English cricket 2015 - NZ, The Ashes, Pak and SA

What an excellent series it has been. England really surpassed expectations, and completely proved myself and many fans wrong. Stokes and Root were outstanding and Broad bowled the best session I have seen since Warne retired. Well played England! and although I would usually be pissing myself laughing and ripping the Aussies, somehow I can't bring myself to do it this year. I actually feel sorry for them, they were beyond pathetic. A truly embarrassing performance.

Can't wait for the Oval!
 
langster said:
What an excellent series it has been. England really surpassed expectations, and completely proved myself and many fans wrong. Stokes and Root were outstanding and Broad bowled the best session I have seen since Warne retired. Well played England! and although I would usually be pissing myself laughing and ripping the Aussies, somehow I can't bring myself to do it this year. I actually feel sorry for them, they were beyond pathetic. A truly embarrassing performance.

Can't wait for the Oval!
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I was agreeing with everything until that, haha :lol: Sod them!
 
2009 was the last competitive Ashes and even then, the quality of the cricket wasn't so good.

Been a long time since we've had competitive, quality cricket in the Ashes. All one sided in the recent past.
 
Absolutely delighted, no one gave this England side much of a hope and the Australians have been hammered, plenty of talk from them too and they've been stuffed. England are still a long way from their full potential, Lyth isn't good enough, Bell still has big question mark hanging over him, Buttler will play miles better, Ali didn't offer much use as a bowler, Stokes will get much more consistent. Lovely to have Wood and Finn come through this series, especially Finn, such a top bowler in rhythm.
 
Huge help for England to play New Zealand prior too, helped the team get the way they want to play together and Bayliss seems to bring a calm, steady guiding hand. Really interesting couple of series coming up, Pakistan and South Africa away, not expecting too much as it's a young side but definitely looking forward to the development. Rashid should play up at the Oval IMO.
 
Player rankings make for nice reading, at the moment. Root the number one batsman and Broad and Anderson 2nd and 3rd in the bowling.
 
ArmchairCritic said:
Huge help for England to play New Zealand prior too, helped the team get the way they want to play together and Bayliss seems to bring a calm, steady guiding hand. Really interesting couple of series coming up, Pakistan and South Africa away, not expecting too much as it's a young side but definitely looking forward to the development. Rashid should play up at the Oval IMO.
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Yeah I'd agree on Rashid for 5th test, be interesting to see who England pick for that. Pick the same team or a mixed team of a few young players with the current team. I'd like to see Hales open the batting too. Maybe Hales for Lyth and then replace Bell with Rashid, move the batting up one.
 
Rooney1987 said:
Yeah I'd agree on Rashid for 5th test, be interesting to see who England pick for that. Pick the same team or a mixed team of a few young players with the current team. I'd like to see Hales open the batting too. Maybe Hales for Lyth and then replace Bell with Rashid, move the batting up one.
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Option A is to increase pressure purely on the young ones to give them responsibility not to rely on experienced players. I don't think there is any point bringing back Anderson, as much as he wont like it. Likewise, I'd be tempted to give Broad a rest too and play 2 spinners at the Oval. Finn, Wood, Stokes, Ali and Rashid would be a good experience for a young set of bowlers to see how they get on without Broad and Anderson. I also like the idea of seeing if Hales can make it at test level. He could become like Trescothick or Hayden at their peak. If he can crack it, England's batting order is seriously powerful.

Cook, Lyth, Hales, Root, Bairstow, Stokes, Buttler, Ali, Rashid, Wood, Finn. NOT A BAD TEAM!! Easily good enough to play a demoralised Australia team which will have new faces in it.

Option B is simply to smash Australia so bring in Anderson for Wood and retain Broad while dropping Finn.

Cook, Hales, Bell, Root, Bairstow, Stokes, Buttler, Ali, Rashid, Broad, Anderson - If that team performs to full potential in English conditions it will beat any team in world cricket.

With the great showing by the ODI team vs New Zealand and the sheer quantity of exciting young players in the test team, next 3 or 4 years of English cricket looks very promising and far ahead of teams from Australia, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka.
 
Bowling's far too weak in both of those. Only the last two names in them are good enough to play on their bowling alone. Stokes has to go, if we want both spinner allrounders.
 
DiseaseOfTheAge said:
Bowling's far too weak in both of those. Only the last two names in them are good enough to play on their bowling alone. Stokes has to go, if we want both spinner allrounders.
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Could drop buttler for Rashid then Bairstow is the WK and Lyth for Hales

Cook
Hales
Bell
Root
Stokes
Bairstow
Ali
Rashid
Broad
Wood
Finn
 
DiseaseOfTheAge said:
Player rankings make for nice reading, at the moment. Root the number one batsman and Broad and Anderson 2nd and 3rd in the bowling.
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Root's been great at home. He needs to step it up away from home, to prove he's the real deal. He's only 24, though, got plenty years ahead of him.
 
