English cricket thread



bloody hell, Stokes knows how to treat the ladies...I mean a romantic meal at McDonalds..

Anyway Guido is a cnut
 
NinjaFletch said:
Yeah, and his wife has said that they smush each other in the face like that and posted a picture of her doing it to him.

I guess though your two options here are believing that Stokes choked his wife at one of the most high profile events of the cricket calendar despite his wife denying it and nobody else in the assembled cricketing world or media noticing, or thinking that Paul Staines might not be playing it with a straight bat.

I know which one my money is on.
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People tend not to recoil like that when they're just 'smushing' though.
 
JohnnyKills said:
People tend not to recoil like that when they're just 'smushing' though.
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Recoil like what? You have two still photos chosen by an unscrupulous hack to look as bad as possible. Any attempt to work out what happened in between is guess work.

Whether there is anything to the story or not, I'm just simply not sure how you can trust guido in the face of everything else.
 
NinjaFletch said:
Recoil like what? You have two still photos chosen by an unscrupulous hack to look as bad as possible. Any attempt to work out what happened in between is guess work.

Whether there is anything to the story or not, I'm just simply not sure how you can trust guido in the face of everything else.
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As you say, it's total guesswork. And Stokes's wife has clearly played down the story so it won't go any further. Still, it doesn't look great...
 
4th T20 v NZ

England bat first, put in by NZ.

End of the 10th over 88/2
End of the 20th over 241/3

Wow. Incredible partnership from Malan & Morgan.

Records for England today:
Highest score in a T20
Fastest T20 Hundred (48 balls)
Fastest T20 Fifty (21 balls)
Highest Partnership 182.

T20 hundreds are rare, only the 2nd hundred by an England player. First was Alex Hales (116*) in 2014.
 
How unfit is Bairstow? He sounds out of breath... And he isn't doing anything.
 
Love Parkinson's spinners wickets, but not a test match bowler (I doubt an international bowler) by any stretch. Crane a much better prospect.
 
What do we reckon is England's best T20 team then?

I'd go with this:

Roy
Buttler
Stokes
Morgan
Bairstow
Malan
Ali
T Curran
Archer
Jordan
Rashid
 
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JohnnyKills said:
What do we reckon is England's best T20 team then?

I'd go with this:

Roy
Buttler
Stokes
Morgan
Bairstow
Malan
Ali
S Curran
Archer
Jordan
Rashid
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Gutted I missed Malan/Morgan live. Must have been incredible watching as it happened.

Aside from opening pair, I think batting line up can be fluid, depending on form and fall of wickets. If anyone from Stokes to Ali can face 40 balls, you’d expect a riot.

The great thing about this line up is it can go full throttle without fear til 7 down, and even then the ‘tail’ is still very capable.

And even though there are 6 high quality bowlers, you can also replace Bairstow or Malan with a bowling all rounder without weakeing batting too much. On paper it looks stronger than anything India or WIndies can write down.

Aus and Pak also have good t20 teams. T20i World Cup will be a cracker!
 
Oh my god. Again. England/New Zealand T20 nuttery continues. Yet another tie, yet another superover.

Edit: Aaaaand once again England somehow prevail. Win the superover by 9 runs.
 
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sammsky1 said:
Gutted I missed Malan/Morgan live. Must have been incredible watching as it happened.

Aside from opening pair, I think batting line up can be fluid, depending on form and fall of wickets. If anyone from Stokes to Ali can face 40 balls, you’d expect a riot.

The great thing about this line up is it can go full throttle without fear til 7 down, and even then the ‘tail’ is still very capable.

And even though there are 6 high quality bowlers, you can also replace Bairstow or Malan with a bowling all rounder without weakeing batting too much. On paper it looks stronger than anything India or WIndies can write down.

Aus and Pak also have good t20 teams. T20i World Cup will be a cracker!
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Yeah. We look strong atm.

I'd bat Stokes at 3 simply because he tends to take a few balls to get going. He seems ideally suited to Root's role, batting through the innings and exploding at the end.

As you say, batting order can be fluid. We could even pick Sam Curran at 6 for the extra bowling option.
 
JohnnyKills said:
Yeah. We look strong atm.

I'd bat Stokes at 3 simply because he tends to take a few balls to get going. He seems ideally suited to Root's role, batting through the innings and exploding at the end.

