jackthegas
David Pritchard
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Post by jackthegas on Aug 5, 2019 14:58:07 GMT
Well that was all very predictable. Hopefully my obituary is premature and Buttler and Stokes can dig us out of a huge hole! The pitch hasn't done England any favours. We always struggle on slow wickets and that is what this one turned into after 3pm on day 1. We don't have the pace in our bowling attack to create chances, we don't score enough runs to create scoreboard pressure and Moeen has demonstrated again that he is better when he is supported by another spinner (I'd forgotten that Rashid played all last summer). We are going to find it very difficult to win 3 test matches from here. Leach for Moeen is an obvious change. In the past we have brought in a second spinner when Mo has been struggling with the ball and he has kept his place because of his ability with the bat. That clearly can't happen this time. It's a shame because I think Moeen at his best is a better bowler than Leach. He gets more spin on the ball and more dip and drift. Leach is steadier and has experience of playing on turning tracks with the weight of expectation on his shoulders, but I haven't seen the level of consistency from him yet that I think he will need to really thrive at the highest level. Bairstow's place must be up for discussion too given that we have an obvious replacement in Foakes. Two things work for Bairstow. The first is that Counties are playing T20 cricket. It would be a big ask to throw Foakes in given a lack of red ball practice. I also think the management owe Bairstow a bit. I was an advocate of Bairstow moving up the order but his loss of form has coincided with him being shunted around the batting order. I think I got that wrong. Unless the selectors feel that he is mentally shot (and his keeping has stood up so I think that is probably not an issue) I would keep him in the side for now. Archer for Anderson is a no-brainer assuming he comes through the second team game for Sussex. Roy's dismissal today was predictable and he will be lambasted, but I think it's expected given his background. You have to hope he can transcend the questionable coaching set up and actually develop his game over the next 10 tests or so. No one expected him to be the finished article, but he is a huge talent so let's see if he can learn from his mistake. I would be in favour of picking Crawley or Sibley instead of Denley, who is older than Roy and Burns and so less likely to improve with game time. I would then move Roy down the order to 4 where he seems more suited at the moment. Longer term, the proliferation of batters who have come in to the side as good County players in good form, who start reasonably well, only to lose form and confidence within the space of 5 tests, before returning to County cricket and seem diminished has to be looked at. You want players to improve in the test environment. Even if they aren't quite good enough for test cricket, why have so many come in to the side at the top of the batting averages only to return to county cricket and look mediocre? Is the coaching set up right? We really need Root to rediscover his form too. Of the "golden four" his record is now comfortably the worst in test cricket. My view is that, now Cook has retired, he is too important to England to be captain. His form seems to be suffering and he is not leading a team that is more than the sum of it's parts. I am not advocating a change at this stage but I feel that after this series, it might be in the best interests of the team. Buttler is the man I would look to (bowled the second I submitted this). He is not our best player, and if he has a poor series his place could be under threat, but he seems to have the right demeanor, they say he has a good tactical brain and he is probably one of the best 6 batters in the Country. The captain doesn't always have to be your best player. We lost it when we let Peter Siddle knock 40 odd in the first innings. From then on the Aussies had a spring in their step. We should have had a 200+ first innings lead - you can't afford to blow chances like that. When the Aussies had us on the ropes they kept us there. It made it a good competitive test match but one in which the Aussies emerge stronger and we come out of it looking like damaged goods. We will have to go some to wrestle back that momentum of them I think. It's an uphill struggle from here. Credit where it's due though - the best 2 performers in the game (Smith and Lyon) won the Test Match and that is how it should be. Smith's performance is a redemption story for the ages and he was something else. If we don't find some way of getting to him then he will dominate us as badly as he did in Aus last time around.
