jackthegas
David Pritchard
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Post by jackthegas on Oct 17, 2015 12:53:00 GMT
Absolutely. The right decision to get Buttler up the order and charge but Pakistan will only bowl 10 overs or so here so the required rate is almost 10 and over.
Exciting though and all very encouraging
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jackthegas
David Pritchard
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Post by jackthegas on Oct 17, 2015 12:40:28 GMT
Isn't it exciting watching an English leg spinner bowling so well on a 5th day track. I'm not sure he's got the control to keep it tight on the first couple of days but Moeen could develop into that role. What he does give you though is someone who can run through the lower order and bowl magic balls as he game progresses. First English leggy to take a test five for in my life time for sure.
I don't think we have enough daylight to win the game but it's been a fantastic effort to give ourselves half a shout.
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jackthegas
David Pritchard
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Post by jackthegas on Oct 16, 2015 19:15:53 GMT
Great effort from Cook and good to see the top order knuckling down and grinding it out. It was exactly what we needed no matter how tough this test has been to watch.
Shame Buttler got out when he did really as an hour of him batting tomorrow giving England a lead of 120 would have really put a very tired Pakistan side under pressure. Hopefully our spinners can take a couple of confidence boosting wickets tomorrow to set them up for the second test.
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jackthegas
David Pritchard
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Post by jackthegas on Oct 10, 2015 13:07:14 GMT
I'm sure Moeen will open. You're right that he flashes outside off too much to suggest he'll succeed against the new ball but I think he's confident enough to play his natural game which should help. The fact he gets in the team as a bowler right now takes some of the pressure off him so fingers crossed.
The other issue that I think England should address is who keeps. They obviously see something in Buttler but I don't think he can spin in first class cricket. Lyon had him on toast last summer. I think Bairstow is a better keeper too. I also think Taylor is one of our better players of spin and would add some grit to our otherwise aggressive middle order. I think Taylor should play regardless and I also think that on balance, I'd pick Bairstow and 6 and stokes at 7.
On paper it should be a close series but I agree with Irish. I can't see anything other than 3-0 to the hosts. I don't think our spinners offer enough control, I don't think cook captains spin well and I don't think we'll score enough runs.
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jackthegas
David Pritchard
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Post by jackthegas on Sept 23, 2015 12:56:40 GMT
Fantastic read - thank you. Annoyingly I was working most of Saturday and could only catch the last 5 Overs (worth it though!) and write ups in the press have been of pretty poor quality really.
I liked that you picked up on Surrey's failure to land the killer blow - that's what I felt watching it. Like for 3/4 Overs you were waiting for the 1 boundary that would terminally tip the balance in their favour and it never came. Gloucester just seemed to cling on and on and in the end the pressure switched the other way. I thought the way the Glos bowlers held their nerve in that last 5 Overs was genuinely brilliant and a really underrated factor in the win. Surrey did definitely bottle it but they bottled because they were too confident that they would get a 4 ball which never came and they didn't look to work the ball enough. Benny Howell's penultimate over was superb.
Thanks Irish. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I was too young to go to Lord's during the glory days so I'm glad I got to go this time. One to tick off the bucket list! Yes that's exactly it. In the last few overs it felt like Surrey were one boundary away from winning the game. I thought we'd rue not batting the last 15 balls of our innings. Howell's penultimate over was fantastic though and Klinger did well too. I would have bowled Payne his full allocation of 10 overs but he kept the spinners on which is pretty unusual in the last 10 overs. Not sure it should be though, especially if you can take a few wickets (which sides invariably do at the death). It's really difficult starting against spin. They didn't play very smart cricket but we bowled and fielded really well and just stifled them.
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jackthegas
David Pritchard
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Post by jackthegas on Sept 21, 2015 16:35:03 GMT
For reasons I cannot entirely explain I spent a bit of time yesterday writing a review of the game. I suppose it's a bit like an old fashioned Snapchat that I can keep as a memento!
