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

Slipstream wrote:Almost 2 years later.

Last Test

Cook
Hales
Compton
Root
Taylor
Stokes
Bairstow
Ali
Woakes
Broad
Anderson

Finn has become selectable again so he will replace Woakes with Wood on next in line. Hales, Compton and Taylor seem to be the weakest links. I think all 3 have been warned by Cook to get runs in the cc before the first Test against Sri Lanka. I like the idea of Ali as the 8th batsman. Broad has a Test 100. Finn and Anderson have a fifty each. We are ready.

Two years on and things have changed. Root has taken over the captaincy, now 24 Tests W13 L9 D2. New selectors. Since the last series in Sri Lanka there is a new attacking way of playing that Bayliss has been hoping for since he arrived. Three keepers, lots of all rounders. A strange looking team since the KP days.

Here are all the players that have played over the two years.

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine ... pe=batting

Rebuilding for the future must be on Part 7 by now. One of these days the same 11 will play a series or two. Probably more rebuilding after the Ashes when England will have a new coach.

Still rebuilding but more noticeable this time with Pope, Bess, Curran, Crawley and a name coming from nowhere, Archer.

Biggest problem have been the openers. Early hints that we might have found a couple in Burns and Sibley. Sibley spent 8 hours 17 mins at the crease and Burns 7 hours and 53 mins v Australia last year. That's what you want from our openers. Slow and steady, building the foundation.

Gutted that Burns picked up an injury and Jennings is talked about again, supposedly coming back for Sri Lanka. Crawley should be there instead. What is the point of horses for courses? Will we bring back Malan for faster Australian pitches?

Very frustrating when a player is dropped because they don't get runs and not having any matches are brought back. Bairstow.

1 Burns
2 Sibley
3 Denly (for now, will he always get out in the 30s, maybe he can turn into an Ali)
4 Root
5 Stokes
6 Pope
7 Foakes
8 Curran (need to spend more time at the crease, record against India, 3 hours for 78)

The bowling will always change, injuries, form and conditions but those 8 look like they could be there for a while.
Finally Stokes gets the 2nd slip position.

Denly may always get 30's, but if he takes a long time getting there he'll do for me. It's always easy to lose an opener early on, but if Denly can take the shine off the ball, the edge off the bowlers, some time out of the game, he helps prevent England from going into auto-collapse mode. Even honest Joe couldn't seem to do that at 3 and he's supposedly our best bat.

Is Foakes being talked about by anyone except us? I'm not saying he shouldn't be, but I'm not sure he is. If Pope was to make a success of things at 6 and Buttler/Bairstow continued to struggle, I reckon England would rather throw him the gloves than draft Foakes in. Been a very long time since England seemed to give a monkeys about giving the gloves to an actual glove man and I'm not sure why they would suddenly want to start. They certainly wouldn't listen to anything we might say.... what a gloveman brings to the side can only be quantified by counting the number of runs he scores, so as far as England are concerned that means it's the only thing that matters.

I think Foakes is supposed to come back for Sri Lanka so he must do all he can to cement his place with his batting.

Foakes 41.50 (small sample size)(2 stumpings in 5 Tests)
Bairstow 34.74 (13 stumpings in 70 Tests)
Buttler 32.78 (no stumpings in 39 Tests)

Sri Lanka, I am guessing
1Jennings
2Sibley
3Denly
4Root
5Stokes
6Pope
7Foakes
8Curran
9Bess
10Leach
11Archer

West Indies
1Burns
2Sibley
3Denly
4Root
5Stokes
6Pope
7Buttler
8Leach or Curran
9Archer
10Broad
11Anderson

It will be interesting to see if Leach or Bess is picked for the 3rd Test. Bess probably picked over Parkinson for his runs and he got 0 and 0.

Impression I get is England will leave one of Anderson and Broad out when everyone is fit.

Arthur Crabtree wrote:Impression I get is England will leave one of Anderson and Broad out when everyone is fit.

They don't stay fit for long, who will come back fit from the IPL? Anderson calf and rib, Woakes knee, Curran hamstring, Archer elbow, Wood intercostal, Stone back and Stokes knee. Broad the only one who has had nothing since 2018.

Our Test bowling stocks ....
Anderson 26.83
Broad 28.66
Stokes 32.92
Archer 27.40
Wood 37.36
Curran 29.48
Woakes 30.96
Stone 9.66
Overton 44.77

White ball
Woakes 30.47
Archer 24.73
Wood 39.09
Stokes 41.71
T Curran 29.81
S Curran 45.00
Mahmood
Brown
Jordan

Might be that it's not just the bowling, but they might not want to bat Leach/Archer/Broad/Anderson in the bottom four. Don't think Archer will be left out (if fit), so that leaves one of the other three.

Of course the point has been made before and it isn't insurmountable, but it is another pressure point on the A&B bond.

Arthur Crabtree wrote:Of course the point has been made before and it isn't insurmountable, but it is another pressure point on the A&B bond.

Number 8 is supposed to be a run scoring bowler.

Ali 26.96 HS 84
Curran 32.21 HS 78
Woakes 21.03 HS 66
Broad 19.82 HS 74* can't believe that Broad has batted at 8, 32 times! The last time Broad, Wood, Leach, Anderson Mar 2018.
Bess 31.00 HS 57

Archer f/c 25.93 HS 81* - hoping he can replicate his county form but he looks like a number 11 at the crease. Wood 21.38 HS 72*
Ali looks like the missing link at 8 but while he is away Curran keeps his place. (Ali Archer Broad Anderson).