The Cricket Thread

[Gemmill 34157]

Thank you for your support, Ken. 

[Ken 119]

Anything positive worth noting with this lot deserves acknowledgement Gemms 😉

[Alex 30226]

Thanks for the kind words, Thrush 

[Ken 119]

Rory Burns is into double figures. 

[Gemmill 34157]

He's not the only one, eh Ken?

 

[Ken 119]

Joe Root properly knackered.

 

England have their 2 best batsmen out there.

[Ken 119]

Oops

[Ken 119]

Ah fitting that it is Broad and Anderson trying to defy us victory. The two that have caused us angst many a time. 

[Ken 119]

And that is the end of that. England fought hard during the match but they just don't have enough. Their team selections deservedly should be questioned. Not playing a spinner and persisting with grade cricketers is not good enough.

Not much by way of highlights but Joe Root running like he was riding an invisible donkey was one .

 

Ah well lads chin up. Enjoy Christmas, hope all have a good one and I look forward to the Boxing day test 😀

[Gemmill 34157]

Have a good Christmas, Kenneth. 

[Tom 13804]

Aye have a good one Ken

[Dr Gloom 19720]

On 17/12/2021 at 10:43, Dr Gloom said:

This must be the worst English test side of my lifetime 

FMP

[Dr Gloom 19720]

3 hours ago, Ken said:

And that is the end of that. England fought hard during the match but they just don't have enough. Their team selections deservedly should be questioned. Not playing a spinner and persisting with grade cricketers is not good enough.

Not much by way of highlights but Joe Root running like he was riding an invisible donkey was one .

 

Ah well lads chin up. Enjoy Christmas, hope all have a good one and I look forward to the Boxing day test 😀

Even if we’d turned up with Archer fit, Stokes more than half-fit and the whole side prepared to play in Aussie conditions with a few practise matches it would have been tough. To rock up as undercooked as we did was always going to end in disaster. 

Our bowling attack locks the variation to beat the best overseas and our batting is shite at home and abroad. 

[Ken 119]

5 minutes ago, Dr Gloom said:

Even if we’d turned up with Archer fit, Stokes more than half-fit and the whole side prepared to play in Aussie conditions with a few practise matches it would have been tough. To rock up as undercooked as we did was always going to end in disaster. 

Our bowling attack locks the variation to beat the best overseas and our batting is shite at home and abroad. 

Clearly your lot are underdone. And bereft of a game plan. Merry Xmas. We will see how the Boxing day test match goes. Chill my friend.

[Tom 13804]

Tbh the selection has been shite too. Can’t understand leaving Wood out and not selecting a proper spinner. 
 

There’s a litany of issues with this test side I suppose and I don’t think there’s much of an appetite to fix them.

[Dr Gloom 19720]

3 minutes ago, Ken said:

Clearly your lot are underdone. And bereft of a game plan. Merry Xmas. We will see how the Boxing day test match goes. Chill my friend.

I predicted 4-0 before a ball was bowled. That looks optimistic now as Adelaide was one of our best chances. Our first innings collapse in perfect batting conditions tells you exactly what to expect from the rest of the series. 

[Ken 119]

7 minutes ago, Tom said:

Tbh the selection has been shite too. Can’t understand leaving Wood out and not selecting a proper spinner. 
 

There’s a litany of issues with this test side I suppose and I don’t think there’s much of an appetite to fix them.

The lad breaks down all the time? I mean fair enough if you want to cotton wool him but yeah that test meant everything. Not having Wood there and a spinner.

I don't know what the tactics are with your lot. I really don't. And its disappointing. 

[Ken 119]

9 minutes ago, Dr Gloom said:

I predicted 4-0 before a ball was bowled. That looks optimistic now as Adelaide was one of our best chances. Our first innings collapse in perfect batting conditions tells you exactly what to expect from the rest of the series. 

I won't make predictions. But I hope England make changes, put it that way. 

[Dr Gloom 19720]

Urgh, sympathy from an Australian. I feel dirty.

I knew we were fucked watching it when the Aussie commentators were trying to come up with positives about England

[Ken 119]

Positives? Really?

You need another opener. A spinner. And Woods to be back in the side. Then go from there.

[Dr Gloom 19720]

1 hour ago, Ken said:

Positives? Really?

You need another opener. A spinner. And Woods to be back in the side. Then go from there.

We’ve needed new openers and a number 3 since Strauss, Cook and Trott all retired 

[RobinRobin 9154]

Not sure how Silverwood survives this.  He has almost complete control, is a former (journeyman) fast bowler, but still persists with picking the same sort of bowlers bowling the wrong lengths, and picking batsmen who simply aren't good enough. 

The latter is probably more to do with the passion for white ball cricket, which means that they don't get enough practice for red ball, so I blame Ashley Giles as well.  Frankly, AG is probably responsible for CS, so he takes the blame for the lot.  I doubt that CS would have been coach, selector, etc if Strauss was still head honcho.

Clearly we need a good spinner, but Championship pitches are not designed for spin, and so they don't get picked.  I heard that Leach has hardly bowled at all since India, not that any other spinner has done either.

Fuck it - thought it would be 5-0 but hoped that we may be competitive from time to time and that the weather might intervene.  Looks like my first thought will stand.

[Alex 30226]

Silverwood is by no means the only problem but he’s been absolutely shite tbh. Leach is the best spinner we have but he’s been completely messed about and thrown in at the deep end. 

Re county pitches, I believe New Zealand adopted a policy a few years back where fur first class games they were generally good batting surfaces. As well giving the batsmen confidence it means the bowlers have to work harder for their wickets, making them better prepared for the test arena. If they can do it there they can do it here because the ECB wields so much financial power. The focus of the team has been white ball cricket for about the last 5 or 6 years though. It did result in transforming that side and a first World Cup win but at what cost? Most England cricket fans care more about test cricket and, what really matters is the Ashes. You’d have to go back to 2010/11 for a side that went there properly focused and prepared. Obviously that was very talented team too

[RobinRobin 9154]

17 hours ago, Alex said:

Obviously that was very talented team too

Mainly because they had a top three who could bat and you would not be surprised if they made it to lunch on the first day of the first test.  Now you are surprised if they make it through the first couple of overs.

[toonotl 2406]

I've seen Anderson in the press blaming his captain, his coaches, the other players, well basically anyone but himself for not telling him and Broad to pitch the ball up in Adelaide. He has more Test match experience on Australian Ashes tours as a fast bowler than maybe anybody and he still needs to be told to pitch up in Australia. Pretty remarkable levels of attempted blame shifting.

Thoughts?

If I were English, I'd want him dropped and never selected again. Him and Broad seem completely at odds with the rest of the team. The toxicity it must bring to the side to carry these selfish has-beens is surely not worth it to carry them in hoping they'll bring back the old days and take a bag of wickets. I got the impression during Brisbane and Adelaide that Anderson and Broad were refusing to take advice on how they should be bowling. So his turn around in the press from 'how dare you tell me how to bowl' to 'why didn't you tell me to bowl differently' smacks of a quite comical level of arrogance.

To have Aussie crowds actually feeling sorry for an English touring captain is quite an achievement for an English Ashes squad. Root's leadership definitely leaves something to be desired. But I wonder if he's leading with one hand behind his back being forced by management to pick players that refuse to follow the game plan and then seek to throw him under the bus when things go pear shaped.