Very sad. I caught up a few days ago on the tributes from Atherton, Hussain, Cork and Butcher on Sky and don't recall ever seeing them so emotional, I guess they knew better than most what he had been going through.
English cricket thread
- Thread starter Samid
- Start date
Rip Graham. I read his book 20 years ago and he did come across as a troubled soul. Shame he couldn't over come it this time.
I can’t recall the last time I felt so sad about the death of someone I didn’t know (particularly now the precise details have been revealed). Bowie maybe but he was a different generation. The best English batsman of his era and a key player in holding England together and then making them a serial winning side ahead of the 2005 Ashes.
Damn, that's sad.
I remember watching his debut on the BBC I'm 1993. Such a stunning innings against a truly great Australian side. He had such swagger and fearlessness.
Very sad to hear about Graham Thorpe and especially the manner in which he passed away.
Leaving aside his obvious merits as a cricketer, suicide/depression is such a growing issue in today's world and it needs to be addressed. It was known that Graham had a side to his character that could be depressive, but it's no reason for him to get to the stage where he ends his own life.
We need to find a system in which people can go and get help instantly. This looks like a sudden act of desperation after not receiving the help he needed.
Leaving aside his obvious merits as a cricketer, suicide/depression is such a growing issue in today's world and it needs to be addressed. It was known that Graham had a side to his character that could be depressive, but it's no reason for him to get to the stage where he ends his own life.
We need to find a system in which people can go and get help instantly. This looks like a sudden act of desperation after not receiving the help he needed.
His family did an excellent and emotional interview with Atherton in the Times explaining the battle he had been on and the help he had received.
Worth reading as the above highlighted is not the case.
Thanks, I've read around a bit and it does seem as if after 2022 Graham was effectively beyond help. It's just so incredibly sad and how despite being incredibly successful and respected, he still felt the way he did.
Last edited:
Woakes at number 7, not sure about that.
Does seem a bit high. Wouldn't Curran have been a decent Stokes replacement? Have we given up on him at Test level completely? Are there any other all rounders breaking through?
Dan Lawrence is an interesting call though, hope he can give a good account of himself.
There were other options, Lammonby, Walter or Abell from the top of my head. They needed one of those along with Woakes at 7 and 8. Lawrence isn't an opener so will have to see how he would do.
It's a team that suggests we think Sri Lanka are shit.
Can't say I think too highly of any of their bowling, although tbf to Abell his first class figures are much better than I thought with the ball at an average of 31ish and he's got a very handy batting average at nearly 50. If you picked both him and Lawrence and also have Joe Root I guess you could feel relatively confident that one of them could contribute something with the ball in any given innings.
I wonder maybe if Balderson could also be worth a go given he's still only 23.
Jamie Overton would be my preference though if he were ever fit and in form as I think he's a genuinely good bowler rather than just holding an end up. I still think Curran is the obvious pick though unless he doesn't fancy it.
Walter has been doing really well in limited overs but has done well in County Cricket this year. Not sure about Jamie Overton's batting, maybe Craig is the better batter but Jamie the better bowler. Balderson has some great figures as well. I think if they went with Abell, could have just stuck him even to open and then still have the batting depth.
I think every pick is with the (next) winter Ashes in mind, they don't fancy Curran down there - Balderson next to no chance. So they'd rather fudge in a Potts a spot to high, or Lawrence in completely the wrong position to just build up their experience with 'the group' as they could go down under. That's my read anyway.
Yeah fair, I'd rather they planned ahead but it is a very vulnerable batting lineup and could bite them even if Sri Lanka aren't very good.
Lammonby and Abell aren't good enough to be used as bowlers at Test level, both rarely even bowl for Somerset these days although I think that's primarily for fitness reasons. Aldridge is the one to keep an eye on there but he's not ready for that step-up yet and is only around 80mph.
It seems they're reluctant to just hand out caps and if you're not in that squad longer-term then you aren't getting called up at all.
It seems they're reluctant to just hand out caps and if you're not in that squad longer-term then you aren't getting called up at all.
I understand that but they would be best coming up with an option now in advance in case Stokes is injured again. This batting lineup against a better team would be at risk of collapsing due to lack of depth. Even if that means Lawrence and Root as the 5th bowlers.
I think Lawrence and Root would have been fine for this series, with Cox as the extra batter.
Sam Curran, Craig Overton could also have filled in comfortably for now but clearly aren't seen as long-term options. Lyndon James at Notts is another and just captained the Lions so I assume is rated highly, not sure how quick he is though. Jamie Overton would be the obvious choice as he is more than good enough to bat at 8 but not fit enough to bowl at the moment.
At this point we just have to accept they like making odd looking decisions. The opener is another one, the likes of Jennings or Lees could step in for a series or you could give someone younger the chance but Lawrence is seen as the next batter to come in wherever a spot is available.
wtf is going on? 
2 in the over for Woakes, Sri Lanka in real trouble 6/3
This. I don’t want to write them off after 40 minutes because I felt the same about the Windies and the test matches still produced some decent cricket. I’m surprised we played two of the poorer nations back to back in a summer.
bazball needed to get some wins under its belt.
We’ll probably drop further down the World test championship table with a couple of wins with a slow over rate.
We should be exempt from slow over rate punishments due to getting games done in 3 or 4 days
Think we would be better of having Paul Potts than Mathew at this rate.
Have to feel for Chandimal, that was unplayable.
Love the song Brothers in Arms, just fitted that little Thorpey montage very nicely
Don’t worry - soon enough the ICC will realise we’ve saved test cricket and declare us winners anyway.
Did he spray it around?
Impressive innings from Rathnayake, don't think he'll be batting at 9 again in this series! Fernando did a good job hanging in there for him as well.
236 not bad in the end for Sri Lanka considering they were 6/3.
More the fact Woakes and Atkinson were getting the ball to sing, and Potts wasn't getting any movement.
So if they try to bowl the quicks here we just come off without consulting the batters right?
Interesting. He'll need to sort that out.
You make it sound like suicide, have I missed something?
Edit missed a post on the previous page.
Sad. Horrible that some people feel that's their only way out
Rocky Flintoff 32 not out at lunch on first class debut.
Big moment in the test for Sri Lanka - bowling conditions and a weakened batting line up. Need to roll us for 200/250.
Also a first century for U19 England captain Ben McKinney in his 5th game.
He also had a couple of decent innings against Sri Lanka last week, 40 odd and then 20 off 9 balls when chasing a low total. Seems to be one of those talents where it's only a matter of time before he's called up, his SR shows he has the perfect game for this test side as well.
I definitely wasn’t about to write a post about how nice it is to have consistent Joe Root back. Still a lot of weather around over the weekend so Sri Lanka will probably need to burn through the tail tonight to have a chance. Anything closer to parity and it’ll be difficult to find two full days of play out of the three left.