Kent CCC 2023

PrincessFiona said:

Sorry if this has been covered before in this or another thread (I'm catching up with threads after a break from CL)

What are people's thoughts on Zak's England place, especially with Bairstow's fit again? He's about as consistent as Charlton at the moment - a promising knock to start with then the opposite last game! 

I've made my position clear so far as Crawley is concerned. I know that John Lennon's quote about Ringo Starr not even being the best drummer in The Beatles is a bit of an urban myth but in Kent's case Crawley isn't even the best opener in the Kent side. From what I understand there is a question mark as to whether Compton is OK against really quick short pitched stuff but that case is unproven as yet. And we won't know really 'til he consistently faces that. Crawley now averages less than 30 in First Class cricket but there are three real issues in his continued selection - that England are leaving themselves open to the criticism of nepotism, that it really isn't doing Crawley any good to keep getting picked when he has such obvious technical flaws and problem with shot selection and the message that it sends to other potential openers that, actually, you might be successful in the CC but you still won't get picked in favour of someone who can dominate on roads. 

I originally suggested that Brook should be given the opportunity to open. That was before he started to destroy teams coming in at 5. He could still do the job (opened early in his career in red ball and scored a ton last week opening in the IPL) and resolve that issue in my opinion but probably deserves the option to turn the opening position down if he doesn't want to do it. In which case it has to be Bairstow, 

cantersaddick said:

Addick Addict said:

PrincessFiona said:

Sorry if this has been covered before in this or another thread (I'm catching up with threads after a break from CL)

What are people's thoughts on Zak's England place, especially with Bairstow's fit again? He's about as consistent as Charlton at the moment - a promising knock to start with then the opposite last game! 

I've made my position clear so far as Crawley is concerned. I know that John Lennon's quote about Ringo Starr not even being the best drummer in The Beatles is a bit of an urban myth but in Kent's case Crawley isn't even the best opener in the Kent side. From what I understand there is a question mark as to whether Compton is OK against really quick short pitched stuff but that case is unproven as yet. And we won't know really 'til he consistently faces that. Crawley now averages less than 30 in First Class cricket but there are three real issues in his continued selection - that England are leaving themselves open to the criticism of nepotism, that it really isn't doing Crawley any good to keep getting picked when he has such obvious technical flaws and problem with shot selection and the message that it sends to other potential openers that, actually, you might be successful in the CC but you still won't get picked in favour of someone who can dominate on roads. 

I originally suggested that Brook should be given the opportunity to open. That was before he started to destroy teams coming in at 5. He could still do the job (opened early in his career in red ball and scored a ton last week opening in the IPL) and resolve that issue in my opinion but probably deserves the option to turn the opening position down if he doesn't want to do it. In which case it has to be Bairstow, 

Have to get Bairstow in the side and Crawley needs to drop out. But Bairstow opening will not go well - that gap between bat and pad is enormous and I can only see him either LBW or bowled through the gate in the first over every time. 

I dont think Pope should move up the order any further. Root could do it but will pull rank and so wont. Brook could but has been doing too well to be shifted. Could stokes open maybe?

For once I dont know what the right thing to do is.

I do come back to this thing about sending a message to county cricketers that it does matter what you do in the CC which is why I suggested that Compton might be given a chance. He might not suit the way we want to dominate but he will be the glue and in all seriousness Duckett, Pope, Root, Brook and Stokes are more than capable of doing so as long as Compton is rotating the strike. 

However, Bairstow should come back into the side before that happens. I get what you say about Bairstow's technique but he is old and ugly enough to sort that. And rather than disrupt an established line up he either has to come in at 5 and Brook has to be persuaded to open (but not forced to and they aren't the same thing) or Bairstow should be given that option. He is replacing someone who is averaging 25.19 opening for England from 47 innings opening. The bar is hardly high in that respect. 

The 2nd XI were due to start their 4 day Championship match against Surrey today. I don't quite know what's happened at Beckenham (and I'm only a few miles away) but, after numerous inspections, play has been abandoned for the day!

sillav nitram said:

Not sure if this is a fair comment as I don’t go to matches just follow matches online but I often get the impression there’s a lot of hype around Sam Billings, does anyone think he lives up to it?

Billings is a thoroughly good bloke who ticks all the boxes as a keeper but only some of them as a batsman. He is also a very good captain (bar instances where he opts to bowl first as in the last CC match).

Like Crawley, he is at his best playing white ball 50 over cricket. The duration of the game and the fact that the ball usually has stopped doing things when he gets in suits his game. He is an international standard keeper but not a Test batsman and has only batted 15 times in the CC in the last four seasons (due to the IPL, injuries, England commitments etc) scoring 358 runs at an average of 23.87. 

Billings has all the shots for T20 bar, perhaps, the ability to consistently hit long balls - he's frequently caught inside the boundary on the big grounds. He averages 17.07 in T20 internationals and has also struggled at the very top of franchise cricket - 503 runs at an average of 19.34 in the IPL for example. As much as he nobly announced that he wasn't going to the IPL this year, the fact is that he would have been highly unlikely to secure a place anyway. 

So, in summary, Billings is a top keeper but not a top batsman. He is a player of very attractive shots but lacks consistency. 

The Kent 2s game has started and Surrey have inserted us! Interestingly, Gilchrist isn't playing which suggests that he's either injured again or fit to play in our game against Essex starting Thursday. Having both Gilchrist and Agar in the side should make our attack a bit more potent.

Link to the 2s match:

https://live.nvplay.com/ecb/#m39ff2d35-4a40-47b7-ac9d-08e8ec3dbf93_~scorecard

000__Jaaaaay__000 said:

Was under the impression you could leave the game as you wish, Not sure why. Nevertheless, some of them need to pull their fingers out. 

Very much looking forward to seeing both Gilchrist and agar bowl, not been overly convinced by hogan thus far 

Certainly for a friendly, such as last weeks, that is the case and in theory if there is a late call up then I suppose that the rules might allow it - the 2s games are 12 a side (but only 11 bat) so there is a bit of flexibility in that respect.