Hope everything is ok. His dad was ill during the South Africa tour.
I reckon Crawley, Curran and Leach will come in for Stokes, Anderson and Bess.
I guess this might have been an unseen factor in him bowling late on Day 3.
English cricket thread
- Thread starter Samid
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I reckon Crawley, Curran and Leach will come in for Stokes, Anderson and Bess.
I guess this might have been an unseen factor in him bowling late on Day 3.
Hope all is well for his family. Big blow for England.
Yes definitely. Been saying that myself.
First thought to hearing the news. I guess it would explain why Ollie Robinson was also randomly called up as well.
Stokes being out changes the dynamic so unless England go with a 4 man bowling attack, Woakes will continue at 7 and any thoughts of Foakes coming in for his keeping will be dashed now.
England should go the positive route and go with Dan Lawrence
Burns
Sibley
Crawley
Root
Lawrence
Pope
Butter
Woakes
Broad
Archer
Leach
Obviously it’s not going to happen as Root has a massive hard on for bowlers and spinners who can bat better than they can bowl
Burns
Sibley
Crawley
Root
Lawrence
Pope
Butter
Woakes
Broad
Archer
Leach
Obviously it’s not going to happen as Root has a massive hard on for bowlers and spinners who can bat better than they can bowl
Foakes is a decent batsmen in his own right, so I wouldn't be amazed if they brought him in for Buttler and played Buttler as a specialist batsman.
So then, selection time.
Presumably Crawley for Stokes is the obvious selection unless they go left field & give Foakes the mitts.
Bowling wise one of Anderson or Archer to step aside for Curran perhaps & do we make the change in spinner finally...?
Presumably Crawley for Stokes is the obvious selection unless they go left field & give Foakes the mitts.
Bowling wise one of Anderson or Archer to step aside for Curran perhaps & do we make the change in spinner finally...?
I think they will stick with Bess for the next two matches, Crawley for Stokes and Curran for Anderson are the changes I’m expecting.
Robinson is coming off from a good game vs Hampshire last week and having Woakes, Broad & Archer would take some of the pressure of his debut, but would be surprised if he got selected.
With Stokes being unavailable I'd probably bring Crawley in to strengthen the batting. Would also bring in Curran for Anderson and Wood for Archer, so we've got some real pace to go along with the three seamers.
Yeah we had this conversation a few days ago didn't we?
It's definitely an option we should consider for the winter.
It's probably going to be:
Burns
Sibley
Crawley
Root
Pope
Buttler
Woakes
Curran
Bess
Broad
Archer
I'd go with Leach over Bess though.
Burns
Sibley
Crawley
Root
Pope
Buttler
Woakes
Curran
Bess
Broad
Archer
I'd go with Leach over Bess though.
Yes - this is the line-up I expect. I'd agree with Bess being replaced but without Stokes, they'll be a little defensive in picking Bess who can bat, I think.
Curran gives you more leeway in dropping Bess. As does Woakes and Broad finding some form.
Surely time to give Wood a go instead of Archer.
Wood’s record in England is very poor, bowls too short in England
Not a fan of playing Wood in England. I'd rather Robinson.
Something I came across in a Cricinfo article, Root has won his last 6 tests as captain.
He'll draw level with Strauss and Cook on 24 wins with his next victory. Currently he has a better win % than Vaughan but his loss % is far higher than any of the guys you would consider as England's best captains.
He'll draw level with Strauss and Cook on 24 wins with his next victory. Currently he has a better win % than Vaughan but his loss % is far higher than any of the guys you would consider as England's best captains.
Far fewer great test nations around now I'd argue. South Africa & Sri Lanka have fallen off the radar, Australia are not as feared as past sides. Sure you can only beat what's out there in front of you but it's a weaker test pool for sure.
Central contracts have had a huge impact too. It's no coincidence that the most successful English captains all come in the era after it's introduction. Root has been fortunate to inherit two legendary quicks who are solely focused on test cricket and a prime Ben Stokes in an even era but Mike Brearley was pretty fortunate to captain England against an Australian team preoccupied by World Series Cricket and to never have to captain against the West Indies.
The issues with Root as a captain are obvious but he does deserve credit for cultivating a good team environment. It's clear that this group feed off of each others success. And yes, this is mostly me feeling a bit bad for going on about Root's captaincy in a manner not too dissimilar to how Warne used to dig into Cook's captaincy whilst he was winning Ashes series.
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Root's due a century soon, this test would be an ideal time for it.
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/...gacy-captain-remains-undetermined-credit-bank
Right which one of you lot is George Dobell and where's my 10%?
Right which one of you lot is George Dobell and where's my 10%?
Wasim Akram: one of my favourite players of all time.
Shall we have a sub discussion over the next few days of England vs Pakistan 2nd test. Perhaps like a mini draft?
What is the best test team of your lifetime?
Or the best test team of players playing today
(have to include one player each from Eng, Pak, Aus, W.I, SA, NZ, India, Bang, SL)
Or please suggest any others
What is the best test team of your lifetime?
Or the best test team of players playing today
(have to include one player each from Eng, Pak, Aus, W.I, SA, NZ, India, Bang, SL)
Or please suggest any others
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It’s him for sure. Last week George Dobell wrote something the last paragraph of which was a post by @NinjaFletch who is also often incidentally quoting George Dobell.
Hah which one?
I bet it was about Woakes. Although I think I might love him even more than Dobell does.
I do think Dobell is one of the better English journos, by virtue of being one of the few that actually watches county cricket, but if you check out our timestamps you'd see I normally get there first.
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/29623817/england-lucky-chris-woakesHah which one?
I bet it was about Woakes. Although I think I might love him even more than Dobell does.
I do think Dobell is one of the better English journos, by virtue of being one of the few that actually watches county cricket, but if you check out our timestamps you'd see I normally get there first.
But that modesty may have counted against him. While some of his team-mates might take to their newspaper column or a TV interview to bemoan their lot when they're left out, Woakes has shrugged and kept his disappointments to himself. Maybe that has, at times, made him just a little easier to leave out than others.
agree re George Dobell. He wrote a piece on Jack Shantry who I’ve never seen play but is a timeless representation of first class cricket - the story of perseverance. Well worth looking up if you haven’t read.
See I beat him to that one by about 8 hours!
With Root’s comments about Anderson I’m expecting Crawley for Stokes to be the only change
I think Archer will be very fired up for this test. 2 very fast speedsters in Pakistan team means he is not the coolest kid on the block, so he will have to raise his game to stand out. Some pressure from Root will inspire him too. That in turn will spur on Shaheen and Naseem, so it could end up being a 90+mph festival.
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Best team of the last 20 years
1. G.Smith
2. Hayden
3. Ponting/Sangakkara
4. Tendulkar
5. Steve Smith
6. Jacques Kallis
7. Adam Gilchrist
8. Shane Warne
9. Dale Steyn
10. Glenn McGrath
11. Muttiah Muralitharan
Lara misses out because Kallis can bowl. Tails a bit light but it doesn't matter.
Alastair Cook for Hayden. Wouldn't have Sanga who didn't play enough overseas in each country to make a case from what I remember.
Don't need a 5th bowler with 2 spinners. AB De Villiers for Kallis because #6 is a slightly specialist position, and Kallis is a top order batsman. That's just my biases getting in the way because I dont like Kallis.
I think if we have this discussion in a few years, Stokes would be that #6 pick.
Curran in for Jofra, Crawley in for Stokes.
I like it.
I like it.
I think Crawley is a class batsman.. deserves to be in the line-up
I was hoping they would bring back Curran, but for Anderson not Archer. Adds a bit more batting to the tail
