English & Irish Cricket Summer 2018

[ArmchairCritic]

Very shrewd batting by Pujara mind, Bumrah has only faced 21 deliveries of the 82 this partnership has faced.

 

[arnie_ni]

Id declare and get a few overs at england

 

[arnie_ni]

Well no need to declare

 

[KM]

Thank god our tailenders survived. 195/8, to 273.

 

[ArmchairCritic]

Special knock from Pujara.

 

[ArmchairCritic]

Thank god our tailenders survived. 195/8, to 273.

Remarkable similarities to the first test so far.

 

[AshRK]

Sublime knock by pujara. Hope this puts an end to him getting dropped from the test 11.

 

[Sultan]

Puja answered!

 

[Sultan]

Lancashire also came good today.

 

[ArmchairCritic]

About 15 overs short through 2 days.

 

[MDFC Manager]

About 15 overs short through 2 days.

Appalling stuff

 

[arnie_ni]

Never played cricket so this is probably a stupid question.

I get the red ball moves a bit more than the white ball in 50 over cricket. But when the ball is full and outside off, in one dsy cricket its generally smashed for a 4 or 6.

I never understand why they just leave them balls in test cricket.

Is it that more difficult to drive the ball?

You rarely see players advance down the wicket even to spinners as well.

 

[ArmchairCritic]

Never played cricket so this is probably a stupid question.

I get the red ball moves a bit more than the white ball in 50 over cricket. But when the ball is full and outside off, in one dsy cricket its generally smashed for a 4 or 6.

I never understand why they just leave them balls in test cricket.

Is it that more difficult to drive the ball?

You rarely see players advance down the wicket even to spinners as well.

It's a lot of things. ODI matches are played on batsmen friendly pitches with two new balls and fielding restrictions that allow the batsmen to get value for their shots. There are no field restrictions in test cricket and I'm sure you saw many times today Pujara nail a shot towards the boundary only to find a fielder and decline taking a single. It's also not entirely necessary in the grand scheme of risk and reward, you have 5 days to force a result so you can afford to be even more selective than in the shorter formats. Bowlers also have more time to work over and setup a batsman.

The mental aspect of test cricket is completely different as well. If the ball is doing a bit or moving around it places a lot of doubt in the batsman's mind, in this test we've seen the ball swinging in the 50-60th overs, in ODIs it might swing a bit but after 10 overs you're ok. Even field placings can place doubt in a batsman's mind, for instance a particular batsman could be great at the cover drive but a captain could pack the offside field and effectively render his main asset useless so long as the bowlers are putting it in the right areas. In such a scenario a batsman may then attempt to play a shot towards an area of the field that is open even if the ball isn't there to be hit in that area, they may then get out.

 

[zing]

Appalling stuff

Don't know why it matters. This test will end with half a day to spare at least.

 

[ArmchairCritic]

Don't know why it matters. This test will end with half a day to spare at least.

Because people have spent good money to watch 90 overs of cricket be played.

 

[zing]

Because people have spent good money to watch 90 overs of cricket be played.

I've watched plenty of days of cricket and never cared if they bowled 85 overs or 90. You go for the days experience and the passage of play. It's not like being short changed 15 overs on a T20.

 

[ArmchairCritic]

I've watched plenty of days of cricket and never cared if they bowled 85 overs or 90. You go for the days experience and the passage of play. It's not like being short changed 15 overs on a T20.

Bowling 80 overs on Day 1 of a test when there no reason to not bowl the full allotment is a load of rubbish. In the grander scheme of things if you let that slide for 4 days and the game gets into a day 5 you've lost a session of cricket. It's a big problem and watching cricket in England is not exactly cheap either (I digress a bit but the prices for the India World Cup games next year are absurd).

 

[paulscholes18]

Good too see that Moeen back in the side playing well, unfortunately for him just like the rest of the squad struggles away from home, he was our best player last summer vs South Africa, arguably should have been in from the start of this summer (Pakistan series)

 

[NinjaFletch]

Well I didn't expect the Root at three experiment to end mid game, but that's the right move even if Ali is trying to do his best impression of England's normal top order.

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

Cook should retire after the series.

He's done.

 

[JohnnyKills]

Great over from the Bumster.

 

[JohnnyKills]

Lancashire also came good today.

Yeah miraculous win. Didn't even dare to follow the live score for fear of jinxing it.

Hopefully get Livingstone back for the run-in too.

 

[Sultan]

Yeah miraculous win. Didn't even dare to follow the live score for fear of jinxing it.

Hopefully get Livingstone back for the run-in too.

He's been a massive miss. Batting has been atrocious. I'm not sure why Haseeb gets picked. He needs to play for the 2nds and get his confidence back. Chanderpaul has been a terrible pick for an overseas batsman.

Apologies, off topic.

 

[JohnnyKills]

He's been a massive miss. Batting has been atrocious. I'm not sure why Haseeb gets picked. He needs to play for the 2nds and get his confidence back. Chanderpaul has been a terrible pick for an overseas batsman.

Apologies, off topic.

Yeah questions have to be asked. Chilton was a mediocre player and clearly isn't much better as a batting coach. We need to get rid.

Anyway, back to England. Another collapse coming...

 

[NinjaFletch]

Yeah that's out.

 

[zing]

What a catch. Damn. Rahul in the slips, keep him in the team just for that.

 

[ArmchairCritic]

That's a brilliant take.

 

[JohnnyKills]

Definite catch

 

[ArmchairCritic]

I'd bite your hand off for an unconverted 50 right now.

 

[Snowjoe]

I don’t like Moeen playing further up the order.

 

[ArmchairCritic]

I don’t like Moeen playing further up the order.

He bats 3 in county and averages 52 there. But yeah, he's always been really pokey outside off when he gets in which isn't the best thing to do when batting 3 in test cricket.

 

[Sultan]

I don’t like Moeen playing further up the order.

Correct.

Hasn't got the technique against quality fast bowling. He's fine in County Cricket where the quality of bowling is not to international standards. Coming in 3rd is basically like opening with the present form of English openers.

 

[Snowjoe]

He bats 3 in county and averages 52 there. But yeah, he's always been really pokey outside off when he gets in which isn't the best thing to do when batting 3 in test cricket.

Sorry should have specified for England, he’s good for us at Worcestershire but I can never shake the feeling he’s got a quick out in him playing something he probably shouldn’t.

 

[ArmchairCritic]

Sorry should have specified for England, he’s good for us at Worcestershire but I can never shake the feeling he’s got a quick out in him playing something he probably shouldn’t.

I'm also not sure I agree with the promotion considering how he got out in the first innings, if he'd batted another hour with Curran England would have got 300+.

 

[ArmchairCritic]

Both teams are rubbish at reviewing.

 

[harshad]

Jennings looking good this innings

 

[KM]

Needed four atleast before lunch.

 

[MDFC Manager]

This is turning into England's favor now.

 

[zing]

Much needed wicket.

Still England's session.

Pujara's batting with the tail is keeping us in the game now.

 

[harshad]

Feck Jennings out. At least Root is still there and looks set for a long innings