The cricket thread

Heartfeltdawn · March 2022

NorthernGooner said:

The last half hour of that was like watching Shropshire in the minor counties.
Overton and Mr Magoo at the other end. Another 50 taken off the England attack by a bloke
who a couple of years ago was playing for Wimbledon in Surrey Division 3.
Stokes out chirped by a club cricketer. FFS.

But it was the same for both sides. Compare the two days session by session. First day 3 down by lunch, 8 wickets down by tea, 2 lost in the last session. Today: 3 wickets by lunch, 7 wickets down at tea, 1 lost in the final session. That's two days cricket where the seaming ball has gone quite dead by drinks in the afternoon session and the tail can play relatively comfortably. Windies should note that and not prolong things tomorrow. Personally I'd advocate batting, trying to put the lead up to 50 in 30 minutes, and then declare. With a seam heavy attack, they've got to maximise the sessions most conducive to seam bowling.

As for the club cricketer, since his debut in 11 Dec 2020, he's played 14 Tests, 25 innings, 29.70 average, four half centuries.

Since 11 Dec 2020, England have used four Test wicketkeepers: Bairstow, Buttler, Foakes, Billings. Their collective average:

18 Tests, 33 innings (31 complete) 603 runs. 19.45. One half century.

Big win for the club cricketer there

Heartfeltdawn · March 2022

Stuckfast said:

Yes we seem to have wasted the new ball twice in one day.

Still not really sure what the selectors see in Overton, and Woakes has really struggled this series.

Safe to say W and O have done little to really push their case forward. The new ball session tonight was hideous.

rocktron · March 2022

Does Josh Da Silva's bat look legal? The edge appears thicker than 41mm with the overall thickness more than 11cm at the sweet spot, and may not pass through the ICC bat gauge.

https://i.imgur.com/wj5RrMf.jpg

sixstringsupplies · March 2022

Rob Key approached to become next director of cricket (or applied, depending on what paper you read)

I think he’d be great - but is one of the best pundits so that’s a loss.

Heartfeltdawn · March 2022

sixstringsupplies said:

Rob Key approached to become next director of cricket (or applied, depending on what paper you read)

I think he’d be great - but is one of the best pundits so that’s a loss.

And Rob is another who favours reduced clubs and playing the County Championship alongside the Hundred. A sort of fan's choice but not first class cricket's choice. S'funny seeing some of the folk on Twitter who thought Atherton was all in favour of the counties as many of them had no memory/idea of his role in the Cricket Reform Group alongside Bob Willis in 2003 calling for a county reduction.

Heartfeltdawn · March 2022

As for the Test... absolute fucking shambles. JDS played wonderfully well as did Seales. England on the other hand were rank. One-dimensional, appalling behaviour on the pitch (enjoy life back at Somerset, Mr Overton. You're gone). I hope we lose, it's time to sack Joe Root, and I'd like Dan Lawrence in as captain on a long-term basis with full acceptance that he's learning very much on the job. Losing is one thing: losing whilst having some witless boorish bastards on the pitch is another.

*full marks to YJB for congratulating JDS on his ton as he walked off the pitch for the first time.

Heartfeltdawn · March 2022

And it gets worse.

chris78 · March 2022

Dan Lawrence shouldn’t even be in the side. He’s certainly not a 4.
To be fair, add in Archer, Wood, Stone etc and we’d look a different side. Whoever picked Overton, Woakes for an away tour and Fisher should be sacked

UnclePsychosis · March 2022

There's something really enjoyable about watching this particular collection of England players get their arses handed to them.

Does serve to remind me of my frustration with the closed shop that is test cricket, though. England are on track for, what, one win in seventeen? but still get to pretend that the riff raff would drag the standard down. Its a nonsense.

Heartfeltdawn · March 2022

chris78 said:

Dan Lawrence shouldn’t even be in the side. He’s certainly not a 4.
To be fair, add in Archer, Wood, Stone etc and we’d look a different side. Whoever picked Overton, Woakes for an away tour and Fisher should be sacked

Yeah he should. He's got something to him. Fair from finished but worth persevering with, and it's not like there's anyone better. I agree, we'd look different if people with appalling injury records were fit (and it's saying something when Woody is the sturdy reliable one of that trio), but they are injured.