On a foggy mid-September morning we drove to London with the car packed full of winter paraphernalia: coats, hats, gloves, umbrellas, flasks full of coffee and a blanket. Naturally I left the sun cream at home given a forecast of intermittent sun at best. Not for the last time the day’s forecast was wrong. The sun shone incessantly and winter remained packed away in our rucksack.
We were still moseying along Maida Vale when Gloucestershire lost their captain Michael Klinger. I had that oh so modern tranny pressed to my ear – the mobile phone. I half expected the muffled voice of Simon Mann to tell me to turn back and head home such was Klinger’s perceived importance. But we knew better. Gloucestershire have had more than one match winner in this seasons competition and they have a happy knack of winning when all seems lost.
We took our seats at the top of the Edrich stand, underneath the big screen. The empty and soon-to-be refurbished Warner stand looked sorry for itself with a white fence wrapped around the front, it’s unsightly brick façade exposed in places and top tear seats lying limply at half-mast as if to mourn the passing of another cricketing summer, but the rest of Lord’s was hearteningly busy.
For a while Gloucester seemed well set. Dent looked in fine fettle in racing to 22 at more than a run-a-ball before he drove languidly to mid-off. How long Gloucester will persevere with Dent remains to be seen but one suspects he will need to win his county a few matches next summer during the last year of his contract to prolong his stay. Despite losing two wickets in the confusingly named first Powerplay, the Gloucester run rate was just about acceptable at 4.4 runs per over; all the more so given the advantage bowling first has historically bestowed upon the side that wins the toss during the season’s climax.
37 year old Gareth Batty offered evidence that nerves get to even the most seasoned campaigner by throwing his first two deliveries down the leg side. Oh how mercilessly we cheered! However Batty had the last laugh as with the score on 78 Marshall dozily ran past another wide. At 100/3 the Gloucester innings was in the balance. The Boycott adage of the score not looking as secure if two wickets were added to the total felt highly relevant. And so it came to pass. I wondered if Gloucestershire’s lack of recent Lord’s experience might bring the over mentioned slope a victim or two and both Howell and Roderick fell to the dependable Mahmood, who ran the ball back down the hill and into the right handers to good effect.
In an old fashioned move and with the score 108/5 in the 25th over, the doughty Tom Smith was sent up the order to bat time and protect the more expansive Taylor and Fuller. Along with Jones he set about building a platform from which Gloucester could launch an assault in the last 10 overs. The blue print was clear. Get to 150 after 35 overs and 170 after 40. They weren’t far off their target. Smith was run out in the 40th over with the score on 160, but he’d done his job. Could Taylor give the innings some oomph?
The answer was yes and he smashed the only six of the game square of the wicket on the on side off Tom Curran. When Taylor drove a Dernbach slower ball through the covers for 4 it looked like the Surrey attack might wilt, but Dernbach, the pantomime villain, saw off the threat. Taylor carved the ball to backward point with the score on 209 and with that Gloucester subsided.
The Geraint Jones (“Jones – Bowden – England have won by 2 runs!”) was playing his last competitive match. He fell for a well-paced and utterly crucial 50 and left the wicket to the last of his three tumultuous ovations from the Lord’s crowd. The first had come as he walked to the crease and the second as he brought up his 50, just one ball before his untimely demise.
The drama continued apace. Miles inside edged the next ball and wicketkeeper Wilson took the catch to give Dernbach his 5th victim, before the hat trick ball hit a ducking Payne on the body. The slower, loopy delivery completely deceived the batsman and the umpire raised his finger. Replays confirmed the suspicion that the ball would have missed another set of stumps. The boos directed at umpire Rob Bailey were unsavory but nevertheless, Payne will have left the field cursing his luck. It was a dreadful LBW decision and the kind that tends to befall a number 11, all the more so in club cricket, as the umpire subconsciously pines for tea and a good sit-down.
Gloucester were all out and the mood was glum. In a summer in which 300 had become the minimum, surely 220 wouldn’t be enough. Surrey had one of the best players of all time down to bat at number 3. At least Cam girls and Frampton boys won their respective matches during the interval meaning we’d win the day, even if a 2-1 series win appeared the best we could hope for.
