English & Irish Cricket Summer 2018

[ArmchairCritic]

After my fantastically successful winter thread where England kept true to form overseas and did sod all in the tests whilst playing some fantastic shorter format stuff I thought I might as well give the summer a crack too. So we have:

2 Tests vs Pakistan at the end of May and start of June

9 ODIs and 4 T20's through June until mid July vs. Scotland, Australia and India

5 Tests vs India through August and September.

No D/N tests as far as I can tell. Shame there was no one-off India/Pakistan test scheduled for June/July.

England will knock over Pakistan quite easily in early summer conditions, do well in the shorter formats as per and then I fancy India to beat them 2-1 over the tests with Kohli cementing his all-time great status. As for England I predict Root will get over his conversion woes and score a bunch of runs, Hameed will replace Cook and there will still be loads of questions around the 2nd opener slot, no.3, no.5/6 and the 3rd seamer spot.

Obviously there is more to the English cricketing summer than the England cricket team and the County Championship season begins next week just in time for an apparent heatwave. Williamson's signed with Yorkshire, Kohli wants to sign with Surrey for a game or two and Smith's got a lot of spare time on his hands so there's a very, very, very small possibility that all of the 'big 4' could be batting at the same time in the same country.

T20 blast kicks off in July with finals day on the 15th September at Edgbaston and the Royal London Cup runs from mid-May with the final on the 30th of June at Lord's. All in all it should be loads of fun.

 

[ArmchairCritic]

Oh I also forgot the small matter of Ireland's inaugural test match vs. Pakistan on the 11th May which should be a fantastic ocassion. Title amended accordingly .

 

[Di Maria's angel]

Lords test for India already sold out... This summer is going to be a good one.

I find it a little odd that Pakistan are back in England just two years after their last tour.

 

[KM]

Not sure about winning against England as Anderson is a beast in those conditions but we're giving ourselves a very good chance by sending the likes of Pujara, Kohli to county season to get themselves acclimatized.

 

[Samid]

Lords test for India already sold out... This summer is going to be a good one.

I find it a little odd that Pakistan are back in England just two years after their last tour.

I find it a little odd that after this summer Pakistan would have played 6 tests in England since 2010 while India will be on 14 tests in the same period.

I also find it a little odd that the unattractive May test series is never given to India, Australia or South Africa.

 

[KM]

I find it a little odd that after this summer Pakistan would have played 6 tests in England since 2010 while India will be on 14 tests in the same period.

I also find it a little odd that the unattractive May test series is never given to India, Australia or South Africa.

Genuine question why is the May test series unattractive?

 

[Samid]

Genuine question why is the May test series unattractive?

Mostly conditions. No foreign team wants to play in average temperatures below 15 degrees. Also they put the matches far up north which makes it even more ridiculous. Last time SL were playing in Leeds and Durham in May which is crazy. Secondly the May series has the feeling of being an undercard. It's just a build up for the main event.

 

[ChrisNelson]

Well I've got my Derbyshire membership sorted and booked loads of days off so I get maximum value for money. I will be taking in a hell of a lot of county cricket and focusing my attention on that much more than the national team. I'm not sure which of Derbyshire or England will lose more matches

 

[Di Maria's angel]

Mostly conditions. No foreign team wants to play in average temperatures below 15 degrees. Also they put the matches far up north which makes it even more ridiculous. Last time SL were playing in Leeds and Durham in May which is crazy. Secondly the May series has the feeling of being an undercard. It's just a build up for the main event.

Well, to be completely honest, the India series is always going to be the bigger attraction hence why tickets were sold out for days 1-4 for the first test within days of going online.

As for my initial comment, I'm surprised as I always felt repeat tours didn't take place until at least 3 years and England hadn't been to the UAE since Pakistan were last here.

 

[ArmchairCritic]

Mostly conditions. No foreign team wants to play in average temperatures below 15 degrees. Also they put the matches far up north which makes it even more ridiculous. Last time SL were playing in Leeds and Durham in May which is crazy. Secondly the May series has the feeling of being an undercard. It's just a build up for the main event.

