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In deep doodoo now Pope is out. Buttler needs to be told if he doesn't get a 100 he never gets to play test cricket again. 😛
That tail recalls England teams of old - Caddick, Gough, and Mullaly and Tufnell arguging over who's the worse number 11.
I actually think Stokes at 5 really unbalances the side, they could never drop him if he’s not bowling but should they bring another bat in instead and leave him at 5? Bring in Denley who can bowl spin along with Root and leave out a spinner maybe?
Agreed. The whole batting lineup looks off though - Root has repeatedly said he wants to play at 4 not 3, Stokes at 4 is a one-day move, and Buttler isn't reliable enough to be at 6. Actually, given his dropped chances in the ****stan innings, Buttler should be fretting slightly about his place (but probably isn't).
The whole batting lineup looks off though
It really does.
Burns is fine at the top, Sibley I fear will keep getting found out by quality bowling. I suspect Crawley or James Bracey will end up here.
Crawley is fine, if a little raw here, Pope will end up here long term.
Root is a 4.
Pope is fine here for the moment before he moves up the order, no idea who comes in long term, maybe Bairstow in the short term.
Stokes is best here.
Buttler coming in to thrash 30 or so here is OK when there's not a collapse up top, the problem is that his keeping is off. I love Foakes but there's a question as to if he can bat well enough. Bairstow is not the answer.
That means you have Bess or Woakes at 8 and 3 bowlers.
Sorted.
Actually, given his dropped chances in the ****stan innings, Buttler should be fretting slightly about his place (but probably isn’t).
But the only viable alternative I can see is Bairstow. Buttler and Bairstow are effectively the same player. Both are potentially destructive batsman who are almost equally likely to be out for a blob as scoring a quickfire century and both are awful keepers. They're even prone to howlers whilst standing back. Standing up to the stumps they're about as useful as Stevie Wonder holding some cymbals.
But the only viable alternative I can see is Bairstow.
Unless you accept that you want a proper keeper and pick Fowkes. There's also a glut of tidy keepers in county cricket at the moment, but how they bat is up for debate.
Or you throw caution to the wind and pick Billings...
Buttler and Bairstow are effectively the same player.
Almost weirdly so - they're totally interchangeable for the Test and ODI sides. Vaughn did mention... someone, whose name I forget, but could've been Billings?
Lunge's lineup makes a lot of sense. Tbh the last couple of days have shown that when England's bowling isn't working, it doesn't matter whether they have 4 or 6 bowlers - it's still not going to work.
Buttler/ Bairstow are fine inclusions as long as they're not missing chances behind the stumps, it's just that this team selection has left Buttler totally exposed in a role he's not equipped to do.
Buttler/ Bairstow are fine inclusions as long as they’re not missing chances behind the stumps,
Well, if you're being harsh you divide the total scored by ****stan and divide by 10 to get 32. Buttler missed three fairly regulation chances so he needs to be scoring 96 before he breaks par(!)
I know you can't really do it like that, but three chances missed in one innings is shit.
Pleasure watching the ****stan stumper today. Lovely hands although I do wonder if his foot movement is a little late.
My only issue is his vaguely germanic shouting of 'Oh Yah!' - my wife thought I was watching some kind of cricket based porn.
Buttler and Bairstow are effectively the same player.
Yet equally strangely, completely different personalities.
Bairstow is all fire, anger and Yorkshire, Buttler the well spoken, public schoolboy.
Anyone else getting mildly ticked off by the frequency of reviews this innings? I guess they're used more often in the tail end of the innings, but it does seem to be every over at the moment
Anyone else getting mildly ticked off by the frequency of reviews this innings?
Not really - part of the game now. I really want to like Richard Illingworth as an umpire, but he is being shown up too often.
if your going to dive across your captain to steal his catch better make sure you catch it. sheesh wtf!
Buttler is having a mare here.
Buttler is having a mare here.