Fuller and Payne had other ideas and started stupendously. Fuller in particular bowled at good pace, found a mesmerizing length and beat the outside edge a number of times. Whilst one might consider this encouragement, to a long standing sufferer sat in the stand this was merely further confirmation that the God’s were against us.
And then glory be, England’s Jason Roy hacked at a length ball and top edged a catch to Smith. Davies followed just after the Powerplay and for a moment 221 seemed a long way off until Gloucester were Sangakkaraed. What a privilege it was to watch the master nudge, nurdle and deflect the good ball into the gap, to rotate the strike with consummate ease, to hit the bad ball for 4 as he and Burns added over 100 runs. What a magnificent….oh who am I kidding. We needed him out. The game was slipping away and it looked like Gloucester would be embarrassed until from nowhere the Sri Lankan chipped a Taylor full-toss to Klinger at midwicket.
Burns followed in the kind of dismissal that will, for the first time, have sent a shiver through the Surrey dressing room. He came down the track, was beaten in the flight and was stumped by a mile. It was game on and we knew it. Aided by the amber nectar the Edrich stand found their voice. The chicken song (which I had the foresight to explain to my foreign-to-these-parts girlfriend earlier in the day) was interspersed with chants of Glawster…Glawster.
Wilson, Mahmood and Tom Curran went for single figure scores but it looked like 17 year old Sam Curran would get his side over the line. Without landing the killer blow Surrey stayed a run or two ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis par score and even when Burke was run-out by Dent off the last ball of the 49th over it still felt like Surrey’s to lose. Crucially Curran retained the strike for the final over and he was joined by Gareth Batty and all of his experience. The score was 214/8 and Surrey needed 7 runs to win from the last 6 balls.
Payne bowled the first ball of the last over on a length and perhaps sensing glory Curran hit it in the air towards us and long off. There was one of those characteristic and excitable he’s going to be caught sort of gasps from the crowd as the ball looped towards Howell. He caught it and we knew it was won. We couldn’t bring ourselves to admit it for fear of tempting fate but the evidence was irrefutable. Surrey had bottled it.
There followed a dot ball from a good yorker before Batty swatted a shortish ball out towards the deep-midwicket boundary. I lost the flight of the ball but I knew what was coming as this time the characteristic he’s going to be caught excitable gasp emanated from the Grandstand. Taylor kept his cool to catch the ball before we lost ours. It was a jump up and down with your shirt flapping uncontrollably around your midriff moment. Glorious Gloucester had done what they do best and had beaten their more fancied counterparts. The margin of victory was just 6 runs. We high-fived and hugged and clapped as our hero’s leaped towards us.
Ridiculously the presentation was made in front of the sparsely populated pavilion. The patrons there had stayed out of politeness but the fans in the Edrich waited to share in the moment. Lord’s should have brought the celebration to the masses but this was one of the few aspects of the day that disappointed me. Bring on the champions they sang as Batty spoke with good grace before Klinger spoke to Sky’s Michael Atherton. He couldn’t be prouder he said. Damn right, we agreed.
They collected their medals, they lifted the cup and they brought it to us. Underneath the Edrich they sang their team song with gusto as we drifted out under the orange sky, the sun setting on our summer. All Glorious. All Gloucester’s.
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jackthegas
David Pritchard
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Post by jackthegas on Sept 2, 2015 21:18:10 GMT
Excellent. We're nailed on winners then aren't we... Well it certainly give us a better chance! Of course Glos are massive underdogs and to be honest the script kind of seems written for Yorkshire - 'the year of Yorkshire?' But, what the hell, they've definitely confounded expectations up to this point and there may be a fair bit of pressure on Yorks. For all their Championship success, they have underwhelmed somewhat in one day competitions. Not just this year either - that goes back decades. Sorry if my last statement was inadvertently curt. I agree with everything you say and I do fancy our chances of causing an upset. i wish England had picked Bairstow though. I find it hard to believe he isn't one of England's best 50 over batsmen and he's Yorkshires biggest threat with the bat, especially as Maxwell won't be playing. I've said this before but it's a real shame Sky don't cover more Championship cricket. It's a great competition and I love watching exciting talent develop. While Sunday starts have helped I can't watch any of his round because of work. If a game was on Sky I could catch half an hour at lunch and a bit after work. I don't think Sky have shown a single 4 day game this season. I have seen a couple of games broadcast online with a single camera which works ok when synced with the BBC radio commentary. I guess as the rights holders Sky would object to that happening regularly though. the ECB have got a big decision to make when the TV deal is due for renewal. Money vs exposure. I hope they can find a compromise.
