English Cricket Thread

[Arthur Crabtree]

I thought this was just the squad for Ireland. Anderson expected to be fit.

Maybe they'll pick a second string attack for them.

I see Archer is out for the summer.

[bigfluffylemon]

Poor old Archer. He's still young, but you have to wonder if he will ever play tests again for England. Every time he gets close to fitness it seems he gets another injury.

(As an aside, I wonder what happens to bowlers in terms of income if they spend most of their time sidelined? Are they still getting paid while they rehabilitate? Presumably they are not getting match fees).

Also feel that Foakes is the wrong call, but I can see the desire to get both Brook and Bairstow in the line-up, and neither can open (but then, neither can Crawley). Bairstow as keeper averages 21, not as keeper 66, according to some stats on the BBC, and goodness knows how many he's going to cost the side when he misses chances to get Smith etc. out early. Feels like this one could backfire horribly.

[Slipstream]

I thought this was just the squad for Ireland. Anderson expected to be fit.

Maybe they'll pick a second string attack for them.

I see Archer is out for the summer.

This squad is for the Test against Ireland.

Fleming said "Ben's ability to bowl overs at the moment is still a bit of a challenge".

[sussexpob]

Poor old Archer. He's still young, but you have to wonder if he will ever play tests again for England. Every time he gets close to fitness it seems he gets another injury

I predicted this ages ago, as he turned up to England duty throwing down 96mph thunderbolts, but at Sussex he was a rhymical fast-medium bowler with a bit of nip and excellent control of the seam. Another brilliant prospect lost in the quest to eek out an extra 3mph by getting him to kill himself.

[sussexpob]

I think Zak Crawley must inhabit a different reality, because he has come out with an all guns blazing attitude against his critics today, saying amongst other things he played well last year with some good knocks (he averaged 23 with one half century, and a best of 60), that the idea that he needs to score hundreds is nonsense (his own coach and captain basically said he's picked for the big innings, not for consistency), and that the only part of the game that is problematic is his own heavy self-expectations (so getting out to the same line ball outside of stump playing the same shot has nothing to do with it).

Earth calling Zak, Earth calling Zak... whats it like over there?

[alfie]

No real shocks in that England squad - larger than usual because of fitness issues I presume. Certainly I'd expect Anderson , even if fully recovered from his recent "minor groin issue" , and probably Wood , to sit this one out , with a lot of Ashes action to follow.

Big talking point no doubt the fate of Foakes as the fall guy for the YJB return , while Crawley somehow retains his place. Wouldn't have been my choice but I can see why McCullum & co have gone this way : the "perfect" solution of slotting Jonny back into the middle order where he thrived last year and dispensing with the underperforming opener would have required someone to be shuffled up the order ... and they evidently felt the risks of destabilising the batting order were too great. Guess we will have to wait and see how "Plan A" works in practice.

I am not quite as bothered as BFL about Bairstow as keeper , as those stats he quoted are crazy wrong ! He actually - still - averages slightly better as keeper than as pure batsman : 37 and change versus just under 37 - though the contrast is less than it used to be thanks to his blazing 2022. Concern might be that having seemingly "cracked it" at number five he's now being called upon to reset again : but as suggested above , any change to the line-up meant someone had to make an adjustment.

Shame about Archer but , as Sussex says , trying to regularly break the speed barrier in five day Tests was always going to be fraught with danger. Unfortunately that "quest for raw pace" has long been a bit of a mania among the media - and , it has to be said , some on here , no ? Whenever England happen upon a young very fast bowler he is urged to maximise his pace - generally with tours of Australia in mind. In truth , some of Archer's best bowling even in that initial four Test run against Australia saw him operating below full pace and relying on his skills...but that didn't get the headlines like cracking Smith on the head. Unfortunately I fear that's history now and the best England can hope is to get him back in action in the white ball arena - and with this recurring elbow trouble even that is not certain.

And as for Crawley : well it's nice to hear he is still confident But much as I enjoy watching him when he's on song , I reckon he is going to have to produce the good stuff a lot more regularly this summer or even McCullum's faith might evaporate...

[bigfluffylemon]

I am not quite as bothered as BFL about Bairstow as keeper , as those stats he quoted are crazy wrong ! He actually - still - averages slightly better as keeper than as pure batsman : 37 and change versus just under 37 - though the contrast is less than it used to be thanks to his blazing 2022. Concern might be that having seemingly "cracked it" at number five he's now being called upon to reset again : but as suggested above , any change to the line-up meant someone had to make an adjustment.

That'll teach me to quote stats I got from somewhere else without checking the source

If you take the time period since the start of 2019 it is closer - he's averaged 47 without the gloves and 18 with.

[Durhamfootman]

And as for Crawley : well it's nice to hear he is still confident But much as I enjoy watching him when he's on song , I reckon he is going to have to produce the good stuff a lot more regularly this summer or even McCullum's faith might evaporate...

is it McCullum, or is it Key?

[alfie]

And as for Crawley : well it's nice to hear he is still confident But much as I enjoy watching him when he's on song , I reckon he is going to have to produce the good stuff a lot more regularly this summer or even McCullum's faith might evaporate...

is it McCullum, or is it Key?

Well I suppose Rob might be the Key to Everything (he is generally believed to be a big supporter of Crawley , I understand) ; but I'd imagine Baz's opinion would carry a lot of weight in his usual quiet spoken manner : if he really felt the team needed a change of opener I reckon he'd get his way.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Worcs and Leics going to get the weekend off, if the rain stays away.

[Slipstream]

Why isn't Wood playing for Durham? Last red ball cricket December 22 against Pakistan when he bowled 27 overs. He came home early from the IPL for the birth of his child. Is Ireland Test his warm up Test?

[Durhamfootman]

wrapped up in cotton wool, presumably

[Durhamfootman]

perhaps he'll get the chance to loosen up by playing for us in the Dribble, with a lot less risk for England

[Slipstream]

Robinson going for a scan on his ankle - a precaution - sore when walking but not running.

[sussexpob]

RE: Zak Crawley

It's worth remembering that Mo Bobat and David Court have, at various times in the past few years, used Zak as the marquee example of how their whole player identification philosophy works, and why various beliefs they hold in assessing players is proven and explained in his selection and elevation to the test team (focusing on maximum potential output, not output).

I would suggest the only reason Crawley is in the team is because dropping him would be an admission that our Performance Director, who is very close to Key seemingly on Key's own words, maybe doesnt know what he is doing. I mean, after putting so many chips on him being the confirmation of your whole professional opinion, its going to look like an idiot when his career ends with him having one of the worst averages for a player of that many games in English test history.

I think the funniest thing is, one Kent opener who barely averages enough to play county cricket has been selected 33 times for England and failed.... the other was playing local league cricket till he was in his late 20s because the algorithm decided he didnt have the potential.... yet Ben Compton has a FC average nearly double that of Crawley since he got a shot

Of course, one went to a private school, the other was born in South Africa...... I am sure that has nothing to do with it