freeurmind
weak willed
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2017
- Messages
- 5,883
Be stunned if either team makes 300 in either innings. I'd be very tempted to bowl first.
Tbf Strauss averaged 40 and was the last reliable opener we had not called Cook. I'd say if we could get a pair of openers who average 35 and regularly blunted the new ball we'd be golden.Sibley and Denly very slowly beginning to look like Test cricketers who will average 35. Is that enough? Sadly probably yes at the moment.
I can’t remember which sport it was. Might have been Murray and tennis, but he claimed the benefits in foot movement from using it as a training method.Apparently it's a ligament damage for Rory Burns. Pathetic. I'm not sure about the merits of playing high intensity football before Cricket. Even the Indian cricket team does it.
We're talking about hyper competitive sportsmen tbf. If you've seen them play it, or seen Ansari talk about how watching Stokes and Cook play table tennis convinced him he wasn't a test player, you'd wonder how there's not more injuries.I've been playing football my whole life and gotten injured maybe 3 times? These cricketers get injured looking at a cricket ball.
Yeah, Strauss did have years when he was better than that though, and a lot of the time he averaged in the 30s he was a successful captain which I think is worth +5 on the average.Tbf Strauss averaged 40 and was the last reliable opener we had not called Cook. I'd say if we could get a pair of openers who average 35 and regularly blunted the new ball we'd be golden.
I think there's a few reservations about Sibley so far, but I think he'll make the step up. Looked comfortable so far but two stupid dismissals.
Sure, he was a very good player and a better one than we have any realistic right to expect any of this crop to be. I've just thought for a while we probably create unrealistic expectations for our openers and when a player as good as Strauss ends up with an average of 40 then 35 ain't bad. It ain't easy opening up in England and I think we've discarded some good players who could have been nuggety enough to make things easier for the middle order a bit too quickly.Yeah, Strauss did have years when he was better than that though, and a lot of the time he averaged in the 30s he was a successful captain which I think is worth +5 on the average.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/c...e-as-Test-batsman-and-captain-in-numbers.html
Anyone from that sides top 7 would of be an upgrade on what we currently haveRemember when we criticized Trott for batting too slowly? Or Bell for getting out cheaply when set?
We'd love those two now wouldn't we.
Think we all know the answer is no.Does anyone want to kick on and make a potential match winning innings for England?
When it comes to Test Cricket then I think it absolutely is that bleak yes.Depends on our relative objective?
Just because England isn't no1 test team doesn't mean its all gloom. The test format in general isn't what it used to be in 90s, when most teams would have several 40+ average batsman. Tests rarely enter 5th day, and Im sure the average team totals are less now than before.
At the highest level, test and t20 are virtually different sports, and there simply isn't the money or popularity in UK to excel in both. I know people have proposed changes to the county game in UK, but would those decrease the popularity even further?
As it stands, England are competitive in tests, in the top half of nations, and I think the introduction of Burns, Sibley and Pope are a good move. Its not quite as bleak as you make out?
The batting lineup is infinitely worse than it was in the 90s. That team would regularly make scores of 350+ and they were playing in a golden age for bowlers.When it comes to Test Cricket then I think it absolutely is that bleak yes.
With limited overs cricket yeah we're very very good and that is fantastic of course.
But at Test Cricket this is probably the worst we've been in at least 20 years or so, maybe even more. We look a fundamentally broken side that just cannot bat. We're competitive at home in English conditions but we're as bad as it gets away.
Another bad day for England there, fair play to Pope for his 50. He looks a player.
Bairstow averages in the 50s in FC cricket too.Imagine having a batsman as stylish and as easy on the eye as Pope averaging 58 in first class cricket and picking a bloke who misses straight balls for for fun because he's mates with the captain.
I still can't get over the fact they made him bat 3 on debut because the captain didn't fancy it.Imagine having a batsman as stylish and as easy on the eye as Pope averaging 58 in first class cricket and picking a bloke who misses straight balls for for fun because he's mates with the captain.
He batted 4.I still can't get over the fact they made him bat 3 on debut because the captain didn't fancy it.
Yeah. At the time he hadn't batted above 6 for Surrey though, so was still a big ask.
Ta for the memory refresh it's hard to keep track of the batting order nonsense England get up to. The point remains however that senior guys like Stokes and Bairstow should not have been batting below a debutant who had made their runs batting @ 6 for their county.
Not sure they check as much as they used to because of DRSBroad just bowled an absolute beauty to Rassie but it was called a no ball(huge one). Not sure how the Umpire missed it.
I can understand if it's bang on line but there was a considerable gap for no ball.Not sure they check as much as they used to because of DRS
I haven’t been able to watch since lunch so I’m sure it’s been mentioned on commentary, but it’s a bit of a problem when the bowler doesn’t know he’s overstepping until it’s too late.I'm not even joking but they've shown that Umpires have missed around 15 no balls in the last half hour alone. Jesus.
Same with Rabada yesterdayBroad just bowled an absolute beauty to Rassie but it was called a no ball(huge one). Not sure how the Umpire missed it.
First time since the last test matchNot unlike England this, pissing away a good start.
He used to.Bairstow averages in the 50s in FC cricket too.
I obviously understand there are different factors at play but it still baffles me sometimes that he can smack a new white ball around for a fun yet can barely get past 5 runs batting in the middle order in tests. Same with Roy to a certain extent. Are there not basic priciples that are the same in both forms?He used to.
Before he stopped being able to play anything aimed at the stumps.