Josh Tongue for Mo is the only change England have made. Interesting call that which I assume has been made because Mo & Wood aren’t fit. England have a very long tail now though
English cricket thread
- Thread starter Samid
- Start date
No spinner for England, really think that’s a terrible idea especially if Stokes can’t bowl much.
Stokes clearly can’t bowl if we’ve selected four out and out seamers. Without Moeen’s batting it’s pretty much impossible to get Foakes into the side too. I haven’t seen enough of Tongue to give much of an opinion but I’m surprised Woakes misses out as the pitch looks very green and the weather is cloudy for the first few days.
This England team is an utter mess compared to the Aussies though. There’s one genuine star in Root and the rest of the team have question marks over their ability.
Crawley and Duckett - don’t need to really say too much here. Everyone knows the limitations.
Pope - lots of potential but yet to really cement himself as a class number three.
Brook - very inexperienced
Stokes - poor form with the bat, can’t bowl.
Bairstow - long lay off, poor form with gloves
No spinner
Robinson - has a good average in England but he’s never going to replace Jimmy’s level.
Broad - definitely still producing the goods.
Anderson - doesn’t offer anything apart from economy on flat pitches. Might have really dropped a level this summer considering his age.
This England team is an utter mess compared to the Aussies though. There’s one genuine star in Root and the rest of the team have question marks over their ability.
Crawley and Duckett - don’t need to really say too much here. Everyone knows the limitations.
Pope - lots of potential but yet to really cement himself as a class number three.
Brook - very inexperienced
Stokes - poor form with the bat, can’t bowl.
Bairstow - long lay off, poor form with gloves
No spinner
Robinson - has a good average in England but he’s never going to replace Jimmy’s level.
Broad - definitely still producing the goods.
Anderson - doesn’t offer anything apart from economy on flat pitches. Might have really dropped a level this summer considering his age.
If Mo or Wood aren’t fully fit then I’m glad they haven’t been picked as I think injuries/lack of fitness really hampered us last time. Quite surprised we haven’t picked Ahmed though.
Be interesting to see what the pitch is like. It’s been very dry but also quite cloudy in London this week so hopefully a bit more in it for Anderson this time.
Be interesting to see what the pitch is like. It’s been very dry but also quite cloudy in London this week so hopefully a bit more in it for Anderson this time.
I think it's the right call with limited options available. Definetly leaves our tail looking vulnerable.
I fancy England to win this test match and by a decent margin. No real logic behind the prediction, just vibes.
I fancy England to win this test match and by a decent margin. No real logic behind the prediction, just vibes.
What is the point of announcing the lineup a day before the game? Just keep the opposition guessing until the toss.
Is Woakes unfit? His record at Lords is unreal.
I'm a neutral and it's frankly sad seeing all these ex England players with their version of "Bazball is great but..." Hopefully the team isn't listening, Bazball could save test cricket for heaven's sake.
Moeen was fit so it must be a tactical reason to leave him out. Tongue over Woakes makes sense given his extra pace.
He was also fit enough to be selected in the first test. I think we would've picked him if we were confident he'd hold up.
Maybe, I guess it's more difficult to take even a small risk with doubts over Stokes as well.
The pitch also looked fairly green yesterday though so could be that they expect it to stay that way. Spinners don't have a great record at Lord's either, averaging just over 50 in the last 5 tests there.
That is quite reassuring.
Winning the toss on this one will be massive - loads of cloud cover on Thursday (after a rainy morning) and Friday so batting first is a must.
Still expect England to hand out wickets to Lyon though
Be great if Tongue can find that mid 80s maybe touch 90's for the odd delivery. Yes I know he's not Archer/Wood pace but quicker than others
I hope England believe the guff about feeling like they've won the Edgbaston test as Brendon McCullum said. Your team lost, Baz, and they're currently 1-0 down. End of story.
This isn't franchise cricket. This is test cricket. This is the Ashes. To the people of Australia and England, an Ashes test means more than ''gee, we might have lost but boy we were positive''. Winning is what matters and Australia celebrated a great victory at Edgbaston.
England's shit record in Australia means if they fail to win the Ashes back this year, their next best hope of Ashes success is in 2027. That's a long time to wait. It's also a long time to celebrate feeling as though you won.
This isn't franchise cricket. This is test cricket. This is the Ashes. To the people of Australia and England, an Ashes test means more than ''gee, we might have lost but boy we were positive''. Winning is what matters and Australia celebrated a great victory at Edgbaston.
England's shit record in Australia means if they fail to win the Ashes back this year, their next best hope of Ashes success is in 2027. That's a long time to wait. It's also a long time to celebrate feeling as though you won.
Despite the wickets against Ireland I thought Tongue looked pretty average. Woakes record at Lord's with the bat and ball is brilliant but then I guess you have 4 samey seamers.
Need Wood or even Stone back asap
Need Wood or even Stone back asap
You sound rattled.
That’s doing Tongue an injustice, he bowls consistently near the 90’s in England, certainly very similar pace to Cummings & Stark.
Lot of negativity around but England performed well in the first test despite the doubts against a top Ozzie side. I can ensure you it looked completely different to past spankings by the Ozzies.
Does bother me when you spell it like that.
I would love him to clock that but remains to be seen whether that happens
The pace he bowled against Ireland was about what Cummins bowled at Edgbaston, if memory serves.
Looks like similar cloud cover on Wednesday and Friday to me. Thursday looks like it could be a frustrating one.
Yeah might take an over but he is capable of hitting around 85-86. His quickest delivery against Ireland was 91.2 I think
I am almost sure that England will bowl if they win the toss. I thought the same at Edgbaston but this time i just can’t see any sense behind batting first
Would be interesting to see seam attack of Wood,Tongue (if he can impress) Broad then one of Robinson/Anderson at Headingley
Then you remember that Cummins can turn the pace up massively… the reason he doesn’t is because of injuries. Destroyed the first 5 years of his career
I'm unsure of the relevance here.
Aussie fans are a bit weird aren’t they. Seem to be convinced that England have panicked after one loss and prepared a purposely hard pitch to bat on, even though it really would have little benefit to England as they won’t be able to out grind the Aussies.
That and they literally did that at the Gabba six months ago.
That and they literally did that at the Gabba six months ago.
Same group of people who have let a tubby racist wind them up constantly so no surprises.
England win the toss and will bowl first at Lord's.
Ben Stokes goes on to say he has no issue with Root being the only spinner as he's "turning in to a genuine all rounder".
I mean he's not.
Anyway, good toss to win and hopefully we can get stuck in to them this morning.
Ben Stokes goes on to say he has no issue with Root being the only spinner as he's "turning in to a genuine all rounder".
I mean he's not.
Anyway, good toss to win and hopefully we can get stuck in to them this morning.
Love being home to see that first ball being bowled
Bairstow carrying a Just Stop Oil protestor off 
Was it really necessary to carry him off
Well held Mr Bairstow
I'm sure that will help bring in more supporters for their cause they really are backwards folk thinking they are doing even the slightest good.
they really are backwards folk thinking they are doing even the slightest good.I'm sure that will help bring in more supporters for their cause
Let’s not go down this route in this thread and focus on the cricket
Hard one to take but that's a big chance - especially to Khawaja in single digits.