Arthur Crabtree wrote:Fast bowlers just stop playing Tests and specialise in limited overs. Wood will do the latter.
yuppie wrote:Starc just turned 32, i hope hes not reading SPs list....
sussexpob wrote:I mean, if I wanted to play bad cop with that list Slipstream....
Its arguable if Broad and Anderson will play another game again.
Even assuming Stokes is good to play/bowl like in his prime, he's only worth a wicket per innings at 33, not good to be anything but your 5th bowler. After mental health issues blamed on being overworked, its more than likely he will be bowling much less going forward to preserve his batting.
Wood/Woakes - been covered. Neither are likely to be around much longer given the age, type of bowlers, historical fitness issues and what not.
Assuming he even plays at the first opportunity in the English season, Archer will have spent the best part of a year and a half injured. He's played twice and re-injured himself almost instantly in that time. Last I heard they had operated on him a second time and werent even sure of the diagnosis causing his issues. Out and out pace bowlers dont tend to last long after long injuries.
Olly Stone's last three years in the CC..... 1 game, 2 games, 4 games.... He cant even get fit enough to represent Warwickshire, its a pipe dream to think he will ever be an England regular. Doesnt play OD games either, so he's being kept back just for those games.
Curran - 30 wickets in his last 17 tests indicate even when he's in the team, they wont throw him the ball much. Average of 34, 40 and 58 in his last three test years show a trend downwards. Overall, his average/sr/return per test are all very bad in comparison to players of his era. Away average is noticeably terrible - confirming the suspicions so far that hes a green top swinger who wont transfer to any other type of pitch. Terrible average is also boosted by 9 per wicket vs Ireland.
Overton - Seems to have been around forever. Debuted in 2017, gets a test here and there, but nothing has solidified his place in the team. Another who strikes you as a home specialist.
Topley - Never fit. Will never be a reliable long term pick
Fisher - Never played more than 4 games in a CC season. He's either not fit enough, or he's not even played himself into Yorkshire's first team.... neither scream to me he's about to storm the test game.
Mahmood - He seems to be the next car off the block, and he has obvious upside in skill sets.... but stats from his own team make his own performance a worry. Tom Bailey has significantly out bowled him in recent years. And test class bowlers who have played on the same pitches have also significantly out performed him.... Anderson has played 10 odd games with him in recent years.... average of 7 per wicket in 2019/9 per wicket in 2021.... Mahmood 31/25. Graham Onions averaged 19 in 2019. Even Glenn Maxwell, hardly a great spinner, returned nearly as many wickets in 4 games as Mahmood in 9 games in 2019.... at 11 per wicket less, a better econ, a better strike rate.
Put simply, an average of nearly 30 in FC on those pitches looks very average considering the scores being set and other bowlers ripping teams to shreds. And 13 overs per innings bowled is a very low mark for a top line bowler (Robinson in the same period for instance is over 20 overs per innings)..... and he's a person who's getting questions about his fitness in longer innings. That number of overs bowled is a mystery... he's billed as express pace, but has he proved he can bowl long spells? Because he certainly doesnt seem to be putting many overs in.
bigfluffylemon wrote:Glad I sparked some debate, although sorry I haven't been back to discuss.
Sussex's post is what I was getting at - it's all well and good to say you are 'looking to the future' or what have you, but when your 'future' options are getting on a bit, past their best, not that good to begin with (*cough* Wood *cough*) or just fail to kick on (like every batsman we've picked since about 2014), the idea of weakening your current squad for alleged 'future gains' looks laughable.
Interesting article here. https://www.thecricketmonthly.com/story ... or-bowling
Puts England's struggles into context. Doesn't excuse them - they are still a terrible batting unit - but batting has been hard for many teams in the last few years. Some of it is no doubt quality of bowling attack - India's fast bowling is the best its ever been, New Zealand's probably is as a whole as well, Australia, South Africa and Pakistan all seem to have a never-ending production line of quality fast bowlers, Anderson and Broad (and Woakes, let's be fair to him) continue to make life miserable for teams visiting England.
But averages have gone down everywhere and for every team against every team. Nice that there is a genuine contest between bat and ball again (although for England, it's no contest - ball wins!). For a while it seemed that batting was too easy and hundreds were the new fifties. Test matches are better when your first innings scores are around 300-350 than racking up 500 every time.
sussexpob wrote:Jimmy finally breaks his silence on being dropped, calling it "shocking and disappointing". Like Broad he also echoes the fact that Strauss only talked to him briefly and that "many questions" were left unanswered. Jimmy then suggests with Strauss only temporarily in charge, he hopes the new permanent appointment will considered him, and will be working hard to get another final chance at the team.
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