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jackthegas
David Pritchard
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Post by jackthegas on Sept 2, 2015 15:06:50 GMT
I'm going. It is a big ask. One of the top order will have to step up to the void filled by Klingers absence. If the top order can set a platform then I back the likes of Taylor, Howell and Smith to add some power later on. I think that's been the big difference this season. We've had some big hitters down the order who have got us over the line. I've not seen either Hampshire or Somerset play 4 day cricket this year but I've seen both of them play one day cricket. I think Hampshire have a decent side but they've lost in a semi final over the last week. That must be pretty deflating. If they can beat Durham this week I think they'll escape. Somerset's batting looks abject. They've effectively lost Keiswetter, Buttler and Trescothick (who is all but finished I think) over the last couple of years. If Hildrith fails they really struggle to post a competitive score. I thought Klinger was going to be playing after all? Excellent. We're nailed on winners then aren't we...
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jackthegas
David Pritchard
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Post by jackthegas on Sept 2, 2015 13:13:56 GMT
Just wondered if anyone had any thoughts on; a)Gloucestershire's excellent run to the One Day Trophy Semi-Final where they'll play Yorkshire. I'm really gutted that the game is taking place on Sunday because I'll be playing. If it had been on Monday I'd have been able to arrange time off to go. It's a hell of an ask but they've been the form team in the competition and I think they'll relish underdog status with a Lords final on the line. b)Somerset's chances of staying in Div 1. Despite their midseason revival they haven't quite managed to seal the deal on securing safety and looking at the way the current round of games is shaping up (getting absolutely walloped by Yorkshire currently) I think they may go into the last 3 Championship matches needing at least 1 win and possibly 2 with a massive game against Hampshire at Taunton coming up next week. I hope they manage it but it's been a pretty tough season at Somerset this year. Thoughts form anyone who has seen either of them play lately would be appreciated. I'm going. It is a big ask. One of the top order will have to step up to the void filled by Klingers absence. If the top order can set a platform then I back the likes of Taylor, Howell and Smith to add some power later on. I think that's been the big difference this season. We've had some big hitters down the order who have got us over the line. I've not seen either Hampshire or Somerset play 4 day cricket this year but I've seen both of them play one day cricket. I think Hampshire have a decent side but they've lost in a semi final over the last week. That must be pretty deflating. If they can beat Durham this week I think they'll escape. Somerset's batting looks abject. They've effectively lost Keiswetter, Buttler and Trescothick (who is all but finished I think) over the last couple of years. If Hildrith fails they really struggle to post a competitive score.
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jackthegas
David Pritchard
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Post by jackthegas on Aug 24, 2015 10:22:04 GMT
What do we do about Pakistan? We need two spinners, which you assume means picking Rashid. Goughie was on the radio suggesting for that series at least, bumping Moeen up to open to replace Lyth and you can slot Rashid in. Moeen has never opened in a first class match and is susceptible to the short ball and lose outside his off stump. Root on the other hand grew up as an opener, averaged 40 when he opened for England despite having issues with his footwork that he now seems to have rectified. Root is clearly the better option and I think we have a better chance of finding middle order players than openers. I think I'd bring Ballance back in for Lyth and bat him at 5 to offer us some solidity in the middle order. The issue then is whether Bairstow can bat at 4 and I think the answer to that is probably no. I think I'd drop Buttler and give the gloves to Bairstow who would bat at 6 with Stokes 7 and Moeen 8. Who bats at 4 then becomes tricky because it's such an important position and you need to be able to adapt to different situations. Taylor is one option but I wonder if he's a bit one dimensional. James Vince is another player I like. Neither are world class though. On balance I think Taylor deserves a chance. The rest of my team would be Rashid, Broad and Anderson. I reckon we're in for a 3-0 defeat in the UAE though.
