Weird listening to the cricket social & hearing them chatting about stuff & then cutting in saying "oh, that's 50 for Lawrence" or " that's another wicket - Leach this time".
Just so disconnected to what's going on out on the pitch.
So what’s your team for the first test v NZ in June
Bowlers will sort themselves out and very few options available on the batting front but@
Sibley/Burns Crawley Pope Root Stokes Buttler Foakes
If they decide to give the gloves to Foakes, because the gap between them isn't as great standing back, then Lawrence deserves to come back in for Foakes to bat at 5:
Sibley/Burns Crawley Pope Root Lawrence Stokes Buttler
Test Match Special statistician on The Cricket Social
Moeen Ali played his first Test in 2014 and has five Test centuries.
No England batsman who has debuted since then has scored more than two centuries.
From same fella
A three-day Test follows a two-day Test, which followed a four-day Test. Before these games, England had not had a three-day Test in India since 1951-52. Since then, before these 3 Tests, 47 of their 53 Tests in India went to Day 5, the other six to Day 4.
All very annoying after the euphoria of the first test (and successive wins before that, both home and away).
I really don’t cope well with my two sporting loves, Charlton and the England cricket team, both being crap at the same time. But I suppose we’ve been here before, many times. In fact, “here” is normal service, anything good happening is an unexpected bonus.
Test Match Special statistician on The Cricket Social
Moeen Ali played his first Test in 2014 and has five Test centuries.
No England batsman who has debuted since then has scored more than two centuries.
From same fella
A three-day Test follows a two-day Test, which followed a four-day Test. Before these games, England had not had a three-day Test in India since 1951-52. Since then, before these 3 Tests, 47 of their 53 Tests in India went to Day 5, the other six to Day 4.
It probably reflects that India are more ruthless now, whether that's down to the BCCI or Kohli, preparing result pitches even if it means that their own batsmen struggle and that Bumrah and Ishant were bystanders
Indeed Ishant must have a record low number of overs bowled for a frontline bowler playing in 4 Tests!
This won’t be popular with the Surrey folk on here but Pope seemed to get out in stupid ways this series. I would consider Lawrence over him at 6 at this stage.
Foakes didn’t do enough with the bat to deserve to keep buttler out.
So what’s your team for the first test v NZ in June
For the First Test against New Zealand, the right XI to pick would be the following, each of whom has a point to prove and should be allowed to demonstrate their long-term claim to their place. 1. Burns 2. Sibley 3. Crawley 4. Root 5. Stokes 6. Pope 7. Buttler 8. Woakes 9. Leach 10. Archer 11. Broad or Anderson
Following the inevitable capitulation, for the Second Test, I would select the following: 1. Roy 2. Jennings 3. Lawrence 4. Root 5. Stokes 6. Moeen 7. Foakes 8. Curran (S) 9. Curran (T) 10. Stone 11 Anderson or Broad
After a 0-2 series humiliation, I would have a rethink and settle on the following for the First Test v India: 1. Hameed 2. Vince 3. Morgan 4. Malan 5. Livingstone 6. Rashid 7. Billings 8. Jordan 9. Roland-Jones 10. Crane 11. Batty
If, as I suspect, they fail miserably, I would then finally settle on the following XI for the Second Test v India and stick with it for the rest of the summer
This won’t be popular with the Surrey folk on here but Pope seemed to get out in stupid ways this series. I would consider Lawrence over him at 6 at this stage.
Foakes didn’t do enough with the bat to deserve to keep buttler out.
Pope is having to play a role that is foreign to him and he doesn't know whether to stick or twist. It is his shot selection that is invariably getting him out. I did predict that he had as much chance of not being successful at 6 as he would at batting at 3 and that if he did struggle down the orrder he would be under pressure for his place. He is technically sound and has the highest First Class average of any English qualified player (50.40 including 9 hundreds and 12 fifties from 72 innings) but has batted like a rabbit in headlights on this tour. For that reason I would give him that spot at 3 and just tell him to go out and bat - and by that I mean bat as the batsman you are and not the batsman you think you should be.
Lawrence showed enough application to demonstrate he can be a Test player which is why I suggest he should be given an opportunity at 5 - he's batted four times at 3 and didn't look comfortable there scoring just 53 in total. Down the order he averaged 39.
Stokes - the one thing he proved here was that he can still bowl. Unfortunately, his batting has gone backwards for completely the opposite reasons to Pope. He knows how to finish and destroy an opposition, but as time has gone on and with his earlier exposure, not by just batting at 5 but by the fact that we are 3 down sooner rather than later, he is not batting with any freedom. So I would drop him down one.
