England Cricket 2015

[littlebabyjesus]

Should give some credit to Pakistan and Misbah-ul-Haq, considering the difficulties they've had he's been a fantastic leader and made them into a very good team.

Oh fuck yes. Won't stop me moaning though.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Any team's only as good as their best two bowlers. Pakistan won that battle.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Take the point, though. And I will extol the virtues of Misbah. tuk tuk bang. And looking every minute of his 41 years sometimes. But he knows how to stay in and how to hit the bad ball for 6. And he has the patience and belief to do both.

Ian Bell, look at Misbah. He is about the opposite of you. But he is better than you.

 

[DrRingDing]

Hales has failed again. If he keeps this up butchersapron may get his way.

 

[paulhackett]

Tremlett calling for Compton --> England recall for Nick Compton could be open goal

And why not? Well his Director of Cricket must be pushing his case? Surely?

If Bell goes, you'd think he'd be a good bet, with Taylor in at 3 and Moeen back at 8?

 

[DrRingDing]

Another call for Compton

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Seen a few calls for Compton now. Could happen.

 

[DrRingDing]

Hales scores a ton.

Pakistan v England: Alex Hales hits maiden ODI ton in tourists' win

Note Agnews comment about Hale's vulnerability. The South Africans certainly would have. Looks like he'll be a shite test opener. Get the odd hundred but fail with many low scores.

I'd sooner someone who can hang around for a bit, see off the new ball even if that means selecting someone with a modest average.

 

[butchersapron]

That's do-able.

 

[DrRingDing]

Mitchell Johnson retires!

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Bell out. Compton and Ballance in.

Mark Footitt selected - Surrey player! Although he hasn't actually played for them yet.

 

[DrRingDing]

Nice. A meatier top order.

 

[DrRingDing]

Hopefully Compton will let his bat do the talking this time.

 

[butchersapron]

Of course he's been recalled now he's done what the selectors wanted. Namely, leave Somerset.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

It's basically taken the selectors 2 and a half years to admit they made a mistake dropping him, tbh. His form hasn't been any better this year than previous years. He's lucky in one sense - no other county opener had a big year either last season.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Hadn't realised both Wood and Finn were out. That's a big blow, esp Wood.

 

[butchersapron]

No room for hildreth again.

 

[DrRingDing]

Hadn't realised both Wood and Finn were out. That's a big blow, esp Wood.

Plunkett needs a turn. He's got a little bit of height, pace and maturity on Wood.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Plunkett needs a turn. He's got a little bit of height, pace and maturity on Wood.

I agree. Backup seamers are very samey otherwise - Stokes, Jordan, Woakes, same height, pace and type. However, he's not in the party either. Dunno what's going on there.

Know nothing about Footitt really, except that he's taken tons of wickets in the second division. Said to have some pace about him.

 

[DrRingDing]

Cook
Compton
Ballance
Root
Taylor
Stokes
Bairstow
Ali
Broad
Plunkett
Anderson

Looks pretty tidy.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Plunkett's not going.

 

[DrRingDing]

Mind you Hales will probably be still first choice to open.

 

[DrRingDing]

Plunkett's not going.

What the Dickens!?

 

[littlebabyjesus]

What the Dickens!?

I don't get it either.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

A thought on the sameyness of the bowling attack:

We use mph, so we naturally see 90 mph as the big pace barrier, but I think kph gives a better barrier: 140 kph is 87 mph. Anything over 140 kph is fast, and while only a few bowlers can hit 145 kph (90 mph) regularly, quite a few can regularly stay up at 140+ kph for a whole spell. That, for me, is a pretty good definition of 'fast' as opposed to 'fast-medium'.

In the absence of Finn/Wood, Plunkett's the other bowler who qualifies for this tag. He's the most Morkel-like hit the deck bowler, too - extracting bounce.

I don't know Footitt so can't comment on him, but none of the other bowlers really qualifies for this tag, except very occasionally Broad when the stars align for him. In a five-man bowling attack with four seamers, which is what they'll have, there has to be a place for at least one 'fast' bowler by my above definition, especially in SA.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Mitchell Johnson retires!

Patchy in the extreme, but on his day magnificent - a proper fear-inducing quick. Suspect action and temperament, prone to breaking down, but the game was definitely better with him in it. There was genuine anticipation when he came on to bowl. An Aus equivalent of Stephen Harmison. Not a great, but with purple patches to match any of the greats.

 

[souljacker]

Buttler 104 off 46!

 

[butchersapron]

Balls, Jos century in under 50 and i forgot to watch.

 

[butchersapron]

I can watch the last 5 balls.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

He didn't even come in until the 35th over. wow