England Cricket 2022

Brathwaite has broken Lara's record for the number of balls faced by a West Indian in a Test and this sits at 583 - he's heading to 100 overs on his own back 

Leuth said:

RUDD

The draw is still 1.20 (1/5) and England are 6.00 (5/1). The light might intervene though it is is difficult to argue that with Lawrence and Leach in tandem

Windies finish on 135-5

Kraigg Braithwaite ends up on 56* to go with his 160 in the first innings and for a total of 673 balls. A real captain's performance a la Root for us

Braithwaite - remember the name, ironically, for the complete opposite reason for recalling his namesake!

That's one Test win in our last 16 matches. We have lost the knack but there are, perhaps, reasons for a touch of optimism.

Lawrence has emerged as a potential permanent number 4 with the added bonus that he can bowl some part time spin. He will need to work on that if he wants to be anything more than that - 17 First Class wickets rather says as much

Mahmood and Fisher did OK and deserve further opportunities albeit not, at this stage of their development, in the same side

Foakes looks like a keeper and sounds like a keeper who wants to be the fielding band leader. He's no mug with the bat either

Crawley has the class to impose himself but has to learn when and when not to do so. If he takes a look at someone like Labushagne he will see that he usually takes no risks whatsoever for at least the first 15 to 20 overs that he is in

Stokes is almost back to the all action all rounder he once was and as evidenced by the number of overs he is now bowling, his fitness levels are right up there

Bairstow looks comfortable in his role. The stat that he averages almost 40 when Buttler isn't in the side and 29 when he is, perhaps, reflects the fact that he enjoys the idea that he is a vital cog and not in competition with someone else for a prime role in the side. He's also gone away and worked on tightening up his game

Root has buried the notion in his own head that he can't bat at 3. He should have moved there years ago but it's clearly been difficult to convince one of our best batsmen of all time to do so. He still needs to be more adventurous with his captaincy though and bury the fear of losing in favour of the chance of winning

Leach has been able to bowl very long stints. He still bowls too flat with not enough variations in terms of flight and pace but, hopefully, the experiences of this tour will help him going forward. Parkinson deserves the opportunity to play in tandem with Leach or even instead of 

It looks like Collingwood has the support of the players and he is someone who won't suffer fools and will expect total professional commitment as a minimum. I'm sure he won't allow players to dictate their roles and when they are going to be able to play as some have done so in the recent past

However, I really do believe that the biggest plus has been the commitment of those of this squad who could have gone to the IPL but chose not to. The top 7 with the possible exception of Lees is sorted for the foreseeable future which offers us that continuity. We also now have plenty of options in the seam department especially if and when Robinson, Wood and Archer are fit and Broad and Anderson are returned to the fold

I expect that now I have expressed so much optimism we will go and lose the final Test. The other great thing about this series though is how many of the Windies players have stood up to be counted in a situation where we've seen in the last decade so many of their own sides fold. Really hope that they can build on this because they've always had the talent but not the application and for those of us who can remember the great West Indies sides can only be good for the game. 

Leuth said:

Parkinson for Lees, Woakes to open the batting?  

You jest and it's not an option but it is actually Woakes' batting that is keeping him in the side. Teams like Australia and India aren't too concerned about their tail but, with our top 7 having been so unreliable, it appears that we do not want the likes of Robinson, Leach, Overton, Archer, Broad, Anderson etc etc batting when we are just 6 down.

Let's face it, if Parkinson really was played in this Test then it wouldn't have been Woakes that would have been dropped. Despite the fact that he has now returned pretty appalling figures of 2-172 we probably won't leave him out in the next one either especially as he is averaging 48 with the bat in this series and 42 for his last dozen innings for England. I fear that this will again prove to be the reason for Parkinson not playing in the next Test because I suspect that the only change might be Robinson for Fisher - Root looked a bit sheepish when asked whether Parkinson might play in the next Test as a second spinner probably because he also believes that he and Lawrence are capable back ups to Leach. And he won't want to go in with Robinson, Stokes and Woakes as his three fast bowling options either.

Andyessgee90 said:

killerandflash said:

Our batting has looked more solid in this series, but to put this in context, it's been a really slow pitch that has nullified the pace bowlers, and the Windies don't have a decent spinner. Can this batting lineup score more runs against Cummins, Lyon, Bumrah and Ashwin, than one including the likes of Burns, Malan and Pope? 

Malan would’ve had the time of his life batting on these pitches. Agree with your points.

Think you’ve been a bit harsh on Fisher and Mahmood in your analysis there @Addick Addict  Fact it took to the 4th innings to get the first slip catch of the match says it all. I thought Mahmood more so, bowled well enough in that last innings for him to get the chance to bowl in an international series on home soil. As much as you are kinda guaranteed wickets in England with Jimmy and Stuart that doesn’t really follow the ideology of a “red ball reset”.  

Appreciate that but I don't think you can retire Broad and Anderson and I wasn't, for one minute, suggesting that Mahmood and Fisher won't be in the frame to play on home soil. Rarely will we have all of our bowling contingent available and I could certainly see Anderson/Robinson/Mahmood as much as I could see Woakes/Wood/Fisher or Archer/Broad/Overton back here. As we've found here, we were down to our only fit seamers with Overton, Wood and Robinson out and it should be about keeping as many options open as possible rather than closing doors and playing alongside Broad or Anderson can only help the likes of Mahmood and Fisher in their development.

What I was saying it that I can't see us continuing with Woakes/Mahmood/Fisher as a combo - the fact is that Fisher, especially, despite making his debut at 15 and now being 24, has only played 22 First Class matches in what has been a stop/start career to date with injuries such as hamstring problems, side strain, back stress injury, broken thumb, dislocated shoulder etc etc. He still needs to hone his skills. Mahmood has only played 26 First Class games himself  at the age of 25 so to rely on the pair of them together running through an opposition at Test level isn't fair. I do think that Mahmood has done enough here to retain his place for the next Test. 

Leuth said:

England have been unable to finish off WI twice on pitches that give more to spinners than pacers. Not giving Parkinson a game would be absolutely ludicrous unless it is genuinely a pacer's pitch. The quick bowlers can be Mahmood, Robinson and Stokes. If you want to play Woakes then you have to drop Lees. 

Unfortunately it's not what you or I might like to see but what they will actually do. They certainly aren't going to drop Lees and ask Woakes to open because he isn't an opener and they rightly will want to give Lees a good run at doing so. Equally, promoting Woakes to open doesn't allay their fears of having to go to war with a tail of of Robinson (Test av 8.92),  Leach (Test av 13.28), Mahmood (FC av 12.61), and Parkinson (FC av 7.65 and highest score in any form of the pro game of 21*). These certainly aren't Starc (22.97), Cummins (16.77), Lyon (12.82) and Hazlewood (12.02) or Moeen (28.29), Woakes (28.12), Broad (18.44) and Anderson (9.27) for that matter.  

The other thing that they will be mindful of is the prospect of one of the three you mention namely Stokes, Mahmood and Robinson, breaking down as Wood did in the last Test. Robinson is coming back from injury and has already created question marks about his overall fitness levels and Stokes, having bowled 77 overs in this series already, could pull up lame at any point.

I hope that I'm wrong and that Parkinson gets his chance. But I can only see it happening if they drop Leach simply because they aren't risk takers. It's the same when it comes to declarations.