The cricket thread

Heartfeltdawn

And things like be even more nutzoid next year with the World Cup acting as the warm-up to the Ashes. 

Stuckfast

Really pleased to see Moeen get his five-for today, he should have been in the team all along. Nice to see Broad bowl quite well for a change too.

If we can actually get some runs in our second innings then two spinners could be a handy pick by day four.

Gassage

By the way, for those that remember the sound the fighting machine 'heat ray' made in War of the Worlds musical. every time the Indian seamer Jasprit B runs in Alistair and I shout "BOOOOMRAH" to the tune of World of the Worlds heat ray bit.

I just had to share it with someone musical....so you guys are it! Apologies for my immaturity.

(7.43 on here)

Gassage

Oh and, really worth revisting that album for Chris Spedding's brilliant playing on it!

Heartfeltdawn

Gassage said:

By the way, for those that remember the sound the fighting machine 'heat ray' made in War of the Worlds musical. every time the Indian seamer Jasprit B runs in Alistair and I shout "BOOOOMRAH" to the tune of World of the Worlds heat ray bit.

It makes me think of Nigel Planer saying Boomshanka. 

Heartfeltdawn

As bad as the Jennings dismissal in the first innings was, Bairstow's in the second innings isn't much better. 

scrumhalf

Heartfeltdawn said:

As bad as the Jennings dismissal in the first innings was, Bairstow's in the second innings isn't much better. 

That was a shocker.

sixstringsupplies

think England will win from here - can see India crumbling over the pressure of a run chase to stay in the series. 250 to be safe...

Heartfeltdawn

The Yorkshire boys get the boot into a fellow flatcapper...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/45385758

So YJB first. If he really is sulking about not having the gloves, then it makes Joe Root's comments before the Test about England not having a first choice keeper all the more interesting as it could be construed as a public admonishment in a rather passive-aggressive manner. 

Sir Geoffrey's assertion that he's a number 7 at Test level: not exactly born out by stats. Batting at 7 he averages 41 against a career average of 37. This average at 7 is helped by not not scores (in 100 innings overall he has 6 red inkers: in 36 innings at 7, he has four). 

The thing to look for is his batting under Cook compared to Root: an average of 46 over 15 Tests compared to 34 over 9 when batting at 7. You then compare this to his performance when batting between 1 and 6. Under Cook he averages just under 40 over 22 Tests whereas in 12 Tests under Root he averages 30. Those figures suggest that he can bat top 6 effectively and did so for the previous captain. It is interesting to look at JYB's first match under Cook when batting in the top six. Of that side from 2012, only Cook and Bairstow remain from that top six. It'll be six years since that game, Cook and Compton opening, and we're still looking for a consistent opening pair.

So I think JYB can play in the top six. It feels dreadfully conservative by the Yorkshire lot to say he can't. If he can handle a white ball in 50 over cricket, then he should be able to handle a red one that's a few overs older.

The next topic of fun comes the consistent excellent Andrew Fidel Fernando, hands down the best cricket journo this year not called Gassage (his piece on Lasith Malinga earlier this year for WCM is superb and you should all read it). Fernando writes on the 1998 one-off England-Sri Lanka Test where Murali turned it square. One passage shows the difference between then and now: 

http://www.thecricketmonthly.com/story/1156553/-the-next-time-we-visited-england--they-were-giving-us-three-test-series

"Clearly eager to prove themselves in England, and in the longest format, Sri Lanka had undertaken a long build-up to the Test, playing no fewer than five multi-day matches against counties. By the time the Test rolled around, they had big wins under their belt and had substantial confidence in their game.

Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka batsman: There was basically a county tour for us. That was part of our preparation those days - playing as many four-day games as possible. Some of the county teams were very strong teams. But when we got to the Test, it was in the latter part of the summer, and that probably helped us because the wickets were flat. The England camp wasn't very happy."

By contrast, India this summer had three T20 games, three 50 over ODI games, and a three-day practice match. 

Heartfeltdawn

And now this:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/45359234

"Clarke's second year in first-class cricket, 2016, was stellar containing six centuries. Since then, his average has regressed to around 40 - a mark which England coach Trevor Bayliss says does not suggest success at Test level."

