Another collapse.....Buttler gets a century & then & its 4 wickets for 10 runs in 3.2 overs. That is following on from being 62-4 just 90 mins into todays play. So thats 8 wickets for 72 runs. If Butler hadn't had been dropped on 1 (v difficult chance) then it could have been all over by lunch or shortly afterwards....Atrocious.
Another collapse.....Buttler gets a century & then & its 4 wickets for 10 runs in 3.2 overs. That is following on from being 62-4 just 90 mins into todays play. So thats 8 wickets for 72 runs. If Butler hadn't had been dropped on 1 (v difficult chance) then it could have been all over by lunch or shortly afterwards....Atrocious.
The Trent Bridge management had a shocker last night which they've reversed now. The pricing was going to be £10 for adults £5 for children and no refunds for the 2000 people who had already bought tickets if a ball was bowled
It takes balls to admit you were wrong, even when you clearly are. Well done NCCC.
Back to the issue at hand. Is Root hamstrung but the clic he has helped foster? It seems to me that Stokes, Bairstow and Butler are seen by someone as the golden Boys of English cricket and are treated as such.
If JB insists he keeps wicket, Stokes walks back in, Butler gets the vice captain, even though his place isn't secure. England's top 2 wicket takers and top run scorer seem to be marginalised on the field and in the dressing room?
How many games has Root won as captain that weren't down to Anderson and/or Broad? I would wager its not many.
Root and Cook are under so much pressure as they know the other members of the top 4, who ever they are, aren't really good enough.
The solution, I am not sure, but it's starting to look like the England football team under Sven.
Maybe it is time for a football style manager for the test team. Who reports to Struass and is RESPONSIBLE AND ACCOUNTABLE for results. Has 100% say in selection, taking advice from the selectors.
The responsibility is so thinly speed between Root, Baylis and Smith that it's hard to make anyone responsible. They will all no doubt privetly blame each other.
Genuinly don't know how to fix England's top order issues.
Cook clearly nearing the end, but how can we replace him when we can't even find someone to open with him, let alone find someone to replace him as well?
Then there's also the issue of who bats 3 (or 4 depending on where Root bats).
If Cook goes then we are looking to bed in 3 new batsmen in the top 4. Not exactly healthy.
At the moment the top four batting places are a major problem. Root is much happier batting at four and seems to score much better there. So the first thing I would do is play Root at four and then it's one less position we have to worry about. As for the top three I honestly don't know who to pick. Just about everyone has been given a chance and they have all failed so we either keep chopping and changing or we pick a couple and stick with them.
cook burns root .rather see him at 4 though bairstow if fit otherwise vince at 3 stokes buttler foakes as keeper woakes broad anderson leach
maybe rest a seamer and play sam ..i would toy with playing vince at 3 and root at 4 if bairstow is unfit.I really think Pope has been rushed in too early ..not his fault
so .. Burns and Vince or Mitchell in for Jennings Pope and Bairstow (if unfit) … retain Cook as (I'm being weak here) his record makes it Very hard to drop him, just keep him well away from the slips
Cook, Burns, Vince, Mitchell, Root, Buttler, Stokes, Ali, Curran, Woakes, Broad, Anderson … Bairstow (if fit) for Vince/Mitchell with Buttler to keep wicket .. perm any 11 from 13 .. I'd possibly include Leach (Somerset) along for the ride but not to play as Ali would be the choice as in form batsman AND spinner
the 'new' top order can't be worse than the current one and the players in form are rewarded for that fact and the selectors are not just paying lip service to the concept of 'pick players who are in form'
He did The White Tiger which was a cracking piece of journalistic fiction. I'd imagine he handles the corruption of Indian cricket selection very well too
Problem with Mitchell is he is 34, 1 year older than Cook, he's right handed and the talk is they want a right and left hand opening partnership, which would rule out Burns, I like Vince he always looks good when I have seen him, until he plays test cricket, he starts well then gets himself out, the top 4 for England has been a problem, for a number of years.
