The Cricket Thread

[Saddlerrad]

I think Ballance is alright and you can't drop a player with a Test average like that. He clearly has some issues playing the swinging ball though which isn't ideal batting at 3 behind England's openers. I think England need Bell and Root at 3 & 4 with their counter-attacking style and Ballance drops down to 5 where he can get bat on ball a bit more. I do fear Ballance is the next one to need his head getting right and eventually disappearing back to Yorkshire for 6 months. He's a decent limited overs player as he proved batting down the order at Yorkshire and hitting boundaries but he looked mentally fragile out at the World Cup - whether that was just the mentality of the entire team rubbing off or not it's never nice to see a player batting so deep in his crease against moderate pace and wafting reluctantly at anything outside off with that lack of confidence.

That's pretty much what I'm getting at. Keep him, but don't play him at 3. I think he would be entirely better without the weight of the entire innings on him at number 3. If we lose an early wicket he's coming to the crease thinking 'number 3 dictates the entire innings' and perhaps he would be fresher mentally and better for it if he came in at 5, where a steady counter attack would be better, for him and the team.

I'm not asking to drop permanently, or remove him from plans. Just either give him a rest at 3, or pick him to play elsewhere.

 

[Baz]

Brooks is 31, how much is he going to develop? There's loads of young bowlers in England getting wickets it's just the same as it's been for quite some years where none of them quite develop enough, even going back to Plunkett early in his career with Mahmood. Anderson's been the one constant and Broad's been the only one to step up.

Mills and Craig Overton (possibly both of the twins) are two young uns with raw pace - Dunn, Wood, Jordan, Finn, Woakes are all young enough too, Notts have a couple of potentially really good fast bowlers in Ball and Wood. The talent is there domestically for England to be really good in all forms (except the lack of spinners obviously), they just need to fix the progression - it's a bit of a running joke but putting players on the EPP and shipping them to Loughborough to 'improve their action and technique' or whatever, really does seem to have the opposite effect. I remember seeing the likes of Bairstow, Taylor, Chambers, Plunkett and Dernbach every couple of weeks during my time at Uni...not sure it helped any of them in any way but they seem happy to stick with it.

Never realised Brooks was so old haha, just know he's been taking plenty of wickets at a decent rate. So it's Loughbroroughs fault all this talent is going to waste? Awesome haha. Plus if they want to look at young spinners for the future, Andrew Salter at Glamorgan is pretty decent for an inexperienced player. Not that any Glamorgan player will get International recognition in the foreseeable.

 

[Bobbin']

In my opinion, Root is performing too well at 5 to be moved, perhaps swap Ballance and Bell but the Ashes are next, not sure that is the time to be experimenting.

On the subject of bowlers, maybe a bit of Kent bias here but worth keeping tabs on Matt Coles. Sent home from the lions tour in Australia a couple of years ago along with Ben Stokes I believe and look how far he has come since. He's continued to take wickets this season and can be handy with the bat, although inconsistent.

 

[Baz]

Coles has done pretty well indeed. If he can keep it up he'll be one to keep a close eye on. He's took to the Glamorgan attack often enough hah.

 

[Bobbin']

He decimated the Derbyshire top order earlier this week.

 

[Matt_]

We also need a left arm quickie for variation in the team IMO.

England very much have their eye on Mark Footitt at Derbyshire, a genuinely quick left armer who swings the ball. I don't think he's that far from being in contention, certainly for the winter and maybe even this summer.

 

[Baz]

England very much have their eye on Mark Footitt at Derbyshire, a genuinely quick left armer who swings the ball. I don't think he's that far from being in contention, certainly for the winter and maybe even this summer.

Has Footitt done much recent seasons though? Willey has seemingly jumped the gun on him.

