England Cricket 2022

[paulhackett]

Oh dear. Not sure what to make of this. From what I've gathered watching IPL and also his commentary stints in other formats, the guy's a bit of a dick. But maybe that's what the side needs? He does back youth in his sides so maybe that would actually be it for Jimmy and Broad. There's definitely a bit of Warne about him, ie incredibly arrogant, but without the charm.

He loves to describe the game as a 'product' and a 'brand' on commentary.

Brendon McCullum favourite to become England’s Test head coach

Brendon McCullum, the pioneering former New Zealand captain, has emerged as the favourite to become England’s Test head coach with an announcement on the successful candidate due this week

www.theguardian.com

And as the article points out, he's never coached a first class side whatsoever so it would be a massive gamble. Gotta be better options out there than someone running a side that's not even doing well in the IPL.

It may be they assume the players are there but they need to get their heads into the right place, in which case, as with his time as NZ skipper, he might be the right person to push them on (like Morgan in the ODIs). Pick players and back them.

Seems a good person to me in and around other players.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

I think I'm mostly with Warney on the value of coaches in cricket. Ah yes, very useful. They take you from the hotel to the ground.

 

[WhyLikeThis]

Gary Kirsten snubbed again. I wonder if this alternative will be as successful as Silverwood.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

I have some sympathy with Silverwood. England played more cricket during covid than any other team, and in the end I think it cost them somewhat. Bit of a hospital pass.

 

[Petcha]

It may be they assume the players are there but they need to get their heads into the right place, in which case, as with his time as NZ skipper, he might be the right person to push them on (like Morgan in the ODIs). Pick players and back them.

Seems a good person to me in and around other players.

He scares the shit out of his players and team mates apparently which may or may not be a good thing.

 

[WhyLikeThis]

I have some sympathy with Silverwood. England played more cricket during covid than any other team, and in the end I think it cost them somewhat. Bit of a hospital pass.

This is true. However....



Silverwood, when asked if he would pick the same team at the Gabba with the power of hindsight:

"To be honest, I would"​

 

[Petcha]

Ok, I'm kinda on board with this now. I mean, it couldn't possibly be worse than the current setup.

Dynamism and soul: what Brendon McCullum will bring to England role | Ali Martin

The ECB’s decision to appoint the New Zealander on a four-year deal is a daring but calculated move

www.theguardian.com

 

[Petcha]

And I guess managing Stokes will take another alpha male so Kirsten probably wouldn't have the trick. Gonna be interesting.

 

[planetgeli]

The future's bright I tell thee. Keaton's back!



And Tom! Remember Tom?



The Pope's arrived too! With Ben!

oh so close



Not sure about this bloke though.



Rory scored 30 too.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

You missed off Hameed. He scored 112 today.

 

[planetgeli]

I see they've managed to make the delayed Test against India a back-to-back affair with the final Test against New Zealand. This is to go with the back-to-back first two Tests against New Zealand and the back-to-back first two against South Africa. Only 3 days off between Tests (thrashings permitting). All to accommodate about a million ODIs against the Netherlands etc.

That argument about too much cricket was lost a while ago wasn't it.

 

[planetgeli]

You missed off Hameed. He scored 112 today.

I was being realistic. They're never going to pick him again. Can't think why.

 

[planetgeli]

And Keaton finished 150 not out.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Lammonby was my tip for the top two years ago after watching the final of the Bob. He's barely scored a run since.

 

[WhyLikeThis]

McCullum on batting:


Looks like we’re in for some lively and potentially inconsistent cricket.

 

[Petcha]

So the Director of Cricket with no experience as a Director of Cricket, has now appointed a red ball coach with no red ball coaching experience, to work with a captain with no captaincy experience.

from the guaridan comments..

 

[Petcha]

McCullum on batting:


Looks like we’re in for some lively and potentially inconsistent cricket.

I'm taking it Sibley might be in for a bit of a ride if he ever gets selected for England again under this guy. I cannot imagine two more different players. Imagine what McCullum's reaction would have been to Sibley blocking out that draw when given a generous declaration. It could be quite fun to watch this shitshow take its next course.