Quite glad the 'fortress Edgbaston' gubbins bubble has been punctured. It's a daft concept really and if England really do think that they have some kind of secret advantage playing in Birmingham compared with other English grounds then they need to have their professionalism questioned. You hear it from Swann and Vaughan all the time on TMS and it reminds you that no matter how many layers of coaching, support and preparation work you put in and no matter how talented they are cricketers as a species (and at all levels) remain the most ridiculously superstitious sportsmen normally to their own detriment! I do think we are in trouble going to Lords though - our record there is bad and it's not because of some obtuse nonsense about 'atmosphere' or 'the feeling you get when you drive into through the gate' (spare me!), it's just (as you say) Lords doesn't suit us because since they relaed a decade or so ago its become flat and slow. Archer must play in that one.
Despite tempations we really can't make wholesale changes now though. You have to back the squad you've gone with at this point I think. So apart from Archer it would just be Leach for Moen I think. The bottom line is our main issue for a while now has been failing to get big enough first innings scores. I can't see any set of changes which is going to address that so I can't really see the point of wholesale changes.
I take your point on players regressing rather than pushing on. I think it's a vicious cycle that comes with having such an unsettled batting order. No one feels particularly comfortable. Bairstow looks to me like a man who needs a rest - he has played a hell of a lot of cricket and I think he might be a bit mentally shot. I can't see England dropping him though - he's clearly seen as a key man.
Hats off to the Aussies - their bowling was excellent all game. We have to match that level if we don't this series will drift away from us very quicky.
If Bairstow (or any of the others) are mentally shot then you have to leave them out. You only have to look at the Trott and Trescothick situations to see what might happen if he isn't looked after. If he's up for the fight then I would pick him too, but you can't know that without asking him some questions and looking him in the eye. Looks foolish to have picked him for the Ireland test in hindsight (or foresight in your case). Agreed on the wholesale changes. Having picked this top 4 we probably have to stick with them for the next couple of tests but I just cannot see Denley making enough runs to justify his place. The only caveat with Lords is that the pitches over the last couple of years have been greener so that offers some hope for England. The square looked dreadful during the World Cup final. I think their bowlers will be a handful if the surface is anything like the one prepared for the Ireland test though. Let's face it, Bayliss was hired to win England the world cup, whilst keeping us competitive in test cricket. He's just about managed that, but I would expect to see an upturn in our Test form following his departure. We basically haven't progressed as a team over the last 4 years which is a real shame given the talent that we have, coupled with two of the best bowlers of all time. |
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bluetornados
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Post by bluetornados on Aug 5, 2019 16:31:14 GMT
IMO Roy brought on the collapse, he should have reigned in his white ball game and dug in.
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irishrover
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Post by irishrover on Aug 5, 2019 17:43:04 GMT
We lost it when we let Peter Siddle knock 40 odd in the first innings. From then on the Aussies had a spring in their step. We should have had a 200+ first innings lead - you can't afford to blow chances like that. When the Aussies had us on the ropes they kept us there. It made it a good competitive test match but one in which the Aussies emerge stronger and we come out of it looking like damaged goods. We will have to go some to wrestle back that momentum of them I think. It's an uphill struggle from here. Credit where it's due though - the best 2 performers in the game (Smith and Lyon) won the Test Match and that is how it should be. Smith's performance is a redemption story for the ages and he was something else. If we don't find some way of getting to him then he will dominate us as badly as he did in Aus last time around.
Quite glad the 'fortress Edgbaston' gubbins bubble has been punctured. It's a daft concept really and if England really do think that they have some kind of secret advantage playing in Birmingham compared with other English grounds then they need to have their professionalism questioned. You hear it from Swann and Vaughan all the time on TMS and it reminds you that no matter how many layers of coaching, support and preparation work you put in and no matter how talented they are cricketers as a species (and at all levels) remain the most ridiculously superstitious sportsmen normally to their own detriment! I do think we are in trouble going to Lords though - our record there is bad and it's not because of some obtuse nonsense about 'atmosphere' or 'the feeling you get when you drive into through the gate' (spare me!), it's just (as you say) Lords doesn't suit us because since they relaed a decade or so ago its become flat and slow. Archer must play in that one.
