Cricket-Match-Special ... A forum for discussion

sussexpob wrote:The insensible selections of Stoneman and Malan are paying of perfectly, arent they.

Are they the best of what's currently available in the county game?

You would have expected one or two of the recent triallists to have made a mark, but they just can't. It seems that due to the demand for more shorter format cricket, the skill sets required for test match cricket just aren't there anymore.

England in a familiar pickle ...to be fair , West Indies have bowled pretty well. But the players "on trial" haven't produced again...

Easy to say toss 'em out and try someone else : but the alternatives I am seeing have all been tried , with underwhelming results , in the past ; Hales , Compton , Ballance ...

I do think Hameed is the most likely to succeed , and I hope he gets runs in the CC and stamps his ticket for Australia. But I certainly wouldn't rush him back next week given his struggles for his county this summer. As I doubt England will win this by an innings they'll all get a second chance to show us if they're learning from their failures ; we can have a think about selection then.

For now : really need Root and the all rounders to do the job they've managed (thankfully !) quite a few times recently. Would be rather embarrassing to get knocked over by this West Indies team that everyone has been cheerfully describing as the weakest touring team in living memory

Ballance for Malan to strengthen the middle order

Alviro Patterson wrote:Ballance for Malan to strengthen the middle order

Woakes would be a more reliable number 5 than either of them

backfootpunch wrote:

Alviro Patterson wrote:Ballance for Malan to strengthen the middle order

Woakes would be a more reliable number 5 than either of them

Bairstow can bat a five and Roland Jones can come back in the side.

He too could do a better job at 5 than the current incumbent!

Did Stokes get away with one then ? Impossible to be sure... One time when the old hot-spot might have helped.

Still hard work for the batsmen except when the spinners bowl. Neither Chase nor Bishoo have found a length yet so they have been guilty of releasing the pressure somewhat.

And as Stokes edges through slips it occurs to me there is a bit more in this pitch for the pace men than was advertised at start of play...

Australia will be happy to see England slump at the top of the order. If Cook and Root don't post a big stand, the vaunted 6,7,8 are always likely to be coming in during a crisis. If WIndies can reduce England to not many for 3 imagine what the Aussies will do

Death , taxes , and a Joe Root fifty

Had a huge stroke of luck early today ; but that's all he needed...

alfie wrote:Death , taxes , and a Joe Root fifty

And Ben Stokes getting insanely lucky.

Hed average like a tailender if people actually caught him out.

50 for Root

is there not some sort of record up for grabs? most consecutive tests or something

Durhamfootman wrote:Australia will be happy to see England slump at the top of the order. If Cook and Root don't post a big stand, the vaunted 6,7,8 are always likely to be coming in during a crisis. If WIndies can reduce England to not many for 3 imagine what the Aussies will do

We were consistently three down for not alot inthe last Ashes series!

It's been going on for a long time.

Roach v Stokes is quite intriguing at the moment. Two edges , one drop , lots of fours... Bowler must feel hard done by ; but he's running out of time to get his man before he needs another rest.
Think West Indies might have missed a trick by not including a fourth seamer. Not as if there were too many batsmen demanding places ...but you can see why they were reluctant to make the tail any longer.

Handy partnership this : not before time.

budgetmeansbudget wrote:

backfootpunch wrote:

Alviro Patterson wrote:Ballance for Malan to strengthen the middle order

Woakes would be a more reliable number 5 than either of them

Bairstow can bat a five and Roland Jones can come back in the side.

He too could do a better job at 5 than the current incumbent!

Bairstow at 5 is the most logical solution, but the ECB have an obsession by batting wicketkeepers at 7 and Bairstow is wasted so down the order.

sussexpob wrote:

alfie wrote:Death , taxes , and a Joe Root fifty

And Ben Stokes getting insanely lucky.

Hed average like a tailender if people actually caught him out.

He'd average 40 if he didn't have to slog in the second innings every time we need to declare

Him moeen and bairstows averages have been ruined by that

I wonder whether the middle order can perform unless they are under pressure.

Stokes, Bairstow and Ali all failed in the last game after a decent platform was provided by Cook and Root.