The cricket thread

Heartfeltdawn

We made up for the lack of Saffers by picking more gingers. 

I was sat in the waiting room of a private hospital in Bristol when the coin went up. It's fair to say that the other occupants of the waiting room know precisely what I thought of Clarke's decision to bat first. 

scrumhalf

Well, that was a surprise, I'll take that for a first-day performance.

Heartfeltdawn

I'm staggered that Australia chose to bat first. If the idea was to prevent having to bat last on that wicket, then it shows a lack of confidence in the batting lineup, somewhat odd after racking up the runs at Lords (although it could say a lot about Clarke's personal confidence with the bat). But why focus on events three or four days down the line? It was always going to be difficult batting on that wicket. England got stuffed the last time they batted. There was an opportunity to throw England in on a tough wicket and to hammer them some more. I'm amazed Australia didn't take that chance. 

Very good to hear some of the old Aussies whining about Haddin being dropped.

crunchman

Someone on Sky did point out that the Aussies put England in at Edgbaston 10 years ago.  That didn't turn out great for them.  They suggested that may have been in the back of Clarke's mind.

iseverynamegone

great day , nice to see Jimmy back amongst it. Get to 350 tomorrow and game is won.

Heartfeltdawn

crunchman said:

Someone on Sky did point out that the Aussies put England in at Edgbaston 10 years ago.  That didn't turn out great for them.  They suggested that may have been in the back of Clarke's mind.

Australia also won the toss in 2001, took the field, and won by an innings despite England scoring nearly 300 in the first innings. And they were only 2 runs shy of victory in 2005. That pitch didn't break up or become a minefield. It seems looking around that the opinion of everyone from Aggers to Vaughan to the Sky box to everyone at TMS was that you win the toss and bat first yesterday. It's good to know that I'm the bucker of opinion as per usual! It just seemed like a huge opportunity missed for Australia. Take a nervous England batting lineup, put them in on a damp seaming wicket, and put the pressure right back on them. Roll them out cheaply and then you pressurise the England bowlers as well. 

scrumhalf

Just looked at the scorecard from 2001, that's a not-atypical England collapse.

In the same way that we didn't become the best team in the world after Cardiff, or the worst after Lords, I don't think that this game is anywhere near as clear-cut as some seem to think. We could easily be fielding by lunchtime with a lead of 50, especially if we have another not-atypical England collapse.

Mind you, I prefer this sort of cricket to 500-plays-500.

lloyd

Not a great morning so far (for England).

axisus

We have some good individuals right now but we are a crap team. Disappointing England as usual.

rsvmark

Enjoying this thread - some interesting insight.

Can @heartfeltdawn elaborate on earlier comments about the bat (size and shape etc) for me as a non cricketer please. Tennis, golf, in fact all sports 'benefit' from advances in design and technology. The style and tactics of the game develop over time, an obvious example is the falling away of the serve and volley game in tennis, in particular at Wimbledon. 

edit: whether the 'change in the game' is a good thing or not is another matter! Not getting drawn into that one

lloyd

Decent fight back from Broad and in particular Ali, played some nice shots, some scruffy ones and had a bit of luck along the way.

Heartfeltdawn

@rsvmark the issue of bat design is still one that is argued over. The edges have gotten thicker and the sweet spot has increased hugely. Coupled with quick outfields and greater player strength, more runs are being scored. Mishits with old bats would have found fielders; now they often clear the boundary rope for six. It's no coincidence that tailenders are scoring more runs as bats have improved. Yes, they take batting more seriously than they did 20 years ago but to ignore the technological improvement of the willow they wield is wrong. 