Despite tempations we really can't make wholesale changes now though. You have to back the squad you've gone with at this point I think. So apart from Archer it would just be Leach for Moen I think. The bottom line is our main issue for a while now has been failing to get big enough first innings scores. I can't see any set of changes which is going to address that so I can't really see the point of wholesale changes.
I take your point on players regressing rather than pushing on. I think it's a vicious cycle that comes with having such an unsettled batting order. No one feels particularly comfortable. Bairstow looks to me like a man who needs a rest - he has played a hell of a lot of cricket and I think he might be a bit mentally shot. I can't see England dropping him though - he's clearly seen as a key man.
Hats off to the Aussies - their bowling was excellent all game. We have to match that level if we don't this series will drift away from us very quicky.
If Bairstow (or any of the others) are mentally shot then you have to leave them out. You only have to look at the Trott and Trescothick situations to see what might happen if he isn't looked after. If he's up for the fight then I would pick him too, but you can't know that without asking him some questions and looking him in the eye. Looks foolish to have picked him for the Ireland test in hindsight (or foresight in your case). Agreed on the wholesale changes. Having picked this top 4 we probably have to stick with them for the next couple of tests but I just cannot see Denley making enough runs to justify his place. The only caveat with Lords is that the pitches over the last couple of years have been greener so that offers some hope for England. The square looked dreadful during the World Cup final. I think their bowlers will be a handful if the surface is anything like the one prepared for the Ireland test though. Let's face it, Bayliss was hired to win England the world cup, whilst keeping us competitive in test cricket. He's just about managed that, but I would expect to see an upturn in our Test form following his departure. We basically haven't progressed as a team over the last 4 years which is a real shame given the talent that we have, coupled with two of the best bowlers of all time. Yeah I think that's a fair assessment of the Bayliss era. We just haven't prioritised the Test squad as we have in previous cycles. I don't think it's all that suprising some of our players who have become superstars of the ODI game have stalled a bit in the Test arena. Perhaps that is just a neccesary tradeoff - for example, Swann Anderson and Broad have fairly average ODI records compared with their Test ones. Maybe if they'd come of age in this era it might have been the other way round. You do wonder when you look at Moeen, Bairstow, Stokes etc. These are very talented players but you could make a case that none of them have quite fulfilled their potential and a lot of that is about consistancy of performance but its also about consistency of role. I don't feel like we've settled on what we want a lot of these players to really do. I always felt Moeen could have been a top 6 bat if someone had properly backed him to be that but instead I think England has thoroughly messed up his batting and not really properly developed his bowling either. Bairstow goes up and down the batting order etc. It just speaks to a certain lack of strategic planning and proper player development. We shouldn't have gotten to the start of the Ashes unsure what our top 4 is or what our spinner strategy is going to be.
I worry that this is a momentum switcher. The first time they've taken the 1st Test in England since 2001. We have had the edge over them in England for the last 15 years - this felt like a game where you see the balance flip back in favour of the Aussies being on top. We have to get that back very quickly. If Moeen was in any sort of form I'd flip Leach in for Denly but now we've gone with that top 4 I agree that we probably need to stick with it.
I take the point above about Roy - it was a shocking shot. But you pick Jason Roy to be agressive and take the game to Lyon. They did a good analysis on Sky where they showed how the Aussies took the Sweep out of play which forced him to come down if he wanted to attack. It was a crap shot anyway but it's not the intent I question. If you don't want someone to attack Lyon then you don't pick Roy. Not sure the defensive approach worked any better anyway. It was a lovely pitch for a bowler of that quality to operate on.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2019 9:35:21 GMT
IMO Roy brought on the collapse, he should have reigned in his white ball game and dug in. While I agree, plenty more failed a lot harder and with a lot more experience. Personally I'd have Roy in the middle order while he learns how to protect his wicket in test cricket. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2019 15:08:28 GMT
Jofra bowling against 'shire 2nd XI today;
12.1-4-27-6
He's currently batting;
52* off 41.