Pakistan had the headline prime summer slot with 4 tests in 2016, 2010 and 2006. 2010 was notable for the spot-fixing scandal and 2006 was notable for Inzamam taking his team off the field at protest for ball tampering accusations and forfeiting a test. Pakistan and England have always had a really rocky relationship so I can see why there was such a big gap between the 2010 series and the 2016 one.

 

[Samid]

Well, to be completely honest, the India series is always going to be the bigger attraction hence why tickets were sold out for days 1-4 for the first test within days of going online.

As for my initial comment, I'm surprised as I always felt repeat tours didn't take place until at least 3 years and England hadn't been to the UAE since Pakistan were last here.

My point was that they're just playing the matches agreed upon in the Future Tours Programme. The reason they're touring again so soon is that the gap between 2010 and 2016 was bigger than it was supposed to be. As for the bolded part, Australia had full tours in 2013 and 2015.

I'm assuming Pakistan were originally planned for 2015 but England didn't want the 2016 Ashes to clash with the Euros so they just switched the years on those two series:

England and Australia will play each other in ten consecutive Tests across two series home and away in 2013-14, and that could be followed by a further five-match series in 2015, after it was confirmed that the dates of the next Ashes series Down Under have been brought forward by a year.

The situation, which last occurred in 1974-75, has been forced upon the two boards by the competing demands of the 2015 World Cup, which is also scheduled to be held in Australia and which, had the 2014-15 Ashes gone ahead as planned, would have required England's cricketers to remain in the country for five months.

A proposal to bring England's next home series, in 2013, forward by a year was thwarted by the competing demands of the London Olympics. England's subsequent home Ashes summer is now expected to take place in 2015, a year earlier than the 2016 date originally proposed, with the traditional four-year home-and-away rotation expected to kick in from then on.

"It's always been our aim to break that cycle of two huge events in the same winter," Steve Elworthy, the ECB's marketing director, told ESPNcricinfo. "To ensure that the teams have better preparation time for the World Cup, this is the only solution, but I also think it's absolutely manageable. I believe the brand is strong enough, as we've seen this year. The home series is critical from our perspective to make sure our grounds are full, but when England head Down Under, they will be trying to replicate the performance that they've just produced."

Although the new dates have yet to be included into the Future Tours Programme, the proposed shift of England's home series to 2015 is potentially significant, as it takes the series away from the competing interests of football's Euro 2016 tournament, which would overshadow the build-up in June and July.

 

[ArmchairCritic]

http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_...ra-replaces-shane-warne-sky-sports-commentary

Former Sri Lanka batsman Kumar Sangakkara will be part of the Sky Sports coverage of England's home summer this year - a season which features full tours from Pakistan and India, as well as limited-overs fixtures visit from Australia. Sangakkara effectively replaces Shane Warne in the commentary box.

Excellent news!

 

[Samid]

Glad they didn't invite the annoying cnut Ramiz Raja.

 

[KM]

Apparently Harbhajan Singh is also on the panel. Would be interesting to see.

 

[ArmchairCritic]

http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/23243551/ecb-propose-100-ball-competition

The ECB's new city-based competition is set to be a 100-balls-a-side affair, according to a radical proposal released today.

The concept proposes two eight-team competitions - for men's and women's teams - consisting of 15 traditional six-ball overs, and a final 10-ball over, a 20-delivery shortfall on traditional T20 matches.

The proposed approach was presented by the ECB to the chairmen and chief executives of the first-class counties and MCC on Thursday, and has been unanimously supported by the board of the new competition.

Love me some T16.66666666666666666667.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/23243551/ecb-propose-100-ball-competition



Love me some T16.66666666666666666667.

Wouldnt it be S16.66*?

 

[ArmchairCritic]

Wouldnt it be S16.66*?

Depends how good your calculator is.

