The Cricket Thread

[Saddlerrad]

I actually think Wood is quite a loss. I've been impressed by him and on tracks with a bit of pace and bounce I think he would have been an excellent option to have. I hope England don't instantly just drop Taylor back out because there's the chance of Stokes being fit, it would be so unfair when Taylor is clearly in great form.

I have this horrible niggly feeling that we have probably already seen the best of Steven Finn and that he may go down under the 'what could have been bracket' when his career comes to a close. Hope I'm wrong though.

 

[Matt_]

You'd like to think so wouldn't you? However I have zero faith in these selectors making the obvious decisions.

I don't understand that viewpoint to be honest. The England selectors of old, i.e. 15+ years ago maybe, but not in recent times when the selectors have got very little wrong in my opinion.

Any batter discarded by England in recent times has generally had a decent run of games before that happened. James Taylor has done well since his reintroduction to the side and I think it will take something very unusual for him not to be a nailed on starter in at least the first two tests in South African. Personally I think he's already pencilled in at five for all four tests.

The loss of Mark Wood is a real shame as he looked like he had nailed down that third seamer spot for the foreseeable future off the back of his recent performances. Liam Plunkett looks the obvious choice to me, but I'd like to see a (long overdue) chance for Mark Footitt as he will offer something different. As he's now a Slurry player his chances of being selected will have undoubtedly increased despite not yet playing a game for them. A shame about Steven Finn too, he's obviously a confidence player and he looked to have regained that last summer.

Chris Woakes is an excellent cricketer who has the ability to develop into a proper all-rounder batting at six, he's one England really need to persevere with but he'll have his work cut out dislodging Ben Stokes in the short term at least.

 

[Super_horns]

Sounds like Finn thinks he might be fit but clearly we won't take him unless he is 100%

 

[lordofthepies]

The squad has been released. Ian Bell has been dropped, which is a big call but not a giant surprise.

Footit is in and Compton is back. Good for him, he was unjustly dropped in the first place.

http://www.ecb.co.uk/news/articles/ballance-compton-and-footitt-included-test-squad

 

[Pyeman]

I don't understand that viewpoint to be honest. The England selectors of old, i.e. 15+ years ago maybe, but not in recent times when the selectors have got very little wrong in my opinion.

Still agree with this after the latest squad announcement?

 

[Baz]

Patel ahead of Rashid using the excuse they want him to prepare for white ball cricket what a sodding cop out that is

This is a very Bayliss looking squad though, never would have expected Compton of all people to come back in to the squad that's the big call for me however he is an experienced head. I'd say we'd be looking at a first XI of:

Cook
Compton
Ballance
Root
Taylor
Stokes (If fit)
Bairstow
Ali
Woakes
Broad
Anderson

Could argue with Buttler over Bairstow, Hales over Compton and Jordan/Footitt over Woakes but it's good to have competition for places.

 

[lordofthepies]

Apparently Whittaker has stated that Hales is first in line to open, which is quite pleasing. Wouldn't be surprised if Compton plays at 3.

 

[Baz]

Apparently Whittaker has stated that Hales is first in line to open, which is quite pleasing. Wouldn't be surprised if Compton plays at 3.

So if Compton bats at 3 does Ballance miss out then? I know Gary had a bad time of it recently but if you're taking him on tour you surely play him right?

 

[Saddlerrad]

Apparently Whittaker has stated that Hales is first in line to open, which is quite pleasing. Wouldn't be surprised if Compton plays at 3.

Wouldn't be surprised if Compton and Cook opened and Hales came in at 3, he does it for Notts - I hope not though.

With this new, improved attacking brand of test cricket we want to play Compton is not the answer. I cannot go back to watch a top 3 like Cook, Compton and Trott/Ballance etc. Christ almighty that was dull and Compton was poor against the moving ball in his home conditions, something he will constantly face in test cricket as an opener.

Think it's harsh on Bell if i'm honest, he's a good experienced cricketer that I felt would have a run of big scores again, but fair enough his stats haven't been great. I haven't seen much of Footitt to be honest, so I can't comment on him. But Samit fucking Patel over Rashid as back up on a tour to South Africa? LOL. I don't want to see Ballance or Compton in the test squad anytime soon to be honest, I've not missed being bored.

Cook
Hales
Taylor
Root
Stokes
Bairstow
Buttler
Ali
Woakes
Broad
Anderson


Big on the batting - not a fan of Woakes. He's basically a younger Tim Bresnan (safe) kind of line and length bowler, the SA batting will attack him and Ali, leaving a heavy load on the opening bowlers.

