England Cricket 2016 - Sri Lanka & Pakistan

By the way this will the 7th consecutive test in England that doesn't make it to the final day. 3 of those (possibly 4 with this one) haven't even made it to day 4. Surely ECB (or host counties or whoever) are missing out on loads of revenues?
 
You just knew after they fecked around forever checking whether it hit his foot or not (which it blatantly did and I have no idea why it took so long to be sure of that) it was going to miss the stumps. :lol:
 
Samid said:
By the way this will the 7th consecutive test in England that doesn't make it to the final day. 3 of those (possibly 4 with this one) haven't even made it to day 4. Surely ECB (or host counties or whoever) are missing out on loads of revenues?
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Day 5 is often a loss maker IIRC, normally you can't buy tickets in advance for it, only on the gate.
 
NinjaFletch said:
Depends on your definition I guess. I'd probably agree that Stokes at his very best is better than Woakes at his very best, and he's certainly shown more in an England shirt, (he has that ability to produce moments of insane magic) and his bowling is still improving of course, but in terms of base level I think theres very little in the way of argument that Woakes is the consistently better bowler right now.

There's a reason that Woakes has taken close to double the amount of first class wickets than Stokes has, at a considerably better average, in about 20 odd more games.
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Yeah but from a backup seamer it's the moments of magic that count. Loads of players have torn up County cricket but been found wanting at the top level because they don't have that extra 5% that make the difference.

Woakes is doing really well in this game though. He'll obviously face tougher tests in future but this should give him confidence.
 
This is worst test team I've seen. Just absolutely awful.

Pakistan will do a hell of a lot better. As erratic as they might be they are far more talented than this lot.
 
Akash said:
This is worst test team I've seen. Just absolutely awful.

Pakistan will do a hell of a lot better. As erratic as they might be they are far more talented than this lot.
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If Pakistan had rocked up at Headingley last week we'd have rolled them over in the same way. Its not just that Sri Lanka are bad, although they obviously aren't great, but more that they just have no experience of the conditions and ran into a pair of bowlers with 750 odd test wickets at their very best. Australia, India, New Zealand and even Pakistan themselves last time they were here have been similarly bundled out (and I think almost all of them have posted lower scores than Sri Lanka managed at Headingley) on pitches that offer seam movement with the ball moving out of the hand.
 
I think if they swap Thirimanne and Chandimal round they'll stand a better chance. Might actually have 2 talented, disciplined batsmen in at the same time to blunt our opening bowlers. And their openers are also showing a lot more application this time round. Good learning experience for them I should think.
 
Not the worst thing that England are having to bowl some overs and, in particular, bowl at set batsman, in this innings.
 
Now this is how it should be. Anderson bowling to a settled Matthews, taking the edge and getting him out.

Good for Sri Lanka, but an innings defeat is still a near certainty.
 
Well played, Sri Lanka. Still think they are more likely than not to go down by an innings but if they can survive the first hour tomorrow then they could avoid it.
 
For those of you in the Durham area, if you go to the match today you get free entry to Wednesday's T20 Blast match against Nottinghamshire.
 
When Finn's bad he's really bad. This summer has been one of those summers for him so far. Probably will need to go back to Middlesex and bowl himself back into rhythm.
 
Damnit... Catch the damn ball! I could've caught that :wenger:
 
10k! :D

(And another 5fer for Jimmy - 18 wickets for 7.72 in this series).
 
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They should just test all Sri Lankan bowlers before they're even allowed to bowl in international cricket.
 
Pradeep was also looking very dodgy on a few occasions in the first innings.
 
zing said:
Am I the only one who feels like Compton's been badly treated?

He looked a solid player when playing defensively. I remember he made 80 odd against someone and Bayliss said "we need our #3 to be more attacking" and since then he's been trying to change his game and played like shit. Very unfortunate imo -- seems like a good technician.

After every match, there's some journalist or the other questioning his place -- something I notice happens more for Compton than a lot of other players going through a rut.
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Surely your place is up for debate if these are your figures?

Matches 15
Innings 28
N/O 3
Runs 755
High Score 117
Average 30.20
S/R 35.88
100 2
50 2

For someone who started with 2 centuries in his first 6 matches, he should be doing better. His last 8 Test scores are 15, 26, 0, 19, 6, 0, 9, 22. He's had a chance to fill his boots against a poor Sri Lankan bowling attack and not taken it. To only be averaging 30 after 28 innings is pretty poor and he will be lucky to get another chance. If he plays the final Test vs. Sri Lanka and doesn't hit a big score then Borthwick will surely play against Pakistan. And to be honest the timing couldn't be better, he's hitting runs for fun in the Championship, he's generally considered the next cab off the rank and his legspin will be useful come winter.
 
His age is what holds him back moreso than anything else. If he were ten years younger with a 30 average having looked really strong in country cricket, he'd definitely be in contention for a future playing for England.

As it stands, he's approaching his mid 30s, is woefully out of form, and hasn't had a knock worth mentioning for quite a while... 2015 since he scored a 50, I believe.
 
First over, ball bounces twice on its way through to the keeper.

Yep, very good sign for a competitive cricket wicket. :rolleyes:
 
Was gonna opine that Mathews is a bit too negative with his field placings for my liking and then Hales goes and plays a shot like that.
 
Thats it, I'm back on the Hales hate bandwagon.

How thick do you have to be to get out like that game, after game, after game?
 
NinjaFletch said:
Thats it, I'm back on the Hales hate bandwagon.

How thick do you have to be to get out like that game, after game, after game?
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He's batting slower than Cook and getting out playing super stupid shots, I don't see the point of him as an opener in Tests. We've gotta rock up to India for 5 tests and if he's going to play spinners like that it will be a waste of time.
 
Good riddance. Can't remember a batsman that has ever bored me to death like Compton has.
 
Losing three wickets before lunch on this pitch is abysmal. We need to sort the batting out sharp.
 
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