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Cricket: Industrial Action Edition


ljkeane

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Yeah great day for England in the end, though they certainly enjoyed some good fortune along the way. And what a start to Root's captaincy.

@ljkeane: your above post instantly made me think of one M.R. Ramprakash

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It was a great start from South Africa (although there was decidedly ordinary batting from the English top order), but they let England back into it, and it's always a mistake to give Root, Stokes and Ali an opportunity to counter-attack. It was a great innings from Root, even if he should have been out at least three times, the dropped catches weren't straightforward but Maharaj's no ball was a huge blunder.

After the English fightback I'd say they have a bit of an advantage now, but I suspect it'll be a good batting wicket throughout the Test so a lot could still happen.

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Looks like there'll be a 400+ first innings score after all!

Good fightback from England but South Africa should never have let them back in it. As has been said, the Maharaj no-ball was a criminal offence for a spinner.

Still, I guess there's still no real way of knowing whether the Test match is headed until South Africa take their turn.

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 We'll never know for sure, but I wonder if either of those no-ball wickets have been actual wickets had they been bowled legally? At Morkel's pace, that extra few inches would have played a huge role in the 'bowled', and had Maharaj's foot been an inch back, it would have pitched differently, spun earlier, Root may have got to it.

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Epic fail from Ballance. He told Jennings not to review when it was not out on two different counts, reviewed his own plumb LBW, and was out in the exact way the analysts predicted he would be. Again. How often does he have to demonstrate that he can't cope with fast bowling before they decide not to take him to Australia?

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I have no faith in Ballance. He sometimes looks solid but you always know that he has that failure in him at all times.

Root and Ali were fantastic. Hopefully they can push on today and take the score nearer 500 to really put the pressure on SA.

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1 hour ago, Hereward said:

How often does he have to demonstrate that he can't cope with fast bowling before they decide not to take him to Australia?

A few more matches, please, so that he can go to the Ashes...Australia might need all the help it can get if we have to field a club side picked off the street;

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Well this hasn't started well.

I'm not a fan of that decision to give Dawson out lbw though, it's hit him above the knee roll and is just clipping the top of the bails. I suppose you could say it's justified on review but you shouldn't be giving that.

ETA: Broad still doesn't particularly look like he likes it up him but at least he's mixing in a few scoring shots amongst the ungainly evasions to short balls.

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I know it sounds ruthless, but I'm actually a little bit surprised they haven't really gone for a full-on bouncer assault on Broad. You can't really afford to be nice and charitable in this game of Test cricket. It's really just been the odd bouncer here and there and not particularly well directed.

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England still have the definite advantage, the South Africans did show some fight but nobody has really put in a big innings for them yet.

I'm not convinced by Dawson on today's evidence, if he isn't going to be economical they might as well have Rashid in the side. I can understand that Rashid is a risk given that not even he knows how he's going to perform but at least he's got the potential to take a lot of wickets.

12 hours ago, Hereward said:

Epic fail from Ballance. He told Jennings not to review when it was not out on two different counts, reviewed his own plumb LBW, and was out in the exact way the analysts predicted he would be. Again. How often does he have to demonstrate that he can't cope with fast bowling before they decide not to take him to Australia?

I think they'll probably give him just enough matches that his replacement doesn't have any time to secure his place in the team.

9 hours ago, Jeor said:

I know it sounds ruthless, but I'm actually a little bit surprised they haven't really gone for a full-on bouncer assault on Broad. You can't really afford to be nice and charitable in this game of Test cricket. It's really just been the odd bouncer here and there and not particularly well directed.

Maybe South Africans have some ancestral memories about it not always being a good idea to hit English fast bowlers on the head?

 

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6 wickets to spin in the first innings at Lords and 2 wickets for Dawson. I suppose going with 2 spinners was justified on that evidence but like everyone else I still don't really see the point of Dawson. He's a bit better batsman than Rashid but not enough to really matter batting at 8, especially with Woakes to come back, and he's not offering anymore control. It's not just that Rashid's the more attacking bowler, looking ahead to the Ashes having a leg spinner would be useful in Australia.

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18 minutes ago, Hereward said:

Sorry, Birmingham v Notts 20/20. Bowler hit in the head by straight drive. 

There's understandably been a lot of attention paid to the risks to batsmen after Philip Hughes' tragic death, but it could be even more risky to be a bowler, close fielder or umpire given that they're in the firing line for some very powerful shots and don't generally have protective equipment.

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