International Cricket

[Lew-T]

Fair play we’ve taken it to the final session I guess.

[bearded_red]

Incredible.

[Northern Red]

That cheeky little shit blaming the bowlers bowling the wrong lengths when the batting has failed 4 times in 4 innings.

[Lanterne Rouge]

Say what you like but that was a fascinating day`s test cricket. You couldn`t afford to miss a single ball.

[tin]

3 hours ago, Northern Red said:

That cheeky little shit blaming the bowlers bowling the wrong lengths when the batting has failed 4 times in 4 innings.

I was surprised how tall Root is when he walked past me while I queued up for tickets for the Galle Test in 2018, but you're spot on. Bowling the right lengths doesn't matter at all if you continually fail to get big runs on the board. 

On Root in Australia, that's 21 Test innings without a ton. He's also now lost 11 out of the 12 Tests he's played Down Under (4 defeats and the draw were under his captaincy). 

Edited December 20, 2021 by tin

[Kid in the Riot]

8 hours ago, tin said:

I was surprised how tall Root is when he walked past me while I queued up for tickets for the Galle Test in 2018, but you're spot on. Bowling the right lengths doesn't matter at all if you continually fail to get big runs on the board. 

On Root in Australia, that's 21 Test innings without a ton. He's also now lost 11 out of the 12 Tests he's played Down Under (4 defeats and the draw were under his captaincy). 

Bowling the right length would help though, and Anderson and Broad have been guilty of this for a couple of years now.

Both wield too much power in the national team. Legends they may be, but they have too much influence for me. Particularly Jimmy who has basically been told "you'll always get in the team until you decide to retire". Shouldn't be down to the player.

[tin]

8 hours ago, Kid in the Riot said:

Bowling the right length would help though, and Anderson and Broad have been guilty of this for a couple of years now.

Both wield too much power in the national team. Legends they may be, but they have too much influence for me. Particularly Jimmy who has basically been told "you'll always get in the team until you decide to retire". Shouldn't be down to the player.

It would obviously help, but for context Australia bowled marginally more balls on a fuller length than us in Adelaide. The difference was their batsmen’s ability to leave the ball. They left 23% of deliveries; we left 17%.

I think Root’s trying to deflect blame from our batting fragilities. It’s wholly unrealistic to expect Anderson and Broad to rock up in Adelaide on top form when they’ve played no first-class cricket for months. Plenty of catches also went down. The bowling is the least of our concerns IMO.
 

Edited December 21, 2021 by tin

[Kid in the Riot]

50 minutes ago, tin said:

It would obviously help, but for context Australia bowled marginally more balls on a fuller length than us in Adelaide. The difference was their batsmen’s ability to leave the ball. They left 23% of deliveries; we left 17%.

I think Root’s trying to deflect blame from our batting fragilities. It’s wholly unrealistic to expect Anderson and Broad to rock up in Adelaide on top form when they’ve played no first-class cricket for months. Plenty of catches also went down. The bowling is the least of our concerns IMO.
 

I think Root is trying to assert some authority with the bowlers, as they aren't doing as they're told imo. 

It's not like he wasn't critical of the batting. That's clearly the main concern, though you could argue our batsman are also seriously lacking in practice/experience in Aussie conditions (certainly the openers where the main problem lies). And that's the thing with Broad and Anderson - they should know how to bowl in these conditions, given their experience.

Notwithstanding this, the whole squad is being hung out to dry by the ECB who haven't given Root and the Test side the support it has needed for years, with white ball cricket prioritised instead. You reap what you sow. 

[1960maaan]

1 hour ago, tin said:

It would obviously help, but for context Australia bowled marginally more balls on a fuller length than us in Adelaide. The difference was their batsmen’s ability to leave the ball. They left 23% of deliveries; we left 17%.

I think Root’s trying to deflect blame from our batting fragilities. It’s wholly unrealistic to expect Anderson and Broad to rock up in Adelaide on top form when they’ve played no first-class cricket for months. Plenty of catches also went down. The bowling is the least of our concerns IMO.
 

I'm surprised at those stats, from what I saw I thought we bowled much shorter.  I agree though, they show much more patience and leave far better. Sat in and waited when it was difficult, but it did seem like very few balls were threatening the stumps.
Our batting has looked more like a procession than an order for a while.

[Kid in the Riot]

42 minutes ago, 1960maaan said:

I'm surprised at those stats, from what I saw I thought we bowled much shorter.

Agree, and I heard Aggers say the same too. He also opined that recently Broad & Anderson have become more worried about conceding runs than getting wickets. 

Edited December 21, 2021 by Kid in the Riot

[And Its Smith]

2 hours ago, tin said:

It would obviously help, but for context Australia bowled marginally more balls on a fuller length than us in Adelaide. The difference was their batsmen’s ability to leave the ball. They left 23% of deliveries; we left 17%.

I think Root’s trying to deflect blame from our batting fragilities. It’s wholly unrealistic to expect Anderson and Broad to rock up in Adelaide on top form when they’ve played no first-class cricket for months. Plenty of catches also went down. The bowling is the least of our concerns IMO.
 

