English cricket thread

Feel a bit sorry for Brook. Fans, media and all have hyped him up and gone on about his inclusion / exclusion in the WC and I think it's affecting his batting. He just needs to play cricket and develop.
 
Malan is averaging more or less 60 in ODIs.

His strike rate is fairly conservative but if you have an attacking middle order like England have, it doesn't matter.
 
https://x.com/englandcricket/status/1703400158938165511?s=46&t=GNj8QSxKxM_pv7nv4TCn7A

So Brook has replaced Roy. Brutal end to Jason Roy’s England career. Roy is one of my favourite England cricketers ever because of how unselfish he was, kind of really sad that it ended this way
That's tough, I thought they'd at least give him the Ireland ODIs before confirming the squad. It is a gamble with his fitness though, especially with so much travel between fixtures.

He's been a huge part of this side's success, easy to forget how that World Cup campaign nearly fell apart when he missed a few games because of injury.
 
https://x.com/englandcricket/status/1703400158938165511?s=46&t=GNj8QSxKxM_pv7nv4TCn7A

So Brook has replaced Roy. Brutal end to Jason Roy’s England career. Roy is one of my favourite England cricketers ever because of how unselfish he was, kind of really sad that it ended this way

He’s not been quite the same bat since 2019, many injuries and spotty form. The right decision on balance I think. With Malan taking his spot as an opener, I think Brook and Jacks (as a reserve) give you more options in the middle order.
 
That's tough, I thought they'd at least give him the Ireland ODIs before confirming the squad. It is a gamble with his fitness though, especially with so much travel between fixtures.

He's been a huge part of this side's success, easy to forget how that World Cup campaign nearly fell apart when he missed a few games because of injury.

The World T20 in 2021 fell apart because he got injured I reckon.
 
The World T20 in 2021 fell apart because he got injured I reckon.
I'd forgotten he was injured there as well. So that's 2 tournaments in a row and he also missed the T20 Blast through injury this season, you can see why they've decided they can't take that risk.
 
These games are still a rip off at the prices they set, but there’s enough batting for England to make it worthwhile. Then I checked the weather for Tuesday and it looks very mixed. Worst case would be enough play not to get any kind of refund. But also having to sit in the rain to see it, there’s no cover at Bristol.
 
Just saw that 4 of the last 5 ODIs at Bristol have been rained off.

Is that just bad timing for these games, or is it a venue that's simply worth ignoring for international games?

From my limited experience, it seems to always be wet in Bristol.
 
There was about 2 hours of hard rain this morning too, so the pitch was already wet. It was one of those situations where the storm clouds had been building for half hour and they probably should have put the covers on in advance. But then again, this is cricket we’re talking about.
 
Why are England playing such a weak nation ?

Charity, and a run out for the B team. The world cup squad is in India, with a warm up game against India on Saturday.

It's actually pretty good for England to play the minnows with a B team. There's a ridiculous amount of white ball depth so any international exposure is good. Almost the entire world cup squad are well into their 30s so most of the players getting a run out vs Ireland will be eyeing up the next world cup if they make a good impression.
 
Charity, and a run out for the B team. The world cup squad is in India, with a warm up game against India on Saturday.

It's actually pretty good for England to play the minnows with a B team. There's a ridiculous amount of white ball depth so any international exposure is good. Almost the entire world cup squad are well into their 30s so most of the players getting a run out vs Ireland will be eyeing up the next world cup if they make a good impression.

I hear what youre saying but Ireland are so weak its kind of pointless
 
Just realised there was 31 overs bowled, I thought it was 26 for some reason. Means no refunds as it was over the limit by 6 balls.

I paid £45 to watch that today. You would hope the ECB do the right thing, but somehow I think we all know they won’t.
 
Random one guys: can't get the Sky Go app to work in Europe with Nord VPN (thanks Brexit).

Any tips?
 
Just realised there was 31 overs bowled, I thought it was 26 for some reason. Means no refunds as it was over the limit by 6 balls.

I paid £45 to watch that today. You would hope the ECB do the right thing, but somehow I think we all know they won’t.
That’s shit mate.
 
World cricket

Cook opened in English conditions and was fantastic away in India, and made spades of runs in the Ashes victory away
Interesting idea. I can't remember the past 20 years well, but being South African my vote would be Graeme Smith. Although I am clouded by his captaining abilities - I suppose Cook's batting was better.
 
World cricket

Cook opened in English conditions and was fantastic away in India, and made spades of runs in the Ashes victory away
Hayden
Sehwag
Graeme Smith

Cook is not a bad shout though.
 
Hayden
Sehwag
Graeme Smith

Cook is not a bad shout though.
It feels like a toss up between those four. Im sure you’ll get a different answer depending on the nationality of the person answering.
 
It feels like a toss up between those four. Im sure you’ll get a different answer depending on the nationality of the person answering.
If it was just last 10 years, i would hands down go with Cook.
 
If it was just last 10 years, i would hands down go with Cook.
Longevity is Cook I think. But cricket has so many nuances for a batting line-up that the best will very much depend on who else you have.
 
Sehwag is massively over-rated in the "great player" debate. He averaged sub 30 in NZ, England, SA. I really liked watching him bat but if India were batting away, there wasn't much batting to be seen. I remember once I hit the snooze button Australia away(5am IST is play) and he was gone by the time my alarm rang 2nd time.

Not even "opener", just in the batting pantheon I rate Cook very highly because for him to play at home in the conditions he did and make 10,000 runs is serious skill. The list of English openers of the last 20 years will have Cook with 160 matches, Strauss with 100 and a very long tail of batters with < 20 matches? Probably the one thing you can hold against Cook is I think he peaked through a period where bowling stocks were a bit down. There's been a resurgence of great fast bowling in the last 5-6 years or so, but it was a bit hit and miss before then. Cook played through a period when Aus had likes of Siddle, Hilfenhaus who were OK but won't be remembered.

Every country has its holy grail test tour and for England it's Australia, India, and Cook made lots of runs in both milestone series wins.

This is also why I think Kevin Pietersen was different class despite his relatively poor average for a middle order batter..
 
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