Problem with Mitchell is he is 34, 1 year older than Cook, he's right handed and the talk is they want a right and left hand opening partnership, which would rule out Burns, I like Vince he always looks good when I have seen him, until he plays test cricket, he starts well then gets himself out, the top 4 for England has been a problem, for a number of years.
Pope to me looks like another Vince, loose outside the off stump so will score a few runs then and snick off against Test bowling
Problem with Mitchell is he is 34, 1 year older than Cook, he's right handed and the talk is they want a right and left hand opening partnership, which would rule out Burns, I like Vince he always looks good when I have seen him, until he plays test cricket, he starts well then gets himself out, the top 4 for England has been a problem, for a number of years.
Pope to me looks like another Vince, loose outside the off stump so will score a few runs then and snick off against Test bowling
Pope will be brilliant I am sure of it. He Is young and will continue to improve. He's had a taster of test cricket now and I'm sure he knows exactly what he needs to do to develop his game to cope at the highest level. There is no shame on him going back to county cricket and working on his game before returning to test cricket. Its both too early for him and too high up the order. He deserves a chance to bed in at 6 before moving up the order.
Problem with Mitchell is he is 34, 1 year older than Cook, he's right handed and the talk is they want a right and left hand opening partnership, which would rule out Burns, I like Vince he always looks good when I have seen him, until he plays test cricket, he starts well then gets himself out, the top 4 for England has been a problem, for a number of years.
Pope to me looks like another Vince, loose outside the off stump so will score a few runs then and snick off against Test bowling
Pope will be brilliant I am sure of it. He Is young and will continue to improve. He's had a taster of test cricket now and I'm sure he knows exactly what he needs to do to develop his game to cope at the highest level. There is no shame on him going back to county cricket and working on his game before returning to test cricket. Its both too early for him and too high up the order. He deserves a chance to bed in at 6 before moving up the order.
The problem for English cricket is that we seem to be going through an endless cycle
Call player up Drop them after technical flaws are exposed Recall them after a couple of years Find that the flaws are still there etc
Problem with Mitchell is he is 34, 1 year older than Cook, he's right handed and the talk is they want a right and left hand opening partnership, which would rule out Burns, I like Vince he always looks good when I have seen him, until he plays test cricket, he starts well then gets himself out, the top 4 for England has been a problem, for a number of years.
Pope to me looks like another Vince, loose outside the off stump so will score a few runs then and snick off against Test bowling
Pope will be brilliant I am sure of it. He Is young and will continue to improve. He's had a taster of test cricket now and I'm sure he knows exactly what he needs to do to develop his game to cope at the highest level. There is no shame on him going back to county cricket and working on his game before returning to test cricket. Its both too early for him and too high up the order. He deserves a chance to bed in at 6 before moving up the order.
The problem for English cricket is that we seem to be going through an endless cycle
Call player up Drop them after technical flaws are exposed Recall them after a couple of years Find that the flaws are still there etc
The quality in the championship is generally pants, look at Yorkshires in the game that's just finished. No wonder Mo got a double, must be kicking himself it wasn't a treble.
Yeah it's not like Yorkshire's pace attack comprised a former Ashes winner, an ODI regular, an England Lions bowler and a guy who almost made the recent Test squad. Oh wait
Not sure if going back to Ali is a good idea either, he has had more than his fair share of test matches, and like many of the others averages mid 30’s with the bat, and over 40 with the ball.
I know that he scored a big ton for Worcester and took eight wickets, but I still have vivid memories of the Aussies clobbering his bowling, and then bouncing the shit out of him when he batted, which seemed to reduce him to something of a nervous wreck.
Read in the Guardian that Jamie Vince is very likely come into the squad for Bairstow, and on his home ground he may yet make the break through. Such a frustrating player as I saw him in the Brisbane test last year bat really well for 83 (I think), only to nick off needlessly late in the day.
Up to that point he had played beautifully, and had looked totally at home against a seriously testing attack on home soil.
