English & Irish Cricket Summer 2018

2 drops already off Amir’s bowling. I remember the last time he was in England & the fecking fielders dropped loads then too.
 
zing said:
They don't look test quality, unfortunately.
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Well no shit, it's their first test.

Bangladesh didn't win a test match for 35 matches, New Zealand didn't win one for 40 odd (and 26 years).
 
Take a bow Kevin O Brien. What an innings.
 
Great effort by Ireland. Another 70 runs & it’ll be a tricky chase.
 
Wonderful cricket from Ireland. Pakistan have them a chance with a poorly chosen follow-on. Have they learned nothing from all these years of Test cricket? Had a chance to flatten the opposition but underestimated them. Great to see Ireland making the most of the opportunity.

ha_rooney said:
2 drops already off Amir’s bowling. I remember the last time he was in England & the fecking fielders dropped loads then too.
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http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/18145586/the-many-drops-mohammad-amir

I’m beginning to suspect the bookies have a hand in this.
 
NinjaFletch said:
Well no shit, it's their first test.

Bangladesh didn't win a test match for 35 matches, New Zealand didn't win one for 40 odd (and 26 years).
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It's not a badge of honour to turn up looking mediocre in your first test. This team would've done much better 5 years ago when a number of these players were at their peak.

Anyway - well done Kevin O'brien, a very historic moment.
 
Good from Ireland, if they stick around for a session or so more they can give us a good game.
 
NinjaFletch said:
Well no shit, it's their first test.

Bangladesh didn't win a test match for 35 matches, New Zealand didn't win one for 40 odd (and 26 years).
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Not the same tbh. Many of these Irish guys play county cricket in England and therefore should be better than the Bangladesh outfit at the very least.
 
prath92 said:
Not the same tbh. Many of these Irish guys play county cricket in England and therefore should be better than the Bangladesh outfit at the very least.
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To be fair Ireland are clearly putting up a good fight here. Don’t see them going 35 tests without a win albeit at home.
 
If anyone deserves a crack at the England team with the current shortage of batting options then it's got to be Hildreth. 33 isn't old for a bat and he's been a standout performer on the county circuit for the last few seasons.

I hope Sam Curran gets a chance too. I like the variety of a left armer.

I'm not keen on Stoneman, Jennings etc. - they are all flawed technically. Move Bairstow up the order, stick with Leach and stop picking second rate bowlers because 'they can bat a bit'.
 
zing said:
It's not a badge of honour to turn up looking mediocre in your first test. This team would've done much better 5 years ago when a number of these players were at their peak.

Anyway - well done Kevin O'brien, a very historic moment.
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prath92 said:
Not the same tbh. Many of these Irish guys play county cricket in England and therefore should be better than the Bangladesh outfit at the very least.
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Who said it was a badge of honour, or the same as Bangladesh? I'm simply pointing out that Test Nations not being competitive in their first test is par for the cause.

Besides, I think Ireland have performed admirably, bar their first innings with the bat, and have shown they belong well enough.
 
Confirmed:

Cook, Stoneman, Malan, Root, Stokes, Bairstow, Buttler, Woakes/Wood, Broad, Anderson, Bess (Possibly both Woakes and Wood will play and Bess miss out I guess)

Dog shit side, and an appalling message to the county championship. I'm no fan of Vince, but to score a fifty in your last test, go back to CC and show good form with a double century in his last match and a string of scored before that, and then be dropped for a man who has played 1 first class game in 2 years because he's scored runs in hit and giggle cricket is laughable.

Stoneman is hugely fortunate to survive, and I fear that Bess is going to get the treatment of having his long term career risked by being picked too early.
 
NinjaFletch said:
Confirmed:

Cook, Stoneman, Malan, Root, Stokes, Bairstow, Buttler, Woakes/Wood, Broad, Anderson, Bess (Possibly both Woakes and Wood will play and Bess miss out I guess)

Dog shit side, and an appalling message to the county championship. I'm no fan of Vince, but to score a fifty in your last test, go back to CC and show good form with a double century in his last match and a string of scored before that, and then be dropped for a man who has played 1 first class game in 2 years because he's scored runs in hit and giggle cricket is laughable.

Stoneman is hugely fortunate to survive, and I fear that Bess is going to get the treatment of having his long term career risked by being picked too early.
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Do you know much about Bess? Name doesn't ring a bell.
 
DiseaseOfTheAge said:
Do you know much about Bess? Name doesn't ring a bell.
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Somerset spinner, effectively the the back up spinner to Leach there, but they've often played in tandem when (as it often does) the pitch turns.

He's highly rated, but he's 20 years old and only played 16 first class matches. I worry with the pair of Leach and Bess though that they're decent spinners, but beneficiaries of bowling to clueless English batsmen on the one pitch in the country that takes turn. That seems a more likely explanation than Somerset happening to have produced two test quality spinners at the same time.