Foakes is the best keeper in England. But here's the dilemma - he has been considered as a good player of spin but vulnerable to top pace. This tour has done everything to reaffirm his keeping but nothing to reinforce his batting - 78 runs at an average of 15.6 is well, very average. This was his chance to grab with the position with both hands but he didn't and the person to benefit most will be Buttler. The latter's keeping has improved, especially standing back and let's face it he isn't going to have to take too many stumpings/catches with our wealth of spinners and given the probably nature of the tracks both here and in Australia. Buttler also has one thing that Foakes doesn't - he is someone who can take a game away from the opposition in a matter of an hour or so.
So for NZ:
1. Burns/Sibley 2. Crawley 3. Pope 4. Root 5. Lawrence 6. Stokes 7. Buttler 8. Woakes/Curran (S) 9. Archer/Wood/Stones 10. Leach/Virdi 11. Anderson/Broad
This won’t be popular with the Surrey folk on here but Pope seemed to get out in stupid ways this series. I would consider Lawrence over him at 6 at this stage.
Foakes didn’t do enough with the bat to deserve to keep buttler out.
Pope is having to play a role that is foreign to him and he doesn't know whether to stick or twist. It is his shot selection that is invariably getting him out. I did predict that he had as much chance of not being successful at 6 as he would at batting at 3 and that if he did struggle down the orrder he would be under pressure for his place. He is technically sound and has the highest First Class average of any English qualified player (50.40 including 9 hundreds and 12 fifties from 72 innings) but has batted like a rabbit in headlights on this tour. For that reason I would give him that spot at 3 and just tell him to go out and bat - and by that I mean bat as the batsman you are and not the batsman you think you should be.
Lawrence showed enough application to demonstrate he can be a Test player which is why I suggest he should be given an opportunity at 5 - he's batting four times at 3 and didn't look comfortable there scoring just 53 in total. Down the order he averaged 39.
Stokes - the one thing he proved here was that he can still bowl. Unfortunately, his batting has gone backwards for completely the opposite reasons to Pope. He knows how to finish and destroy an opposition, but as time has gone on and with his earlier exposure, not by just batting at 5 but by the fact that we are 3 down sooner rather than later, he is not batting with any freedom. So I would drop him down one.
Foakes is the best keeper in England. But here's the dilemma - he has been considered as a good player of spin but vulnerable to top pace. This tour has done everything to reaffirm his keeping but nothing to reinforce his batting - 78 runs at an average of 15.6 is well, very average. This was his chance to grab with the position with both hands but he didn't and the person to benefit most will be Buttler. The latter's keeping has improved, especially standing back and let's face it he isn't going to have to take too many stumpings/catches with our wealth of spinners and given the probably nature of the tracks both here and in Australia. Buttler also has one thing that Foakes doesn't - he is someone who can take a game away from the opposition in a matter of an hour or so.
So for NZ:
1. Burns/Sibley 2. Crawley 3. Pope 4. Root 5. Lawrence 6. Stokes 7. Buttler 8. Woakes/Curran (S) 9. Archer/Wood/Stones 10. Leach/Virdi 11. Anderson/Broad
Very well argued. It should not be a case of Pope vs Lawrence at number 5 or 6, as I’m hopeful that both have a big future as Test players. I’ve long admired Pope’s defensive technique (except against the best quality spin in India, but he’ll be able to work on that). So why not give him a shot at 3?
This won’t be popular with the Surrey folk on here but Pope seemed to get out in stupid ways this series. I would consider Lawrence over him at 6 at this stage.
Foakes didn’t do enough with the bat to deserve to keep buttler out.
Pope is having to play a role that is foreign to him and he doesn't know whether to stick or twist. It is his shot selection that is invariably getting him out. I did predict that he had as much chance of not being successful at 6 as he would at batting at 3 and that if he did struggle down the orrder he would be under pressure for his place. He is technically sound and has the highest First Class average of any English qualified player (50.40 including 9 hundreds and 12 fifties from 72 innings) but has batted like a rabbit in headlights on this tour. For that reason I would give him that spot at 3 and just tell him to go out and bat - and by that I mean bat as the batsman you are and not the batsman you think you should be.
Lawrence showed enough application to demonstrate he can be a Test player which is why I suggest he should be given an opportunity at 5 - he's batting four times at 3 and didn't look comfortable there scoring just 53 in total. Down the order he averaged 39.
Stokes - the one thing he proved here was that he can still bowl. Unfortunately, his batting has gone backwards for completely the opposite reasons to Pope. He knows how to finish and destroy an opposition, but as time has gone on and with his earlier exposure, not by just batting at 5 but by the fact that we are 3 down sooner rather than later, he is not batting with any freedom. So I would drop him down one.