As you say, batting order can be fluid. We could even pick Sam Curran at 6 for the extra bowling option.
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I think the problem with Stokes at 3 is that there are 3 better top order players than him in Buttler, Roy and Bairstow. Roy I think you have to open with because he's the worst player of spin of the lot.

Then Malan has done more than enough to get in at 4 for me, meaning that the highest I think you can get Stokes in is at 5.

The crazy thing about this is that Root was our best player at the last World Cup when we reached the final, but I think we're all struggling to get him in the side.
 
NinjaFletch said:
I think the problem with Stokes at 3 is that there are 3 better top order players than him in Buttler, Roy and Bairstow. Roy I think you have to open with because he's the worst player of spin of the lot.

Then Malan has done more than enough to get in at 4 for me, meaning that the highest I think you can get Stokes in is at 5.

The crazy thing about this is that Root was our best player at the last World Cup when we reached the final, but I think we're all struggling to get him in the side.
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Yeah we're a bit unbalanced aren't we. Almost all the batsmen would go in the top three if you asked them. Is it too late for a recall for Bopara? He's something of a specialist in the no.6 role.
 
JohnnyKills said:
Yeah we're a bit unbalanced aren't we. Almost all the batsmen would go in the top three if you asked them. Is it too late for a recall for Bopara? He's something of a specialist in the no.6 role.
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He left Essex because he doesn't like being used in that role, so I think he's trying to set himself up as a top order batsman.
 
NinjaFletch said:
Maybe, but I think it's easier to sell yourself as a T20 gun for hire if you're a top order foreign bat than a specialist finisher.
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Surely that's where all the best T20 players bat? Look at the IPL - most of the big-name players bat at the top, not in the middle order.

Anyway, his decision so fair enough. Does seem a little misguided though.
 
Curran and Woakes not exactly pressing their case for a test spot in the warm-up match.

Isn't there anyone else with a bit of pace who could have gone as third seamer? Appreciate that Stone's injured, but surely we've got someone else who might be effective on flat overseas wickets?
 
JohnnyKills said:
Curran and Woakes not exactly pressing their case for a test spot in the warm-up match.

Isn't there anyone else with a bit of pace who could have gone as third seamer? Appreciate that Stone's injured, but surely we've got someone else who might be effective on flat overseas wickets?
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Olly Stone but he’s always injured, Saqib Mahmood can get 90+ but he’s not as accurate as Archer
Crawley done himself no harm with a hundred, should get a chance at 3 if Denly isn’t fit, (should bat 3 regardless but I’m not the head coach)
 
Rams said:
Jamie Overton and Mark Wood, but also always injured.
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Dreaming of seeing Archer, Wood and Mahmood play in the same line up one day.

Will probably never happen, but just imagine that trio on a fast and bouncy track!!
 
sammsky1 said:
Dreaming of seeing Archer, Wood and Mahmood play in the same line up one day.

Will probably never happen, but just imagine that trio on a fast and bouncy track!!
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Imagine Wood will be white-ball only from now on. Hope Overton kicks on though.
 
JohnnyKills said:
Imagine Wood will be white-ball only from now on. Hope Overton kicks on though.
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Probably.

It's a real shame because I think if he wasn't always injured he'd be such a massive boost to our test team. I remember in the Windies earlier in the year he came into the side for the 3rd test and it was like we were just given this huge injection of pace and he was brilliant. Had their batsman hopping about.
 
Djemba-Djemba said:
Probably.

It's a real shame because I think if he wasn't always injured he'd be such a massive boost to our test team. I remember in the Windies earlier in the year he came into the side for the 3rd test and it was like we were just given this huge injection of pace and he was brilliant. Had their batsman hopping about.
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Agreed he's class, but his bowling style takes such a toll on his body. His poor ankles :(
 
Turns out England can play normal test cricket quite easily all along (they'll be 120 all out when I wake up won't they?).
 
No runs through the offside in that innings from Sibley. Either he'll have to have terrific discipline going forward or he'll have to work on it.
 
That Joe Root wicket gets worse every time you see it, the only thing you can do playing that shot was get out
 
ArmchairCritic said:
No runs through the offside in that innings from Sibley. Either he'll have to have terrific discipline going forward or he'll have to work on it.
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My feeling as well. We've had plenty of legside-dominant players down the years (Trott springs to mind) but not to this extent.
 
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