My only sympathy is that there is nowhere to hide as a keeper if you are having a Lionel.
Batsmen get put out of their misery quick, bowlers get taken off. Keepers have to be in the game.
That said, Buttler and Bairstow are both just fielders with gloves on.
This is shaping up to be a cracking afternoon, could easily go either way.
That's dented my optimism!
It’s the hope that kills you
Yup. Forlorn hope now. Mrs TJ is seething
I don't think it's that bad. ****stan clear favourites but England win isn't out of the question at all surely. Another wicket any time soon and we're screwed though.
Matches like this demonstrate why cricket is unique in the way it affects your emotions and expectations.
Fascinating contest for sure.
test match run chases are a real test of nerves.
How are the chances calculated - sky reporting 63% P, 36% E, 1% tie/draw
I suspect it's a statistical assessment based on all matches at this stage but wonder if it takes into account whether 9/10/J can actually hold a bat or not?
squeaky bum time!
10 overs to the new ball, 48 to get with 5 wickets remaining....
What a match. Test cricket really is the best sport.
Quite enjoying the will they won't they review drama
Chuckles @ Klunk
that ball tracking didn't look right to me, looks like it was turning more than that
*Clenches*
Oooh, looks like putting Broad up the order was a good idea. He's on form, and it shows.
Or not...
God, I love test cricket. Pity the fools who find it boring.
Never in doubt.
Ahem.
my late father would not approve! you don't win matches by getting runs in the second innings. 🙂
by 3 wickets is a thrashing 😉
p.s. we need more posts to get off nelson!
fabulous test match. Good job I didn't have tickets for tomorrow though. Oh.....
God, I love test cricket. Pity the fools who find it boring
Amen!
.....Indeed,!!
Got to love Test cricket, what a finish.
And what a player Buttler is, never doubted him for 1 moment...
I was out all day so just watching the highlights now. An excellent illustration of why Test cricket is such an epic sport. Fabulous innings from Woakes
But for all the fuss about Buttler, given the 3 missed chances in the 1st innings it's really no more than he needed to produce. The selectors should still be looking around at other options - no use having a keeper who can bat but can't keep.
Test cricket is such a great game with it's ebbs and flows.
Although I’m getting increasingly frustrated by comments such as ‘woeful england’ after day two, and the general England have lost this test steady mentality. It’s 5 days of cricket, good days, bad days, good sessions, bad sessions, good tests and bad ones. You don’t change because of one event.
It was a monumental effort to chase that on that pitch, took real belief, technique, and a bit of luck too.
Butler for all his faults can’t be dropped now, his confidence should be high and hopefully that will translate into better keeping, although he will never be a great keeper for sure.
More concerning is Anderson who is either injured or out of form, and I question how good a player Archer is at the moment. Bess too is living on borrowed time, but they will stick with them I suspect. Much better than the revolving door selection policy of the 90’s.
It is fair to say, I didn't expect England to knock off 277!
****stan will rue that second innings of theirs for a long time.
More concerning is Anderson who is either injured or out of form, and I question how good a player Archer is at the moment. Bess too is living on borrowed time
Anderson is an interesting one, I suspect he’ll finish his career holding up an end and trying to stem runs rather than as a strike bowler.
Bess is a young spinner, they’ll stick with him and let him learn his trade.
Archer however, he is an interesting conundrum. The view is that the England set-up don’t get him, theyre used to people who’ve been through the County systems and he’s a different beast, they also want him to bowl at 99mph every over and he’s not that man I don’t think. I’d personally put him into the one day squad and let him learn his trade.
RE Archer, this might explain a few things:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2020/feb/07/england-jofra-archer-cricket-barney-ronay
Bairstow in the runs for Yorkshire today.
We can debate his wicket keeping all you like but his technique is very, very good Looks like a proper batsman when compared to the likes of Sibley!
Sibley's trigger movement is the weirdest thing. You think he's played his... oh no, he's lifted the bat again and *there* he's played his stroke.