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jackthegas
David Pritchard
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Post by jackthegas on Aug 21, 2015 18:58:49 GMT
I think what it shows is that the standard of test cricket at the moment is pretty desperate. Batsmen all around the world don't have the technique to graft when things aren't in their favour which is one of the reasons so many sides have dreadful records away from home.
England have some massive flaws and to have won the series through being slightly less bad leaves me feeling hollow. Even at Trent Bridge and Edgbaston we missed the chance to really ram home our advantage by scoring 400 in our first innings,
Unless their is significant seam or swing our bowlers look mediocre, moeen takes his fair share of wickets but unless he can find some control he is not the answer and baring Root, our batsmen are flakey.
Before this series we had four issues; namely an opener, a number 3, our spinner and our 3rd seamer. I reckon you can add the keepers position to that list now.
I can't see how we're going to take 20 wickets or score the runs we'll need to exert some scoreboard pressure in the UAE and the thought of our batsmen facing the South African attack is worrying. This group has potential but while others are finding their feet it would really help if Cook and Bell could start to score big runs again on a regular basis.
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jackthegas
David Pritchard
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Post by jackthegas on Aug 18, 2015 21:50:21 GMT
We were right down near the bottom of the conference this time last year. The Latvian is right, league tables mean nothing in August.
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jackthegas
David Pritchard
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Post by jackthegas on Aug 7, 2015 18:46:02 GMT
I'm not sure I agree. They must know they're overstepping. Very frustrating, especially with Finn being stuck on 99 wickets. It'll take a bit of a special spell to wrap this up tonight now! Not the same I know but I rarely bowl no balls but I never know until I've been called by the umpire.
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jackthegas
David Pritchard
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Post by jackthegas on Aug 7, 2015 16:39:39 GMT
Two wickets from no-balls and I have an element of sympathy for the bowlers as the umpires aren't watching the front line. It's obvious they are bowling no balls and the umpires are not calling them. Not just this match but throughout the last few years. I said it would cost us when I watched the first half hour after lunch.
They owe it to the bowler to call it real time rather than wait until a wicket falls. The bowler needs to know they are over the line so they can try and sort their run-up out before it costs them a wicket.
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jackthegas
David Pritchard
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Post by jackthegas on Aug 6, 2015 17:52:30 GMT
I know I'm in the minority here but the middle order need a grafter and the second best opener in the country is currently batting at 4. Root is a much better player than he was when he last opened and he's grown up doing it and we have players in county cricket like Ballance and Taylor who would be a good fit at 4 or 5.
On the other hand there is a case for sticking with Lyth. He's still catching well and playing with a smile on his face which suggests he hasn't lost his head. In the absence of other options maybe we should just work with him. The UAE may be easier than batting in England against some decent bowlers anyway.
What a great day though. I hope we get 450 and grind them into the dust.
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jackthegas
David Pritchard
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Post by jackthegas on Aug 6, 2015 12:46:25 GMT
He was batting with a runner yesterday. Think it's a hamstring. Oh well a bit worrying but I suppose now they've qualified it buys some rest time for him. To be fair to Glos they were only a last ball muscled 6 away from qualifying for the T20 Quarter Finals as well. Definite signs of progress in the one day stuff at least. I think part of it is probably just having quite a young team - this time of year their bowling attack is probably just a little less banged up than most. It's a strange time of the season to have an intense one day group stage really. We still can't quite get this right. This is supposed to be a format we're giving new priority to but instead it's all packed into congested few weeks and the result is a bit of a strange tournament. I mean Somerset are already out - it just seems daft. Still don't understand the problem with having T20 on Friday, One day competition at the weekend and Championship cricket midweek and just having a regular schedule. Then they bleat about having to adjust to different formats - well I would have thought a professional cricketer should be able to manage that! Anyway if you look around at scorecards the result is a tournament that seems to remain stuck in a previous age of 50 Over cricket. Doesn't seem to resemble the World Cup or that series we played against NZ. If anything county cricket doesn't really seemed to evolved in the format since Bracewell's Gloucestershire revolutionised over 15 years ago now. I like Championship cricket starting on a Sunday. The good thing about the current schedule is that someone who works 5 days a week, 9-5 can watch all forms of cricket. If the CC started on a set day midweek I'd never get to see any. It's a difficult one though because you can't please everyone.
