Cricket

Cool_Blue said:
Why Jack Leach is hardly talked about I’m not sure, he’s never let England down, offers a different spin option and is a gutsy tail end batsman. Will never forget that match winning effort against the Aussies.
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It's the batting that concerns them. They can't balance the side without Stokes. Woakes would help but I think he's injured at the minute.

I would be inclined to play Leach instead of the extra batsman but I can see why they don't want to do it. I really don't think Moeen is any worse a batsman than Lawrence or Pope so I would still pick him as the spinner.
 
Cool_Blue said:
Why Jack Leach is hardly talked about I’m not sure, he’s never let England down, offers a different spin option and is a gutsy tail end batsman. Will never forget that match winning effort against the Aussies.
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Yes he's a more consistent and reliable off spinner than Moeen but possibly doesn't have much variety of deliveries in his locker. Almost as if he bowls the same delivery six times in the over. He'll always be successful on huge turning bouncy purposely suited wickets like Taunton but isn't going to bowl anyone out at test level even in the subcontinent.

England's massive weakness with the enforced absence of Stokes' and to a lesser extent Woakes is the batting. It's not even close - anything which weakens an already massive weakest link is a retrograde step, therefore a spinner like Leach would have to replace a non batting bowler - so not Robinson or even Curran. Replacing Anderson with Leach wouldn't be good so it may have to be Leach for Broad which would only leave three seamers.

Look at the wicket if seam likely to be more predominant and the weather iffy again I'd go with four seamers and no spinner - the fact is other than Adil Rashid none of our spinners are good enough so playing one weakens the team unless it's a raging bunsen burner, something you rarely get in this country. Joe Root can provide a spin option in the unlikely event it's need - for when it's seam friendly and seamers predominant.
 
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Cool_Blue said:
Sibley: not proactive enough and forever playing with an angled bat, this is dodgy technique for an opener.
Burns: done enough to persevere with imo.
Crawley: way more talented than Sibley, but seems to be in poor form this summer, will come good I feel.

Am I imagining this, or did Bairstow used to open the batting years ago?

Others: Having seen him in the one dayers, I was very impressed with Phil Salt, his technique looked excellent, high elbow etc. No idea how he’s been doing in the championship games.
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Phil Salt didn’t play any championship games this year due to a foot injury. He usually plays the same way,whatever the format. He does get out cheaply sometimes but is far more positive than Sibley.
Totally agree re the others,Bairstow should stay in the side at least till Stokes returns.
 
With Hameed, Pope and Moeen likely to play it looks as though Burns may partner Hameed with either Sibley or Crawley missing out. Dan Lawrence looks a definite for the axe with Pope replacing him.

I would think the bowling attack might be changed to strengthen the batting with Moeen recalled in place of a bowler. England's fastest bowler in recent years Mark Wood may also be considered on what looks a slow pitch.

England squad: Joe Root (capt), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler (wk), Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Dom Sibley, Mark Wood.
 
ToffeeTim said:
It's the batting that concerns them. They can't balance the side without Stokes. Woakes would help but I think he's injured at the minute.

I would be inclined to play Leach instead of the extra batsman but I can see why they don't want to do it. I really don't think Moeen is any worse a batsman than Lawrence or Pope so I would still pick him as the spinner.
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Well the all rounder without Stokes & Woakes is Curran really, his batting is arguably more valuable than his bowling. Not sure where Buttler’s head is, he’s not justifying his place as a batsman atm, and with Bairstow able to keep wicket, I’d be inclined to rest him. Long term, I think Pope & Crawley have what it takes, Lawrence not so much.
 
Chris O'Connor said:
Yes he's a more consistent and reliable off spinner than Moeen but possibly doesn't have much variety of deliveries in his locker. Almost as if he bowls the same delivery six times in the over. He'll always be successful on huge turning bouncy purposely suited wickets like Taunton but isn't going to bowl anyone out at test level even in the subcontinent.

England's massive weakness with the enforced absence of Stokes' and to a lesser extent Woakes is the batting. It's not even close - anything which weakens an already massive weakest link is a retrograde step, therefore a spinner like Leach would have to replace a non batting bowler - so not Robinson or even Curran. Replacing Anderson with Leach wouldn't be good so it may have to be Leach for Broad which would only leave three seamers.

Look at the wicket if seam likely to be more predominant and the weather iffy again I'd go with four seamers and no spinner - the fact is other than Adil Rashid none of our spinners are good enough so playing one weakens the team unless it's a raging bunsen burner, something you rarely get in this country. Joe Root can provide a spin option in the unlikely event it's need - for when it's seam friendly and seamers predominant.
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Moeen's record in England is outstanding. For a number of reasons I think he is very underrated when you look at his numbers (he averages 35 and 29 with bat and ball in England).

He is just a better batsman than Leach, and ultimately spinners will normally only be peripheral figures in the bowling side, so having a guy who can bat as well is a big bonus.
 
Chris O'Connor said:
Moeen's batting is nowhere near consistent or even good enough to bat that high imo. The fact that others are failing doesn't make him more worthy of a place batting so high in the order. He can't be thought of as a batsman in his own right anymore, but a tailender who may come off from time to time imo. His bowling isn't what it used to be either but possibly considered solely on the lack of viable alternatives in the spin department.

Rashid is head and shoulders above any other spinning option but won't do red ball cricket anymore.
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I absolutely agree Rashid if available should be first choice spinner he is also handy as a number 9 with the bat. I just think putting Moeen up the order may make his batting more disciplined sometimes coming in at 8 means he just has to grab quick runs as he is quickly left with the tail. This is the worst I've ever seen it for batting as long as I can remember. Great options for bowling but they are constantly having to bowl teams out for low totals because of poor scores. Maybe if they get Bairstow in at 3 Root 4 Pope 5 Buttler 6 Moeen 7. Another major loss for the team is Woakes.
 
Equation for Lancashire to progress further in the one day cup : beat Essex on Thursday, or, if we lose we still qualify if Durham beat Hampshire.
 
messymascot said:
I absolutely agree Rashid if available should be first choice spinner he is also handy as a number 9 with the bat. I just think putting Moeen up the order may make his batting more disciplined sometimes coming in at 8 means he just has to grab quick runs as he is quickly left with the tail. This is the worst I've ever seen it for batting as long as I can remember. Great options for bowling but they are constantly having to bowl teams out for low totals because of poor scores. Maybe if they get Bairstow in at 3 Root 4 Pope 5 Buttler 6 Moeen 7. Another major loss for the team is Woakes.
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Yeah Stokes and Woakes are huge misses, it's like the old table with only three good legs completely unbalanced.

Without their main stars that balance the team England are a shadow of the England team that won two test series last summer.

That's the irony of it all, England have fielded far stronger batting and bowling line ups against the relatively weaker sides in West Indies and Pakistan but much weaker line ups against the stronger opponents, New Zealand and India, both away and home to India in fact, (rotating Buttler, Moeen and Bairstow in India to turn a winning series into a loss. - This showed a rotation policy ruled by predetermined rest periods for players and no account of the situation)

Rotating strong lineups into weaker ones, ignoring the value of experience in favour of young 'supposedly exciting,' prospects in the county game was always an absolutely stupid thick policy bound to fail. At least they've brought Bairstow back but need so much more experience not youth for the sake of it
 

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