England Cricket Winter 2017/18 - Ashes & NZ

England need to re-consider Moeen Ali. Not good enough as a spinner and not good enough as a batsman. Would rather they play with a specialist spinner. Lyon has been a class or two above Ali in these conditions.
 
THis is appalling to be honest. Even Pakistan put up more of a fight down under
 
Trevor Bayliss rolls around in his bed after another Ashes Test loss. Suddenly, he hears a knock on the window. His eyes open in shock. "It's probably nothing," he says to himself. A creak of the back door happens next. He decides it's time to get out of his bed to check it out. As he leaves his room, he hears a bump in the kitchen. "I know you're there!" he says, loudly. He feels a cold chill down his spine as he goes into the kitchen, but no one is there. He turns to go back to his room, and is confronted by a large figure. He shrieks in terror as the figure says only one thing.

"We'll have a bowl, thanks."

:lol:
Found this on reddit.
 
I don't see a way back for England really. If they went to Perth at 1-1, i could see them maybe finding a way to leave here with a 2-2 result but that won't happen now. For it's nuances and talk about tactics, follow ons and declarations, cricket's a simple game. England haven't made enough runs, conceded too many and been unable to turn good positions into dominant positions.

In Brisbane, they scored 302 batting first, a total i'd say 80+ short of what was needed. When Australia was batting, they had then 4-76 and instead of a first innings lead of 60+, Australia ended up with a first innings lead. failure to get over 200 in their second innings meant the game was gone unless Australia put on an embarrassing collapse which didn't happen. A first innings lead of 60 and a total of 280 or so in their 2nd dig and they set Australia a challenging total. Instead it was a procession for Australia.

In Adelaide, Root's decision to bowl first might have ended up being vindicated. Early on day two, they Australia 5-209. Bowl well, and they could have bowled Australia out for not much more than 300. As it was, Australia made 442. 227 from England in reply, wasn't enough. At least 100 short in my opinion. Yes, they bowled well in Australia's 2nd innings, but i'd suggest the damage was done. Having set England 354 to win, i was always confident Australia would win. Stubborn South African batting line ups in a day time test might have been able to bat long enough to chase that down but this England team are incapable of batting long enough to make enough runs when they bat.

No point now in playing Ben Stokes either to be honest. If it was 1-1 heading to Perth, i could see sense in playing him if he was in the right frame of mind. Not now, though as England will lose the series with or without Stokes, potentially 5-0 too. They don't need the media storm that will come with Stokes playing when they're likely to lose badly.

Also Matt Prior, put up or shut up.

 

Wow!! That's some prediction.. :eek::lol:

Unfortunately it didn't need much great foresight at all. Root always goes cheaply the next day after a not out.

I've seen the same test umpteen times under Bayliss, who talks a lot but has not actually significantly improved a single player he's come into contact with in the test team and hasn't even bothered to identify any future talent who he thinks would thrive in the test arena. Take Moeen for instance, under the tutelage of Saqlain and Mushtaq he goes great guns and has a bit of confidence about himself but when they tour abroad it all goes to pot. Heck Stokes developed more in one IPL stint than in two years under Bayliss.

Now Bayliss does have an excellent record but his hands-off and a word here and there approach is not what this team needs. Honestly looking at this team and the players available on the county circuit I think this is the worst state England have been in since the late-90s. What I'd give for a prime Graham Thorpe right now. The mindset around the team just stinks really, I mean what kind of team tries to put a positive spin on being 2-0 two games into a 5-test series? It's that kind of attitude that seeps down into their play and means they do not drive home circumstances like 209-7 and 209-5 into sub-300 all outs when bowling nor 246-4 or 169-3 into 400+ scores when batting. I mean I understand wanting to focus on the positives but surely they've got to be sick of going through the same shit over and over again?
 
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Smiths decision not to enforce the follow on vindicated IMHO.
I think they would have won comfortably either or. We were never in the game after both first innings scores.
Very disappointing yet again but not in any way unexpected. Just wish we would grow a pair, it's the hope that kills.
The batters just aren't good enough, not sure if it is down to a lack of fight. Bar Root, Ali and Bairstow (who all have their weaknesses) it's completely barren. Cook's also a walking wicket these days.
 