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irishrover
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Post by irishrover on Aug 6, 2019 17:55:33 GMT
Jofra bowling against 'shire 2nd XI today; 12.1-4-27-6 He's currently batting; 52* off 41. Ah, I think he might be OK then.... |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2019 18:11:27 GMT
Jofra bowling against 'shire 2nd XI today; 12.1-4-27-6 He's currently batting; 52* off 41. Ah, I think he might be OK then.... Still only bowled 12 overs... |
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irishrover
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Post by irishrover on Aug 7, 2019 11:54:12 GMT
And now Ollie Stone is out as well. Options are narrowing.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2019 12:15:16 GMT
Lewis Gregory anyone?
Edit: Just seen he's out with a stress fracture.
Basically a Curran attack then. |
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jackthegas
David Pritchard
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Post by jackthegas on Aug 7, 2019 13:50:17 GMT
If we need a bit of pace then Jamie Overton is next in line I would have thought. Then who knows. Tom Helm?
Fingers crossed Archer can stay fit and perform.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2019 16:02:53 GMT
If we need a bit of pace then Jamie Overton is next in line I would have thought. Then who knows. Tom Helm? Fingers crossed Archer can stay fit and perform. As long as it’s not Craig with his racist Overton’s. |
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warehamgas
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Post by warehamgas on Aug 8, 2019 22:14:29 GMT
If we need a bit of pace then Jamie Overton is next in line I would have thought. Then who knows. Tom Helm? Fingers crossed Archer can stay fit and perform. As long as it’s not Craig with his racist Overton’s. Best not say anything good about a Somerset player eh? 😉 Archer will a straight swap for Anderson. Stone probably wouldn’t have played. Bigger worry is who will be the spinner, Moeen Ali not playing well with his confidence shot but as we’re playing at Lords not sure we need to do a change. Having seen Jamie Overton bowl a lot for Somerset this season since he came back from Northamptonshire he has looked very quick and he has the pace that will be uncomfortable for anyone, Australia included. But he is injury prone and having to bowl 25 overs would be a risk imo. Pretty sure we don’t need to panic over the selection. We lost the test but in today’s ways of reporting everyone has turned the defeat into a contest into which reporter can write the most negative and hyperbole-laden report. England lost the last two days but up to that point over the first three days Australia were just about hanging onto a draw. Our loss was caused by a poor batting day on day 5 and the injury after only 7 overs to James Anderson. Had he not been injured I’m pretty sure the ninth and tenth Australian wickets in the first innings would not have reached 150. But they did and we have to move on from that, replace him, obviously Archer, and come again. Our middle order was poor but we can’t replace them now so we stick with them. |
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Post by steviegas on Aug 12, 2019 11:37:10 GMT
I haven't been that impressed with Jason Roy, Johnny Bairstow or Jos Buttler.
I think Roy and Buttler are one day players only and don't have a strong mindset to play test cricket.
I was impressed with Ben Foakes when he played as wicket keeper a year or so ago and you could have the trio, Stokes Woakes and Foakes in the side. |
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warehamgas
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Post by warehamgas on Aug 12, 2019 18:30:44 GMT
Trouble is drop Roy, Buttler and Bairstow but who do you bring in? Foakes, I agree, is a good call and is unlucky not to be in already. We had a bad last two days, need to keep our nerve and the players need to get us out of the hole they got us in and not panic, yet.
