Mosi Mynn Posted May 15, 2018 Share Posted May 15, 2018 I like Root at 3. The only reasons I would put him at 4 are a) if he wants to be at 4, and b) if a wicket falls so quickly he might as well have been opening. We've had plenty of captains who have been openers, but it must be a bit mentally knackering to captain for an innings and then go straight into facing fresh bowlers and a new ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted May 15, 2018 Share Posted May 15, 2018 So England have jettisoned Vince and replaced him with, er, Jos Buttler. I'm not Vince's biggest fan but Buttler hasn't played any first class cricket this year and only played 4 games last year, averaging 17.16. Bloody hell. Moeen Ali's also out and Leach broke his thumb so Dominic Bess is the spinner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted May 15, 2018 Share Posted May 15, 2018 6 hours ago, ljkeane said: So England have jettisoned Vince and replaced him with, er, Jos Buttler. I'm not Vince's biggest fan but Buttler hasn't played any first class cricket this year and only played 4 games last year, averaging 17.16. Bloody hell. Moeen Ali's also out and Leach broke his thumb so Dominic Bess is the spinner. I know we were hoping that the selectors might move beyond the usual suspects but I don't think this is what anyone was really expecting. Buttler certainly has talent, but I'm not sure selecting a one-day specialist is the solution to England's batting inconsistency, I'd be happy enough with him as the wicketkeeper but he seems an odd choice as a specialist batsman. I'm a bit surprised Stoneman keeps his place, although his potential rivals haven't really been doing anything too impressive. I don't think I'd even heard of Bess before yesterday. A first class bowling average of 22 is promising, but he seems very inexperienced and Pakistan know a few things about playing spin. ETA - they may have lost but it seems a good performance by Ireland overall. The top order collapse in the first innings really cost them but they recovered well from it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 That was pretty awesome from Ireland. To be still competing deep into Day 5, after such a poor first innings, was an amazing effort. The England squad is...interesting. I also don’t understand playing Jos as a specialist batsman. But dropping Vince and keeping Ali out of the side was the right call. ETA: Was just thinking, England have played an awfully large number of test spinners in recent times. Ali, Rashid, Ansari, Dawson, Leach, Crane and now Bess. It’s not post-Warne Australia levels in terms of number of candidates, but it’s not far off! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maltaran Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 8 hours ago, Paxter said: That was pretty awesome from Ireland. To be still competing deep into Day 5, after such a poor first innings, was an amazing effort. To be fair to Pakistan, it was effectively day 4 because the first day was a washout (hence why they were able to enforce the followon despite having a lead below 200) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 12 hours ago, Paxter said: ETA: Was just thinking, England have played an awfully large number of test spinners in recent times. Ali, Rashid, Ansari, Dawson, Leach, Crane and now Bess. It’s not post-Warne Australia levels in terms of number of candidates, but it’s not far off! There was Borthwick and Simon Kerrigan getting a single Test each just before Ali as well. There was also the short-lived recall for Gareth Batty in the middle of that sequence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted May 21, 2018 Share Posted May 21, 2018 Probably not a lot of IPL love here, but I haven’t minded the competition this year. It’s been refreshing to see someone like Williamson, who doesn’t have a big power game, playing so well and leading his batting-lite team to the top. Plus it was awesome that Kohli’s team sucked. Big final tomorrow between Kane’s Sunrisers and the heavy-hitting Chennai. Then it will be all eyes on Lord’s later this week for England v Pakistan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 AB de Villiers has announced his retirement from all international cricket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yukle Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 Going to miss him. What a real threat of an opponent. Kudos for a stellar career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereward Posted May 24, 2018 Author Share Posted May 24, 2018 So, we've had the warmest, driest spring on record. But now the Test season has arrived, So of course it's fucking raining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mosi Mynn Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 Natch. Just what I was thinking. Welcome to Lord's, Pakistan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereward Posted May 24, 2018 Author Share Posted May 24, 2018 Here we go again. I do not understand why you would choose to bat first in these conditions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 20 hours ago, Consigliere said: AB de Villiers has announced his retirement from all international cricket. A bit of a shame but it’s been coming for a while. I remember there was some talk he only came back for the recent tests because his sponsors wanted him to play in the series against India. Stoneman gone so Root’s in early. ETA: And Cook almost ran him out before he’d faced a ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereward Posted May 24, 2018 Author Share Posted May 24, 2018 FFS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 Gutted about AB. Especially after that Australis series - he was dominant against an excellent attack. Standard from England so far. Abbas reminds me a bit of Asif, who I seem to remember bowling well in England pre-spot fixing. Long live Cook! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mosi Mynn Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 Nice lunch menu at Lord's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereward Posted May 24, 2018 Author Share Posted May 24, 2018 Incompetent bastards. Should never have been batting, but some of the shots have been a total disgrace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 Buttler out after a quick fire 14 off 15 balls, who could have predicted that? Pakistan have bowled well but other than Cook and, to a degree, Stokes England have carried on where they left off in the winter with the bat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereward Posted May 24, 2018 Author Share Posted May 24, 2018 Heads. Pikes. Walls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 Pakistan don’t have a great batting lineup, so I still think England are well in this. Much depends on Ali and Shafiq tomorrow. I am a little bemused by the Wood selection. I’d have gone horses for courses and picked Woakes (unless he was injured)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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