I think they would have won comfortably either or. We were never in the game after both first innings scores.

The batters just en't good enough, not sure if it is down to a lack of fight. Bar Root, Ali and Bairstow (who all have their weaknesses) it's completely barren. Cook's also a walking wicket these days.
Cook's problem to me is the fact he's had 7 years ( since Strauss retired ) without a decent opening partner and thereby having to hold the innings together basically by himself that it's started to drag the guy down now. I can't believe a cricket nation like England haven't found a half decent opener in all that time.
 
Cricket is a great spectator sport in England but I would guess participation rates in OZ, SA and the subcontinent are far higher.
 
Cook's problem to me is the fact he's had 7 years ( since Strauss retired ) without a decent opening partner and thereby having to hold the innings together basically by himself that it's started to drag the guy down now. I can't believe a cricket nation like England haven't found a half decent opener in all that time.
Bit like us when we were trying to replace Peter Schmeichel :lol::(
 
only for T20 and ODI. test cricket has pitiful attendances compared to Aus/Eng
I think we're talking about different things here. What I was trying to say was there are far more people (especially kids) who play cricket in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Australia and South Africa than in England. ECB says England has 278 000 cricket players, I'd bet all the other countries I listed beat that.

I was talking about this in reference to some people talking about England struggling to find players. There's just a smaller pool to pick from. In terms of participation rates, I think cricket is 15th most popular sport in England, for the countries I listed, cricket is the most popular sport apart from in Australia and South Africa where it's the second most popular. The ECB has done a good job counterbalancing this with the ability to generate massive amounts of income and good funding for the most talented young players, well imo.
 
Australia A by the looks of things went hard in their 2nd innings, 269/8 in just 36.5 overs. Spinners Leach 9.5 overs 4 for 104 and Crane 9 overs 1 for 69 took the most damage.

Tom Curren gets the most credit for his 77 NO and match figures of 5/56, won’t be enough to get into the next test
 
Unfortunately it didn't need much great foresight at all. Root always goes cheaply the next day after a not out.

I've seen the same test umpteen times under Bayliss, who talks a lot but has not actually significantly improved a single player he's come into contact with in the test team and hasn't even bothered to identify any future talent who he thinks would thrive in the test arena. Take Moeen for instance, under the tutelage of Saqlain and Mushtaq he goes great guns and has a bit of confidence about himself but when they tour abroad it all goes to pot. Heck Stokes developed more in one IPL stint than in two years under Bayliss.

Now Bayliss does have an excellent record but his hands-off and a word here and there approach is not what this team needs. Honestly looking at this team and the players available on the county circuit I think this is the worst state England have been in since the late-90s. What I'd give for a prime Graham Thorpe right now. The mindset around the team just stinks really, I mean what kind of team tries to put a positive spin on being 2-0 two games into a 5-test series? It's that kind of attitude that seeps down into their play and means they do not drive home circumstances like 209-7 and 209-5 into sub-300 all outs when bowling nor 246-4 or 169-3 into 400+ scores when batting. I mean I understand wanting to focus on the positives but surely they've got to be sick of going through the same shit over and over again?

Not just in a technical coaching sense but that exact style of man management hasn't helped England either tbh. It worked with Sri Lanka because he had people like Sangakarra and Jayawardena who were probably pretty adept at managing a change room. This group needs a disciplinarian. Bayliss isn't that. One of the journos here wrote that these off field episodes could result in contributing to Bayliss's tenure coming to a screeching halt. Wouldn't surprise me if that's the case.
 
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Looks like England have named an unchanged team:

DQ6jSBAXcAA3MIJ.jpg



Their bowling attack isn't fast enough to threaten Australia. The expectation is that Australia will drop Peter Handscomb and replace him with Mitchell Marsh. That'd give them a 5th bowler and the option of a 4th quick, an option that i feel won't be required but is there just in case.
 
Looks like England have named an unchanged team:

DQ6jSBAXcAA3MIJ.jpg



Their bowling attack isn't fast enough to threaten Australia. The expectation is that Australia will drop Peter Handscomb and replace him with Mitchell Marsh. That'd give them a 5th bowler and the option of a 4th quick, an option that i feel won't be required but is there just in case.