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irishrover
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Post by irishrover on Aug 12, 2019 20:48:24 GMT
Trouble is drop Roy, Buttler and Bairstow but who do you bring in? Foakes, I agree, is a good call and is unlucky not to be in already. We had a bad last two days, need to keep our nerve and the players need to get us out of the hole they got us in and not panic, yet. We'll see. I agree they can't really be dropped and on an optimistic note I think there is a chance that a Buttler/Roy knock might win us a Test somewhere along the line. There's no doubt that in the right context they could take a game away from the Aussies. The issues, as ever, is consistancy. |
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jackthegas
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Post by jackthegas on Aug 16, 2019 10:07:57 GMT
I went to Lord's yesterday. I think I picked the right day given the weather on Wednesday and the forecast today!
Not many positives for England, certainly from a batting perspective. It is good that Australia are well prepared but I would really like to see a test series between two sides that have batsmen with the mindset and skill to make life difficult for bowlers. England's batsmen either have the skill or the mindset, but I am not sure any of them have both. Burns top scored but was dropped twice. He looked really uncomfortable post lunch when Cummins bowled short at him. The spell of bowling was superb, but Burns has been out twice now fending off a ball that was dug into his rib cage. This was a really slow pitch. Added to his tendency to struggle when the ball is pitched up around off stump then I would question whether he is likely to have any longevity in test cricket. I certainly think Australia will keep testing him with the short ball.
I heard people say that Roy's dismissal was indicative of the way he plays but I think that is rubbish. In one day cricket, when conditions are tough, he at least has a couple of overs to have a look at the bowling. I accept that he will make mistakes, but England need him to learn quickly. He had a slow start to his ODI career so hopefully he can get there.
Denley is not a test cricketer. He got a good ball but he had a chanced life before his dismissal. I would move on next test. You could put Root down to 4, Roy to 3 and bring in Sibbley who at least looks like he has test temperament. Like Burns, he may have technical deficiencies but at least we'll have a couple of top order batsmen that will try and apply themselves.
Speaking of Root, we desperately need him to start to score some runs again. If the captaincy is affecting his game then we should find someone else to captain the side. If he was a brilliant captain who was helping the team to be more than the sum of it's parts then I would say it is a reasonable trade-off, but he is not getting the best out of this team. We desperately need his runs.
Stokes looks like he is on the cusp of finding the right tempo for test cricket, but his returns since coming back into the side are disappointing. His dismissal yesterday, LBW sweeping a full ball that pitched on off and straightened was daft.
Woakes looked really solid until they started bowling short to him and then his dismissal looked inevitable. It only took an over to work him over during which time he could have been caught at long leg and was hit on the helmet. I would not expect him to get much in his own half during the rest of the series.
It was good that Bairstow got a few runs but he is terrible at batting with the tail. I don't know how many times he has just hit one up in the air when batting with a number 11 but it feels like a lot. Leach looked solid enough yesterday. Bairstow hadn't faced much of Lyon, first ball of the over, head back, straight down deep mid wickets throat. Smith didn't really open his shoulders until he had 100 in the last test.
The pitch was very up and down. I actually think 300 would have been close to par. If England bowl well then they can still win the game. They will need to weather to hold off until lunch and try and bowl Australia out in a session (or have them 7 or 8 down).
However, the pitch is slow and is exactly the kind of track England have really struggled on in the past. It is not inconceivable that Australia could make 450 and put England under pressure on a turning, dry pitch with variable bounce on day 5. Any play they get today will be under cloud cover and England have to get it right with the ball.
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irishrover
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Post by irishrover on Aug 16, 2019 14:10:53 GMT
With another Day seemingly lost to rain it looks highly likely this one will peeter out into a draw. I'm just not sure there's time left for a result to be fashioned.
I agree that Bairstow's shot was dissapointing. Leach looked OK - in fact in the circumstance I might have had him above Archer and Broad as he's more likely to survive for a reasonable amount of time. Could have eked another 30 runs out of the tail which woud have been psychologically important. I feel like we are consistently 50-70 runs short of where we need to be in the 1st innings which heaps pressure on the bowlers. Top order remains an unsettled mess. Burns seems to have a certain 'battle through' quality which the team definitely needs. Roy being picked represents muddled longer-term thinking. I've nothing particularly against them giving him a try as opener but we shouldn't be in a position where his first series is the Ashes against a top Aussie attack. That is setting him up to fail. It's quite possible he could have made the neccesary adaptations if he'd had a bit less of a baptism of fire. As it is there seems to be a massive learning curve for him and that's tough. I could buy into Sibley for Denly although in truth if the batting order was firing you'd be tempted to go with a 2nd spinner instead.
