation: £35m
Having look at the 14 man odi squad (without their test stars in Stokes, Root, Woakes, Buttler, Wood, Sam Curran and Archer although Sam's brother Tom is normally preferred for the white ball stuff) it looks as though they can field a useful England XI even so.
I think they'll possibly leave out Denly, Dawson and Topley.
So Roy, Bairstow, Vince, Morgan, Billings, Banton, Moeen, Rashid, Willey, Tom Curran, Mahmood,
The lower order batting may be changed as not sure if Willey maybe ahead of Adil Rashid.
The world cup final team was Roy, Bairstow, Root, Morgan, Stokes, Buttler, Woakes, Plunkett, Archer, Rashid, Wood
Roy, Bairstow and Morgan the three survivors, although Ali and Vince were in the squad. Tbh Vince was a bit of a disaster when he subbed for the injured Roy in the earlier matches. Willey was the unlucky bowler to miss out when Archer was included.
A few real prospects to look out for,
Tom Banton can be a big hitter even if he's struggled in his previous England appearances.
Sam Billings is better known and a quality player in his own right, injury denied him the chance to maybe be selected for the world cup.
James Vince is good at county level and has the capability.
Tom Curran excels at death bowling at the end and has that 'family' competitive streak that Sam shows in tests
Saqib Mahmood of Lancs is someone the England selectors have really earmarked for a big future at international level. He can bowl fast and even at this early stage might be eyeing up a breakthrough into the longer format and a possible ashes place. He could be key to the white ball side going forward too and the potential couple of world T20 tournaments coming up over the next few years
I think they'll possibly leave out Denly, Dawson and Topley.
So Roy, Bairstow, Vince, Morgan, Billings, Banton, Moeen, Rashid, Willey, Tom Curran, Mahmood,
The lower order batting may be changed as not sure if Willey maybe ahead of Adil Rashid.
The world cup final team was Roy, Bairstow, Root, Morgan, Stokes, Buttler, Woakes, Plunkett, Archer, Rashid, Wood
Roy, Bairstow and Morgan the three survivors, although Ali and Vince were in the squad. Tbh Vince was a bit of a disaster when he subbed for the injured Roy in the earlier matches. Willey was the unlucky bowler to miss out when Archer was included.
A few real prospects to look out for,
Tom Banton can be a big hitter even if he's struggled in his previous England appearances.
Sam Billings is better known and a quality player in his own right, injury denied him the chance to maybe be selected for the world cup.
James Vince is good at county level and has the capability.
Tom Curran excels at death bowling at the end and has that 'family' competitive streak that Sam shows in tests
Saqib Mahmood of Lancs is someone the England selectors have really earmarked for a big future at international level. He can bowl fast and even at this early stage might be eyeing up a breakthrough into the longer format and a possible ashes place. He could be key to the white ball side going forward too and the potential couple of world T20 tournaments coming up over the next few years
Chris O'Connor
Player Valuation: £35m
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Pakistan don't play as many tests as England but here are the stats on tours against other nations that are not Bangladesh or Sri Lanka
On his only tour of England (just breaking through) one innings only 68 not out in 2018
On his last Aus tour 2018/19 average 52.5
On his last tour of South Africa 2018/19 average 36.0
Test average against all nations 45.00
Perhaps although not perfect, I'm not pretending it's test cricket, an indication can be gleaned from the odi world cup in England, it was generally a low scoring one with no totals of 400 and no huge scoring.
Babar scored 474 from 8 innings (7 times out) so an average of high 60's
He's not a Jason Roy, someone who may excel only at white ball as his averages show, he plays proper cricket shots.
He's passed the eye test for me and while of course it's easier at home on flat wickets against soft touches, he's quality anyway as his stats show it against far better sides in their own conditions.
An awful lot of players in the subcontinent struggle against the moving ball, and possibly why India get beaten by such large scores when they tour over here, the 4-1 last time out being the norm as the score is 11-2 from their last three tours over here. Even Virat Kohli has had his well documented troubles, with the last tour the first time he has eventually managed to find a way and he's the number two in the world (behind Steve Smith).
Pakistan don't play as many tests as England but here are the stats on tours against other nations that are not Bangladesh or Sri Lanka
On his only tour of England (just breaking through) one innings only 68 not out in 2018
On his last Aus tour 2018/19 average 52.5
On his last tour of South Africa 2018/19 average 36.0
Test average against all nations 45.00
Perhaps although not perfect, I'm not pretending it's test cricket, an indication can be gleaned from the odi world cup in England, it was generally a low scoring one with no totals of 400 and no huge scoring.
Babar scored 474 from 8 innings (7 times out) so an average of high 60's
He's not a Jason Roy, someone who may excel only at white ball as his averages show, he plays proper cricket shots.
He's passed the eye test for me and while of course it's easier at home on flat wickets against soft touches, he's quality anyway as his stats show it against far better sides in their own conditions.
An awful lot of players in the subcontinent struggle against the moving ball, and possibly why India get beaten by such large scores when they tour over here, the 4-1 last time out being the norm as the score is 11-2 from their last three tours over here. Even Virat Kohli has had his well documented troubles, with the last tour the first time he has eventually managed to find a way and he's the number two in the world (behind Steve Smith).
He's undoubtedly their best batsman, but I would think it will be another series with the ball largely on top, and England should go into it as strong favourites, especially as they've had three competitive matches to warm up.
Chris O'Connor
Player Valuation: £35m
If it's a repeat of the weather we've had recently you would think it almost certain to be the case but there are some signs it could be quite different.
Looking ahead on the BBC weather app to next Wednesday in rain city, it's living up to it's reputation as despite a predicted temperature around 20C there's an indication of morning rain. So much to the expected plan then ....
However from the Thursday onwards the temperatures do pick up and the sun shines which could easily mean batting conditions. Even the Wednesday won't be cold - the pitch may harden up taking an increasing amount of spin - have Pakistan ordered the weather?
Also this series is quite different in that it's only the one test at rain city and two at Southampton where the weather on the whole is far more likely to be decent.
This just could be very different conditions from that prevalent in the Windies series.
summerisle
The rain, it raineth every day
Deny out with a back injury.