Excellent. I'm mildly surprised to be honest. Kohli was very impressive, wholly professional in the way he played. But we won. 🐸
Curran is a 'find' as it were. He's young and hungry and skilled. I agree India will take it but at least we tried a bit, which is not how it looked earlier.
Excellent. I'm mildly surprised to be honest. Kohli was very impressive, wholly professional in the way he played. But we won. 🐸
Yes most impressive, I thought India just had the edge at start of play. Glad I was wrong.
A real nail biter, but we won!
Cheers,
Neil.
Ollie Pope called up to replace Malan for Lord's:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/45075720
And Chris Woakes replaces Ben Stokes, who is otherwise engaged.
Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
Twenty twenty Gloucestershire vs Kent in 10 minutes
Last edited by Saint-Just; 6th August 2018 at 09:46.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Been with no internet for past 3 odd days and just reading about what happened. Need to digest it but seems I missed an incredible match! First thought is Stokes will be missed next Test.
Took my son to day two of the test, it was an enthralling day's play (if slightly disappointing in the end for England). I think letting Kohli off the hook twice could be a huge mistake as I think he now feels he has got to grips with how to play English conditions, a shame as Jimmy had him I felt early on and if the first drop had been taken his confidence would have remained low.
Anyway, it was a great win for England and if Sam Curran can keep on like that he is a star for the future.
As an aside my son plays for the local under 11s team, at that age you have to retire at 25, he finished the season 183 not out! Very proud as he faced county standard players and made it look easy.
Let someone else play when you score a quarter century.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Ah. That's how we used to play when I umpired my school's cricket. A long time ago.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Root's team talk this morning : "Right lads, the plan is to win the toss and bowl"
The covers have been on all day. If it clears up any time soon there may be the prospect of an hour or so's play this evening, but reports on TMS indicate that it's rather gloomy in St John's Wood. The only thing gloomier is the news coming out of Bristol Crown Court, where the prospects for Ben Stokes don't look too bright at all. Sky have been playing highlights of the first Test, which only confirm how much England will miss him if he's convicted.
On the bright side my tickets for Day 2 of the fourth Test of the series at the Ageas Bowl arrived today!
Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
Wow. No rain after a while and India collapsed. 107 all out. Ten wickets in the day, Anderson with five. Now we wait to see what they can do to us tomorrow.
We're still reliant on the weather gods to have a chance of winning.
-
For donkeys years it always seemed to be the middle order that let England down, but lately we can't seem to find a steady top order to give us a good start.
The gods were on our side. Woakes was excellent. Won in three days.
Just imagine how good we could be with a decent top order!
Anyway, that was a convincing win against an unconvincing side. Yes, the weather helped, but the team still has to deliver. England's bowlers were magnificent, India's batsmen were woeful - they rely on batting around Kohli, and he's suffering with his back.
Looking at this match, it's hard to believe that India are currently ranked no1 by the ICC. They've had a bit of a shocker, and it's going to take a lot of confidence-building over the next six days if they're going to stand a chance at Trent Bridge, where England usually bowl well.
Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
I wonder if Stokes will be back playing for England again or perhaps bricklaying is his future career. Really annoying of him to let us down.
But how are they going to be able to fit Stokes and Woakes into the same team for Trent Bridge? Drop Rashid and go with 5 seamers?
Not sure he has let "us" down. He has however let himself, his family and team mates down.
But lets face it, lots of people manage to do at least once in a life time. Hopefully he has leant his lesson and will not be repeated. A bit like Beefy back in the day.
Moving on
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Broad (not Board, note), took four wickets in a session on the final day at Lord's.
Trent Bridge is his home ground, and is seamer-friendly.
In 2015 Stuart Broad took 8 - 15 at Trent Bridge in the first innings of an Ashes Test.
Rashid looks like a spare dinner at a Chinese wedding at the moment. He hasn't been called upon to bowl, he's not exactly a batsman, and he's a liability in the field.
Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
I'm unconvinced about Rashid - does it show?
