The CRICKET Thread, Finally!

[Iceman]

Match sounded crazy. What did you tihnk of it Iceman?

Was a great match for a neutral. Quite a few times I thought one team had won for sure (almost stopped watching) and then it would turn around. By the end England really should have won. I thought if we kept Samuels off the crease with the required runs creeping up that would be enough but Braithwaite had a lot more to him than I expected.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

Now that this is over, we can go back to real cricket.

 

[aNarcHy2day]

I really think that the "bowler's welfare associations" should come forward and petition against Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers being in the same side.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/indian-premier-league-2016/engine/match/980987.html

PS: Thank heavens Gayle's out of sorts.

 

[Iceman]

England beating Sri Lanka by a mig margin but they have recovered to an extent.

England 498-9 dec

Sri Lanka 101 & 309-5

 

[regwec]

Impressed with the Sri Lankans for knuckling down to it. Their target will be to make England bat again, which would be a significant moral victory.

Chris Woakes is continuing to impress as a cricketer in the longer format. He is unlucky to find himself having to understudy for Ben Stokes. With Nick Compton proving to be a consistent liability at 3, and James Vince and Moeen Ali both in the team and batting lower in the order than they would for their counties, I wonder if space cannot be made for an all-rounder bowler who bats as well as an all-rounder batsman who bowls. Woakes or Adil Rashid could support Stokes et al depending on the wicket.

Cook
Hales
Vince
Root
Bairstow
Stokes
Moeen
Woakes/Rashid
Broad
Finn
Anderson

...looks like a strong 11, though dependent on the newcomer at 3 settling into the role. There is a lot of batting there, and the ability to field five seamers and an off-spinner or four seamers, an off-spinner and a leg-spinner. I think this may be the way most teams develop in such a batsman-friendly era.

An alternative is to bring Scott Borthwick in as a leg-spinning number 3.

Presuming England win this test, I do hope they are more experimental in the third.

 

[aNarcHy2day]

I actually expect them to drop Finn and play Woakes as the third seamer given the form and rhythm he's in at the moment.

 

[Iceman]

England won after Sri Lanka made them bat again.

Yes I like a deep batting line up.

 

[regwec]

That is also a possibility. I'm not sure how much "rope" Finn has. On full form he is a huge asset to England, but he has never quite returned to his best, and he seems to suffer dips in confidence that lead to him bowling some dross. Without either Stokes or Finn one would expect Jake Ball to be called up, having been named in the squad, though it may also offer an opening for Chris Jordan to return. He has been great for England in the shorter formats.

I note that Scott Borthwick has scored 188 not out at number 3 against Nottingham in Durham's first innings, and has so far taken six wickets in the match with his leg spin. I think Nick Compton should be looking over his shoulder.

Many congratulations to Alastair Cook for reaching 10,000 test runs today. Though unflashy, he is certainly one of the best openers in the game.

 

[Iceman]

Huge achievement. Hopefully he can get back to his best as he's the youngest player to get to that mark, slightly ahead of Tendulkar.

 

[aNarcHy2day]

Congrats to Cook for the tremendous achievement. I wonder if he can actually get to the all-time record though that's another... 6000 runs away, Bloody hell!

India need to start playing Test cricket again soon. I've just about had enough of T20.

 

[regwec]

England tour India later in the season. Should be very interesting.

 

[Iceman]

Congrats to Cook for the tremendous achievement. I wonder if he can actually get to the all-time record though that's another... 6000 runs away, Bloody hell!

India need to start playing Test cricket again soon. I've just about had enough of T20.

If he can keep playing till 40 and rediscover his best form he'll do it. No mean feat though.

 

[regwec]

His cause is helped by the fact that, when he isn't playing test cricket for England or first class cricket for Essex, he just works his farm and spends time with his family. He doesn't have any kind of celebrity lifestyle, nor does he have T20 to mess around with his form. Also, his batting style owes much more to patience and judgment than it does to physicality or dashing stroke play. If Cook passes on the pressures of captaincy but continues opening for England (or even dropping to number 3 if his senses become slightly less sharp), then he could easily keep going as long as Shivnarine Chanderpaul or Rahul Dravid. Or even beyond.

 

[Iceman]

Yeah, in a lot of sports the guys who hang around the longest are those who are least dependant on physical attributes like pace and strength.

 

[aNarcHy2day]

In the past decade or so at least, I think we Indians, well, Asians in general have stuck around the longest. A couple like Ponting and Kallis sort of bucked the trend but English and Australian players do retire relatively early. Not saying that will be the case with Cook, just an observation.

 

[Iceman]

Baistow on 156 n.o.!

England 384-7 against Sri Lanka in 1st innings. Cook got 85 and Woakes 66.

 

[Iceman]

England all out for 416. Bairstow ended 167 not out. Apart from the 3 mentioned above, no other real contributors.

 

[regwec]

Very pleased to see Woakes get runs.

Sri Lanka are proving a far better side than they appeared to be at the start of the tour. Their opening batsmen show a good balance of patience and aggression, and their bowling is effective within its limitations. Lords is generally a runs-heavy ground, and I think a draw is likely, but the tourists will emerge with credit.

Bairstow is growing into a great batsman, but his wicketkeeping is really shoddy at times. I think it is hard to be equally invested in both disciplines. On current form, I might consider switching Vince out for Buttler so that the latter can keep wicket and provide explosive counter-attacking innings lower in the order, and promoting Bairstow to no.5. Compton also has to go- he is far too turgid for the modern game and can't even dig in the way a guy like Jonathan Trott used to.

The Frequently Revised Regwec 11:

Cook*
Hales
Borthwick
Root
Bairstow
Moeen
Buttler+
Woakes
Broad
Finn
Anderson

 

[aNarcHy2day]

The Frequently Revised Regwec 11:

Cook*
Hales
Borthwick
Root
Bairstow
Moeen
Buttler+
Woakes
Broad
Finn
Anderson

Really? No Ben Stokes?

 

[regwec]

Ben Stokes is injured

The question is whether, when he returns, he comes in for Finn or Woakes. On current form, I would retain Woakes ahead of Finn.

 

[Iceman]

I've not been able to watch this recently. What happened in the match? (can't get in to the bbc site either to check).

 

[regwec]

Draw in the end, largely due to rain but also some stiff resistance again from the Sri Lankan top order.

Jonny Bairstow was deservedly man of the series.

 

[Iceman]

Oh well. Some good performances and I'm glad Sri Lanka didn't roll over. Yep well deserved.

 

[Iceman]

Some bad news, Michael Carberry diagnosed with cancer (age 35).

 

[regwec]

Yes, I was so sorry to hear this. He hasn't been well for some time and it was clear something was wrong. I wish him and his family every strength.

Eng v Pak looks to be a good series on current evidence. Pakistan's leg-spinner is very good and England's middle order (which inexplicably once again contains Gary Ballance) is rather wobbly. Chris Woakes is really beginning to blossom for England - 6 wickets and a good job of propping up the first innings so far. It would be a massive injustice if he was dropped on Stokes' return. I would swap Ballance out for Stokes - the latter is currently a better batsman anyway.