Cricket IX

[ljkeane]

England have included Eoin Morgan in their squad for the tests against Bangladesh. I think they might be jumping the gun with moving Morgan into the test team, it probably won't damage them against Bangladesh but you can't really say that Morgan has earned a place in the test squad. His first class average for Middlesex last year was 24 and being a good T20 batsmen is a long way from being a guarantee of success in the test arena.

[williamjm]

England have included Eoin Morgan in their squad for the tests against Bangladesh. I think they might be jumping the gun with moving Morgan into the test team, it probably won't damage them against Bangladesh but you can't really say that Morgan has earned a place in the test squad. His first class average for Middlesex last year was 24 and being a good T20 batsmen is a long way from being a guarantee of success in the test arena.

I think it might be worth a try to see what he can do (in what should be an easy match for England regardless of what Morgan does). He seems to have plenty of talent and a good temperament (he seems able to handle pressure well, which is not something all England batsmen have been good at) and his form in one day internationals has been very good. I do agree that being successful in one day games doesn't necessarily translate to being a successful Test batsman but there's no real downside to England trying him out at the moment (other than not being able to try someone else in the place) and players with modest First Class records do occasionally do well in Tests (Marcus Trescothick, for example).

[Paxter]

Recent comments from Mohammad Yousuf indicate that he wants to play again for Pakistan:

"I was banned without being given a chance to clarify my position and I want justice because I want to play for my country again," Younis told the parliamentary committee investigating Pakistan's performance during the disastrous tour of Australia.

Hopefully the PCB come to their senses. Pakistan need Yousuf in their batting line-up to retain any semblance of competitiveness on the test circuit.

[Daeric]

Cook fails again!

Trott and Strauss bore us all to death before Lunch :P

[ljkeane]

Cook fails again!

Bit of a harsh decision though, when the ball almost hits you above your pad let alone above the knee roll I think you probably have the right to be a little upset.

[Daeric]

Bit of a harsh decision though, when the ball almost hits you above your pad let alone above the knee roll I think you probably have the right to be a little upset.

Don't let objectivity get in the way of Cook taunting.

[Paxter]

Hope springs eternal!!!

[ljkeane]

Ok what's going on with Nick Knight's

in the new cricket advert. That might be one of the more embarrassing things I've ever seen.

[Paxter]

Great day for the "minnows" of international cricket: Zim outplayed India in an ODI and Bangladesh recovered from 4-370 to bowl England out for 500 and reach 2-170 at stumps. The Bangladesh performance was particularly impressive in light of the fact that English conditions are completely unsuitable to a team that relies heavily on spin to bowl teams out.

ETA: Yeah, the Nick Knight ad is absolute crap...but it doesn't beat

in the embarrassment stakes.

[Paxter]

:bowdown: Tamim Iqbal

103 off 100 balls at Lords. Now the leading run-scorer in test matches this year across all test-playing nations. The result won't go the Tigers' way, but this kid is a genuine find for Bangladesh.

[Stubby]

:bowdown: Tamim Iqbal

103 off 100 balls at Lords. Now the leading run-scorer in test matches this year across all test-playing nations. The result won't go the Tigers' way, but this kid is a genuine find for Bangladesh.

I watched a bit of the highlights of that yesterday - a very good knock.

[Paxter]

Insipid batting from India in a must-win game. A lack of urgency at the top of the innings, some tight bowling and a couple of calamitous run-outs has helped Zim restrict the visitors to 194. To make matters worse, the Zimbabwean bowling attack was comprised of two off-spinners, one left-arm orthodox bowler and one leg-spinner - an attack that Indian batsmen should be making absolute mincemeat of.

ETA: Easy 7 wicket victory for Zimbabwe. The absence of several big guns excuses India to some extent, but the fact is that the likes of Harbhajan and Sachin are not going to be around forever. Many of the individuals in the team defeated today are expected to become part of the next generation of Indian test players.

[ljkeane]

Not the best of starts from England, perhaps it's a good thing they didn't go with five bowlers. :unsure:

[Paxter]

Yeah, good start to the game for Bangladesh, but unfortunately they can never seem to get both opening bowlers firing at once. In the last game, Hossain was hitting some good areas and keeping the pressure on while the other fast bowlers went for runs. This time around, Hossain is getting hit for more than 6 runs per over while his partner is bowling an excellent spell. Frustrating.

[Paxter]

And Razzak gets Cook! Game on.

As an aside, I'd love to see Razzak grab a bag of wickets here. He has an exemplary ODI record (138 wickets @ 27, RPO=4.5), but has struggled a fair bit in test matches. A good haul against a team of England's stature could really kick-start his test career.

[ljkeane]

That's Pietersen gone in not the most impressive fashion. This might be a bit of a problem for England with two inexperienced bowlers in their attack, at least conditions should allow Swann to play more of a part.

[Paxter]

Yeah, Swann will probably have a much greater say in this match than at Lords. Bangladesh can't really afford to let England get beyond 300.

ETA: Bah. Dropped catch by the 'keeper. That would have made things very interesting.

[Paxter]

Urgh. This is a classic "2 steps forward, 3 steps back" manoeuvre from Bangladesh. At times during this series they have been very competitive, to the point where they have completely dominated entire sessions and made England look pretty ordinary. But, as we have seen so many times over the years, batting collapses can quickly undo all of the good work. They lost 15 for 173 when the overhead conditions worsened at Lords, and now they've lost their last 14 for 111 at at Old Trafford. :thumbsdown:

[Paxter]

Good recovery from 5-107 by the South Africans. The WI spinners performed well throughout the innings, but De Villiers, Prince (who looks much more comfortable now that he is back down the order) and Boucher put some good partnerships together on Day 2. It'll be interesting to see how Harris goes in the Windies' first innings.

[Paxter]

Huh? England defeat Australia in an ODI and none of the Englishmen/women are in here gloating? ODI cricket must really be at a low ebb :P

I was relieved to see WI save some face in the second test, with Nash and Chanderpaul both making big hundreds. At least they still have something to play for in the final match.

The other bits of news that we haven't caught up on is Afridi's incredible ODI form (265 runs off his last 161 balls in just three innings) and the selection of a 23 year old Pakistan-born Australian player for the upcoming Pakistan test series. I've seen a bit of him in the last Australian domestic season and he looks to be an excellent prospect. At any rate, he has the numbers to warrant selection with a fist-class average close to 50 and a high conversion rate for a young player (50%).