Harry Brook is returning home from India and won't be coming back for the Series
"Harry Brook is set to return home with immediate effect for personal reasons from the England Men's Test tour of India," read an ECB statement.
"He will not be returning to India.
"The Brook family respectfully requests privacy during this time. In light of this, the ECB and the family kindly request the media and the public to respect their wish for privacy and refrain from intruding on their private space.
"The England selectors will confirm a replacement player for the tour in due course."
I posted this back in Sept 2021, not a lot of support for this one .. he's just captained the 'Lions' I believe they are called ? ..Josh Bohannon of Lancs is worth a look .. Ist Class average of 45.38 from 31 games. Just 2 tons so far so he's consistent without making too many BIG scores it seems .. he is 24 and also bowls a bit .. He won't get a sniff of a chance though
We know all about Basher Lawrence, the overrated Essex boy done well to move to Surrey, he's OK but there is a need to get a proper new 'batter' under the spotlight to see how he goes in the longer formats
So will they give the gloves, as they should, to Foakes and move Bairstow up the order? In Indian conditions you really do need the best keeper because so much of the innings will be keeping to spin.
Thursday. Though it might be worth waiting until the 3rd Test to start watching, as by then England will have had their 2 "warmup games"... and be 2-0 down.
Quotes now saying Harry Brook might be back for the 3rd Test as there is a gap of 2 weeks between the 2nd & 3rd Tests and the team are leaving India for Dubai during this time.
Quotes now saying Harry Brook might be back for the 3rd Test as there is a gap of 2 weeks between the 2nd & 3rd Tests and the team are leaving India for Dubai during this time.
Seems really weird to leave India 2 Tests into a series.
Quotes now saying Harry Brook might be back for the 3rd Test as there is a gap of 2 weeks between the 2nd & 3rd Tests and the team are leaving India for Dubai during this time.
Seems really weird to leave India 2 Tests into a series.
I don't think it's a good look, let alone the right preparation, to arrive a few days before the Series and then leave the country half way through. The message it sends is that we want to be in India for as little time as possible and whether that is a reaction to the fact that India have opted to stage the matches at venues outside the norm is open to debate i.e. the facilities aren't considered by us up to standard.
Quotes now saying Harry Brook might be back for the 3rd Test as there is a gap of 2 weeks between the 2nd & 3rd Tests and the team are leaving India for Dubai during this time.
Seems really weird to leave India 2 Tests into a series.
I don't think it's a good look, let alone the right preparation, to arrive a few days before the Series and then leave the country half way through. The message it sends is that we want to be in India for as little time as possible and whether that is a reaction to the fact that India have opted to stage the matches at venues outside the norm is open to debate i.e. the facilities aren't considered by us up to standard.
Think that is exactly why they are doing it. You gonna send us to the outposts of your country , then we will train and recuperate elsewhere.
Thursday. Though it might be worth waiting until the 3rd Test to start watching, as by then England will have had their 2 "warmup games"... and be 2-0 down.
Quotes now saying Harry Brook might be back for the 3rd Test as there is a gap of 2 weeks between the 2nd & 3rd Tests and the team are leaving India for Dubai during this time.
Seems really weird to leave India 2 Tests into a series.
I don't think it's a good look, let alone the right preparation, to arrive a few days before the Series and then leave the country half way through. The message it sends is that we want to be in India for as little time as possible and whether that is a reaction to the fact that India have opted to stage the matches at venues outside the norm is open to debate i.e. the facilities aren't considered by us up to standard.
This series is a 5-0 defeat whatever the prep . Our spinners won’t lay a glove on them, sadly
I hope to be proved wrong but I can't see us winning a single Test. Who in their right mind decided going into a Test series without a proper warm up game was a good decision
Obviously not good Brook or Kohli have personal/family issues meaning they can't play. Lessens both sides and it's a shame we don't get to watch both.
Did make me laugh how quickly India fans on social media went from "Brook is running away, scared of India's spinners" etc to "We should respect the players privacy" etc when the Kohli announcement happened.
As of yesterday, it seems that the ECB have failed to sort out in time the visa for one of our players, Shoaib Bashir who was left behind in Abu Dhabi when the rest of the squad flew out. Shoaib is of Pakistani heritage but was born in Surrey and is a British passport holder. However, this is not the first time players with Pakistani backgrounds have had visa delays from the Indian government. Usman Khawaja suffered a similar delay before Australia’s tour to India last year and the Pakistan World Cup squad faced visa delays in November before being granted entry into India.
