England Cricket Tour Of Sri Lanka And India

[tinfoilhat 11]

3 hours ago, ukdobby said:

I'd play the 50 over team,they couldn't do worse could they?

I'd say they probably would do worse. I remember they tried opening with Roy, fresh from his ODI exploits where he was seeing it like a beach ball and scoring for fun.  It didn't end well.

 

The county circuit isn't bad for breeding test batsmen - labuschagne cut his teeth there and does well for Aus. We just need to pick better options, or the players need to pick better options. I'd stick with burns, possibly Sibley. 

[staninoodle 173]

The batsmen need to work hard in the nets before a stiff test against the Indian attack, especially their defence, the bats too far away from the pads and Crawley needs to stop waving his bat at wide swinging balls.

Stokes and Butler cant keeping digging those above them out of the muck.

NZ pitched the ball a yard further up the pitch than us and managed to generate more swing as a result which troubled our batsmen,hopefully wel take that on board for the tough test with a very talented Inia side.

The sobering thought before we go to Aus for the ashes is, the Ozzies trounced NZ by a huge distance last year.

One plus was Robinson, I thought he bowled really well on debut and was very unlucky to be reprimanded for his controversial tweets, Ive seen far worse, it was laddish behaviour at worst, no real malice, even asian and female cricketers Ive spoken with have said it was harsh,it was 9 years ago, he was a teenager hes not the same person,huge over reaction.

Edited June 18, 2021 by staninoodle

[tinfoilhat 11]

Whilst our test team is all over the place - and congrats to NZ on winning the test championship - our 20/20 team purr like a well oiled machine. Sri Lanka weren't much but England were super.

[staninoodle 173]

3 hours ago, tinfoilhat said:

Whilst our test team is all over the place - and congrats to NZ on winning the test championship - our 20/20 team purr like a well oiled machine. Sri Lanka weren't much but England were super.

Saw all 3 games  wasnt much of a contest, huge difference,but youd expect us to do well in home conditions and we do have top class limited overs players, cant wait for Hales to come back into the fold, a player Ive always enjoyed watching.

Im not huge limited overs fan, for me its the longer version that really tests your skill, especially on waring tracks, but Ive grown to accept the world cup, T20s arent really my cuppa T. the younger end seem to enjoy them, but you cant have a few beers and 40 winks after lunch and wake up not missing much with limited overs!

[staninoodle 173]

England really surprised me in the 1st dayer against Pakistan, with a side put together at short notice due to covid, many playing in their 1st international outing against a very strong & experienced Pakistan side, bowling first and restricting them to 141 A/O and just 35 overs was way beyond expectation Saqib Mahmood the standout removing 3 of their top 5 and having them 26-4 after just 7 overs and reeling, only Fakhar stood between a capitulation with a superbly crafted 47 and Shadab 30, Ben Stokes the only recognised member of the re jigged squad was captain and only bowled 1 over, so good were the rest.

The England reply was equally entertaining, Phil Salt edged to the slips while on 7,but Malan looked classy and the out of form Crawley boosted his confidence with a solid display both easing past 50 and winning inside 22 overs, no maximums,15 boundrays. 

Sadly Owen Morgan  continues to insist Alex Hales shouldnt be picked, this spat needs putting to bed, Hales is our most outstanding one day opening batsman, it almost cost us the world cup, it may cost us the T20 world cup, Hales has served his punishment and whats more hes bang in form,4 sixes tonight from 5 deliveries, get him back in!

Looking forward to Lords tomorrow now, hope the weather holds, shocking summer after a really cold winter, whats it like to be an English cricket lover

[staninoodle 173]

Not a great summer for England cricket fans, the test side has had a mauling, outplayed by NZ, and following on in the series with India, Joe Root apart we dont seem to have a reliable batter, take out his runs and wed be toasted in every game. Stokes is a huge miss, but we look miserable on the batting front, and at 39, James Anderson still looks our best bowler.

Not enjoyed the 100, I lost interest pretty quick, Ive grown to accept and enjoy a 50 over game, its took me time, but not a fan of 20 overs.

Im seriously hoping we dont play this terms ashes down under for whatever reason, I fear a huge mauling, Mahmood looks like he could step up to the bowling quartet, weve still no test standard spinner, Chris Woakes is another player weve really missed this summer, he gets good movement off the pitch, all be it one way, he uses it well.

The fieldings not been great either,we spill catches on a too regular basis.