Fact is, we've got a medium pacer in the form of Kyle Mayers whose match figures are 5 for 20 from 18 overs. We're being destroyed by the type of bowler county cricket is mocked for producing. We're not getting blasted by a Windies pace barrage. It's Scott Boland all over again. Batsmen 2 to 5 scored single digit figures in both innings and contributed a grand total of 34 runs in the game.

chris78 · March 2022

Lawrence has a first class average in the mid 30s. Expecting him to be better against better bowlers is folly. As a Kent supporter, Crawley is doing what he’s done for us for a few seasons. You can’t expect players to suddenly change how they play when they get a test cap.

Heartfeltdawn · March 2022

chris78 said:

Lawrence has a first class average in the mid 30s. Expecting him to be better against better bowlers is folly.

38.57 prior to this Test. So get away from the figures. Ollie Pope averages 50 in FC cricket and has a lower Test average than Lawrence. He's failed too. So it's a case of trying to identify people who might have the ability to adjust and improve in order to succeed in Test cricket. You get the freaks who just take it it (Tresco, Vaughan) without great FC figures. You get the greats like Lara and KP who just go blam. You also get a lot of the Aussies (S Waugh, Hayden) who come in, fail, and have to work hard at their game out of the side.

chris78 said:

As a Kent supporter, Crawley is doing what he’s done for us for a few seasons. You can’t expect players to suddenly change how they play when they get a test cap.

And I don't expect it, which is why I've spent fuck knows how many posts in this thread complaining like a deranged washing machine on Ketamine about the pisspoor player development we've had in this country going back a whole decade now. Crawley has ability and huge technical flaws. Dominic Sibley has ability and huge technical flaws. Rory Burns etc etc etc etc.

And here we are, being trashed by a man bowling at 73mph. County cricket is slated for producing bowlers of this pace and yet here are our guys unable to handle it.

NorthernGooner · March 2022

I stand by my comments of yesterday, our bowlers couldn't get our a crap club wicketkeeper whose best scoring shot is to flat bat short pitched rubbish back past our pie chuckers for four. England's main spinner is a Mr Magoo lookalike who looks like a sack of shit and as if England have turned up at the ground and have asked anyone watching if they have their boots with them as they're one short. Overton? a county trundler..... taking wickets on a green top at Taunton in April doesn't make you a test player. All of our young batsmen look like smug Rupert's from a good school. Millfield or somewhere.
Even our Yorkshire 'hardmen' live on their laurels and don't produce the goods often enough. Root excepted. He must have sleepless nights though he should never have been made captain. I really think cricket is a dying game in England and the cupboard is bare. Few state schools play the game and unless you go to the right type of school or your parents play and are club members there is no way into the game. The future is bleak.

Heartfeltdawn · March 2022

NorthernGooner said:

I stand by my comments of yesterday, our bowlers couldn't get our a crap club wicketkeeper whose best scoring shot is to flat bat short pitched rubbish back past our pie chuckers for four. England's main spinner is a Mr Magoo lookalike who looks like a sack of shit and as if England have turned up at the ground and have asked anyone watching if they have their boots with them as they're one short. Overton? a county trundler..... taking wickets on a green top at Taunton in April doesn't make you a test player. All of our young batsmen look like smug Rupert's from a good school. Millfield or somewhere.

Stand by them all you like. Still don't make you right.

NorthernGooner · March 2022

Well I think recent history and results will prove me right Statto......

Heartfeltdawn · March 2022

NorthernGooner said:

Well I think recent history and results will prove me right Statto......

That's the fun of being the self-appointed judge of a crap argument.

BUT! You're right on the failing. Wrong about some bits. Right about the failing. I think we're agreed on the fact we're fucking up and the bleak nature of the future. Quite right there, sir.

chris78 · March 2022

Heartfeltdawn said:

chris78 said:

Lawrence has a first class average in the mid 30s. Expecting him to be better against better bowlers is folly.

38.57 prior to this Test. So get away from the figures. Ollie Pope averages 50 in FC cricket and has a lower Test average than Lawrence. He's failed too. So it's a case of trying to identify people who might have the ability to adjust and improve in order to succeed in Test cricket. You get the freaks who just take it it (Tresco, Vaughan) without great FC figures. You get the greats like Lara and KP who just go blam. You also get a lot of the Aussies (S Waugh, Hayden) who come in, fail, and have to work hard at their game out of the side.

chris78 said:

As a Kent supporter, Crawley is doing what he’s done for us for a few seasons. You can’t expect players to suddenly change how they play when they get a test cap.

