Cricket 38: Ashes Openers Crash and Burns

[ljkeane]

I agree that there’s some pretty good signs for England from this series despite South Africa being at a low ebb, finding some options at the top of the order makes England’s batting lineup look miles better. Having said that if Faf du Plessis had taken that pretty straightforward chance to get Root I think England would have been in a bit of trouble.

[ljkeane]

The partnership between Wood and Broad really killed off South Africa’s chances of a win yesterday and Wood’s been brilliant with the ball too. It’s been quite a return to the team for him.

I have to say from the South African perspective the margin between the two that’s developed over this series has to be pretty disappointing. It was obvious coming into the series that they had some issues with their batting in particular but I thought it was, on paper, an even looking series with England also a flawed side.

ETA: To top off South Africa’s woes it looks like Philander’s breaking down with injury. I think this series has shown why he’s retiring, he just doesn’t look physically up to playing test cricket anymore.

[Jeor]

The South African batting this series has been woeful and the main reason for the gap. They just haven't been able to rack up any substantial innings.

Usually Elgar and Faf can be relied on to make some scores but they've been very quiet with only one half-century in 14 innings combined between them. When your two most experienced batsmen in an otherwise mediocre lineup don't fire, it's going to be pretty tough. De Kock has had flashes of brilliance but it's been a lone hand.

[Paxter]

South Africa are at real risk of falling behind in test cricket. Where's AB's number?!

[Jeor]

1 hour ago, Paxter said:

South Africa are at real risk of falling behind in test cricket. Where's AB's number?!

He's 35 now - probably not worth it as a short-term solution. Better to try and blood new batsmen and hope Elgar and Faf can hang on a few more years themselves.

[Paxter]

11 hours ago, Jeor said:

He's 35 now - probably not worth it as a short-term solution. Better to try and blood new batsmen and hope Elgar and Faf can hang on a few more years themselves.

Faf is the same age as AB...I know who I would prefer in my team! Elgar will definitely be around for the next few years - he's only 32. But it is concerning that neither of them fired across these four home tests. 

It's a shame that Van Der Dussen missed out on a century today. He and QDK were the only shining lights for SA with the bat in that series, while Nortje was a good find with the ball. But overall it was a nightmare for the hosts. The first test win feels like a long time ago.

England will be delighted. Still question marks over Denly but the rest of the batting lineup was almost hilariously solid and the bowling was dominant in conditions that haven't historically suited English seamers. For those following the Test Championship...England are now clear in third place.

[williamjm]

2 hours ago, Paxter said:

England will be delighted. Still question marks over Denly but the rest of the batting lineup was almost hilariously solid and the bowling was dominant in conditions that haven't historically suited English seamers. For those following the Test Championship...England are now clear in third place.

There have been few enough England victories abroad in recent years that any will be celebrated, even if the weakness of the opposition helped a lot.

I think their next tour is to Sri Lanka, who again aren't in particularly good form but the conditions might be more of a challenge for England.

If Sibley and Crawley establish themselves then there probably isn't a need for Denly once Rory Burns returns from injury.

[Paxter]

They did win in Sri Lanka last time around (late 2018). But they played Leach, Rashid and Ali in that series - all now seemingly out of favour with selectors (the latter two for good reason; but I'm unsure as to why the former has been put on ice). 

Poor ol' Denly...still no century after 26 innings. Even Keaton Jennings managed three figures!

[Philokles]

Leach has had two serious illnesses on the New Zealand and South Africa tours. Hopefully he will be well enough to return soon.

Rashid has a chronic shoulder problem after playing through injury at the World Cup, which may well have ended his first class career.

Ali asked for a break after he was dropped for one bad test. He’s a confidence player and that took a battering in the World Cup when he was dropped without doing too much wrong. He was asked to come back for SA but was not ready then, and will be asked again for SL.

[Jeor]

15 hours ago, Paxter said:

Poor ol' Denly...still no century after 26 innings. Even Keaton Jennings managed three figures!

Denly has been very consistent, though. For a guy who hasn't scored a century, he's only been out in single figures four times out of 26. He's oddly reliable in making his 20s and 30s, probably has out-Vinced James Vince.

[Paxter]

8 hours ago, Jeor said:

Denly has been very consistent, though. For a guy who hasn't scored a century, he's only been out in single figures four times out of 26. He's oddly reliable in making his 20s and 30s, probably has out-Vinced James Vince.

I'm sure that's what England is looking for from a Number 3. Labuschagne eat your heart out! 

ETA: On a less positive note for England, they have a bit of a 'keeper problem. Jonny doesn't deserve his place back but Buttler looks extremely vulnerable after another terrible tour with the bat. Maybe they have to turn back to Foakes (who has had success in Sri Lanka previously)?

[Jeor]

6 hours ago, Paxter said:

ETA: On a less positive note for England, they have a bit of a 'keeper problem. Jonny doesn't deserve his place back but Buttler looks extremely vulnerable after another terrible tour with the bat. Maybe they have to turn back to Foakes (who has had success in Sri Lanka previously)?

I always wondered why Foakes hasn't been given a look. He's the right age (26), Test and First-class average around 40, and unlike Buttler and Bairstow he's actually a real wicketkeeper. Perhaps his batting isn't as pyrotechnic as those two, but it's clear that neither of them are in good form for Test cricket.