However he then spent the remainder of the series looking totally at home in terms of technique and temperament, but kept finding ways of getting out when well set.
There is definitely a player in there, but if he is recalled then he must know that it is not so much the last chance saloon that he is drinking in, but the last chance crematorium and he needs a ton to prolong his test career!
Comments
After mass condemnation, it's now free entry and a collection for charity
Back to the issue at hand. Is Root hamstrung but the clic he has helped foster? It seems to me that Stokes, Bairstow and Butler are seen by someone as the golden Boys of English cricket and are treated as such.
If JB insists he keeps wicket, Stokes walks back in, Butler gets the vice captain, even though his place isn't secure. England's top 2 wicket takers and top run scorer seem to be marginalised on the field and in the dressing room?
How many games has Root won as captain that weren't down to Anderson and/or Broad? I would wager its not many.
Root and Cook are under so much pressure as they know the other members of the top 4, who ever they are, aren't really good enough.
The solution, I am not sure, but it's starting to look like the England football team under Sven.
Maybe it is time for a football style manager for the test team. Who reports to Struass and is RESPONSIBLE AND ACCOUNTABLE for results. Has 100% say in selection, taking advice from the selectors.
The responsibility is so thinly speed between Root, Baylis and Smith that it's hard to make anyone responsible. They will all no doubt privetly blame each other.
Cook clearly nearing the end, but how can we replace him when we can't even find someone to open with him, let alone find someone to replace him as well?
Then there's also the issue of who bats 3 (or 4 depending on where Root bats).
If Cook goes then we are looking to bed in 3 new batsmen in the top 4. Not exactly healthy.
Root is much happier batting at four and seems to score much better there.
So the first thing I would do is play Root at four and then it's one less position we have to worry about.
As for the top three I honestly don't know who to pick.
Just about everyone has been given a chance and they have all failed so we either keep chopping and changing or we pick a couple and stick with them.
Glad I'm not a selector right now.
cook
burns
root .rather see him at 4 though
bairstow if fit otherwise vince at 3
stokes
buttler
foakes as keeper
woakes
broad
anderson
leach
maybe rest a seamer and play sam ..i would toy with playing vince at 3 and root at 4 if bairstow is unfit.I really think Pope has been rushed in too early ..not his fault
so .. Burns and Vince or Mitchell in for Jennings Pope and Bairstow (if unfit) … retain Cook as (I'm being weak here) his record makes it Very hard to drop him, just keep him well away from the slips
Cook, Burns, Vince, Mitchell, Root, Buttler, Stokes, Ali, Curran, Woakes, Broad, Anderson … Bairstow (if fit) for Vince/Mitchell with Buttler to keep wicket ..
perm any 11 from 13 ..
I'd possibly include Leach (Somerset) along for the ride but not to play as Ali would be the choice as in form batsman AND spinner
the 'new' top order can't be worse than the current one and the players in form are rewarded for that fact and the selectors are not just paying lip service to the concept of 'pick players who are in form'
Call player up
Drop them after technical flaws are exposed
Recall them after a couple of years
Find that the flaws are still there
etc
I know that he scored a big ton for Worcester and took eight wickets, but I still have vivid memories of the Aussies clobbering his bowling, and then bouncing the shit out of him when he batted, which seemed to reduce him to something of a nervous wreck.
Read in the Guardian that Jamie Vince is very likely come into the squad for Bairstow, and on his home ground he may yet make the break through. Such a frustrating player as I saw him in the Brisbane test last year bat really well for 83 (I think), only to nick off needlessly late in the day.
Up to that point he had played beautifully, and had looked totally at home against a seriously testing attack on home soil.
However he then spent the remainder of the series looking totally at home in terms of technique and temperament, but kept finding ways of getting out when well set.
There is definitely a player in there, but if he is recalled then he must know that it is not so much the last chance saloon that he is drinking in, but the last chance crematorium and he needs a ton to prolong his test career!