I thought Moeen Ali looked dangerous, from his first game for England. Yes he bowled the occasional bad ball, but so do most bowlers. Sky have been banging on about him being a part timer & now Strauss has just said people should stop banging on about him being a part timer !
Moeen is the 3rd highest wicket taker in this series behind Kumar & Anderson.
Why hasnt Cook bowled Jimmy ? - is that excellent captaincy?
I am sure he knows far more than you or I the level of fitness of Jimmy today. Try and enjoy a superb test for Cookie and England.
Arthur , there was a touch of tongue-in-cheek in my statement. Its been a fantastic Test match for Cook and England - , but however, 1 test in 10? simply papers over the cracks in my view, and that the real problem is still there- if you want to glory in the now , without having a concern about the tomorrow, then i would suggest thats one of the major problems of English cricket recently - its quite obvious to me and many knowledgeble people that Cook is a poor captain - ok, he got it right this time, but that doesnt make him a good captain overnight - he needs to be replaced(as a captain), full stop, and if this Test gives him breathing space into next seasons series v Oz for the Ashes, then i'll quite happily put my money on Oz now - if you want a series with Oz walking all over us, then continue supporting Cook as captain.
You may be right. However Cook is intelligent and should continue to improve. He's seen the benefit of being more attacking in this Test, so hopefully will continue in this vein.
You may be right. However Cook is intelligent and should continue to improve. He's seen the benefit of being more attacking in this Test, so hopefully will continue in this vein.
But even so CE, so many instances today of , for example, not having a gully when the effing ball keeps going through there at catching height, or, having 2 men on leg side boundary today when we're 400+ ahead !!!!!! What is that all about ?? There are soooo many instances of situations where even i think ' what the eff is he doing?' - that makes me wonder what the senior players in the team must think. The guy must go - else we could well be a laughing stock v Oz next year, and i will be VERY upset if thats the case.
He is a young man with an amazing record. There is no obvious replacement. Help him learn, help him develop, and let one of our greatest run scorers have support. Not endless criticism from the armchair cricketers of England who like nothing more than slating good men in order that they themselves score petty points and hope to look more accomplished and informed about the great game.
I agree there's not an obvious replacment. Broad's a hot head, who always thinks he's right. He's not bowling great and has a dodgy knee. Anderson is also a hot head and could find himself banned for the next match. Bell is not a leader of men & doesn't have any air of authority. Root- possible, but still very young. Has he captained before ? Morgan's a lesser batsman than Cook at Test level, so not worth a place.............
He is a young man with an amazing record. There is no obvious replacement. Help him learn, help him develop, and let one of our greatest run scorers have support. Not endless criticism from the armchair cricketers of England who like nothing more than slating good men in order that they themselves score petty points and hope to look more accomplished and informed about the great game.
He has an amazing record - as a batsman, but he has a fairly shit record as a captain - i've no wish to denigrate him as a batsman - i just think he's a shit captain ! the 'armchair cricketers' as you mention, only slate him because of what they see - if he was any good at it,or showed any signs of improvement (which there havnt, in my view) then it would be totally different.
I agree there's not an obvious replacment. Broad's a hot head, who always thinks he's right. He's not bowling great and has a dodgy knee. Anderson is also a hot head and could find himself banned for the next match. Bell is not a leader of men & doesn't have any air of authority. Root- possible, but still very young. Has he captained before ? Morgan's a lesser batsman than Cook at Test level, so not worth a place.............
Ok CE, i sort of agree - but however, it still doesnt mean that Cook isnt a shit captain !
The thing i have most liked about cook in this test is his courage. Absolutely slated for his batting and captaincy after the last test. Yet he came in and scored a brave 95 and then a 70 not out. He did have the runs to play with, but he and the other players batted aggressively in our second innings which no doubt helped us with getting 4 of them last night.
He is really a class batsman when on form and it seems obvious to me (and many of the pundits) that all of the england team is behind him. They back him 100%, which in my opinion is more important than setting the correct field. The tactics can he learnt and developed, which I think he has done in the last few tests. We need to give him until the end of the series at least.