Foakes is the best keeper in England. But here's the dilemma - he has been considered as a good player of spin but vulnerable to top pace. This tour has done everything to reaffirm his keeping but nothing to reinforce his batting - 78 runs at an average of 15.6 is well, very average. This was his chance to grab with the position with both hands but he didn't and the person to benefit most will be Buttler. The latter's keeping has improved, especially standing back and let's face it he isn't going to have to take too many stumpings/catches with our wealth of spinners and given the probably nature of the tracks both here and in Australia. Buttler also has one thing that Foakes doesn't - he is someone who can take a game away from the opposition in a matter of an hour or so.
So for NZ:
1. Burns/Sibley 2. Crawley 3. Pope 4. Root 5. Lawrence 6. Stokes 7. Buttler 8. Woakes/Curran (S) 9. Archer/Wood/Stones 10. Leach/Virdi 11. Anderson/Broad
Agree largely with you here, though at home I'd be tempted by Anderson & Broad rather than one or the other.
Next summer will be an important one for Pope. After a poor India tour, for the first time there's a slight question mark against him, especially as he wasn't that great last summer either
If anything it's HOW he batted rather than the lack of runs which was of concern, it looked a bit desperate
Admittedly most of my opinions on Virdi come from a YouTube stream of a game against Sussex where it was turning pretty square, but he looked irresistible
This won’t be popular with the Surrey folk on here but Pope seemed to get out in stupid ways this series. I would consider Lawrence over him at 6 at this stage.
Foakes didn’t do enough with the bat to deserve to keep buttler out.
Pope is having to play a role that is foreign to him and he doesn't know whether to stick or twist. It is his shot selection that is invariably getting him out. I did predict that he had as much chance of not being successful at 6 as he would at batting at 3 and that if he did struggle down the orrder he would be under pressure for his place. He is technically sound and has the highest First Class average of any English qualified player (50.40 including 9 hundreds and 12 fifties from 72 innings) but has batted like a rabbit in headlights on this tour. For that reason I would give him that spot at 3 and just tell him to go out and bat - and by that I mean bat as the batsman you are and not the batsman you think you should be.
Lawrence showed enough application to demonstrate he can be a Test player which is why I suggest he should be given an opportunity at 5 - he's batting four times at 3 and didn't look comfortable there scoring just 53 in total. Down the order he averaged 39.
Stokes - the one thing he proved here was that he can still bowl. Unfortunately, his batting has gone backwards for completely the opposite reasons to Pope. He knows how to finish and destroy an opposition, but as time has gone on and with his earlier exposure, not by just batting at 5 but by the fact that we are 3 down sooner rather than later, he is not batting with any freedom. So I would drop him down one.
Foakes is the best keeper in England. But here's the dilemma - he has been considered as a good player of spin but vulnerable to top pace. This tour has done everything to reaffirm his keeping but nothing to reinforce his batting - 78 runs at an average of 15.6 is well, very average. This was his chance to grab with the position with both hands but he didn't and the person to benefit most will be Buttler. The latter's keeping has improved, especially standing back and let's face it he isn't going to have to take too many stumpings/catches with our wealth of spinners and given the probably nature of the tracks both here and in Australia. Buttler also has one thing that Foakes doesn't - he is someone who can take a game away from the opposition in a matter of an hour or so.
So for NZ:
1. Burns/Sibley 2. Crawley 3. Pope 4. Root 5. Lawrence 6. Stokes 7. Buttler 8. Woakes/Curran (S) 9. Archer/Wood/Stones 10. Leach/Virdi 11. Anderson/Broad
Not saying we didn’t bat well but Before the first test against India, Buttler had the worst batting average out of him Foakes and Bairstow.
Virdi is much, much better than Bess but has limited batting and fielding ability. Gives it an almighty rip. Reminds me of me really
But I thought you were a gun bat and top fielder too?
Virdi is an off spinner but I recall seeing some footage of you bowling and thought you were a leggie? That was also on the somewhat uneven surface of your back yard so would need confirmation from your CL team mates that the "it" that rips when you bowl is the ball and not something else to be truly convinced of your ability to turn the ball square.
Virdi is much, much better than Bess but has limited batting and fielding ability. Gives it an almighty rip. Reminds me of me really
But I thought you were a gun bat and top fielder too?
Virdi is an off spinner but I recall seeing some footage of you bowling and thought you were a leggie? That was also on the somewhat uneven surface of your back yard so would need confirmation from your CL team mates that the "it" that rips when you bowl is the ball and not something else to be truly convinced of your ability to turn the ball square.