 

[WhyLikeThis]

I suppose exciting cricket calamities beat grindingly tedious ones.

 

[Petcha]

It's a win/win for him really. He can't be blamed if he fails given the paucity of talent available to him and if he does somehow work a miracle with the shower at his disposal he'll be hailed as a hero. And he'll paid millions either way. Well played bazza.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

I'm taking it Sibley might be in for a bit of a ride if he ever gets selected for England again under this guy. I cannot imagine two more different players. Imagine what McCullum's reaction would have been to Sibley blocking out that draw when given a generous declaration. It could be quite fun to watch this shitshow take its next course.

The decision not to chase that win was made by Root, not Sibley.

I think that clip probably shows how McCullum will approach this. Play your game. Play to your strengths. If that's occupation of the crease, then do it. Whatever works for you. After all, he played with Kane Williamson, who is not averse to crease occupation when the conditions dictate that.

McCullum knows he wasn't the world's greatest batter - I watched his final test innings live when he scored 100 off about 70 balls. He was very, very lucky not to get out first ball - wild hack and a top edge over the keeper. He was never in control. He was slogging basically, and that happened to be his day. Good eye and a terrible technique is a pretty good assessment. With the bat, he was like Botham.

He could be good. The bowlers basically take care of themselves. It's the batters who need something to somehow start succeeding. It's not as if the likes of Pope, Crawley and Lawrence don't have talent, after all. They do. That's what's so frustrating.

 

[Petcha]

His strategy from that clip is play your natural game. Unfortunately those batsmen you've named seem to be playing their natural games and it doesn't cut it at test level. I honestly think the ODI side would do better at test cricket than the test side.

It has the makings of something quite hilarious and probably catastrophic but given England are bottom of the pack right now we might as well just enjoy it i suppose. He seems quite astute though so may have already been scouting around for players more his style, let's hope so.

 

[planetgeli]

Highest first class score and it took a run out to stop him.

#Keaton'sback #Keatonin

 

[littlebabyjesus]

A May run-fest. Three innings declared at 580+. Surrey 585 with no century, must be close to a record score without a hundred in it.

 

[planetgeli]

A May run-fest. Three innings declared at 580+. Surrey 585 with no century, must be close to a record score without a hundred in it.

Can't find records for non-Test matches but the highest in a Test is India 524/9 in 1976. So it beats that.

Edit, Notts 581 all out in 1899. Beats that too. But I got that from a 23 year old Guardian article so no idea if that's been beaten in the 2000s.

An Indian team (not national) scored 605 in 1998.

They're now 642/9 so pretty sure that's the record. The 10th wicket partnership has just passed 50.

Final Edit. 671/9 dec, no centuries.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

It's all very encouraging. Or not encouraging really as everyone is scoring runs and conditions are clearly easy for scoring.

Looking across at India, I would be very tempted to give Liam Livingstone a run in the test team at number 5 or even number 7. He has a decent first class record, including a double hundred. He could even be the sole spin option if they don't fancy playing a frontline spinner.

 

[Cerberus]

Agree re: Livingstone. About time

I’d say the early season form has to be encouraging (straws being grasped). Stokes and Root have big runs under their belts. YJB & Buttler (the latter unlikely to return to the test side tho) smashing it about in the IPL. The recent discarded Burns, Sibley and Pope all scoring freely. Even Chef doing enough for us hopeless romantics to hope! Only Crawley (Keys boy) seems to be struggling.

Jimmeh, Broadie and Robinson all have overs in their legs.

First Test 30-3 then

 

[planetgeli]

Jimmeh, Broadie and Robinson all have overs in their legs.

Broad picked up 3 tail-enders, Jimmeh has 1-72 and Robinson broke down bowling only 1 over in the first innings.

 

[Cerberus]

Well, Straws as I said

 

[WhyLikeThis]

Revenge is sweet.

 

[WhyLikeThis]

Not much of a poker face.