For some reason, there seems to be a conviction that any team at international level must include a "mystery spinner". Which is, of course, absolute nonsense.
Right now, England can field five devastatingly effective seamers, so why not? I don't recall the great West Indian side of the 1970's having a "mystery spinner", instead they had a pace attack that put the fear of God into their opposition, and while England's pace attack doesn't have anybody to compare with Joel Garner or Michael Holding, in English conditions and with the Duke ball we have bowlers who can make the ball move through the air at 85mph+.
All we need is an opening partnership.
My team for Trent Bridge:
Cook
Jennings
Root
Pope
Bairstow
Buttler
Stokes
Woakes
Curran
Broad
Anderson?/Moeen Ali
It could be a chance to rest Anderson, who had a shoulder problem before the series started, and bring Moeen in in case a spinner is required, and to bolster the batting.
At this stage, given England's clear superiority, dropping either Pope or Curran seems counter-productive, and is unlikely to help them develop. Buttler needs to play himself into form with the bat - we all know what he's capable of in limited-over cricket, but he needs to develop as a Test batsman. There's an Ashes series next year, after all. The same applies to Jennings.
Anybody else have any suggestions?
Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
I don’t know enough. I watched my first 20-20 county cricket 2 weeks ago as my daughter has started playing at school.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
Very much so. Gloucestershire played Kent and won. But it was nicely paced, good ball skills and if you add the sort of weather we had early August it was ideal to discover the game. Now she wants to go at Lords
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
I ended up with a corporate freebie ticket to go there, W.Indies were playing against England and, despite not having any knowledge of cricket, I thought I'd go along for the experience. Big mistake: I was surrounded by very knowledgeable enthusiasts and it became quickly apparent that I was an ignoramus who had taken a seat that should have been for a devoted supporter.
I slunk off at half-time.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
My daughter will be my excuse. Surely they will welcome an enthusiastic- if not quite knowledgeable yet- young practitioner
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Stokes will not play according to the BBC so I imagine the team will be unchanged.
As for Broad, yes he did take 4 wkts on the last day, but how many did he take in the first innings . His performance in 2015 it was truely great, but it was 3 years ago.
All will be revealed, but England are playing quite well and India are truely awful. Long may it continue.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
I don’t think they will play Stokes at Trent Bridge so I think team stays the same.
But at the Ageas they could go with the following if Jennings does not get runs.
Bairstow
Cook
Root
Pope
Stokes
Butler
Woakes
Curren
Broad
Rashid
Anderson
Or they could play Ali, no reason to not have 5 seamers plus a Spinner. Bairstow opens in one days and was talked about as an option before, also Hales was rumoured to be in with a chance when all the court stuff was finished too.
They want a squad of 20 for the tests next year.
Last edited by Andyg; 15th August 2018 at 19:08.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
It’s a big ask to open the batting at Test level as well as keeping wicket.
I know that Alec Stewart managed it a few years ago but even so.....
And I think Bairstow’s style is ideal in the mid- order. You could even argue he is already batting one place too high up the order.
Business may be booming for Stokes' QC.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-...shire-45201916
Team announced for the Third Test, which starts on Saturday at Trent Bridge:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/45221068
Seems hard on Curran, but the circumstances dictate that England need to close out the series at the earliest opportunity, so there we are.
Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
Really harsh on Curran. Match-winning in First Test and gives a nice left arm option.
Far, far too harsh on such a young, quality player.
I hope that it doesn’t effect his mentality and confidence too much. But, in his shoes, I’d be seriously hacked off (and feeling betrayed) by my captain, coach and the ECB.
Rashid or Buttler instead of a genuine match winner? Ridiculous.
It's a shame for Curran, but he is 20 years old and will be making way for a seasoned Test Match Player. There is no shame, plus I imagine he is looking at the long games and also knows that bitching and whinging will not help the team - of which he is a member.
Stokes is box office - Curran just is a support player (at the moment).
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Stokes has ultimately let himself down and let the team down for the Ashes series and the recent 2nd Test.
So let's reward him...