our second spinner is ripping it sideways 🙂

153 – 7

and another!

all over

Cook retiring

I’m pleased for Cook in a way. He has earned the right to choose his own departure from the team and I really didn’t want to see him get dropped. I cannot speak highly enough of him and his attitude – he didn’t ask to inherit the Kevin Pietersen tar baby and instinctively he is the sort of bloke who just wouldn’t want to have to deal with rubbish like that, but he made the right decision and stuck to his guns.

He has proved the critics wrong time after time with his batting.

But if you look carefully at this series, he hasn’t seemed all there. That blinder of a catch he took at Trent Bridge (?) was telling for me. That was only such a blinder because he wasn’t really paying the same level of attention as in years gone by.

It really good that he has gone of his own accord and he will be appreciated for ever more – at least by me. Much better than drifting down and finally out in a constant swirl or speculation.

Yep. The right time for him, I think. Glorious batsman in his prime, just glorious.

Yep, time to go. It could be argued he could have/ should have gone a couple of seasons ago.

So we are looking for a 1, possibly a 2 and a 3 then, Unless Ali makes 3 his own.

Glorious batsman in his prime, just glorious.

No he wasn’t, he only had two scoring shots!!

Caveat. He is / was my favourite batsman of all time. Even though he doesn’t have the elegance of a Gower, or the talent of a Pietersen or Ramprakash….as an opener of limited panache as i was, he was everything i tried to be when i played. Bowl where he doesn’t want you to and he’d defend or leave it for days on end. Bowl a bit too straight, or a bit wider, and he’d punish you. And then go back to leaving or defending again. A proper opener in an era of white ball wannabees. And his record stands among the very greats…… 12,254 and counting, all behind point or in the arc from midwicket to fine leg 😉

If others had come forward and staked claims no doubt cook would have gone earlier.

What a wonderful player though. His play against spin also improved immeasurably in the latter part of his career.

https://www.cricket.com.au/video/alastair-cook-double-century-video-highlights-australia-england-ashes-boxing-day-mcg/2017-12-29

probably a touch of umbrage at being stuck in at silly mid off by that young whippersnapper Root 😉

I’m pretty far from a fan of this kind of stickball but even I realise how good an opener he was. I’m pleased for him that he got to announce his retirement himself and wasn’t given the heave-ho.

Could you cricketballists list out what qualities are needed from 1-6 for batters? I read you moaning about the order not being right at the moment. So who has to do what? (Genuine question – not taking the piss.)

OK, I’ll go in first, like I used to.

1,2 are your openers. They need sound technique and temperament, as they will inevitably face the bowlers when they are freshest, the ball when it is new, and frequently if you bat on the first morning of a test match, a pitch that is still getting to it’s best (maybe still some live grass, moisture, etc….. pitches are not watered during a game so if it is fully prepared before D1, then by D5 in a hot country it’ll be falling apart)

As a result, it’s inevitable that occasionally you’ll get a good ball, that you might get lucky and miss completely as opposed to nicking off to the cordon, and if you’re the sort of person that gets bothered by that prospect or is overly bothered by feeling the ball on the bat, this ain’t the spot for you*

Think Cook, Boycott, Justin Langer….. as I said earlier Cook could bat for hours on end waiting for someone to mistakenly bowl in one of the two places he could score, and then he’d go back to just knocking the ball back to you over and over.

* there is a new breed of opener with a mindset of getting back at the bowlers and putting them off. Some merit in some countries….the Aussies have trademarked it recently with Hayden, Slater, Warner, etc. But it’s a risky tactic under UK conditions.

3/4/5 are ‘technically’ your best batters. Sound technique, good defense, but a wider range of shots and harder to bowl at because they have more options to score. Ideally they don’t come in until the openers have laid a foundation, ball has gone a bit softer / seam less prominent, bowlers are tiring / into the second / third choice bowlers, pitch has dried, and so on. But equally, there are times when they could be batting within 10 mins of the start. So they also need to be able to adapt to a changing role depending on situation.

Think Gower, Pietersen, Ponting, Clarke, Dhoni, Tendulkar – all batted in this area.

