Having Foakes at Surrey means his wicket keeping has been limited. So making the odd mistake like he just did is to be expected. But if he continues to keep wicket for England I'd like to think his keeping will improve
Now is the test for Smith. Make no mistake he is in the team to stay for a long time. Whether that is as keeper/bat or just bat time will tell. One for the Surrey boys - am I right in saying that he has batted at 3 for Surrey? Has he ever opened?
Hasn't opened, has batted at 3 once or twice. Certainly seen a more natural for that role than Pope. Stewart did say it could be his future role batting 3 without the gloves. But like Sam Curran his acceleration to the big time happened before he had the chance to develop that side of the game so we will see if thats where he ends up.
Now is the test for Smith. Make no mistake he is in the team to stay for a long time. Whether that is as keeper/bat or just bat time will tell. One for the Surrey boys - am I right in saying that he has batted at 3 for Surrey? Has he ever opened?
Hasn't opened, has batted at 3 once or twice. Certainly seen a more natural for that role than Pope. Stewart did say it could be his future role batting 3 without the gloves. But like Sam Curran his acceleration to the big time happened before he had the chance to develop that side of the game so we will see if thats where he ends up.
I'm just trying to get the other Ollie Robinson into the side!!!
It's really not possible that Woakes is a professional cricketer. He's just too nice a guy. When that ball sailed between Smith and Root earlier on, there was no hand waving, cussing, head shaking. And when Smith took that one, he was the first to congratulate him with a smile!
Now is the test for Smith. Make no mistake he is in the team to stay for a long time. Whether that is as keeper/bat or just bat time will tell. One for the Surrey boys - am I right in saying that he has batted at 3 for Surrey? Has he ever opened?
Hasn't opened, has batted at 3 once or twice. Certainly seen a more natural for that role than Pope. Stewart did say it could be his future role batting 3 without the gloves. But like Sam Curran his acceleration to the big time happened before he had the chance to develop that side of the game so we will see if thats where he ends up.
I'm just trying to get the other Ollie Robinson into the side!!!
Or they might give Cox the gloves, seeing that he's in the "system" now.
A year ago, I remember everyone talking about James Rew as the next batsman/keeper.
Now is the test for Smith. Make no mistake he is in the team to stay for a long time. Whether that is as keeper/bat or just bat time will tell. One for the Surrey boys - am I right in saying that he has batted at 3 for Surrey? Has he ever opened?
Hasn't opened, has batted at 3 once or twice. Certainly seen a more natural for that role than Pope. Stewart did say it could be his future role batting 3 without the gloves. But like Sam Curran his acceleration to the big time happened before he had the chance to develop that side of the game so we will see if thats where he ends up.
I'm just trying to get the other Ollie Robinson into the side!!!
Or they might give Cox the gloves, seeing that he's in the "system" now.
A year ago, I remember everyone talking about James Rew as the next batsman/keeper.
scored a ton yesterday .. too many great English keeper/batsmen around to throw the proverbial stick at
I would imagine they would want to get to at least 450 runs ahead as quickly as possible. Anything over 450 lead bonus. I think the best batsmen will quickly scored runs and will have a lead around 550 to 600 tomorrow and declare once they are about 550 ahead.
It's a shame Tom Haines's form has been patchy for the last year or so otherwise he'd probably be around the conversation. Not really a Baz style opener though , but he can score fairly quickly.
A middle order batsman who never opens picked to open for England in a test match.
A brain dead selection.
Who would you have picked ? One of the many openers in county cricket that perform regularly ?
As a stopgap until Crawley recovers then either Burns or Compton. Burns in particular is in the best form for years.
Either of those would have been a better option than Lawrence who to the best of my knowledge never opens.
They will only pick people that can play aggressively . Lawrence didn’t do that badly in the previous game
Yeah I know where your coming from. But I think they only picked Lawrence out of loyalty as he's been on tour with England without getting a game. I've no idea what young opening batsmen there are out there at the moment but we need one to come through quickly as because how things stand we don't have a suitable replacement for Crawley or Duckett if they get injured, as the Lawrence selection shows.
Lawrence was a punt, but it was the correct decision to give him a go as it does settle the argument in the sort of series where you can make such gambles.
I've mentioned him before but Emilio Gay must be nearing selection but, perhaps, McCullum, Stokes and Key felt duty bound to give Lawrence the opportunity first. Crawley will be back anyway come Pakistan but, given Gay has scored 919 runs at an average of 57.43 it wouldn't surprise me if he ended up being on that tour.
I've mentioned him before but Emilio Gay must be nearing selection but, perhaps, McCullum, Stokes and Key felt duty bound to give Lawrence the opportunity first. Crawley will be back anyway come Pakistan but, given Gay has scored 919 runs at an average of 57.43 it wouldn't surprise me if he ended up being on that tour.
Interesting that he has chosen to move to Durham, which isn't the easiest place to be an opener. Maybe hoping to catch the eye of Stokes!
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So making the odd mistake like he just did is to be expected.
But if he continues to keep wicket for England I'd like to think his keeping will improve
32-2 at lunch and Sri Lanka trail by 395 runs
A year ago, I remember everyone talking about James Rew as the next batsman/keeper.
London - BBC Weather
https://x.com/bbctms/status/1829565548671226209
A brain dead selection.
Burns in particular is in the best form for years.
Either of those would have been a better option than Lawrence who to the best of my knowledge never opens.
But I think they only picked Lawrence out of loyalty as he's been on tour with England without getting a game.
I've no idea what young opening batsmen there are out there at the moment but we need one to come through quickly as because how things stand we don't have a suitable replacement for Crawley or Duckett if they get injured, as the Lawrence selection shows.