Bangladesh V England Test Series 2016

[Slipstream]

Yes it was thought Broad would play 1 Test in Bangladesh and the same with Anderson. Since Anderson isn't there will Ball or Finn get the 2nd Test? If so then Broad will go to India for his 100th Test.

Not a fan of rotating the fast bowlers . Once a bowler starts bowling and getting his rhythm he wants to play. Last time in India Anderson bowled 126.4 overs in 4 Tests and we had only 2 fast bowlers. In SA 4 Tests he bowled 173.2. So I wouldn't expect the fast bowlers to have a heavy workload in India and we will have 3 rather than 2.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Finn and Anderson bowled 83 overs between them in Kolkata, and the third spinner bowled one (Samit). So maybe a third seamer would have been useful there. But Broad bowled 36 overs in two Tests, and Bresnan 45 in two Tests and they didn't take a wicket between them (though they bowled badly and were injured) so arguably even a second seamer was a luxury elsewhere (seam took two wickets in the first two Tests for England, as many as KP and Samit). There will probably be more of the second type of pitch this time. But England don't have spinners as good as Monty and Swann, so the seamers will have more of a burden.

[hopeforthebest]

Finn and Anderson bowled 83 overs between them in Kolkata, and the third spinner bowled one (Samit). So maybe a third seamer would have been useful there. But Broad bowled 36 overs in two Tests, and Bresnan 45 in two Tests and they didn't take a wicket between them (though they bowled badly and were injured) so arguably even a second seamer was a luxury elsewhere (seam took two wickets in the first two Tests for England, as many as KP and Samit). There will probably be more of the second type of pitch this time. But England don't have spinners as good as Monty and Swann, so the seamers will have more of a burden.

We do have Stokes so two other pace bowlers should be enough. Listening to Switch Hit it appears Broad has not been long in Banda and those few overs in the warm ups is not a lot of preparation. In 2010 both Broad and Finn laboured in the heat while Bresnan (who was accused of being overweight) coped well. Mind you Ball was dead on his feet in an ODI a few weeks ago and in his test debut in England struggled to bowl a third spell, his pace dropped away considerably.

[Aidan11]

Guess who got up early for this thinking it started today?

[Aidan11]

Cook becomes England's most capped test player tomorrow (134 appearances)

[Aidan11]

Cook says we are likely to play 3 spinners and 3 seamers.

Looks like it will be between Ansari & Batty then.

[sussexpob]

I see Agnew is saying that he is going for Hameed and Ballance on the fact both offer solidity.

One has never played a test, the other is scraping a 30 average since 2014.....

SOLID

[Aidan11]

I never listen to a word Agnew says.

[Aidan11]

I hope if it comes down to Ansari or Batty, I hope the former gets the nod.


Batty is a backward step IMO.

[sussexpob]

I never listen to a word Agnew says.

Do you offer training?

[hopeforthebest]

Root and Bairstow didn't shine with the bat in the recent warm up games, Cook hasn't hit a ball in anger for quite a while and Ballance is still on approval, then we have Stokes who is a hundred or nothing type of bat. Into this mix it's suggested we place two debutants. On that basis there's not a lot to be optimistic about as far as the batting goes so once again it's probably up to the bowling to do the job. I thought Woakes and Stokes bowled well in the ODI series and Rashid looked OK even though his wicket total flattered his bowling, as for Moeen, despite his number of tests I don't discern much progress in his bowling which is disappointing. Basically he has a lot going for him but despite getting a lot of rotation on the ball he lacks the most important facet of the slow bowlers art, guile.

Will England win, probably but it will be interesting to see how they go about it. Bangladesh have some talented players but they will require England to play poorly to succeed.

[Slipstream]

I am sure Bayliss would like

Cook Duckett Root Stokes Ali Bairstow Buttler Woakes Rashid Batty Broad - all the ODI players except Cook, Batty and Broad. He seems to think if you are batting well in ODIs it will be the same in Tests.

Will Duckett, who is used to Div 2 bowling, be able to open the batting against Steyn, Rabada, Starc, Boult etc? His first class s/r is 70.82.

[sussexpob]

I dont think England can be considered winners for this series unless they make huge strides in batting. In recent times, the bowlers have been winning tests for them, making up for batting. In this series we might see two unproven spinners leading the attack, and if they dont take wickets, England could be very screwed.

As identified above, Cook has hardly played recently. There is no second tested opener. Bairstow has a poor record in Asia and has never looked the same against spin on helpful pitches (ive seen Steve Smith outclass him with the ball in hand at Lords in 2013). There has been question marks on Stokes with spin. There is no one else in the team that makes a positive compelling case for selection on batting alone.

If it turns out that Cook is bang out of touch, England basically have Root as the only test class proven top 6 (Stokes low 30 average dont cut it) who has a good record away from home and has had good tests in Asia. Mind, by memory Root's performance in Asia is boosted by the slowest pitch I have ever witnessed in that 4th Indian test a few years ago. Not even sure he has made a contribution in Asia other than that innings ( I can be proved wrong).

Can England bowl BD out for 300 and under a lot? Can England make 300 plus on a regular basis? I can see it enitrely the question to both if conditions dont suit is NO.

I have this series slightly in favour of BD

[Slipstream]

In the final practice Duckett went in to bat with the top 3 and the media say he will make his debut to open with Cook.

[hopeforthebest]

Our batting could make 500 or 150 they are so mercurial.