Looks like a proper batsman when compared to the likes of Sibley!
Absolutely, but strike me down for saying this, but I would prefer Sibley opening.
Bairstow looks great when he is creaming the bowling all over, but a nick from Bairstow is 99% certain to carry because he goes at the ball so hard. Sibley looks awful, but he is more likely to be there after ten overs than Bairstow if the ball is moving around.
Morning everyone
Here’s hoping for a few wickets this morning for Jimmy
Hot, sweltering muggy air up this end of the county, seems the same at the Rose Bowl. ****stan batting first, and Root keen to emphasise that he didn't mind losing the toss. Suspect he did, really!
Plenty to improve upon from Old Trafford, hope to see some quality in the field and with the ball in hand. Bit of weather forecast for the next few days - I predict a draw (one of the lesser known Kaiser Cheifs songs).
RM.
Early wicket!
Love to see Sam Curran in the team, I really think he brings something others don't.
Morning everyone
Maaaarvellous
Good to see England rotating the seamers; I guess Anderson getting 2, and Broad's performance in the last Test, means it had to be Archer dropped.
Enjoying this game so far.
Heavy storm just hitting the top of the county, suspect delays will be occurring darn sarf!
Very enjoyable ask ramps anything 😀 so good you don't even miss the cricket.
yay cricket 🙂
So how is this meant to work? 3:20pm on the final day – do they add another day or are England just going to bat a bit then it finishes in an inevitable draw? If that's the case, then what is the point of them even playing?
It's farcical, isn't it?!
I mean, yes, the weather has been bad but much of it was lost to bad light - pink ball and floodlights and there was no crown so why not start earlier. What's the point of them playing now, fair enough if there was a crowd there. Hopefully, no one gets injured in this pointless hour or so.
Genuinely surprised they didn’t stop for tea at 4pm
I did wonder earlier if they might concoct a county style declaration game - this is an entertainment business after all.
eg: England declare, bowl filth at the P openers for 5 overs to let them get to an agreed total (say 250 lead) and then declare and England agree to chase until at least 5 down and then it becomes a proper game again.
Weather screwed it anyway.
Quite a few folk on Twitter pointing out that if there had been spectators - and thus a requirement to refund people for Days 3 and 4 - there would have been rather more effort to actually make a match of it, rather than hanging about going "ooh, looks a bit grey over there". TMS have been absolutely raging about it, and fair play to them
Weather has been grand pretty much the whole time up north - thought the south coast was meant to have the best weather!
Morning, everybody.
Blowing a gale up at the Northern edge of the county, with earlier torrential rain. Still heavy cloud cover.
If they get on this morning, it's going to be interesting!
Rory Burns series average of 5
England win the session!
Traditional English collapse underway?
Burns not only has an average of 5 he’s also dropped some sitters too.
Questions to be asked at the top of the order again. Crawley to open and Denley back at 3? Or Bracey? Or even Bairstow?
Traditional English collapse underway?
have faith young man have faith 😉 years and years of disappointment is no excuse !
International meets village currently - Joss keeps whacking it out of the park and the fielders have to then go and find it. Only missing a field of corn and some nettles for the ball to go in.
Or as a team mate once said when I had one of my occasional days off from behind the stumps on a sunday to bowl some cunning no spinning off-spin...
"Are you coming on soon Jon?
"Why?
"I was going to tell the mice in the field to get their tin hats on
ball is disappearing to all part now !
332 runs in the day!
Lovely inning from Crawley.
90 overs in a day !!
What a way to get your first First Class hundred!
A lovely, old school test innings.
What a way to get your first First Class hundred!
First test hundred.
I stand corrected!
Highest scoring innings though, I think.
Either way, a top knock!
Agreed - could be the answer for long term number 3.
Agreed – could be the answer for long term number 3.
I suspect he’ll end up opening and Pope will be the number 3.
Either way, he’ll be here for a while.