The last test was a really poor watch from a England point of view, bowling short to Bumrah who averages just over 3  in response to his short pitched assault on Anderson wasnt very smart cricket to allow him to make 34 and Shami 56 and take the game away and put India in the hunt late on a 5th day pitch was just asking for trouble, we barely bowled at his stumps, god knows why Ashwin isnt playing he scores runs and takes wickets at a very decent rate.

[tinfoilhat 11]

14 hours ago, staninoodle said:

Not a great summer for England cricket fans, the test side has had a mauling, outplayed by NZ, and following on in the series with India, Joe Root apart we dont seem to have a reliable batter, take out his runs and wed be toasted in every game. Stokes is a huge miss, but we look miserable on the batting front, and at 39, James Anderson still looks our best bowler.

Not enjoyed the 100, I lost interest pretty quick, Ive grown to accept and enjoy a 50 over game, its took me time, but not a fan of 20 overs.

Im seriously hoping we dont play this terms ashes down under for whatever reason, I fear a huge mauling, Mahmood looks like he could step up to the bowling quartet, weve still no test standard spinner, Chris Woakes is another player weve really missed this summer, he gets good movement off the pitch, all be it one way, he uses it well.

The fieldings not been great either,we spill catches on a too regular basis.

The last test was a really poor watch from a England point of view, bowling short to Bumrah who averages just over 3  in response to his short pitched assault on Anderson wasnt very smart cricket to allow him to make 34 and Shami 56 and take the game away and put India in the hunt late on a 5th day pitch was just asking for trouble, we barely bowled at his stumps, god knows why Ashwin isnt playing he scores runs and takes wickets at a very decent rate.

Even our scratch ODi/ 20/20 sides can give anyone a game but our test team is all at sea. Moeen Ali turned out for the 100 final, he'll be batting at 6 for the test team next week. How is that sensible?

 

I think woakes is fit to play the next, that will help, and help our batting as well which is as bad as it was in the dark days of the 90s.

[ukdobby 223]

Our batting awful after Root,next  2 half decent ones are specialist 1 day players.

[staninoodle 173]

19 hours ago, ukdobby said:

Our batting awful after Root,next  2 half decent ones are specialist 1 day players.

Very true, ive been watching young Zak Crawley, Id high hopes wed found a nugget after that 260 odd where he saw the ball like a beachball and never looked in any danger, fast forward and his defence looks shot to bits hes wafting at balls he should be leaving and just the solitary 50 from the tour to sri lanka and india with the rest all low scores, averaging just 12 from 8 knocks, not that anyone, Root apart came back with any credit and hes now out of the side no doubt working hard on his defensive technique, needs a few red ball games, infact they all do, a few county games would do a few of them no harm at all.

Edited August 23, 2021 by staninoodle

[staninoodle 173]

What a difference a week makes! Super England, bowled fuller most of the time, batted out of their skins, Root again outstanding, but what a difference a platform from the openers makes, gives a bit of licence to play shots further down the order, very chuffed today, superb moring and my day off as well so even better!

Just a word about Chris Cairns of NZ, who while having a heart op, suffered at stroke, terrible news that, I recall well his slow ball, it was an absolutely unplayable delivery at times, I recall him foxing Graham Thorpe with it and putting world class batsmen allover the world in trouble. Smashing cricketer, great entertainer, hope he recovers from this huge setback asap.

Edited August 28, 2021 by staninoodle

[ukdobby 223]

Same old failure.

[staninoodle 173]

England had them on the ropes for periods,117-6 at one point, but couldnt blow the rest away, for once Root hasnt got into the game but Pope and Woakes built a lead that India all too easily made light of,without the movement under sunnier skies Indias batsmen made light of the deficit and built a lead, once again england failed to remove the lower order, with a lead just over 200 the lower order put on an extra 160 and took the game away.

It looked a draw at lunch on the final day, 100 for no loss, but the afternoon saw a procession to the dressing room, india bowled well after lunch and once again England collapsed to lose the game.

We lack a class spinner and have done since Swann retired, Moeen needs 14 fielders, the aussies will have him on toast and without Wood or Archers pace, the bowlers all bowl pretty similar, so its too easy for the batsmen to get set once theyve passed 30.

This winters ashes isnt going to be much fun for us. dreading the up coming series, they may not be as strong as in recent years, but on home soil against us, they ALWAYS raise the bar a few notches.

Hugely dissapointing to not get todays test played, it smacks of politics with the IPL a mere week or so away, all tickets sold for 4 days, of which I personally would have seen two of those days, the late decisions has angered many cricket fans who already booked hotels and days off work, Id booked next week off for this game, what a waste of everyones effort shamefull really.