5/6/7/8 (yes, i know some cross over)

This is where your typically aggressive players bat. Also your all rounders and WK/batters. If 1-5 have done their job you now have a tired attack, an old ball, and you make hay. Equally – it could be 46-4 and you need to stabilise and counter attack. These are the batters who can score 50 in 45 balls and turn games, they’re the ones who can nail a lid down, and they’re the ones for England recently who just when the opposition think they’re on top, they look at the card and think ‘hang on, we’ve still got Stokes, Buttler, Woakes, Bairstow, Moeen, Sam Curran, etc. to get out). They also are likely to be the ones who bat with the tail enders so need to be clever manipulators, taking 4 balls an over looking for boundaries and 2’s, then trying to get a single off the 5th or 6th ball by tapping into a gap and running.

Classic middle order men. Botham, Flintoff, Gilchrist, Matt Prior,

So to answer what’s wrong……

at 1,2 – nothing wrong with Cook, look at the record, except he’s had a run of good balls/bad luck, and has got a bit old. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get a hundred next week just because.

Whoever bats with Cook. That mix of technique and temperament is tough, particularly in an era of 20:20 riches, do kids really want to be someone who can bat for 4 hours to get 70, we want to be someone who can get that in 30 shots. Jennings hasn’t got it…. I thought Compton might, same Hameed, but they have lost their way. Rory Burns, maybe?  Sam Robson…..?

As a result, 3/4/5 are getting exposed and are prone to misjudgement, too much aggression too soon. Root, Bairstow, Stokes, Buttler and co can all do it, it’s knowing when to do it that has let them down recently. Buttler’s ‘slow’ hundred a game or two ago was very encouraging, that said….

6/7/8 – as per previous this is a massive strength currently that your mid order and all rounders are bailing us out but it shouldn’t be, and even then they’re getting us to 300-odd scores when really you want your top 5 to score 300 and then the middle/lower order can nail the lid shut to 450-500+.

Cricket’s a bit like rugby in that undoubtedly bowlers win you games, just as backs do in rugby. But if batters don’t give bowlers a platform to bowl at, just like you need some hairy fat men to give the backs space to run about in their colourful boots, you usually get found out.

Thanks theotherjonv, that’s a really nice couple of posts. If you ever need help with my kind of stickball (great year for my, my county took their first All Ireland in 45 years 😀), ask any time.

Oh, why did I start listening. They were going fine while I was out watching ToB, then I turn it on when I get in to here Cook go and since then 6 for 40.

Jennings can’t have seen the leg slip!

Listened to the dullest session after lunch stuck in traffic on the M6, now this happens!! Thought it was going to be a good scoring game here!!

once again, Cook carrying a mediocre batting line up 😉

Don’t know what we’d do without him.

Extras 28
Nah this fella is keeping them in it

tail is wagging !

Quality contest just now – Anderson and Broad vs Kohli +1

So 4 more runs & cook will retire with a batting ave above 45. Very good for an opener.

I was amazed Jadeja wasn’t in the team from the start for India. He has something about him – always gets into the game.

I hope he gets a ton tomorrow. For all the flack he has been there when nobody else could.

Loved the tuffers conversation yesterday, to all the young cricketers don’t try and be an all rounder we need openers and seam bowlers, we have enough all rounders for a generation

First milestone ticked off! I can’t remember the last time a retirement match actually went well. As England’s best ever, he richly deserves to go out on a high. 2 50’s as an opener this summer is very nice indeed👍

England has pretty much won this test match, even if they collapse now. Would be great for Cook to sign-off with a century

Fast runs this morning.

I’m getting nervous now

No need to be

It’s not often that fairy tale endings happen

wonderful wonderful stuff.

Great stuff, well done Chef!

Im on a delayed train outside waterloo trying to het there to see it. Arse, but not arse at the same time. Be there at lunch so I can clap you off this afternoon.

You can see Root to 3 figures too then! Should be a fireworks session post lunch!! Bairstow Buttler Stokes Curran won’t hang around!!

rubbing the indians nose in it that session!

The after lunch session should be  hoot!

Very pleased for Cook.

Sat at cow corner for a rh bat, bairstow and buttler might warm my hands later

*Applause*

*ripples