Sangakarra is a class act. Thought I'd share that. And India are a one man team. Kohli is exceptional but the rest....
English & Irish Cricket Summer 2018
- Thread starter ArmchairCritic
- Start date
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
What a match
Brilliant, brilliant test.
England almost threw that away, so sloppy all game but we managed to get over the line.
Surely India will improve with the bat, that was as close to a one man batting performance as I've seen for a while.
England almost threw that away, so sloppy all game but we managed to get over the line.
Surely India will improve with the bat, that was as close to a one man batting performance as I've seen for a while.
Great test match but some of the tactics that Indian team used seemed a little off - when Pandya came in to bat, he hogged so the strike kind of shielding Kohli. Then when Ishant came in to bat, Pandya was willing to let Ishant take a lot of the strike instead of trying to shield him.
The Batting unit. Bowlers have been very good.
With Stokes being unavailable for the next match, I think England may be hesitant to drop Malan which would be a mistake.
Either Woakes or Ali will come in for Stokes. England need to bring in a right hander for Malan, but no idea who.
Yeah. Anyway, I've decided Kohli's the best Indian batsman of all time. He played two cracking innings in conditions that kept bowlers interested - not that they're the only reasons why I think he's India's best.
Sachin faced much tougher bowlers and not to forget the wickets have become more batting friendly year by year.
I'd say Kohli and Dravid are the technically best Indian batsmen of all time. Kohli is the best. I'd love to see him play an entire County season in the Championships along with the T20 Blast and the Royal ODI Cup. Not going to happen though.
It's like people think cricket started after the pitches became flat.
Kohli is great (and best overall in the world across format IMO) but most of the 90s and early 2000s great batsmen would be considered GOAT candidates today. They actually knew how to bat against the moving ball.
Knowing England they will drop Malan and give the Left handers Gary Ballance another chance as he seems to get a chance a year.
Stokes missing is a big blow for us, saw Vs Australia how disjointed we became without him. I would bring Woakes and Clarke in for stokes and Malan
No disrespect intended but I'm guessing a lot of the people that say Kohli is the best are a lot younger.It's like people think cricket started after the pitches became flat.
Kohli is great (and best overall in the world across format IMO) but most of the 90s and early 2000s great batsmen would be considered GOAT candidates today. They actually knew how to bat against the moving ball.
The only bowler that's comparable in Kohli's era to what Sachin faced is Steyn. The depth of world class bowling in the 90s was quite astonishing, Walsh, Ambrose, Wasim, Waqar, McGrath, Gillespie, Lee, Akhtar, Pollock, Donald, Warne, Murali etc....
Take you went to the cricket? Don’t you get 50% money back as there was less then 30 overs bowled
Don Bradman said Sachin had the best technique and the player most comparable to him. Sachin was textbook, when you teach a youngster how to bat you show them Sachin.
Avoid Spoony he's just WUMming.It's like people think cricket started after the pitches became flat.
Kohli is great (and best overall in the world across format IMO) but most of the 90s and early 2000s great batsmen would be considered GOAT candidates today. They actually knew how to bat against the moving ball.
Good test match. Barely saw a ball, though. Our batting is so poor, its ridiculous. As I said to @JohnnyKills our bowling is actually very good - Bumrah could definitely be the destroyer at the end.
I feel we'll get a little better through the series - not a whole lot. Lets just hope we (batting) dont show up too late.
I feel we'll get a little better through the series - not a whole lot. Lets just hope we (batting) dont show up too late.
I think India will find it easier at Lord's if the weather forecast is to be believed. Sounds like there's going to be a monstrous heatwave this week so it'll be hot and dry during the test. Lord's spun big last year against South Africa and it'll probably do so again.
If I was India I would drop Pandya for Kuldeep. Pandya batted really well today but he doesn't offer much with the ball. If not him, the next most vulnerable is Ishant. Shami and Umesh offer pace and reverse swing and it sounds like these will be more valuable than Ishant's attributes.
Stokes will be a massive miss for England. Hopefully he'll continue this form when he gets back and becomes a genuine world-class all-rounder. He can be just as good as Flintoff if he screws his head on.
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Agreed.
What happened to Stokes?
I can see Jadeja coming in for batting strength as well.
Court date I believe
Yes. Although I'd say Kohli's a tad technically better than Dravid. Also Kohli is a one man team Sachin had VVS, Dravid, Ganguly etc in the 90s. Kohli has no such luck.
Can you stop with the one man team? He had support in SA and on our last tour of Aus. One test match where everyone failed doesnt make us a one man team.
Dude, it's Spoony, the Caf Provocateur. Ignore.
True. I especially like the way Kohli identified that he can’t replicate the way he plays in limited overs in Test cricket if he wants to be more successful. In limited overs, he places his front foot outside off stump and pushes through with his bat at any delivery pitched in that area. It works like a treat on flat pitches in limited overs but he realised that he can’t play that way in away tests.