We have bowled very well so far though so there is some hope. I feel like Aussies still have a collapse or 2 in them especially if we can remove the talisman
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jackthegas
David Pritchard
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Post by jackthegas on Aug 16, 2019 18:51:38 GMT
With another Day seemingly lost to rain it looks highly likely this one will peeter out into a draw. I'm just not sure there's time left for a result to be fashioned.
I agree that Bairstow's shot was dissapointing. Leach looked OK - in fact in the circumstance I might have had him above Archer and Broad as he's more likely to survive for a reasonable amount of time. Could have eked another 30 runs out of the tail which woud have been psychologically important. I feel like we are consistently 50-70 runs short of where we need to be in the 1st innings which heaps pressure on the bowlers. Top order remains an unsettled mess. Burns seems to have a certain 'battle through' quality which the team definitely needs. Roy being picked represents muddled longer-term thinking. I've nothing particularly against them giving him a try as opener but we shouldn't be in a position where his first series is the Ashes against a top Aussie attack. That is setting him up to fail. It's quite possible he could have made the neccesary adaptations if he'd had a bit less of a baptism of fire. As it is there seems to be a massive learning curve for him and that's tough. I could buy into Sibley for Denly although in truth if the batting order was firing you'd be tempted to go with a 2nd spinner instead.
We have bowled very well so far though so there is some hope. I feel like Aussies still have a collapse or 2 in them especially if we can remove the talisman
Hmmm. Not so sure on the draw. It's the most likely result but If we get Smith early they might be all out by lunch. I would imagine England will not last 3 sessions with the bat. You don't lose overs on the last day. Australia could be left with 2 1/2 sessions and 280 to win. Australia could also get close to England's score and we are well capable of being dismissed in a session. There is still time. |
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irishrover
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Post by irishrover on Aug 18, 2019 21:02:29 GMT
With another Day seemingly lost to rain it looks highly likely this one will peeter out into a draw. I'm just not sure there's time left for a result to be fashioned.
I agree that Bairstow's shot was dissapointing. Leach looked OK - in fact in the circumstance I might have had him above Archer and Broad as he's more likely to survive for a reasonable amount of time. Could have eked another 30 runs out of the tail which woud have been psychologically important. I feel like we are consistently 50-70 runs short of where we need to be in the 1st innings which heaps pressure on the bowlers. Top order remains an unsettled mess. Burns seems to have a certain 'battle through' quality which the team definitely needs. Roy being picked represents muddled longer-term thinking. I've nothing particularly against them giving him a try as opener but we shouldn't be in a position where his first series is the Ashes against a top Aussie attack. That is setting him up to fail. It's quite possible he could have made the neccesary adaptations if he'd had a bit less of a baptism of fire. As it is there seems to be a massive learning curve for him and that's tough. I could buy into Sibley for Denly although in truth if the batting order was firing you'd be tempted to go with a 2nd spinner instead.
