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  • DopesickDopesick Frets: 1507
    Any channels showing cricket highlights in the evenings?
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  • earwighoneyearwighoney Frets: 3488
    Dopesick said:
    Any channels showing cricket highlights in the evenings?
    Channel 5 at 7pm
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  • HeartfeltdawnHeartfeltdawn Frets: 22096
    It's doing a bit out there. Good knock by Cook, Amir bowled beautifully for no reward up to Cook's wicket. Rather fancy Jimmy and Broad will be useful on this wicket. 



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  • scrumhalfscrumhalf Frets: 11262
    :p

    Oh dear.
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  • RandallFlaggRandallFlagg Frets: 13929
    Dopesick said:
    Any channels showing cricket highlights in the evenings?
    There will be a channel back in Pakistan showing todays highlights...


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  • scrumhalfscrumhalf Frets: 11262
    edited May 2018
    Dopesick said:
    Any channels showing cricket highlights in the evenings?
    There will be a channel back in Pakistan showing todays highlights...
    No highlights here. Lowlights, maybe. Snippets of play. But no highlights.
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  • RandallFlaggRandallFlagg Frets: 13929
    Is Rooty still smiling like a cheeky chappy? or is the invisible weight of the pressure on his captaincy starting to furrow his brow?


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  • scrumhalfscrumhalf Frets: 11262
    edited May 2018
    Oh dear lord, are any of them capable of batting for more than ten overs?


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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27342
    I remember quite a lot of analysis and commentary in the autumn / winter about why England lost so heavily when playing abroad.

    The wickets were prepared differently and the home side therefore had a massive advantage.  It's not quite cheating, but it's clearly not sporting, and something should be done about it to ensure fairness.




    It looks like that was all bollocks, and England have just become crap at (test) cricket?
    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
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  • HeartfeltdawnHeartfeltdawn Frets: 22096
    We don't have a structure designed to produce quality Test cricketers. 

    We have a lot of counties playing on pitches that won't produce Test cricketers.

    We have a cricket board fixated on the short form. 

    We have the IPL taking some players who then are meant to come over from there and play at Test level. It mostly doesn't work. 

    Michael Vaughan was tearing into Bayliss the other day: waste of time, MV. When Trevor came in, he was charged by the ECB to improve England as a one-day team. To facilitate this, schedules were changed. Have a look at the 2015 county cricket fixture list (Bayliss came in at the end of May 2015) and compare it to this year's fixture list.

    The signs back then pointed to a dilution of first-class cricket and the 3-2 Ashes victory backed this up. Despite our victory, it had some statistical quirks:

    http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/records/averages/batting_bowling_by_team.html?id=9249;type=series

    England's top four runscorers rattled up 1290 runs: Australia 1607. 

    Australia's bowlers took 80 wickets for a total of 2187 runs at an average of 27. Our bowlers took 80 wickets for 2424 runs at 30. We won games on low slow pitches (the Cardiff craphole being a prime example) and via a crazy Trent Bridge spell. 3-2 as a final result was astounding considering we had Lyth opening (dumped), Buttler in the side, Moeen Ali was still a fill-in spinner, middle order was still a bit squiffy. 

    The games we lost in 2015 at Lords and at the Oval came on good batting wickets. Australia cashed in with the bat, we were rolled out for pisspoor scores. Those wickets we collapsed on with bat and ball in 2015 were not dissimilar to the wickets we collapsed on last winter in Australia. We collapse on those wickets because we don't have the pace or spin bowlers to utilise them at present (our main pace and bounce man in Finn is still making a comeback. Lyon took wickets against us: Moeen didn't and right now you wonder how the hell he will come back into Test cricket) and our younger batsmen don't get enough time on those types of wickets to learn how to bat for long periods. Equally good pitches teach bowlers how to bowl a spell on a pitch that isn't helping them. In England the part time seamer plays a major role. A bowler goes for a few, bring on the dibbly dobbly stuff. 

    The real wonder of cricket is having different conditions. A wicket in Islamabad shouldn't be the same as a wicket in Durham or Barbados. It isn't just England who generally lose heavily overseas: it's India when they come here, it's Australia when they come here. Tours used to have plenty of warm-up cricket. They don't now. 

    It says everything about England that Dominic Bess is now being praised as being right for Test cricket because he's scored some runs and has yet to take a wicket. 



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  • scrumhalfscrumhalf Frets: 11262
    Well, that wasn't a total surprise.

    It seems to be a trend that:
    1) England bat and lose four wickets for 100 runs.
    2) The next couple of wickets put up some sort of a fight.
    3) And then we collapse again.

    We have young batsmen who play more white-ball cricket than red-ball, is it any surprise that they can't bat for a couple of sessions? We've got a problem with our bowling attack as well, if Anderson and Broad don't fire we're fucked. And suddenly, we can't catch anything in the slips.

    It's not as if successive pundits/journalists/average punters haven't said this was likely to happen. Still, let's have 100 balls of pyjama cricket with lots of music to attract new people to the game (to replace all those who will no longer pay good money to see abject performances).
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  • HeartfeltdawnHeartfeltdawn Frets: 22096
    It's no surprise we collapsed this morning. After that storm last night, it's warm, humid, close to perfect for seam bowling, and they had a new ball due an over after play started. 

    -Joe Root averages 52.56 at 4 in 26 matches. In 18 matches at 3 it's 43. Don't bloody move him. 

    -Bye Stoneman. 

    So here's my squad for the next Test.

    Cook
    Jos Buttler
    Joe Clarke
    Joe Root
    Dawid Malan
    Bairstow
    Stokes
    Bess
    Broad
    Anderson
    Wood

    Joe Clarke doesn't play on a road of a wicket at Worcestershire. He's organised, compact, and I like him. Drop him in there, give him a go. 

