arminisgod
Player Valuation: £35m
I had no problem batting for as long as they did... but i still take issue with them just blocking
Cricket
- Thread starter summerisle
- Start date
I had no problem batting for as long as they did... but i still take issue with them just blocking
Yes definately mate. I mean you take Roots 200 out and it's a close match. But that is what class players do, they win matches. I'm glad England have him at 4- rather than 3, They should build the team around Root and where he wants to bat.
There are still 1 or 2 absentees from this team. Crawley definately comes back in for Burns, while Bairstow is a better player currently than Lawrence (though Lawrence is a better option longer term, so thats a tough one). While Buttler bats better at 6 than 7, the focus on 6 batsman, Stokes as an allrounder and then 4 bowlers suits England better and makesthem harder to beat away. Bess, Woakes and Curran are all very handy at 8 and below, while Broad, Leach, Wood (and I still believe) Archer are useful hitters.
You can see, there will be a re-adjustment period if/when Broad and Anderson go. Reminds me a bit of the West Indies with Ambrose and Walsh. Even when they lost their pace, they gave the captain great control. I think England are handling the change over quite well, and avoiding the temptation to keep picking them both.
It's fair enough. I wasnt calling for a declaration, but to be fair had England not bowled India out people would have legimitely asked questions. On the whole, pundits hould probably wait until the end of the game to make really big calls though, and probably give the guy who makes the decision the benefit of the doubt. On the whole, I think people generally want declarations a bit too early in games.
And that's fine if your sole reason for watching is entertainment. You have every right to say it was boring and you don't like to see it. You can't argue that it was poor captaincy, muddled thinking etc though, because at the end of the day they won very comfortably with the tactics they employed, and that's what they're there to do. It's the equivalent of us beating Spurs 4-0 tomorrow having controlled the game from the off and people saying that it was poor tactically because at 3-0 we started knocking the ball around instead of going for more goals.
I remember when Vaughan and Warne played too, and the likes of Botham and Willis would always be calling for a declaration. I do wonder if there is ome golden age thinking.
As I mentioned above (so will try not to repeat) but Warne played in a very different Australia team. To a degree Michael Vaughans England team also had quite a different mentality. I listened to a fair bit of TMS last Ashes (had a fair bit of working away travelling) and Vaughan was bemoaning that they don't play proper attritional test cricket,a nd where opponents down. I do wonder if he just sort of finds a moan for the sake of it.
I know he predicted 3/4-0 for India. I never sw it that way. I thought it would be a hard series but felt England would be competitive. You can see England doing a lot right. I think Bess is underated a bitand can become a competent nunber 7 (even if he bats at 8) and they have a number of young batsman coming through who are getting better. Stokes and Buttler are also more consistent performers in the middle, and Root is a world class player, particularly in spinning conditions.
I still think the best team would be Crawley, Bairstow, Lawrence, Root, Pope, Stokes Butler, but swapping out Lawrence for Sibley is either/or at present. Thats a lineup that can score big anywhere. If Sibley can keep improving, and remove Bairstow, you have 4 or 5 very talented young batsman there.
Chris O'Connor
Player Valuation: £35m
Read Swanny's book and Fletch took exception to his attitude as an younger up and coming spinner when he wasn't exactly the best at making buses for training and doing what was required. Remembering this is seen through Swanny's eyes Fletch had possibly had more than enough of him and it wouldn't have put him in his good books.
Duncan could also bear a grudge and wouldn't easily be persuaded into a 180 degrees about turn to pick him if someone else was an alternative.
Ashley Giles was our best spinner in his time, Swanny wouldn't have been the spinner he became that early on but was always better than Panesar who Shane Warne infamously described as having bowled the same ball every time he bowled.
Monty had a nice loop and rhythm but did lack variations and something different tbh. If his natural ball and pace was perfectly suited to conditions, as in India in 2013 then he could be devastating but if it wasn't he was predictable.
Swann broke into the team and from then on they dropped Panesar unless they bowled both as in India in 2013, but really it was a year or two later than it should have been.
It's all an act with Vaughan. I've spent a bit of time with him and he's a nice bloke with pretty moderate opinions, but his media persona is to be the new Boycott, a sort of anti-establishment curmudgeon.
Yes I get that actually.
When he played, he always seemed a nice bloke, very balanced and reasonable. He was an excellent captain who the players liked and respected and was markedly different to Hussein (who also did a good job, but in a very different way). So I've never really squared it with some of the stuff you read about him now. It seems a relatively recent thing as well.
On Swann, I seem to recall Fletcher having him in his first series. He did make his mind up on players, but Swann was probably one who got away, and was a bit immature when he selected him (as a teenager if I remember correctly).
Giles performed a role for England, but you do sense Swann could have probably been in the team earlier were it not for Fletcher.
Giles in truth had rather an ugly action a spinner, but found a way to make it work for him. Panesar probably struggled for as you say, not playing on spinning pitches and an attitude that the spinner has to do a holding job. I don't think Fletcher ever really fancied him. To me he had a beautiful action, but yes he didn't really learn much varieties. I thought Panesar was a good spinner but do understand the limitations.
It's why Bess will play over Leach more often. Leach has the classically much better action, and more control, but Bess is a fighter and is a handy nuggety batsman. Ask me which one I want bowling yu to win on day 5, and it's Leach all day, but ask me which one you want in the team in all other scenario's, and it's going to be Bess- who has this wonderful nack of being able to take wickets when it doesn't look like he's bowling that well.
Chris O'Connor
Player Valuation: £35m
Yes that's exactly my impression too, I'm waiting for the hilarious Twitter parody account to get started. The Boycs one is very funny (in small doses as it does wear a bit thin after too much)
and the sledging is quite good fun too
Cool_Blue
Player Valuation: £35m
I doubted last year whether Anderson, at his age, was going to be worth selecting going forward.
I’m happy to eat humble pie on this, he was utterly brilliant today and looks to be bowling as well as he’s ever done.
His fitness at 38 in these conditions is astonishing. Tremendous fielder as well.
I’m happy to eat humble pie on this, he was utterly brilliant today and looks to be bowling as well as he’s ever done.
His fitness at 38 in these conditions is astonishing. Tremendous fielder as well.
arminisgod
Player Valuation: £35m
i love test cricket, it's my fave sport. Boring batting is part of the love of the game.
What England did is attack and then papped their pants when they lost a few wickets and then played out some time.
Great victory as it was... i don't think the tactics were correct
summerisle
The rain, it raineth every day
Well deserved for Liam Livingstone, Alex Hales looks to have been permanently binned.
www.bbc.co.uk
England in India 2021: Liam Livingstone in Twenty20 squad
Lancashire batsman Liam Livingstone is included in England's Twenty20 squad for next month's tour of India.
www.bbc.co.uk