Anyway on the cricket, England have done very well to wrestle back some momentum in this game. Conway looks like he’s there for the long haul now so just need to take out the roots around him.
English cricket thread
- Thread starter Samid
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What an overthrow that turned out to be from Robinson
What a way to get out 
Brilliant effort, glad he got to 200, shame he wasn’t able to carry his bat. Solid score for the Kiwis.
Brilliant effort, glad he got to 200, shame he wasn’t able to carry his bat. Solid score for the Kiwis.
That looked like it was missing to me, not a great call. That said how often have Burns and Sisley failed to see out a session together.
Double umpires call, Sibley’s 5th test duck and 14th sub 10 score in 32 innings.
Are Burn’s statistics similar?, sees like only one of the 3 (including Crawley) can stay in at any given time for a respectable amount of time or score.
That’s a really unlucky decision, I’d imagine that would have been given not out by most umpires.
That said, England’s openers are woeful. It seems like they’re on the backfoot constantly.
That said, England’s openers are woeful. It seems like they’re on the backfoot constantly.
4 ducks and 15 sub 10 scores in 42 innings
I like Burns, just purely on gut feel as the numbers are admittedly average.
We are amazingly consistent at being 30-3, it's quite a feat.
We are amazingly consistent at being 30-3, it's quite a feat.
How are you not just leaving that, so wide
Agree.
Sibley not the man for me. I know it's easy to say when he's got out for 0, but he looks too limited an attacking player.
I'd put Crawley up to open. He got out cheaply today but he looks a class player and we've suddenly got lots of players competing for middle-order slots.
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Very good bowling from NZ in that session. They’ve still got Boult to come into this side!
England just do not have a functioning batting attack and haven't for a long time.
Until they can work that out they are screwed against most other half decent sides.
Until they can work that out they are screwed against most other half decent sides.
Just a really good settled side, know exactly what they are about.
This NZ side are pretty good. Would be a tough ask for India to beat them in the test championship.
He needs to polish his game to be an opener, but he’s basically an opener in all but name at the moment, as he’s usually batting in the first 5 overs.
England need to replace SAC. Have to try and find an anchor opener to play alongside a free flowing opener. Sibley can be that anchor I see it in him but just don’t know if he’ll kick on. I struggle with burns, the stance, back lift....
I’d go with Sibley snd Crawley and let them have a run of test matches together opening.
a recent poster said England have made a habit of being 30-3 recently. How true, takes me back to the good old days of the late 80s snd 90s.
I’d go with Sibley snd Crawley and let them have a run of test matches together opening.
a recent poster said England have made a habit of being 30-3 recently. How true, takes me back to the good old days of the late 80s snd 90s.
I’d also think that it’s easier to be NZ when your selection pool isn’t as big as England’s. You therefore tend to give players more time to settle if you’re NZ before deciding they won’t or aren’t cutting it. England are a bit more cutthroat and players aren’t given as long to settle in test cricket on occasions. This does place greater pressure on newly capped players for England.
Look a good unit. I'm not able to guess if 2 matches in the 15 days leading up to the final is good practice or excessive. India are going to be undercooked. Seeing Ashwin's vlog today, it sounds like they wouldn't have done nets except for a month leading up to the match, followed by a week of practice and play NZ.
I think Crawley is a great talent for home conditions. Burns looks solid for the 35 runs he makes. The problem is all of them show promise in different ways but are also similarly inconsistent. You can give 1 a chance to bed in but not all 3 in the top 3.
But I don't think England have got an option, do they? Root's not going to move up to 3.
But I don't think England have got an option, do they? Root's not going to move up to 3.
I'd look to move Pope up to 3 or bring Bairstow back. Lawrence is an option too.
With Stokes at 5, those three are fighting over one place at the moment and they all look better test-match players than Sibley to me.
Personally I agree with bairstow or Pope at 3.
Root looks like he is settling himself nicely for a future onslaught.
That's my main worry. India may be underprepared and end up playing catch up in the test match.
England needs to replace who? I'm probably being incredibly daft here.
Telegraph reporting that ECB will drop Ollie Robinson for 2nd test to set an example.
Utterly mental.
Utterly mental.
Not really. They've spent months pushing a message of anti-discrimination, they can't allow one of their own players to get away with publishing racist and sexist tweets.
The openers are the problem. You can't keep losing two or three wickets cheaply.
It's like United - you're always coming from behind and that won't always work.
It happened nine years ago. They should have checked for all this kind of nonsense before giving him the debut. It all looks ridiculously amateur.
Doesn’t it....
Sorry, cookie, every test team must have a Cook type batsman as an opener, for me anyway.
Very good chance we get no play today. Grim weather here, and looks to be set in.
Pretty much set for a draw now aren’t we?. Test cricket in England probably needs to be 6 days to compensate for the almost guaranteed lost time.
Nah couple of nice days coming plenty of time for NZ to knock us over twice!
Well that’s a shitter. It was really nicely set up for a classic final day. Even worse is that it’s been sunny almost everywhere else in the country by the sounds of it.
Even if they check it, someone might have taken a screengrab of the tweets. And should we really have to screen grown adults to check whether they're racists?
You haven't heard of background checks? Checking the social media of any acquisitions is pretty common. It's taken to a different level ofcourse when you're representing the national team.
Plenty of time yet with good weather from tomorrow and extra time to make up the overs.
England in particular still in plenty of danger. 250 all out makes NZ big favs.
there are a lot less draws now than there used to be. No need for 6 days.
on a slightly unrelated point, when did it become standard to start on a Wednesday? Always used to be Thursdays - with the biggest crowds on the 3rd and 4th days. Finishing on a Sunday, when often there are refunds doesn’t seem to be a financially sound decision?