I look at my former league. Some crazy records broken this year. The amateur batsmen don't have the fitness programme the pros do so it's not down to a huge increase in strength. I was a shit tailender before I retired. Knocking up in the nets now, the modern bats are astounding. Modern bats versus bats from 20 years ago is like comparing bladed irons in golf to cavity back clubs. 

rsvmark

Thanks @heartfeltdawn. When you say edges are thicker do you mean the edge is 'sharper' ie the arris is more pronounced and less 'rolled'? Also how is the sweetspot bigger? Are bats limited at all in their width? I am guessing they are so how are they achieving this increase in sweetspot? (Again,I am guessing that they are placing more mass behind the lower half of the bat?) Your analogy of the golf clubs is a good one but generally the club face area increased in cavity back clubs as well resulting in the bigger sweet-spot. This is the same as the tennis racquets where the head size increased in the 80's with the introduction of metal, fibreglass, and composite materials.

Heartfeltdawn

Have a gander at this:

http://www.news.com.au/sport/cricket/the-evolution-of-cricket-bats-mean-now-batsmen-are-carrying-a-weapon-to-the-crease/story-fndpt0dy-1226542405236

scrumhalf

Another dull, boring day of test cricket.

I fear that we may lose Jimmy for the rest of the series, and if Wood isn't fit there's an interesting selection conundrum.

Heartfeltdawn

If Jimmy is out for the series, then it's a big loss. Trent Bridge is a good venue for him (8 matches, 53 wickets at 19) and he ended up with ten wickets in the last home Ashes. Spin shouldn't be a huge factor at Trent Bridge. Swann didn't have a great record there in Tests so it's unlikely that Moeen will rip through them there or that Adil Rashid will come into the side. If Wood isn't fully fit, he should be ruled out. It would be decidedly risky to chance a bowler with a niggle in a back to back Test, even with this one likely to finish on the third day. 

I'd go for Chris Woakes. He's had overs with Warwickshire since returning from injury, he showed in the winter that he has added a bit of pace to his game, and he is the sort of guy who can nip the ball about. There's also his batting which reinforces the tail a bit more. 

Interesting seeing the Twitter yap about Stokes. He's been quite a superfluous figure in this game but it'd be ludicrous to drop him as a batsman when he's scored decent runs. He got a snorter today, no batsman would look daft getting out to that. 

Australia were very poor with the bat. I still think that, whatever the writers say about the decision to bat first, it was the wrong decision. It reeked of a lack of belief in his side to play in those conditions and didn't give his trump card, the bowling attack, first use of that wicket. It started a chain reaction that has handed a huge amount of momentum to England. 

iseverynamegone

@heartfeltdawn you have cursed Buttler....

Heartfeltdawn

Playing for England is cursing Buttler. Since the start of May he's had one game for Lancashire. Every other innings has been for England. Everything I said in the thread earlier comparing Root and Buttler stands when it comes to first class experience. There's a likelihood that he won't play a single game for Lancashire in the County Championship this season as England will want him for the post-Ashes T20/ODI lark which won't finish until mid September, leaving one CC game left. Even if England allowed him to play (they won't), Lancashire might not pick him as Alex Davies has done a good job for them this year. 

The CC is where Finn found his rhythm and got his confidence back. It's where Bairstow has worked on his technique and looks a lot less awkward at the crease (another one to get a quality delivery today). Broad got some good overs into him earlier in the season and has looked so much better than he did at the World Cup. If Buttler keeps on going like this, then it is wasting a real batting talent. In the week that Clive Rice passed away, it's pertinent to remember that it was he who told everyone's favourite off spinning Saffer that he'd be batting at 6 for Notts and that he wanted 1000 runs out of him. One hopes a different coach will be just as bold with Buttler. 

scrumhalf

If Jimmy is crocked I worry about Stokes as the fourth seamer in a weakened attack, especially as you'd expect the Aussies to be steaming at the next Test.

Your comments about playng in the CC take me back to the days when Tests weren't played back-to-back and international playewrs played for their counties as a matter of course in the week-and-a-half we used to have betwen Tests. It was possible to go back to your county and get a bit of rhythm back in your game.

rsvmark

Heartfeltdawn said:

Have a gander at this:

http://www.news.com.au/sport/cricket/the-evolution-of-cricket-bats-mean-now-batsmen-are-carrying-a-weapon-to-the-crease/story-fndpt0dy-1226542405236

Thanks. Interesting