He also works extremely hard on his technique in training. The bloke is dedicated to an extent I haven’t seen in a while. Reminds me of what Fergie said about Becks, “He practices to attain a level of consistency others wouldn’t even bother about.”
Just back, it was only an hour and a half but there's something much more fulfilling about an hour and a half where every ball seems to matter than a full day of cricket where there's not much riding on it. Shoutout to Root today, very good captaincy, changes worked immediately and his field placings made sense in the context of the game.
Stokes has so much ability as a cricketer, just needs to cut out the rank deliveries and get back in nick with the bat. Quick comparison with Flintoff after 43 tests:
----------T---R----HS---Av---W---BBI---Av-
Flintoff 43 2139 167 32.40 101 5/58 35.66
Stokes 43 2606 258 34.28 104 6/22 32.97
It must be noted however Flintoff was a consistently world-class all-rounder at this point, his 43rd test was during the away tour of South Africa in 04/05, we all know what happened the summer after. Stokes' career path hinges on the outcome of his trial I feel.
Do think Kohli's technique is being over-egged a tad here. Both of his innings here were notable for how many false shots he played and how little bearing they had on his concentration.
Stokes has so much ability as a cricketer, just needs to cut out the rank deliveries and get back in nick with the bat. Quick comparison with Flintoff after 43 tests:
----------T---R----HS---Av---W---BBI---Av-
Flintoff 43 2139 167 32.40 101 5/58 35.66
Stokes 43 2606 258 34.28 104 6/22 32.97
It must be noted however Flintoff was a consistently world-class all-rounder at this point, his 43rd test was during the away tour of South Africa in 04/05, we all know what happened the summer after. Stokes' career path hinges on the outcome of his trial I feel.
Do think Kohli's technique is being over-egged a tad here. Both of his innings here were notable for how many false shots he played and how little bearing they had on his concentration.
Yeah also worth remembering Flintoff got his first cap as a teenager.
Hopefully this legal mess will be the making of Stokes. It could be the spur he needs to drink less and grow up a bit in his off-field behaviour. He can go as far as he wants to really.
Yeah he's in court for battering some lad outside a club last year. Very much doubt he'll receive a custodial sentence, it'll be a fine and some community service.
Pretty much. Kohli is my favorite Indian player and will end up as one of the all time greats but Tendulkar was in another world. I remember the 90s when the Indian batting was sometimes downright embarrassing and he carried them match in match out. On his debut too as a teenager against us when we had our bowlers at the peak he played excellent.
That is not to say Kohli wouldn't be that either, he has been magnificent as well but Tendulkar still shades it for me.
Yeah we do. Under 15 overs you get a full refund and if it's between 15 and 30 you get half the ticket back. So it was certainly worth the £18.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_...ngs-sourav-ganguly-wants-more-captaincy-front
Agree with Ganguly. Right now, Virat Kohli is the boy on the burning deck, but in no small part due to him burning the ship.
We are dangerously close to "can a loss be a win?" territory. Keep losing all these matches we should be winning.
Agree with Ganguly. Right now, Virat Kohli is the boy on the burning deck, but in no small part due to him burning the ship.
We are dangerously close to "can a loss be a win?" territory. Keep losing all these matches we should be winning.
Flintoff never really had a sustained spell of being world class. In my opinion, Stokes is already better than Flintoff.
Ganguly is the best Indian pundit by a mile right now. Isn't scared of Kohli/Shastri and often criticises the team management. I was watching the pre match show and when it was announced that Dhawan was playing, the look on his face was hilarious.
Kohli is an abysmal captain. I don't see that working out in the long term, we need a far better leader as soon as possible.
Yeah you should look at other options. Rahane? Seems a smart bloke.
Need someone who's a nailed on starter so it cant be one of the useless batters.
Ollie Pope in for Malan for second test - good to see they haven't reverted to previous options.
Woakes in for Stokes was to be expected.
Woakes in for Stokes was to be expected.
Ya.. Surprised me to be honest.. I actually thought Ganguly would tow the Team management line as he wants to be the BCCI chief in the near future..
His analysis has been brilliant.. Maybe he thinks he has more leverage than someone like HArsha Bogle so can speak out a little.. Anyway love his commentary,hope he keeps going this way..
Not having Manjerekar too has been a bonus..
My impression from afar, so please correct if I am wrong, is that Shastri is coach because he is submissive towards Kohli's which is a complete contrast to the previous coach Anil Kumble. Ganguly is absolutely spot on, they've had a different top 8 in every one of their away tests this year, clearly the batsmen need to step up but giving them little clarity on their role or little confidence in their place in the team does not help them. Stuff like having Parthiv Patel opening and promoting Ashwin to 6 ahead of Karthik is funky, over-thought nonsense. That is not to say it's all coming from Kohli, it may well be coming from Shastri but the coach-captain axis must be clear in everything they do and endeavour to put players in the best position to succeed. They are never going to be able to play the moving ball if they play a test here and a test there.
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