 

[Saddlerrad]

Hmmm just reading around, it seems like Compton has been batting at 3 for Middlesex and Hales has gone back to opening for Notts. Maybe flawed thinking on my behalf. Hopefully Hales just opens and Taylor bats 3, we have back up if things go hugely wrong. I think Buttler/Bairstow/Stokes etc will enjoy more pace on the ball in the SA series.

 

[Pyeman]

Hmmm just reading around, it seems like Compton has been batting at 3 for Middlesex and Hales has gone back to opening for Notts. Maybe flawed thinking on my behalf. Hopefully Hales just opens and Taylor bats 3, we have back up if things go hugely wrong. I think Buttler/Bairstow/Stokes etc will enjoy more pace on the ball in the SA series.

Where does Taylor bat for Notts? I'm a big fan of his, and definitely think he should be included, but is he a number 3? I'm genuinely not sure, and my only real experience of seeing him bat has been at 5 in the ODIs.

 

[hodge]

Compton, goes back to a fashionable county, gets picked for England again fairly soon after....

 

[Saddlerrad]

Where does Taylor bat for Notts? I'm a big fan of his, and definitely think he should be included, but is he a number 3? I'm genuinely not sure, and my only real experience of seeing him bat has been at 5 in the ODIs.

Probably a question for RavenBish - but I definetely think he has the right combative attributes to his game to come in and counter attack as a number 3. If he needs to reign it in then he's a great runner between the wickets and can rotate fields. He may struggle with quicker bowling or the short ball, but he's worth a go - especially considering he's quite young so if he nails it down then he can have a long run. Cook, Hales, Root, Taylor, Broad, Anderson are all absolute musts for me - the rest of the team can be built around them on this tour.

 

[Pyeman]

Probably a question for RavenBish - but I definetely think he has the right combative attributes to his game to come in and counter attack as a number 3. If he needs to reign it in then he's a great runner between the wickets and can rotate fields. He may struggle with quicker bowling or the short ball, but he's worth a go - especially considering he's quite young so if he nails it down then he can have a long run. Cook, Hales, Root, Taylor, Broad, Anderson are all absolute musts for me - the rest of the team can be built around them on this tour.

I definitely agree he needs to be in the team. After the big 4 (Cook, Root, Jimmy, Broad) he's the next name on the team sheet for me.

I hope we are patient with him. Even if he has a bad series in SA, we need to stick with him. Fortunately it seems harder to get out of the England team than in it a lot of the time, so hopefully Taylor will now benefit from that after being denied his chance for so long.

 

[Saddlerrad]

I definitely agree he needs to be in the team. After the big 4 (Cook, Root, Jimmy, Broad) he's the next name on the team sheet for me.

I hope we are patient with him. Even if he has a bad series in SA, we need to stick with him. Fortunately it seems harder to get out of the England team than in it a lot of the time, so hopefully Taylor will now benefit from that after being denied his chance for so long.

It will be a disgrace if he isn't on the starting teamsheet somewhere in the opening test.

 

[lordofthepies]

I hope we are patient with him. Even if he has a bad series in SA, we need to stick with him. Fortunately it seems harder to get out of the England team than in it a lot of the time, so hopefully Taylor will now benefit from that after being denied his chance for so long.

I'm not sure that the string of discarded openers would agree with that statement...

 

[Baz]

Compton, goes back to a fashionable county, gets picked for England again fairly soon after....

Yet I get told the selectors are different now Footitt is the same though, leaves Derby, goes to Surrey then bang he's there.

 

[Pyeman]

I'm not sure that the string of discarded openers would agree with that statement...

That's true, but people like Ian Bell have been kept around for a substantial amount of time without really contributing big scores. The same with Ben Stokes - after his first century in Australia, he went through a pretty rough patch of form that lasted quite a while. In terms of performances, I don't think he necessarily merited selection, but he obviously had potential and so we stuck with him.

I'm not saying we're necessarily wrong to persevere with players like that, but they are examples of occasions when the England team has shown loyalty to out of form players.

 

[Destruction]

Bell is well past his peak, time to look at other options now.

And as much I as like Buttler as a Lancs player, he is not a test cricketer IMO.

 

[Matt_]

Still agree with this after the latest squad announcement?

Yes I do.

The only selection I really have a problem with is Samit Patel who, in my opinion, shouldn't be anywhere close to test selection, that is very disappointing.

Is Ansari still injured? If not he would have been a far better option than Patel. Is another spin option after Moeen even necessary?

In the absence of Bell a spare opener/number three in South Africa is a sensible choice and Compton is a decent choice. He like Robson could be considered a bit unlucky to have been discarded previously and either is worthy of another chance.

The absence of Wood and Finn forced the selectors hand in terms of backup pace bowlers and I don't have a problem with Footitt, Woakes or Jordan, but Plunkett could be considered a bit unfortunate.