 

[Skills]

England play too many tests. No wonder the likes of Broad and Anderson rack up so many wickets.

 

[ArmchairCritic]

Just the 127 wickets in the County Championship across 9 games yesterday, Aiden Markram got a pair, still no scores over 300 thus far through 1 and a half games.

 

[ArmchairCritic]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Proper lean spell for Hameed at the minute.

 

[TheGame]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Proper lean spell for Hameed at the minute.

Yep and still cannot believe there are ppl out there who think he should be called up to England.

 

[TheGame]

England play too many tests. No wonder the likes of Broad and Anderson rack up so many wickets.

Yeah its nothing to do with them being good bowlers

 

[Skills]

Yeah its nothing to do with them being good bowlers

They are good bowlers. Just not as good as the wickets column suggests.

 

[dbs235]

They are good bowlers. Just not as good as the wickets column suggests.

Is that not why averages were invented?

 

[Skills]

Is that not why averages were invented?

Well the averages aren't that great. Just the wickets column places their names in the company of the likes of McGrath, Steyn, Marshall, Akram - when they obviously aren't anywhere near as good as any of them.

 

[Wengerscoat]

Glad they didn't invite the annoying cnut Ramiz Raja.

Seconded. He is insufferable.

 

[Samid]

Rain interrupting a cricket match in Ireland? Well I never!

 

[EdWeatherall]

Can’t be many better opening bowling pairs than Anderson and Onions

Unsurprisngly Notts are 52-3 (all three to Onions)

 

[ArmchairCritic]

Hameed with another failure .

Ollie Pope making some serious noise down at Surrey, probably a tad to early for him in the England side though.

 

[paulscholes18]

Burns & Pope should be in the next England test team

 

[zing]

Love how quaint this venue looks.

 

[Green_Red]

Oh I also forgot the small matter of Ireland's inaugural test match vs. Pakistan on the 11th May which should be a fantastic ocassion. Title amended accordingly .

What do you reckon, do we have a chance? There's a Pakistani lad at work that I can't stand... always on about cricket, fingers crossed we do them so I can gloat at the cnut for the next year!

 

[ArmchairCritic]

What do you reckon, do we have a chance? There's a Pakistani lad at work that I can't stand... always on about cricket, fingers crossed we do them so I can gloat at the cnut for the next year!

Absolutely. This is Pakistan we are talking about, equally capable of the sublime and the ridiculous.

 

[ArmchairCritic]

Keaton Jennings with another 100 and Joe Clarke currently on 61* after scoring a 100 last week. If I was a betting man I'd wager these two will be in the squad for the first test vs Pakistan.

 

[Moby]

Shame there was no one-off India/Pakistan test scheduled for June/July.

No thanks. Not interested in playing against those stupid cnuts.

 

[paulscholes18]

Keaton Jennings with another 100 and Joe Clarke currently on 61* after scoring a 100 last week. If I was a betting man I'd wager these two will be in the squad for the first test vs Pakistan.

Hopefully Burns gets a chance before Jennings gets his 2nd, if it was up to me for the 1st test match

Burns
Stoneman
Root
Clarke
Stokes
Pope
Bairstow
Woakes
Broad
Leach
Anderson

 

[Wengerscoat]

What do you reckon, do we have a chance? There's a Pakistani lad at work that I can't stand... always on about cricket, fingers crossed we do them so I can gloat at the cnut for the next year!

7-4 now, Ireland will lose easily. Our bowling is too good for their batting.

 

[Green_Red]

7-4 now, Ireland will lose easily. Our bowling is too good for their batting.

87/8 now... This is like England v Australia during the summer test down here.

 

[ha_rooney]

Only been watching this game in bits, annoying it's been behind the red button so no HD.

Looking ahead, Hassan should come back in the side for the England series. I'm a big fan of Shadab but I'm not sure if he's ready for Test cricket & Yasir will be a big loss. I fully expect that our batting will get dismantled by England's bowlers.

 

[zing]

They don't look test quality, unfortunately.