[Paxter]

32 minutes ago, Jeor said:

I always wondered why Foakes hasn't been given a look. He's the right age (26), Test and First-class average around 40, and unlike Buttler and Bairstow he's actually a real wicketkeeper. Perhaps his batting isn't as pyrotechnic as those two, but it's clear that neither of them are in good form for Test cricket.

He was certainly unlucky to lose his place. Just had two bad tests in the West Indies and that was the end of that. 

Unrelated: The BBL finals is a bit of an odd format this season. The fourth and fifth-placed sides (who both lost more matches than they won) make it into the finals, but they have to win four matches (an "Eliminator", a "Knockout", a "Challenger" and the Final) to claim overall victory. Meanwhile, the third-placed side has to win three matches, while the top two sides can win it all in two or three matches. Confusing!

[Jeor]

6 minutes ago, Paxter said:

He was certainly unlucky to lose his place. Just had two bad tests in the West Indies and that was the end of that. 

Unrelated: The BBL finals is a bit of an odd format this season. The forth and fifth-placed sides (who both lost more matches than they won) make it into the finals, but they have to win four matches (an "Eliminator", a "Knockout", a "Challenger" and the Final) to claim overall victory. Meanwhile, the third-placed side has to win three matches, while the top two sides can win it all in two or three matches. Confusing!

Confusing, but I sort of like the format. Unlike other knockout/playoff formats, this does at least reward you for your final position on the table and doesn't treat places equally.

That being said, it is a bit ridiculous that they played a gazillion matches this season just to eliminate three sides and five still stay in.

[Paxter]

18 minutes ago, Jeor said:

Confusing, but I sort of like the format. Unlike other knockout/playoff formats, this does at least reward you for your final position on the table and doesn't treat places equally.

I probably don't mind if the third and fourth-ranked teams had to win an extra game, but having a fifth team is just silly. Reminds me of the non-nonsensical wild card regime in Major League Baseball.  

[Paxter]

Let's be honest: SA pretty much can't win games of cricket at the moment unless QdK fires. Another great knock from him and SA easily beat the World Champs.

And nice to see Bavuma back in form - that's his first innings of substance at the international level for about a year. 

[Jeor]

Well, at least they got on the field for the BBL final, even if it was a 12 overs-per-side slugfest.

The Melbourne Stars are really attracting the label of serial chokers. Just can't chase a total and if Stoinis and Maxwell don't fire, their batting collapses in a heap. Stoinis and Maxwell are also far better at setting a total rather than chasing it.

The Sixers deserved to win it - they beat the Stars 3 times out of 4 this season, including twice in the finals now. Glad they managed to do it in a game rather than by default.

[Paxter]

Yeah that’s three grand final losses for the much-hyped Stars. It’s quite funny that some of the less-fancied teams (Renegades, Thunder, Heat) have managed to win the tournament at least once, but victory has so far eluded the Stars. 
 

On the international side of things, a Williamson-less NZ has easily defeated India in a short ODI series. That is a nice comeback for them after the terrible Australia tour. And Pakistan has purred into a strong position against the ebbing, Shakib-deprived Bangladesh. Babar Azam is a class act.

[Jeor]

6 hours ago, Paxter said:

Yeah that’s three grand final losses for the much-hyped Stars. It’s quite funny that some of the less-fancied teams (Renegades, Thunder, Heat) have managed to win the tournament at least once, but victory has so far eluded the Stars.

Yes, of the 8 BBL teams, the Melbourne Stars and Hobart Hurricanes are the only sides not to have won it all, and the Stars have reached at least the semis in 8 out of the 9 seasons, which seems incredible.

6 hours ago, Paxter said:

On the international side of things, a Williamson-less NZ has easily defeated India in a short ODI series. That is a nice comeback for them after the terrible Australia tour. And Pakistan has purred into a strong position against the ebbing, Shakib-deprived Bangladesh. Babar Azam is a class act.

Babar is going to become the next leading Pakistani batsman if he isn't already at 25. The problem for Pakistan is that they only seem to be able to produce one of them at a time...Miandad, Abbas, Inzamam, Misbah barely overlapped and if they did it wasn't when they were at their peaks.

I guess Saeed Anwar, Younus Khan, Mohammad Yousuf and to an extent Imran Khan provided some batting strength at various times too, but Pakistan never seem to be able to pull together a cohesively strong batting lineup with several reliable performers back-to-back. They never seem to have trouble putting together a bowling attack, so it's really been the main thing preventing them from ever becoming a major Test power.

[Paxter]

20 minutes ago, Jeor said:

Babar is going to become the next leading Pakistani batsman if he isn't already at 25. The problem for Pakistan is that they only seem to be able to produce one of them at a time...Miandad, Abbas, Inzamam, Misbah barely overlapped and if they did it wasn't when they were at their peaks.

I guess Saeed Anwar, Younus Khan, Mohammad Yousuf and to an extent Imran Khan provided some batting strength at various times too, but Pakistan never seem to be able to pull together a cohesively strong batting lineup with several reliable performers back-to-back. They never seem to have trouble putting together a bowling attack, so it's really been the main thing preventing them from ever becoming a major Test power.

Pakistan enjoyed a good period recently-ish in tests under Misbah. They had Khan firing on all cylinders and lost only 11 of 56 tests, despite zero matches on home soil. Unfortunately without Younus and Misbah’s on-field leadership they are back to a rabble. Sarfraz was a laughably bad captain and didn’t even merit selection.