Ballance is a very fine player who just hit a very poor run of form, personally I thought he was unlucky to be overlooked for the Pakistan/UAE tour after he returned to Yorkshire last summer and showed some form.

I'm feeling sad for Ian Bell, I think the timing of this decision is poor. If the selectors wanted to look beyond him it should have been done after the Ashes. I feel his experience will be missed in South Africa.

I wonder if he is now regretting not making this decision himself and bowing out after a fifth Ashes series win last summer?

 

[Matt_]

Big on the batting - not a fan of Woakes. He's basically a younger Tim Bresnan (safe) kind of line and length bowler, the SA batting will attack him and Ali, leaving a heavy load on the opening bowlers.

Woakes is a very talented all-rounder with much better stats with bat and ball in County cricket than either Bresnan or Stokes. I don't expect him to oust Stokes in this series but he will be a genuine option at number six in the years ahead.

 

[Saddlerrad]

Woakes is a very talented all-rounder with much better stats with bat and ball in County cricket than either Bresnan or Stokes. I don't expect him to oust Stokes in this series but he will be a genuine option at number six in the years ahead.

Hopefully he does.

Currently he just strikes someone that the ECB love. Nice lad, hard worker, does a bit with the bat and the ball, no trouble as a bloke, a yes man.

Perhaps as you say he will turn out to be a legitimate number 6 for England, I can't see it currently though. Hope I'm wrong.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Anyone watching "Being KP on ITV4 now?

 

[RavenBish]

Probably a question for RavenBish - but I definetely think he has the right combative attributes to his game to come in and counter attack as a number 3. If he needs to reign it in then he's a great runner between the wickets and can rotate fields. He may struggle with quicker bowling or the short ball, but he's worth a go - especially considering he's quite young so if he nails it down then he can have a long run. Cook, Hales, Root, Taylor, Broad, Anderson are all absolute musts for me - the rest of the team can be built around them on this tour.

He bats better further down in my opinion. He's an incredibly 'un-English' batsman in all facets, not only his style but also his versatility. He can bat at 3 (I wouldn't attempt it in South Africa though given his success at 5, which is just as pivotal of a batting position as 3 is) or he can bat down at 6 if you need him too. I think the issue with being an England number 3 is the old story about them needing to have some kind of experience of opening, I certainly wouldn't want him coming in during the first 10 overs, he's a bit too active and likes to get bat on ball early.

As a Notts fan and someone who wants to see the Notts lads do well, I'd love it if Hales got a go at 3 first. There's also the argument that Root's eventual position should be 3 so why not pass the torch to him, he's more than capable of batting there.

The larger issue is Bell being dropped, which is silly frankly, given his experience and the conditions the batsmen will be facing out in South Africa. Throwing Hales and Ballance straight into the mix in Durban against Morkel/Steyn seems a bit like feeding them to the wolves.

Patel is a farcical selection, dunno what the alternative is as the selectors obviously wanted to give Ansari an extended look this winter but...fuck knows, not really sure what Plunkett's done wrong. England will need some wheels out there, I'd love to see Footitt get a go, it's the only chance he's going to get with Finn and Wood both being out and the conditions should suit his style.

If Durban was tomorrow I'd go;
Cook
Compton
Hales
Root
Taylor
Bairstow
Stokes
Ali (Woakes an option if spin is a no go, he's a good enough batsman - 5 seamers would be a tad overkill though)
Broad
Footitt
Anderson

 

[Baz]

Root at 3 is probably a must however when he's been doing it at 4 it's hard to justify moving him. As for the quick bowling options, with options limited this was an ideal time to bring a young bowler in to get them used to being in and around the squad, not a 30 year old bloke that won't play unless injuries dictate otherwise. They got Topley around the one day side so should have got him in this squad too.

The Patel selection will make me chuckle for ages, even more so when the excuse given for Rashid is get him ready for white ball cricket.

 

[hodge]

Going along well here, hopefully Roy doesn't slow down too much approaching the ton as its a good time for him to push on.

 

[Saddlerrad]

Good ton from Roy and very busy from Root again. The platform has been set but we have lost 3 wickets for 40, we haven't really pushed on in any game in the final 10 overs of a match as of yet. Hopefully today is right. 320 was on a couple of overs back, so let's see what we can do.

 

[JJH]

Buttler and Taylor giving it a fair old whack at the end of this innings, fantastic effort from Root and Roy to get them into this position.

 

[Saddlerrad]

Buttler goes to 50 from 30, looking more like his old self.

 

[JJH]

He's absolutely smashing it! 200 strike rate, 72 off 36. Playing it all over the park, last 3 balls have been 4, 6, 6