I don't want to see Hales in the team based on the fact he's not scored any runs as an opener. If he comes it it has to be as a middle order bat.

I'd stick with Lyth for now, I don't think he's earnt more time, but there's no one knocking the door down for selection and Lyth's problems seem more mental than technical. If I had to guess though I reckon there's a fairly real chance that Nick Browne will go on a Lion's tour this winter and get a chance sometime next summer if he starts next season how he's finishing this one. That will piss a lot of people because he's a very old fashioned opener, but there's no reason not to have someone like that when we struggle to make it to the second new ball.

They won't drop Buttler, Stokes, or Wood for the next text either I don't think, especially not Stokes. Seems like a player that needs to be loved to do well, they're not going to risk that by dropping him after he took a 6fer.


Reckon we'll see an unchanged team tbh, small chance of dropping one of Bell, Bairstow or Buttler and playing Rashid but I don't see it.
 
Has Ian Bell bought himself another year of Test Cricket for those 50s in the 3rd test?
 
paulscholes18 said:
Could drop buttler for Rashid then Bairstow is the WK and Lyth for Hales

Cook
Hales
Bell
Root
Stokes
Bairstow
Ali
Rashid
Broad
Wood
Finn
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Yeah, that's better. I was forgetting Bairstow can keep.

I wouldn't bother, mind. I don't think Rashid adds much. Unchanged, for me, unless Anderson is absolutely 100%.
 
The quandry with dropping Bell is that the batting lineup will be woefully inexperienced for the UAE and South Africa.
 
The quality drop off in cricket is quite shocking. Especially when you consider that it's exactly the opposite of the normal order of things in all other sport.
 
Donaldo said:
The quality drop off in cricket is quite shocking. Especially when you consider that it's exactly the opposite of the normal order of things in all other sport.
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I assume you mean test cricket? It's not hard to work out why that would be happening.
 
Aussie women having a better time of it than the men.

4-2 up on points (don't ask) from the one day series and 268 - 8, having been 95 - 5, at the end of the first day of the test.
 
DiseaseOfTheAge said:
Aussie women having a better time of it than the men.

4-2 up on points (don't ask) from the one day series and 268 - 8, having been 95 - 5, at the end of the first day of the test.
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I've been keeping an eye on this series. Ellyse Perry, she's fit. :drool: Missed her during the women football WC earlier this summer.

The point system is fecking daft. Australia have won the ODIs 2-1 and if they win this test as well, they'll still be in danger of drawing the series if England win the three T20s.
 
Steve Smith has been announced as Australia's test and ODI captain replacing Michael Clarke. David Warner, two years after the altercation with Joe Root in a Birmingham bar, has been named his deputy in both forms of the game.
 
Australia, captained by Smith, won the toss and bowled against a team half way up Division Two. Conceded 396 within the day.

EDIT - Warner out for six in the final over.
 
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Anderson expected to play.

Wood most likely won't and suspects he needs surgery on his ankle, which has troubled him for a while (he's never managed to play three first class matches in a row). Sounds pretty worrying.

In other England bowler related news not actually to do with this summer but I can't be arsed to make a separate post in a different thread - David Willey will join Yorkshire next season and Footitt has turned down a new contract with Derbyshire, presumably hoping he can also find a first division team with test ground status.
 
DiseaseOfTheAge said:
Anderson expected to play.

Wood most likely won't and suspects he needs surgery on his ankle, which has troubled him for a while (he's never managed to play three first class matches in a row). Sounds pretty worrying.

In other England bowler related news not actually to do with this summer but I can't be arsed to make a separate post in a different thread - David Willey will join Yorkshire next season and Footitt has turned down a new contract with Derbyshire, presumably hoping he can also find a first division team with test ground status.
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I read on the bbc website that Anderson is out

England bowler James Anderson will miss the fifth Ashes Test at The Oval after failing to recover from a side strain.

Captain Alastair Cook confirmed England would field an unchanged line-up against Australia, with Mark Wood joining Stuart Broad and Steven Finn in the pace attack.

"He bowled yesterday but at about 60 to 70%," said Cook. "He's gutted but it's probably about a week too early."

England lead the series 3-1 and have already regained the Ashes.

Anderson, England's all-time leading wicket-taker, sustained the injuryduring England's win in the third Test at Edgbaston.

"He's made really good progress and the medical staff have been brilliant with him but he's still probably about a week away," Cook added.
 
Ahh. Must've been behind on that one. Read about Wood being 'ready to step aside for Anderson' and saying Jimmy was fine...
 
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