Morgan cannot get into the team with his batting, so wouldnt put him in
Bell isnt captaincy material
Broad has an injury and I bowlers often dont make good captains
Root is defo one for the future - so start getting him involved with captaincy duties (media etc etc) and let him learn the ropes whilst taking some of the pressure off of Cook
i am very pleased to see cook and bell for that matter making runs but i still see Cooks captaincy as a problem .....i think "setting the correct field "comes very high on the list for any skipper ...think we have exhausted alternatives for the moment but Cook and England will be better without him as skipper
Cook - Excellent game. Scored 165 & only out once. Best match in terms of captaincy. 10 Robson - Average at best. Still not sure about him. 5 Ballance - Superb. Scored 194 & although given out twice, he shouldn't have been, either time. 10 Bell - Excellent 190 runs. 9 Root - Very good. 59 runs and took a wicket. 7 Moeen - Superb. Only batted once scoring 12, but took 2 wkts 1st innings & 6 wkts 2nd innings. 8 in total. 10 MOM Buttler 85 runs in 1 innings & took 6 catches. Faultless keeping. Far better than an unfit Prior. 10 Woakes - Didn't take a wicket, but bowled well & was very unlucky. Deserves to stay in. 6 Jordan - Didn't bowl well & didn't bat. Poor game. He might have let Stokes back in. 3 Broad - 3 wickets. Bowled well, but clearly has a knee injury. 7 Anderson - 7 wickets. Bowled superby throughout. 9
Great win. Cook with an amazing test, runs, everything he did came off, good bowling changes. Showed faith in Ali a bit more, hopefully learnt a lesson there. Looking forward to OT now, supposed to be a Bunsen, play two spinners?
Jimmy MOM !!! - thats odd. OK , he took a Pfeiffer in first innings but didnt seem to do much in 2nd. Probably done to pee off the Indians. BTW, next test match might see a couple of new bowlers if Jimmy gets banned - would expect Plunkett to come back in.
Comments
Moeen is the 3rd highest wicket taker in this series behind Kumar & Anderson.
Try and enjoy a superb test for Cookie and England.
There are soooo many instances of situations where even i think ' what the eff is he doing?' - that makes me wonder what the senior players in the team must think.
The guy must go - else we could well be a laughing stock v Oz next year, and i will be VERY upset if thats the case.
There is no obvious replacement.
Help him learn, help him develop, and let one of our greatest run scorers have support. Not endless criticism from the armchair cricketers of England who like nothing more than slating good men in order that they themselves score petty points and hope to look more accomplished and informed about the great game.
Broad's a hot head, who always thinks he's right. He's not bowling great and has a dodgy knee.
Anderson is also a hot head and could find himself banned for the next match.
Bell is not a leader of men & doesn't have any air of authority.
Root- possible, but still very young. Has he captained before ?
Morgan's a lesser batsman than Cook at Test level, so not worth a place.............
the 'armchair cricketers' as you mention, only slate him because of what they see - if he was any good at it,or showed any signs of improvement (which there havnt, in my view) then it would be totally different.
He is really a class batsman when on form and it seems obvious to me (and many of the pundits) that all of the england team is behind him. They back him 100%, which in my opinion is more important than setting the correct field. The tactics can he learnt and developed, which I think he has done in the last few tests. We need to give him until the end of the series at least.
Morgan cannot get into the team with his batting, so wouldnt put him in
Bell isnt captaincy material
Broad has an injury and I bowlers often dont make good captains
Root is defo one for the future - so start getting him involved with captaincy duties (media etc etc) and let him learn the ropes whilst taking some of the pressure off of Cook
Anybody else not been able to use Cricinfo this test, as its been so damn slow/unresponsive? Had to revert back to the good 'ol BBC.
6 wickets for Moeen. England win by 266 runs.
Cook - Excellent game. Scored 165 & only out once. Best match in terms of captaincy. 10
Robson - Average at best. Still not sure about him. 5
Ballance - Superb. Scored 194 & although given out twice, he shouldn't have been, either time. 10
Bell - Excellent 190 runs. 9
Root - Very good. 59 runs and took a wicket. 7
Moeen - Superb. Only batted once scoring 12, but took 2 wkts 1st innings & 6 wkts 2nd innings. 8 in total. 10 MOM
Buttler 85 runs in 1 innings & took 6 catches. Faultless keeping. Far better than an unfit Prior. 10
Woakes - Didn't take a wicket, but bowled well & was very unlucky. Deserves to stay in. 6
Jordan - Didn't bowl well & didn't bat. Poor game. He might have let Stokes back in. 3
Broad - 3 wickets. Bowled well, but clearly has a knee injury. 7
Anderson - 7 wickets. Bowled superby throughout. 9
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/scorecard/88639
Cook out?
Anderson was named MOM.
Probably done to pee off the Indians.
BTW, next test match might see a couple of new bowlers if Jimmy gets banned - would expect Plunkett to come back in.
Who's there?
Kevin
Kevin who?
EXACTLY!