By all accounts it also appears that Ben Stokes is a doubt for Thursday as he hasn't fully recovered from his knee surgery. A decision regarding his participation will be made as late as possible. What this does seem to confirm though is that he won't be fit enough to bowl - so, in theory, his participation might mean that Foakes won't play after all as I don't see how we create the right balance with just four frontline bowlers, plus Root, especially in India. We have to play two spinners but, in that heat, can we afford to perm, for example, any two from an ageing Anderson, a fragile Robinson (on at least three occasions he's not be able to bowl due to back spasms) and a Wood who at his best can only be utilised in very short spells? Playing an extra bowler would mean someone like Rehan Ahmed batting at 7 followed by four non batsmen or us playing Lawrence as a "bits and pieces" fill in.
England win by 7 wickets with 23.4 overs to spare - captain Ben McKinney leading the way with 88 (68) and aided, in the main, by Jaydn Denly 40 (50) and Noah Thain 22 (28). There will be much bigger tests to come but, as the well-worn saying goes, you can only beat what's in front of you.
England U19s have just started their WC match against South Africa. This will be a proper test.
Great comeback from England with the ball. After 10.2 overs, S A were 71-0 but thanks to Taz Ali (10-2-26-3), Eddie Jack (10-1-28-3) and Jaydn Denly (7.2-0-37-3) they ended up with just 230 AO off 49.2 overs. Jack is a seamer whereas the other two are spinners and given that the two other twirlers in the side, namely Farhan Ahmed and Luc Benkenstein, did most of the damage in the first game, the future spin department is looking bright. The issue will be the same one as always - how do we give these exposure in the county game given when it is currently being played and a reluctance for those reasons for clubs to pick and use them?
Meanwhile there's a bit of a game going on elsewhere in the WC - Afghanistan were 91 all out off 21.3 and in reply N Z have gone from 16-0 to 41-5 off just 8.4!
Edit: NZ were 90-9 but ended up winning by one wicket!
Comments
"Harry Brook is set to return home with immediate effect for personal reasons from the England Men's Test tour of India," read an ECB statement.
"He will not be returning to India.
"The Brook family respectfully requests privacy during this time. In light of this, the ECB and the family kindly request the media and the public to respect their wish for privacy and refrain from intruding on their private space.
"The England selectors will confirm a replacement player for the tour in due course."
https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-lions-in-india-2023-24-1413304/india-a-vs-england-lions-1st-unofficial-test-1413309/full-scorecard
It's Lawrence
We know all about Basher Lawrence, the overrated Essex boy done well to move to Surrey, he's OK but there is a need to get a proper new 'batter' under the spotlight to see how he goes in the longer formats
I don't think it's a good look, let alone the right preparation, to arrive a few days before the Series and then leave the country half way through. The message it sends is that we want to be in India for as little time as possible and whether that is a reaction to the fact that India have opted to stage the matches at venues outside the norm is open to debate i.e. the facilities aren't considered by us up to standard.
Who in their right mind decided going into a Test series without a
proper warm up game was a good decision
In good form too, so perhaps a door opening for England.
Did make me laugh how quickly India fans on social media went from "Brook is running away, scared of India's spinners" etc to "We should respect the players privacy" etc when the Kohli announcement happened.
By all accounts it also appears that Ben Stokes is a doubt for Thursday as he hasn't fully recovered from his knee surgery. A decision regarding his participation will be made as late as possible. What this does seem to confirm though is that he won't be fit enough to bowl - so, in theory, his participation might mean that Foakes won't play after all as I don't see how we create the right balance with just four frontline bowlers, plus Root, especially in India. We have to play two spinners but, in that heat, can we afford to perm, for example, any two from an ageing Anderson, a fragile Robinson (on at least three occasions he's not be able to bowl due to back spasms) and a Wood who at his best can only be utilised in very short spells? Playing an extra bowler would mean someone like Rehan Ahmed batting at 7 followed by four non batsmen or us playing Lawrence as a "bits and pieces" fill in.
Edit: NZ were 90-9 but ended up winning by one wicket!