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jackthegas
David Pritchard
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Post by jackthegas on Aug 5, 2015 20:29:52 GMT
Another win today, what is going on?! This time without Klinger, anyone know why? I was listening to it today but annoyingly they never mentioned the reason - didn't sound like he'd be out for long though. With that win Glos are officially in the quarter finals. Keep going like this and they should get a nice home tie at Bristol. He was batting with a runner yesterday. Think it's a hamstring.
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jackthegas
David Pritchard
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Post by jackthegas on Aug 3, 2015 21:55:07 GMT
Shut them up again yesterday in the 50 over version. After keeping the lid on most of the Somerset innings, Glos let them achieve a respectable target in the end of 243. Klinger hit 107 in the reply, but somehow Glos left themselves needing 23 off the last two overs. Just as the Somerset fans found their voice, Jack Taylor whacked successive sixes and in the end Glos won with two balls to spare, which represents something of a big win by their standards in one day cricket this season. They've had amazing start to this tournament. They've won their first 3 games (with 1 No result) and all were incredibly close finishes. And all that without their two best list A batsmen. I thought we had in the bag until Klinger got out and then Noema-Barnett gave it away. I like our bowling attack though. Howell has become a really canny operator, Smith is a decent ODI bowler and Fuller looks like he's maturing. I really like Miles too. As ever the question is how long can we keep the unit together? As for our southern friends, it's utterly ridiculous that they chose Rehman as their overseas player. Waller impresses me every time I see him bowl. He has nice flight and good control and yet hasn't played first class cricket for 3 years. Dockrell and Leach are both good bowlers too. I don't know how England will ever produce another top class spinner if they don't give these guys a chance (I know Dockrell is Irish). The now reversed Rehman signing is even more daft in the context of Compton leaving, Kieswetter retiring and Trescothick nearing the end. They clearly need a top 4 batsman to offer some solidarity and give their promising young seamers a chance to win them some matches. Gregory can't be far off the selectors thoughts too, especially in one day cricket. Good batsman and a decent bowler. Certainly not far off Chris Woakes from what I've seen.
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jackthegas
David Pritchard
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Post by jackthegas on Aug 1, 2015 18:48:08 GMT
I think Plunkett is in there as cover for Finn and Broad. We'd have a very samey attack if we went with those three. Footit and Wood are next in line for a reason. I think they're genuinely the best we have. While I love Sidebottom to bits he is a complete liability in the field these days and he's almost 10mph slower than he was when he was playing for England. In 2009 when we needed a batsman for the 5th test we resisted the romantic idea of picking Trescothick or Ramprakash and went with Trott and that worked pretty well. Hopefully we'll have similar success this time.
I think Rushworth was the outside bet but that kind of horses for courses selection has rarely worked for England. Besides, Trent Bridge has been more like the Lords pitch in the last couple of tests played there.
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jackthegas
David Pritchard
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Post by jackthegas on Jul 29, 2015 17:38:11 GMT
Massive Bell fan but what was he thinking there? Drizzle falling, weather forecast tomorrow much better and he danced down the bloody wicket. There is positive and there is recklessness and he crossed the line there.
I hope it lashes it down for the next half an hour and that our aggressive middle order bat most of tomorrow. Two good sessions and we're almost out of sight. Three and it's almost job done.
I have a ticket tomorrow. Can't wait! I saw the final day at lords against New Zealand so I've been lucky so far this year. I hope that continues tomorrow.
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