And I don't expect it, which is why I've spent fuck knows how many posts in this thread complaining like a deranged washing machine on Ketamine about the pisspoor player development we've had in this country going back a whole decade now. Crawley has ability and huge technical flaws. Dominic Sibley has ability and huge technical flaws. Rory Burns etc etc etc etc.

And here we are, being trashed by a man bowling at 73mph. County cricket is slated for producing bowlers of this pace and yet here are our guys unable to handle it.

Unfortunately, Pope fails between the ears. Technically, he should average over 40 in test cricket.

Agree about the county game. Crawley won’t have been helped by the Canterbury wicket, which has been substandard for as long as I can remember. It suits us because our attack is bang average, but they’re world beaters on that surface.

Unfortunately, most of our batsmen can’t face 73mph bowlers. Stevo doesn’t bowl that fast and he’s been averaging under 20 with the ball for a long time now

Heartfeltdawn · March 2022

chris78 said:
Unfortunately, Pope fails between the ears. Technically, he should average over 40 in test cricket.

Agree about the county game. Crawley won’t have been helped by the Canterbury wicket, which has been substandard for as long as I can remember. It suits us because our attack is bang average, but they’re world beaters on that surface.

Unfortunately, most of our batsmen can’t face 73mph bowlers. Stevo doesn’t bowl that fast and he’s been averaging under 20 with the ball for a long time now

The fundamentals of the game are wrong. I was looking at the youth fixtures for my old county yesterday. From some fixtures, it's a three-day affair. First day are two T20 games, then a two-day game. One of the arguments in the professional ranks is to have blocks of a specific format so you don't get the jump from T20 on a Monday to longer format on a Tuesday, yet this is what is being provided at youth levels.

Ah well. When thermonuclear war breaks out, all this won't matter.

scrumhalf · March 2022

There's nothing wrong with test cricket that coloured clothing, a white ball, much shorter innings, boundaries in by fifty yards, and loads of overseas players won't fix.

Oh, hang on a minute.

We tried that.

We're fucked.

crunchman · March 2022

We need to identify players with a bit of fight about them, even if they are less talented than some of the current lot.

scrumhalf · March 2022

We need people who can play a forward defensive stroke.

crunchman · March 2022

scrumhalf said:

We need people who can play a forward defensive stroke.

A lot of them can play it, but they choose to waft at balls they should be leaving.

scrumhalf · March 2022

Windies need 28 to win.

I've a feeling that we might not win this one.

Heartfeltdawn · March 2022

Statement made with Overton not getting the new ball. Absolutely the right decision for how he was on the pitch yesterday.

guitars4you · April 2022

Joe Root stands down - More to follow - not sure who will replace him

Hope he stays around for many years as a batsman and keeps on scoring many more runs

It was inevitable for him to step down - As a Yorkshire fan etc then I love the guy but he was never a good captain, certainly with regards to tactics and game plan - But to be fair he has not had a great team with/behind him - Good luck to him for the rest of his England and Yorkshire career

crunchman · April 2022

Root has stepped down.

Not sure who they should give it to.

Stokes might be good, but would be a huge gamble. Broad might be a good short term option, but would probably waste all the reviews in his opening spell. Not sure who else could do it.

guitars4you · April 2022

crunchman said:

Root has stepped down.

Not sure who they should give it to.

Stokes might be good, but would be a huge gamble. Broad might be a good short term option, but would probably waste all the reviews in his opening spell. Not sure who else could do it.

Agree in that I don't know who will get the job - But my gut says no to Ben - To many injuries, time off, plus his court case 4 years ago still does not sit right IMO - He does not 'interview' well either

Think it needs to be someone who will still be part of the team set-up/structure for 4-6 years as we re-build - But no obvious candidates

Teetonetal · April 2022

There is certainly no outstanding candidate.

Gassage · April 2022

I find this strange, given they made 'outstanding progress' in the West Indies.

sixstringsupplies · April 2022

Gis’ it Broady til end of season. They’ll kick the can down the road for a year.

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