English cricket thread

[Fiskey]

That Joe Root wicket gets worse every time you see it, the only thing you can do playing that shot was get out

Everyone saying Roots messed around with his technique quite a lot, anyone here see it? I've always thought Root had a beautiful rhythm when batting well.

 

[NinjaFletch]

Ah well, still getting out playing daft shots.

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

Classic England collapse.

Jofra Archer is a number 11.

 

[Darkhorsez]

Leach so much more assured than Archer. Good knock by these two

 

[JohnnyKills]

Looks like 350 might be a good score. Let's see tonight.

BTW Ollie Pope is an Ian Bell regen, right?

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

Incredibly dull first 40 minutes so far.

 

[Samid]

First over I watch and Dharmasena gets one wrong. Colour me shocked.

 

[paulscholes18]

Stokes with a wicket with the first ball after tea, surprised he didn’t have a bowl earlier

 

[TheGame]

Another costly drop for England with Watling. They must get early wickets tomorrow.

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

I say this with the knowledge England will probably collapse in their 2nd innings and we'll lose.

But flat pitches like this are just shite and incredibly boring.

 

[paulscholes18]

Not sure what the NZ batsman are playing at should have put the hammer down or declared at the start of play but instead have scored 19 runs in 16 overs

 

[NinjaFletch]

England will probably lose with a huge collapse, but this is a really poor pitch. Nothing in it for the bowlers, and very difficult to play expansively on for the batsmen. It rewards tumescent cricket from both sides.

 

[paulscholes18]

Trademark England collapse at the end of play

 

[zing]

Not sure what the NZ batsman are playing at should have put the hammer down or declared at the start of play but instead have scored 19 runs in 16 overs

Looking quite different now..

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

They've all but come out and said Joe Root will be captain for the next Ashes series but I just don't see him making it until then.

He's not a good captain at all, yes the pitch was totally flat and the Kookaburra ball is rubbish but that's just how it is. It's Roots job to deal with all that for England and he consistently now has shown he doesn't know how to do it. This is is 8th test as captain away in Australia/New Zealand and he's staring at a record of P8 W0 L6 D2.

And that's before even mentioning how his batting has gone completely downhill in the last 2 years.

 

[TwoSheds]

They've all but come out and said Joe Root will be captain for the next Ashes series but I just don't see him making it until then.

He's not a good captain at all, yes the pitch was totally flat and the Kookaburra ball is rubbish but that's just how it is. It's Roots job to deal with all that for England and he consistently now has shown he doesn't know how to do it. This is is 8th test as captain away in Australia/New Zealand and he's staring at a record of P8 W0 L6 D2.

And that's before even mentioning how his batting has gone completely downhill in the last 2 years.

Who would you pick though? I'd go with Butter personally but is he really guaranteed a place in the side? The only other guaranteed pick would be Stokes wouldn't it? Maybe Burns these days?

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

Who would you pick though? I'd go with Butter personally but is he really guaranteed a place in the side? The only other guaranteed pick would be Stokes wouldn't it? Maybe Burns these days?

That's the big issue you're right.

I don't know who else could take it, Buttler isn't established enough yet I don't think and Stokes already has a huge workload.

That might save Root, it's bad news for England because it just looks obvious he isn't cut out for it .

 

[paulscholes18]

Time to drop Root? Poor ashes series and only 14 runs this test and both brain dead dismissals

 

[Samid]

NZ will bottle this, they've got a mental block vs England.

 

[sammsky1]

Root gone. 4 down, NZ need 6 more wickets with with 5 hours to go. Massive defeat incoming unless it miraculously rains.

England's inability to spend idle time at the crease is a serious weakness that needs to be addressed under this new coach.

 

[sammsky1]

NZ will bottle this, they've got a mental block vs England.

Who in Englands batting line up has the mental and technical fortitude to bat out under such pressure?

 

[Samid]

Who in Englands batting line up has the mental and technical fortitude to bat out under such pressure?

These two looking rock solid, Stokes in the form of his life. No demons in the pitch. Plus they're really only 3 batsmen down. Boult also struggling with his back.

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

You can't even group Root with Smith, Kohli or Williamson any more. He's nowhere near their level now.

He's declined so much in the last couple of years since becoming captain.

 

[sammsky1]

These two looking rock solid, Stokes in the form of his life. No demons in the pitch. Plus they're really only 3 batsmen down. Boult also struggling with his back.

Both gone. Game over.

 

[AshRK]

You can't even group Root with Smith, Kohli or Williamson any more. He's nowhere near their level now.

He's declined so much in the last couple of years since becoming captain.

With all fairness he was never in that group. It was just the british media who were pushing that agenda. Root is a very good batsmen but Smith,kohli and williamson are one level up. I would say Babar azam has all the quality to reach that level.

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

With all fairness he was never in that group. It was just the british media who were pushing that agenda. Root is a very good batsmen but Smith,kohli and williamson are one level up. I would say Babar azam has all the quality to reach that level.

Nah I think he was.

When you combine all 3 formats of the game there was a period when Root was right up there.

 

[KM]

Brilliant win for NZ. Wagner again doing special things in the second innings.

BTW three tests and all ended in an innings defeat.

 

[paulscholes18]

Embarrassing from England yet again 3 batting collapses in a test match, to go from 277/4 to losing by an innings lots of changes need to be made both mentally and personal

 

[AshRK]

Nah I think he was.

When you combine all 3 formats of the game there was a period when Root was right up there.

Right now it looks like this:

Tier 1: Kohli, Smith
Tier 2: Williamson
Tier 3: Root, Rohit, Babar, Warner

 

[zing]

Right now it looks like this:

Tier 1: Kohli, Smith
Tier 2: Williamson
Tier 3: Root, Rohit, Babar, Warner

Smith and Kohli aren't in the same tier in test cricket.

Edit - I just read this properly. What is Rohit doing there? What is this list?

 

[harshad]

Smith and Kohli aren't in the same tier in test cricket.

Edit - I just read this properly. What is Rohit doing there? What is this list?

A list combining all three formats, I think.

 

[AshRK]

Smith and Kohli aren't in the same tier in test cricket.

Edit - I just read this properly. What is Rohit doing there? What is this list?

List of all formats.

 

[iKnowNothing]

Smith and Kohli aren't in the same tier in test cricket.

So who do you think moves to a tier below? And does that mean one of Kohli and Smith are in the same tier as Williamson?

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

Smith is the best test batsman I've ever seen I think.

 

[paulscholes18]

Butter is a doubt for tonight’s test
If he is out hopefully they go for Crawley over Woakes for the extra batsman

 

[zing]

So who do you think moves to a tier below? And does that mean one of Kohli and Smith are in the same tier as Williamson?

Smith
Kohli
Pujara, Williamson, Root and the rest about the same(ignoring Root's recent form)

Williamson doesn't play enough test cricket - he's clearly very good at batting, but the number of tests he's played in each country outside of NZ is almost like statistical noise - 4 in England, SA, Sri Lanka..

Root pre-captaincy would've been in the Kohli tier if he'd continued it.

 

[paulscholes18]

Crawley and woakes in for Buttler and Leach be interested in seeing where Crawley bats as 6 seems too low for an opener

 

[EdWeatherall]

Loads of batting with Curran 8 and Woakes 9
But Curran the only variety in the attack without a spinner

Hopefully Root is taking on board some of the criticism and will use Archer better

 

[ha_rooney]

Good start for england.

 

[paulscholes18]

Never in a million years was there enough evidence to overturn that decision