On what basis? I know Marcus Trescothick was averaging well under 40 when he made his Test bow and I have a suspicion Vaughan was as well. It seems almost perverse that a guy averaging 41 as CLarke is now over several seasons is considered to be a likely Test failure yet a guy in his first proper season in the form of Ollie Pope gets the fast track treatment. 

The more of these small comments come out, the more Bayliss looks like a man shouting "Twist" despite going bust ages ago. 

scrumhalf

It's possible that being good at county cricket indicates nothing more than being good at county cricket.

Now that the County Championship is at best an afterthought on the cricket calendar the intestinal fortitude required for test matches has to be ascertained in part by a guess.

The cynic in me thinks that Bayliss is softening us up before next year's Ashes.

Legionreturns

Well that was unexpected! Yes, the batting performances are worrying...but the bowling unit continues to win matches for us! 

Lest we forget this is the number 1 ranked test side we've just beaten.  

Heartfeltdawn

scrumhalf said:

It's possible that being good at county cricket indicates nothing more than being good at county cricket.

Now that the County Championship is at best an afterthought on the cricket calendar the intestinal fortitude required for test matches has to be ascertained in part by a guess.

The cynic in me thinks that Bayliss is softening us up before next year's Ashes.

Quite possibly. It just seems peculiar that Clarke can be disregarded for consistent scoring as a young man yet Pope can be elevated. We also have Keaton Jennings given a second chance with a first class average of 34...

Legionreturns said:

Lest we forget this is the number 1 ranked test side we've just beaten.  

Yep. A side ranked number one that has made 350 once and four Test matches have lasted less than 14 days in total. An exciting but low quality series. 

The overall series bowling strike rates are mental, even more so when you consider how many catches have been grassed. 

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/records/bowling/most_wickets_career.html?id=12033;type=series

Legionreturns

6 bowlers in the series have got five fer! That's fairly indicative 

sixstringsupplies

I always enjoy the post match analysis. On Sky they are talking about who takes the gloves next match? who bats at 3? Does Woakes play if he is fit? Possibly drop Rashid and just play Moeen Ali as the spinner?

It has been an enjoyable series. But it does highlight the dearth of test match batting. Makes you worry about the test game and where it will be in the next 5 years.

Teetonetal

I think the bowling from both sides has been pretty good, the batsman  haven't found consistent answers on either side, so close but low scoring.

Stuckfast

Surely these conditions should have been tailor made for Rashid -- last innings on a very worn pitch, lots of right-handers to bowl at -- and yet he was comprehensively outbowled by Moeen. If Rashid isn't going to take wickets on a day like today, why is he playing?

Gassage

Stuckfast said:

Surely these conditions should have been tailor made for Rashid -- last innings on a very worn pitch, lots of right-handers to bowl at -- and yet he was comprehensively outbowled by Moeen. If Rashid isn't going to take wickets on a day like today, why is he playing?

The wear on the pitch wasn't going to help a leggie like it would an offspinner.

Heartfeltdawn

Legionreturns said:

6 bowlers in the series have got five fer! That's fairly indicative 

Yep, Shite batting. It's when you compare the series strike rates to the Test bowlers with the best strike rates in history. 

Heartfeltdawn

Stuckfast said:

Surely these conditions should have been tailor made for Rashid -- last innings on a very worn pitch, lots of right-handers to bowl at -- and yet he was comprehensively outbowled by Moeen. If Rashid isn't going to take wickets on a day like today, why is he playing?

Nah. Rashid's quite a floaty leg spinner. A leg spinner like Kumble or Afridi would have been a challenge as they were leggies who bowled into the wicket more. It's the same with offies. Moeen is a bowl into the wicket kind of offie as was Swann. That works fine on a wicket like Southampton but doesn't work anywhere near as well in Australia. Offies like Ashwin and Lyon bowl more over the top when the deliver the ball and thus get the bounce on Aussie wickets that Moeen didn't show last winter. 

A spinning wicket won't necessarily help all spinners. Just ask Tony Lock...

http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/17417/scorecard/62814/england-vs-australia-4th-test-australia-tour-of-england-1956