We have bowled very well so far though so there is some hope. I feel like Aussies still have a collapse or 2 in them especially if we can remove the talisman
Hmmm. Not so sure on the draw. It's the most likely result but If we get Smith early they might be all out by lunch. I would imagine England will not last 3 sessions with the bat. You don't lose overs on the last day. Australia could be left with 2 1/2 sessions and 280 to win. Australia could also get close to England's score and we are well capable of being dismissed in a session. There is still time. Well it was a draw then but much closer to the positive direction for England then either of us thought I think. Potentially a momentum swinger perhaps? If we do turn this series around that Archer barrage against Smith will be remembered for all-time by both sides. I thought Leach bowled himself into the team for the summer in this game. Generally it was a decent Test Match in the end despite weather. We could really do with a lively Headingley track on Thursday but recent history suggests this will be unlikely. I'm in France for that one so will not be able to follow it properly. But I have tickets for Day 1 of the 4th at Old Trafford and I'm hopefully that we will go into that still in with a shot of winning the thing. If we do I quite like our chances at Old Trafford and the Oval. |
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jackthegas
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Post by jackthegas on Aug 19, 2019 9:54:42 GMT
Hmmm. Not so sure on the draw. It's the most likely result but If we get Smith early they might be all out by lunch. I would imagine England will not last 3 sessions with the bat. You don't lose overs on the last day. Australia could be left with 2 1/2 sessions and 280 to win. Australia could also get close to England's score and we are well capable of being dismissed in a session. There is still time. Well it was a draw then but much closer to the positive direction for England then either of us thought I think. Potentially a momentum swinger perhaps? If we do turn this series around that Archer barrage against Smith will be remembered for all-time by both sides. I thought Leach bowled himself into the team for the summer in this game. Generally it was a decent Test Match in the end despite weather. We could really do with a lively Headingley track on Thursday but recent history suggests this will be unlikely. I'm in France for that one so will not be able to follow it properly. But I have tickets for Day 1 of the 4th at Old Trafford and I'm hopefully that we will go into that still in with a shot of winning the thing. If we do I quite like our chances at Old Trafford and the Oval. It was a good Test Match with some high quality passages of play. I thought Stokes and Buttler did really well to survive the last hour on Saturday and the first hour on Sunday. We have regularly lost wickets during key passages of play so credit to them for that. It's definitely a plus that Buttler, Stokes and Bairstow all spent a good amount of time in the middle under pressure during this test. 5-8 is the part of the team that we should have the upper hand in. The lost hour in the morning probably scuppered England's chances of winning the test but they gave it a good go. Archer will get the plaudits but I agree that Leach has ensured he will get a run in the side (coupled with Moeen bowling a rubbish spell for Worcester yesterday). He offered more control than he has managed in an England shirt previously. Fitness and form notwithstanding, the addition of Archer and Leach gives us a bowling attack that looks capable of succeeding in all conditions. There is a caveat of course, which is that we will need to replace Anderson and Broad sooner or later. I have been a proponent of moving various members of our middle order up the order in the past, but I am now convinced that has been the wrong approach. You could make an argument that Root, Moeen, Stokes, Bairstow and Buttler have all suffered as a result of being shunted around the order. I hope we settle on a 4 - 7 of Root, Stokes, Buttler and Bairstow in that order for the foreseeable future. Let's actually see whether they are capable of averaging 40+ in test cricket. That leaves the top 3 (again). Burns has done enough for now, all be it, he has had a slice of luck in the last couple of innings. I think I would stick with Denley and Roy for another test. You can talk about Roy moving to 5 but we don't have a space there so it's top 3 or nothing. You could make an argument for opening with Denley and moving Roy to 3 but I don't really mind either way. I would be surprised if more than one of them make it as a test cricketer so we will need to look at other options (again) sooner or later. Does Foakes have the technique to bat in the top 3? It would be odd to have your best keeper in the side as a specialist batsmen but he does seem to have the right temperament to me, all be it I can't imagine he has ever batted at 3 for his County. We just go round in circles though don't we?! It will be interesting to see how Smith shapes up after the blow he took. I hope England don't start bowling short to him straight away in the next test but I am sure he will be tested again at some point. I have seen examples of batsmen not really finding their best form again after taking a serious blow. I still think we are up against it in the series though. If the weather holds I am not sure there will be another draw. Are England capable of winning 3 tests on the spin? I am not so sure personally. Edit: someone needs to talk to Root as well. The amount Archer bowled in this test was madness. Surely that kind of workload cannot be maintained? |
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