I dont think that graph tells the story really.  The Aussies 'good'balls were closer to full than the middle of 'good' and the English 'good' balls were closer to short.

If that graph had 5-6 length levels instead of 3 then I think it would look rather different between the 2 teams.

 

[tin]

58 minutes ago, Kid in the Riot said:

I think Root is trying to assert some authority with the bowlers, as they aren't doing as they're told imo. 

It's not like he wasn't critical of the batting. That's clearly the main concern, though you could argue our batsman are also seriously lacking in practice/experience in Aussie conditions (certainly the openers where the main problem lies). And that's the thing with Broad and Anderson - they should know how to bowl in these conditions, given their experience.

Notwithstanding this, the whole squad is being hung out to dry by the ECB who haven't given Root and the Test side the support it has needed for years, with white ball cricket prioritised instead. You reap what you sow. 

Oh, I agree with Root trying to assert his authority, even if he never will shake off the public schoolboy who wouldn’t say boo to a goose tag.

As far as the batting’s concerned, I don’t think it’s a lack of experience down under at all. Most of these players have played either Tests, white ball, BBL, Lions, or even Grade cricket in Australia before. 

It’s got more to do with your spot-on final point IMO. These batting collapses have become the norm for England, at home and abroad, and the finger of blame at the ECB. They absolutely are reaping what they sow, and it’s a brain-dead strategy when you consider Test match cricket in England remains their biggest cash cow. 

[1960maaan]

46 minutes ago, Kid in the Riot said:

Agree, and I heard Aggers say the same too. He also opined that recently Broad & Anderson have become more worried about conceding runs than getting wickets. 

Exactly what I thought. All the Aussie had to do was leave and wait. The only way we were getting wickets was caught, and that was slim chance.
The tour has been one cock up or bad decision after another.  

[Super]

Bumble has retired.

[B1ackbird]

46 minutes ago, Super said:

Bumble has retired.

I didn't think there was any coming back from Rafiq's scythe..

[Super]

Just now, B1ackbird said:

I didn't think there was any coming back from Rafiq's scythe..

Yep sad really. Prob means more Nick Knight now as well.......ffs

[Super]

10 minutes ago, TomF said:

I sense he may have been pushed. Will defo miss his sense of humour.  
 

Can see him joining Talksport.

[tin]

Clueless. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/59739472

Silverwood, Lewis, Bobat, and Root (although there's no obvious candidate to replace him with) all need to go. 

Edited December 21, 2021 by tin

[And Its Smith]

2 hours ago, tin said:

Clueless. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/59739472

Silverwood, Lewis, Bobat, and Root (although there's no obvious candidate to replace him with) all need to go. 

As just going to post this.  Silverwood can piss off. If he’s not even man enough to admit the errors then he’s not up to the job. If Malan bats out the rest of the series okay then I’d probably give the captaincy to him. 

[Northern Red]

Silverwood always strikes me as not being particularly bright. Just seems to grin inanely in every interview, usually when he's having to explain another poor performance.

[tin]

Silverwood's the stereotypical ignorant Yorkshireman who can't put his hands up and admit he got it wrong. Every man and his dog can see the selection for both the first two Tests was wrong, and that's not said with the benefit of hindsight either. 

He wasn't good enough as a Test bowler and is equally out of his depth as a Test coach. 

[Maltshoveller]

3 hours ago, TomF said:

I sense he may have been pushed. Will defo miss his sense of humour.  
 

Another "win" for the PC mob

[Lew-T]

Sad about Bumble. Love that bloke!

I can see Broad going straight into the comms box once he retires.

[Northern Red]

28 minutes ago, Lew-T said:

Sad about Bumble. Love that bloke!

I can see Broad going straight into the comms box once he retires.

Yeah, he's already done some stuff for Sky on the ODI/T20s so they're clearly lining him up.

Likewise Jimmy on TMS.

[EmersonsKev]

13 hours ago, Northern Red said:

Yeah, he's already done some stuff for Sky on the ODI/T20s so they're clearly lining him up.

Likewise Jimmy on TMS.

Ill chuck another name in, I'm enjoying Steve Finn's insight to proceedings

[Northern Red]

18 minutes ago, EmersonsKev said:

Ill chuck another name in, I'm enjoying Steve Finn's insight to proceedings

Very much so. Another one who seems certain to move in that direction once he finishes.

[Lanterne Rouge]

20 hours ago, Northern Red said:

Yeah, he's already done some stuff for Sky on the ODI/T20s so they're clearly lining him up.

Likewise Jimmy on TMS.

I wonder what Broady will say when he gets asked whether an England bowler should review a blatant not out...............................................

[BanburyRed]

On 21/12/2021 at 15:17, Northern Red said:

Silverwood always strikes me as not being particularly bright. Just seems to grin inanely in every interview, usually when he's having to explain another poor performance.

Sounds like a Tory to me!

[Lrrr]

Hey Ireland how do you like it being the wrong side of an upset….

[phantom]

Burns dropped for Crawley

Bairstow in for Pope

Wood likely to start

Leach to start as a spinning pitch?