Don't think Broad and Anderson should play in tandem in away tests anymore unless we're playing in SA or NZ, would prefer rotation to manage their loads.

The only legitimately fast bowlers I can think of in England that I've seen are Mark Wood, Olly Stone and Jamie Overton, all of whom have had significant injury problems in recent times. Another aspect of it is England lack variety in not having any left-arm seamers, Sidebottom is the only one who comes to mind in recent years as someone who has broken into the test side.

If England go 3-0 down I'd like to see them start blooding some of the young guys in the Lions team like Joe Clarke and Dan Lawrence.
 
Not sure why England are complaining. Clear spike on snicko which is any day more reliable than hotspot.
 
Not sure why England are complaining. Clear spike on snicko which is any day more reliable than hotspot.

BT footage which was slow to emerge apparently clearly showed the contact.
 
Cook looks pretty much finished to me.

More worryingly is there doesn't seem to be any backup to this squad bar one or two mystifying omissions from the county scene.
 
Cook looks pretty much finished to me.

More worryingly is there doesn't seem to be any backup to this squad bar one or two mystifying omissions from the county scene.

He's been out of knick for a long while. Our top order is a bit of a shambles at the minute tbh and we don't have enough pace in our bowling attack to trouble them in Australia.
 
That's a good effort today from England overall.

Consider, if England can win this test its 2-1 with 2 to play where a draw means we retain, so would make things very interesting.
 
Cook looks pretty much finished to me.

More worryingly is there doesn't seem to be any backup to this squad bar one or two mystifying omissions from the county scene.

Aside from one incredible Ashes series in 2010/2011 his Ashes record is pretty shit anyway.

He's never scored a ton at home to Australia for example. I fully expected him to struggle in this series.
 
So im starting to feel as if Root isnt captain material. In my opinion, hes falling away from that group of 4/5 elite batsmen and, although im not sure of the statistics, I feel that becoming captain is affecting him. A year ago, I thought he was easily the best of the lot but now the rest, Kohli and Smith particularly, have left him behind.

Good day for England. Weird Malan is doing so good, I remember making fun of his name years ago when he first came into County Cricket.
 
So im starting to feel as if Root isnt captain material. In my opinion, hes falling away from that group of 4/5 elite batsmen and, although im not sure of the statistics, I feel that becoming captain is affecting him. A year ago, I thought he was easily the best of the lot but now the rest, Kohli and Smith particularly, have left him behind.

I think he's just in a bad patch of form, Kohli didn't know which way to hold his bat the last time he toured England. In this side it seems a bit strange to criticise him for being a bankable 50, but the standard Smith and Kohli have set in the last 12 months has seemingly ratcheted up expectations even further.

In the context of the tour I think Root has come out ok really, the bowl first decision at Adelaide wasn't as bad as it was made out to be and hinged much on not having the new ball under the lights. He's generally spoken very well and I always feel captains and coaches are going to be a bit disingenuous in their soundbites post-defeat because they want to keep some confidence within their team. The biggest key to Root's batting is freedom but he looks pretty tense out there. He's been let down by senior players who haven't produced (bar a 5'fer from Jimmy that was one innings too late). Smith has Warner, Kohli has Pujara, Root needs someone in the top 3 who can carry the load a bit.

The cauldron of Ashes cricket is as pressured as it gets and even Smith struggled with it in the last test. The issue Root has with converting 50s into 100s has existed before he was captain and will be eradicated with maturity and experience.
 
Not sure why England are complaining. Clear spike on snicko which is any day more reliable than hotspot.
But not clear it was ball on glove due to him being left-handed

DRS should be conclusive, there was still an element of guess work to it, that’s not right. For me, that should be onfield umpires original decision (and Aus shouldn’t lose a review)
 
Weird Malan is doing so good, I remember making fun of his name years ago when he first came into County Cricket.
Strange him being a quite dogged batsman prepared to dig in and bat time.

As he burst onto the scene as a T20 player scoring big runs
 
Surely England aren’t going to collapse to under 400 here after all that hard work from Malan and Bairstow
 
What the feck England? Lost the last six wickets for 35runs. Should've got 500.