England tour of South Africa

[mikesiva]

Jordan bowls a good yorker.

[Durhamfootman]

How has the umpire given that out!

QdK?

Ball was waist height from Wood, but QdK was well out of his crease and the ball was dipping. If he hadn't gone for a walk the ball would have been below waist height. Good decision I think. Nigel Owens would have given that not out though, if rugby refs were allowed to officiate

[Durhamfootman]

Although I haven't seen all of either of the games, they seem to have been high quality matches. They've certainly been entertaining.

The other day I asked which was the aberration, the opening spells from the seamers or the death overs? It might just be as simple as QdK being around at the start and absent at the end.

Boy can he play. Admittedly the bowlers were feeding him sixes, ball after ball, but he made them do that by raw aggression and sheer force of will.

as far as the bowlers are concerned, Rashid and Mo seem nailed on (although some thought must go as to whether it's wise to always give Mo three of the PP overs).

Jordan's place looks as secure as it is possible to be looking towards the WC, but the others still have work to do..... some great work from Wood, who turned the game around when it looked like SA could chase 250 never mind 205, and Curran, holding his nerve right at the end, but some poor balls too under pressure.

England could have lost that comfortably had they not had that 3 over spell in the middle from Wood, Stokes, and Jordan which only went for 14 runs

What on earth was Smuts doing, btw? That has to be one of the more shockingly awful dismissals ever seen at international level. He ended up looking as though he'd been given a 5th stump guard.

[ianp1970]

How has the umpire given that out!

QdK?

Ball was waist height from Wood, but QdK was well out of his crease and the ball was dipping. If he hadn't gone for a walk the ball would have been below waist height. Good decision I think. Nigel Owens would have given that not out though, if rugby refs were allowed to officiate

No - the obvious glove given LBW...

[Durhamfootman]

England batting order becoming slightly clearer (to me anyway)

Roy
Bairstow
Malan
Morgan
Buttler
Stokes
Moeen

or
Roy
Hales
Bairstow
Morgan
Buttler
Stokes
Moeen

[Durhamfootman]

but I guess the point you make is really about putting Buttler back to where he has always done his best work........... which I absolutely agree with


Rashid's fielding seems to have come on in leaps and bounds. He looked extremely competent tonight. It's been a long time since I regularly watched England matches and I remember him being a bit iffy in the field

[ianp1970]

but I guess the point you make is really about putting Buttler back to where he has always done his best work........... which I absolutely agree with

Also replacing Denly with someone better in a more appropriate position...

[Durhamfootman]

How has the umpire given that out!

QdK?

Ball was waist height from Wood, but QdK was well out of his crease and the ball was dipping. If he hadn't gone for a walk the ball would have been below waist height. Good decision I think. Nigel Owens would have given that not out though, if rugby refs were allowed to officiate

No - the obvious glove given LBW...

Ah!

agreed.... very odd. Imagine if they'd wasted a review earlier?

[Durhamfootman]

but I guess the point you make is really about putting Buttler back to where he has always done his best work........... which I absolutely agree with

Also replacing Denly with someone better in a more appropriate position...

assuming everyone is fit, does Root come into that line up?


and what happened to all the left handers? We spend years thinking that right handers were a dying breed and suddenly England struggle to put more than one leftie out giving the batting the appearance of being a bit one-dimensional. Perhaps that's the real argument for including Malan in the side.

[ianp1970]

Assuming everyone is fit, my current team would be:

Roy
Bairstow
Malan
Morgan
Buttler
Stokes
Moeen
Curran T
Jordan
Rashid
Archer

Plenty of batting, a sixth option with the ball and decent death bowling ability.

Squad filled out with:

A top order batsman: Banton/Hales (if back in squad) - everyone drops down a place if it's not an opener being replaced
A back up spinner: Dawson?
Another speedster: Wood
Another bowler who can bat a 7 in an emergency: Woakes

[Arthur Crabtree]

Maybe a left armer pace bowler for back up.

Just looked it up, and Woakes has played eight T20s, the last one in 2015.

Quiz, who is England's leading wicket taker in T20s?

[Arthur Crabtree]

Stuart Broad!

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

England's bowlers by econ since 2014. Willey seems to have been forgotten about, but maybe he has something to offer.

[ianp1970]

Maybe a left armer pace bowler for back up.

Just looked it up, and Woakes has played eight T20s, the last one in 2015.

Quiz, who is England's leading wicket taker in T20s?

Maybe Sam Curran for Woakes then? Both birds with the same stone.

[Durhamfootman]

Willey seems to have been forgotten about, but maybe he has something to offer.

Willey just sort of disappeared. His international numbers don't match up to his domestic numbers, but that's true of most. Is it just that historically England have never played enough T20I's to allow their fringe players to step up a level?

[meninblue]

SA have scored 60/0 in 5 overs. Raining fours and sixers. Awesome batting wicket.