Leuth is definitely an off spinner. There’s only one leggie allowed in our team. He does give it a good old rip to be fair, lots of revolutions on the ball as it speeds to the square leg boundary.
Admittedly most of my opinions on Virdi come from a YouTube stream of a game against Sussex where it was turning pretty square, but he looked irresistible
Comments
Just so disconnected to what's going on out on the pitch.
Sibley/Burns
Crawley
Pope
Root
Stokes
Buttler
Foakes
If they decide to give the gloves to Foakes, because the gap between them isn't as great standing back, then Lawrence deserves to come back in for Foakes to bat at 5:
Sibley/Burns
Crawley
Pope
Root
Lawrence
Stokes
Buttler
A three-day Test follows a two-day Test, which followed a four-day Test. Before these games, England had not had a three-day Test in India since 1951-52. Since then, before these 3 Tests, 47 of their 53 Tests in India went to Day 5, the other six to Day 4.
The England cricket team have been worse in the past !!!
Indeed Ishant must have a record low number of overs bowled for a frontline bowler playing in 4 Tests!
Crawley
Lawrence
Root
Stokes
Pope
Buttler
Stone/ Wood/ Archer
Leach
Broad
Anderson
For the First Test against New Zealand, the right XI to pick would be the following, each of whom has a point to prove and should be allowed to demonstrate their long-term claim to their place.
1. Burns
2. Sibley
3. Crawley
4. Root
5. Stokes
6. Pope
7. Buttler
8. Woakes
9. Leach
10. Archer
11. Broad or Anderson
Following the inevitable capitulation, for the Second Test, I would select the following:
1. Roy
2. Jennings
3. Lawrence
4. Root
5. Stokes
6. Moeen
7. Foakes
8. Curran (S)
9. Curran (T)
10. Stone
11 Anderson or Broad
After a 0-2 series humiliation, I would have a rethink and settle on the following for the First Test v India:
1. Hameed
2. Vince
3. Morgan
4. Malan
5. Livingstone
6. Rashid
7. Billings
8. Jordan
9. Roland-Jones
10. Crane
11. Batty
If, as I suspect, they fail miserably, I would then finally settle on the following XI for the Second Test v India and stick with it for the rest of the summer
1. Knight
2. Beaumont
3. Sciver
4. Wilson
5. Winfield-Hill
6. Wyatt
7. Glenn
8. Gordon
9. Shrubsole
10. Ecclestone
11. Brunt
(Yes, I know what you're all thinking. But surely Katherine Brunt will be over her injury by then).
Lawrence showed enough application to demonstrate he can be a Test player which is why I suggest he should be given an opportunity at 5 - he's batted four times at 3 and didn't look comfortable there scoring just 53 in total. Down the order he averaged 39.
Stokes - the one thing he proved here was that he can still bowl. Unfortunately, his batting has gone backwards for completely the opposite reasons to Pope. He knows how to finish and destroy an opposition, but as time has gone on and with his earlier exposure, not by just batting at 5 but by the fact that we are 3 down sooner rather than later, he is not batting with any freedom. So I would drop him down one.
Foakes is the best keeper in England. But here's the dilemma - he has been considered as a good player of spin but vulnerable to top pace. This tour has done everything to reaffirm his keeping but nothing to reinforce his batting - 78 runs at an average of 15.6 is well, very average. This was his chance to grab with the position with both hands but he didn't and the person to benefit most will be Buttler. The latter's keeping has improved, especially standing back and let's face it he isn't going to have to take too many stumpings/catches with our wealth of spinners and given the probably nature of the tracks both here and in Australia. Buttler also has one thing that Foakes doesn't - he is someone who can take a game away from the opposition in a matter of an hour or so.
So for NZ:
1. Burns/Sibley
2. Crawley
3. Pope
4. Root
5. Lawrence
6. Stokes
7. Buttler
8. Woakes/Curran (S)
9. Archer/Wood/Stones
10. Leach/Virdi
11. Anderson/Broad
https://wisden.com/series-stories/india-v-england/dom-bess-bears-the-brunt-of-years-of-spin-mismanagement
If anything it's HOW he batted rather than the lack of runs which was of concern, it looked a bit desperate
Virdi is an off spinner but I recall seeing some footage of you bowling and thought you were a leggie? That was also on the somewhat uneven surface of your back yard so would need confirmation from your CL team mates that the "it" that rips when you bowl is the ball and not something else to be truly convinced of your ability to turn the ball square.