OT Cricket

[ramAnag]

You don't need to be there Geoff they are doing it well enough on their own!
England batters are once again demonstrating their inability to play Test Cricket if the opposition play dirty and bowl half decent!
My brain was right 'this is England'!

Always follow your brain, mac! What a capitulation and what a duckin’ fisappointment! Not sure what they can do before Old Trafford on Friday.

[macstheman]

The writing was on the wall when the run out set the tone!
A solid start and then that happens! Rabbits in the headlights!
Old Trafford, tell them to read the 'Idiots Book on Batting'!

[MadAmster]

I blame me. I tuned in to Sky at 85-0........... the rest is history.

[ramAnag]

So, in a season full of anti climaxes, the final Test is cancelled owing to Covid...aka fears that the Indian superstars might become unavailable for the forthcoming IPL tournament in the UAE.
Should India be awarded the series? No...imo, not in these circumstances...but that shouldn’t disguise the fact that they have been the better side and that perhaps another cancellation may be our best hope for this winter’s Ashes tour.

Just out of interest...if the Ashes goes ahead, would you take Jimmy Anderson? He’s been brilliant over the last two decades imo and I don’t remember any England bowler with greater fondness. On Aussie surfaces though, which only tend to support sheer pace and spin, I suspect it might be a bridge too far for his soon to be 40 year old body.

Maybe give him the winter off and have him fit for one last go in English conditions next ‘summer’?

[Geoff Parkstone]

I would tend to favour moving on from Anderson and Broad now. We have to make that move eventually and now may be the right time. However we wont have Archer to provide the pace, Wood and Stone are quick but tend to break down, Stokes - who knows on availability. Woakes and Robinson are maybe not best suited to hard fast pitches down under. its a dilemma, but not as big a dilemma as our lack of quality spinners.

Who to take then? We need 5 pace bowlers probably, if we take Stokes, Curran and Woakes in the all rounder category :

Robinson
Wood
Mahmood
Overton
Stone if fit, otherwise god only knows: Henry Brookes, Matt Milnes: its not inspiring

and I'm not convinced Overton is suited to Aussie pitches either: he was ineffective at the Oval, the most Australian of our pitches.
Maybe Broad has one more tour in him after all, or even Jimmy. Shakes head ruefully

[ramAnag]

Agreed about Overton. Broad I think has one more Ashes tour in him. I’d take Mahmood...but only include Curran (minor) if Stokes still can’t go.
Wood is a must...but, as you say, his fitness and the dearth of spinners is a problem...and we haven’t even addressed the fact that there is only one truly reliable top six batsman - or do we have to say ‘batter’ these days?
Having said that Burns, Hameed, Malan, Root, Pope, Bairstow and possibly Stokes and Buttler must surely produce again sometime.

[Geoff Parkstone]

IF Stokes is back then there is place only for one of Bairstow or Buttler in the team, but I guess both are in the squad. Do we then just go back to adding Sibley, Crawley, Lawrence again or do we try to find something better from amongst the great uncapped? Brook, Hain

Its amazing what a difference a Stokes makes to the team in terms of balance. We could then have Ali Woakes and Broad at 8-9-10, all of whom have test centuries, but I'd take Leach and Parkinson as spinners rather than Moeen

[MadAmster]

Nice to win the 5th test and draw the series 2-2. Now we know the upside of Covid.

[ramAnag]

IF Stokes is back then there is place only for one of Bairstow or Buttler in the team, but I guess both are in the squad. Do we then just go back to adding Sibley, Crawley, Lawrence again or do we try to find something better from amongst the great uncapped? Brook, Hain

Its amazing what a difference a Stokes makes to the team in terms of balance. We could then have Ali Woakes and Broad at 8-9-10, all of whom have test centuries, but I'd take Leach and Parkinson as spinners rather than Moeen

Talking about last night at St. Andrews is just too depressing, so sticking with the cricket.
Bairstow covers many bases. Both Burns and Hameed look short of confidence, albeit better bets than Sibley and Crawley. The beauty of Bairstow is that he’s a quality back up ‘keeper, can bat anywhere in the top order and, if played in the same side as Buttler, strengthens the fielding enormously.

Agree about Leach and Parkinson although the latter barely knows which end of the bat to hold and is a bit of a liability in the field so maybe take Leach and Ali for one more winter tour and look at Parkinson as one for the (near) future.

Can a team made up of Burns, Hameed, Malan, Root, Pope, Stokes, Ali, Woakes, Robinson, Wood and Broad...with Bairstow, Leach, Mahmood and Stone in reserve really be that bad?

[Geoff Parkstone]

The fundamental flaw in your team is that it doesn't have a wicketkeeper.