 

[Matt_]

Footitt took 82 Championship wickets at 19 in 2014 with a strike rate of 34, including 4 six wicket hauls.

http://www.derbyshireccc.com/dccc/n...es/1769-by-numbers-mark-footitt-s-2014-season

He goes under the radar for many because he plays for an unfashionable County, but thankfully England don't see it like that and are very aware of him.

With all due respect to Willey there is also a significant difference in pace between the two, and top pace or quality spin are what are sought after by selectors at the highest level.

 

[Saddlerrad]

Chris Jordan is shite. New Zealand will go passed 408 here. Mark my words.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Breaking - Corey Anderson ruled out for the rest of the ODI series with a back injury.

 

[JJH]

This is shite.

No real attacking intent with the ball or with the field, and they're just hitting it everywhere.

400+ here for NZ, and we won't get close.

 

[NiallQuinnDiscoPants]

don't worry - have faith.

I don't think we'll win, but i reckon NZ will get 370 and we'll fall about 30-40 runs short

 

[Matt_]

The pyjama cricket is very much a batter's game these days, more so than it was it the past. You have to feel a bit sorry for the bowlers with the current regulations on pitches like this and at Edgbaston earlier in the week.

England won't become ODI world beaters overnight just as the Black Caps didn't become a bad side at Edgbaston. As long as England look to have a long term ODI strategy, stick to it and continue to progress that is fine by me.

 

[Robert Molenaar]

Chris Jordan is utter garbage. I know it's The Oval an all that, but come on, there's got to be better out there.

 

[Who Needs Mourinho]

Chris Jordan is utter garbage. I know it's The Oval an all that, but come on, there's got to be better out there.

Don't know what morgan is thinking giving him more overs.

 

[SpireiteDan]

Jordan close to bringing his ton up for New Zealand.

 

[Aber gas]

That last over was decent , doesn't make up for the shite before it though . Maybe they should have beefy on a loud speaker shouting " full and straight " as they begin their run up !

 

[NiallQuinnDiscoPants]

dont know why we have stopped bowling yorkers. i know theres a margin for error where you could bowl a half volley or a full toss, but surely bowling short or a good length has more chance of being whacked out t'park

 

[RavenBish]

Because they don't pick bowlers who can bowl them. Jordan can when he fancies it but I felt sorry for him today with the fields that were being set for him. Finn's a good option, Plunkett and Stokes aren't good one day bowlers. Not entirely sure who you'd go with though, Willey is just a poor man's Stokes and not a good enough bowler to really have an impact so you either take a gamble on a couple of one-day specialist bowlers like Gurney/Fletcher/Hannon-Dalby or you just forever recycle these young 'guns' who can bat as well but are never really going to be economical.

 

[JJH]

After a good start scoring well, Roy goes reverse sweeping to mid-off.

Shame that, he could have really gone on there. Definitely left ourselves in with a chance although given the quick start.

In comes Rooty.

 

[Robert Molenaar]

Game over.

 

[JJH]

Hahaha, and with that go Root and Hales.

1-1.

 

[Aaron-Bcfc]

It's great watching us slog it, even if half of them are being sliced in the air

 

[JJH]

Morgan's got a 200 strike rate so far this innings, ridiculous

 

[silvergull]

I love this england. Just missing a pace bowler

 

[silvergull]

I love this from the bbc page

'England, so miserably abject, so prehistorically slow at the World Cup, are rocketing along at 7.5 an over and it doesn't look odd on them. They've dispensed with that fusty old straitjacket, slipped into this funky, modern new suit and decided that they quite like the cut of it. '

 

[RavenBish]

Billings is shite

 

[silvergull]

This has been a cracking effort at a record chase. I think we'll get destroyed by D/L unfortunately. Rains herring heavy

 

[Who Needs Mourinho]

This has been a cracking effort at a record chase. I think we'll get destroyed by D/L unfortunately. Rains herring heavy

They need to have a look at D/L with the way teams are batting nowadays.

 

[Skinner]

I've not seen any of today's games but it's great to see England hit 350+, especially under the pressure of chasing