    Buttler opening is the bit you'll probably all scream at. WHHHHHHHHHHY HFD, WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHY? Simple: we've heard all this shit about how you can go from IPL to Test cricket. Buttler was opening in the IPL this year. So fuck it, if you're going to play him, don't bat him down at sodding 7. Stick him up the top of the order and tell him to go and play like Sehwag. We're used to being 1 down for sod all anyway so we won't lose out if he fails. 







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  • scrumhalfscrumhalf Frets: 11262
    I don't thnk the comparison to Sehwag holds water for the red-ball game.

    Root has to go back to 4, it's where he's been at his best and we can't risk him at anything less than his optimum position. However, our top order is so flakey that there's often only an over or two between coming in at 3 and coming in at 4.

    The next Test is at Headingly, I think. I'd bring in Woakes for Wood if the weather looks right.
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  • HeartfeltdawnHeartfeltdawn Frets: 22096
    scrumhalf said:
    I don't thnk the comparison to Sehwag holds water for the red-ball game.

    Root has to go back to 4, it's where he's been at his best and we can't risk him at anything less than his optimum position. However, our top order is so flakey that there's often only an over or two between coming in at 3 and coming in at 4.

    The next Test is at Headingly, I think. I'd bring in Woakes for Wood if the weather looks right.

    On evidence of respective achievements, no it doesn't, but I'm not basing it on that. If you have Buttler there, what is the point of playing him down at 7? He's in my side because England want him, not because I do but my dream of James Hildreth getting a cap looks dead... 

    I wouldn't change the bowlers because they did alright considering the fielders had a major case of the whoopsies. 




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  • scrumhalfscrumhalf Frets: 11262

    I wouldn't change the bowlers because they did alright considering the fielders had a major case of the whoopsies. 

    Aah, you're quoting John Arlott, aren't you?

    I heard a story a while ago which almost seems relevant now. England were playing the West Indies and the two team captains came to give their teams to the umpires (or whoever). The England captain was in his whites, blazer and cap. Viv Richards was wearing an old t-shirt, shorts and flip-flops. The England captain started to read out his team. After three names Viv interrupted him and waved his hand dismissively. "Man, doesn't matter who you've got playing."

    I tend to feel a bit like that now. We're so used to collapsing that we may as well reverse the batting order and have Broad and Anderson facing the new ball.
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  • sixstringsuppliessixstringsupplies Frets: 429
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    I really don't rate Wood. He has had plenty of chances, appreciate he has had injuries. After 12 tests he has yet to take better than a 3'fer.  

    Where's Finn? Is he still injured? At least takes wickets.

    I would also remove Root from the captaincy. I would bring in Eoin Morgan just to be captain and stick him at 6-7 in the batting order. Assuming the top order perform, as they should, his runs would be a bonus. Not to forget he actually has a test century, against Pakistan. England need an innovative captain, bit like Michael Vaughan used to be. Let Root bat at 4 and leave him to it.

    Hameed has to play. Stoneman has to go. 

    Also think Bayliss has to go. Not necessarily blaming him but a general change in team culture needs to happen.

    ECB won't sack him however, as they want him to coach at the world cup. He is not interested in spliting the coach role and only coaching the one day team.
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  • HeartfeltdawnHeartfeltdawn Frets: 22096
    @scrumhalf it's getting like that. There seems to be no plan in place for Test development. I couldn't name one player who is better now than at the start of Bayliss's time as coach. Even Root isn't hitting the heights. Consider the Test he played before Byliss came in and then afterwards:

    27 Tests, 2273 runs at 54, 6 hundreds. 
    41 Tests, 3642 hundreds at 51.29, 7 hundreds. 

    I know the average is only a tad lower but it's that reduction in fifty to hundred conversion that is the problem. I'd suggest that even someone like Stokes isn't exactly pulling up trees with England considering his talent.

    @sixstringsupplies Hameed is currently in the Lancs 2nd Xi after averaging under 6 this year for the 1st XI (and that includes a game against a university side). Morgs in the Test side... let's not be too hasty. 



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  • Hick81Hick81 Frets: 122
    @Heartfeltdawn Think you are spot on about Bayliss, nobodies kicked on and I don’t think he’s even unearthered any gems. Was Mo one of his picks? 



    Here’s my side

    1. Cook
    2. Jennings 
    3. Ali 
    4. Root
    5. Bairstow 
    6. Buttler
    7. Stokes
    8. Woakes
    9. Bess
    10. Broad
    11. Anderson

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  • sixstringsuppliessixstringsupplies Frets: 429
    tFB Trader

    @sixstringsupplies Hameed is currently in the Lancs 2nd Xi after averaging under 6 this year for the 1st XI (and that includes a game against a university side). Morgs in the Test side... let's not be too hasty. 
    @Heartfeltdawn yes you’re right regarding Hameed - since he’s been in the 2nd’s he’s got a couple of hundreds though the bowling quality must be pretty dire. I don’t think he can do worse than Stoneman. As someone mentioned above Vaughan and Tresco were pretty average county players but Duncan Fletcher thought they could do it at International level. 

    Yeah Morg’s as captain is a bit extreme but we have a habit in this country of picking players to captain who have no captaincy experience. I feel for Joe Root. 

    Something has to change our test team has become pathetic the past 2-3 years.
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  • Hick81Hick81 Frets: 122
    Does anyone know why Foakes doesn’t get a go (as a specialist batsman)?

    I don’t watch county cricket but keep an eye on scores/results. He seems pretty consistent. 


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