The cupboard is bare though, and the choice probably was Bess or going back to Mooen who has been farting around in the IPL, and not shown that he's recovered form, but apparently that's no barrier if your name is Jos Buttler so who knows.
 
Why has James Vince been dropped but not Cook? It’s bullshit that he can stink the place out for 2 years and still never in risk of losing his place
 
NinjaFletch said:
Somerset spinner, effectively the the back up spinner to Leach there, but they've often played in tandem when (as it often does) the pitch turns.

He's highly rated, but he's 20 years old and only played 16 first class matches. I worry with the pair of Leach and Bess though that they're decent spinners, but beneficiaries of bowling to clueless English batsmen on the one pitch in the country that takes turn. That seems a more likely explanation than Somerset happening to have produced two test quality spinners at the same time.

The cupboard is bare though, and the choice probably was Bess or going back to Mooen who has been farting around in the IPL, and not shown that he's recovered form, but apparently that's no barrier if your name is Jos Buttler so who knows.
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Bess can bat as well which is why he's probably ahead of Virdi and Parkinson, scored 92 in the last match and scored a 100 (and took 8 wickets!) in the MCC vs Essex game. I disagree about the cupboard being bare it's more that there's a generation gap where we have no spinners of any note, it's either Leach/Moeen or one of the young kids, the positive is there are 4/5 young kids all coming through at the same time. Virdi is the one that excites me, he's spinning it in May at The Oval and getting the likes of Root & Amla out.
 
ArmchairCritic said:
Bess can bat as well which is why he's probably ahead of Virdi and Parkinson, scored 92 in the last match and scored a 100 (and took 8 wickets!) in the MCC vs Essex game. I disagree about the cupboard being bare it's more that there's a generation gap where we have no spinners of any note, it's either Leach/Moeen or one of the young kids, the positive is there are 4/5 young kids all coming through at the same time. Virdi is the one that excites me, he's spinning it in May at The Oval and getting the likes of Root & Amla out.
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I agree that Leach, Bess, and Virdi are all exciting talents, but they're talents rather than the finished article. I think in an ideal world (with the exception of Leach) Bess and Virdi would be left to hone their craft in the Championship before a call up for another couple of years. Virdi has played very few first class games and Bess is yet to nail down a spot for Somerset. It's certainly an improvement on the state of affairs even two years ago, but we're not there yet.
 
Same old, same old. Can't believe Buttler has been picked again.
 
I like Aggers as a commentator. He does write some shite though.

Jos Buttler's recall to the England Test side was a telling statement from the man now in charge of picking the team.

Ed Smith, England's new national selector, gave us an immediate insight into his thinking by choosing a batsman who has not played a Test for 18 months, who averages only 31 in Test cricket, and who has not featured in first-class cricket this season.

I know from my time working with Ed in the Test Match Special commentary box that he is man who likes flair players - he is a big fan of tennis player Roger Federer, for example.
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/44130617
 
Bess to make his debut & Root is to bat at 3 “long term”. Hopefully they go for Woakes over Wood

Cook
Stoneman
Root
Malan
Stokes
Bairstow
Buttler
Woakes
Bess
Broad
Anderson
 
Joe Root has won the toss and England will bat first.


AN Cook Batsman
MD Stoneman Batsman
JE Root (c) Batsman
DJ Malan Batsman
JM Bairstow † Wicketkeeper
BA Stokes Allrounder
JC Buttler Batsman
DM Bess Bowler
SCJ Broad Bowler
JM Anderson Bowler
MA Wood Bowler

Vs.

Azhar Ali Batsman
Imam-ul-Haq Batsman
Haris Sohail Batsman
Asad Shafiq Batsman
Babar Azam Batsman
Sarfraz Ahmed (c) † Wicketkeeper
Shadab Khan Allrounder
Faheem Ashraf Allrounder
Hasan Ali Bowler
Mohammad Amir Bowler
Mohammad Abbas Bowler
 
Glad Hasan is available, I think he’ll have a good series. Hopefully Amir is 100% fit, was doubtful before the game & a lot will be expected from him.

Would love it if this series will be as competitive as the 2016 series, but not holding my breath. Not much experience in the Pakistan side.
 
All out. Brilliant effort from our bowlers. Batsmen need to back it up.

Looking forward to seeing the highlights later.
 
Great effort from Pakistan today. Abbas bowled really well & the fielding was solid.
 
ha_rooney said:
Great effort from Pakistan today. Abbas bowled really well & the fielding was solid.
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They were very good. If they can survive the first hour tomorrow without too much damage (not an easy ask) they're in a really good position.
 
It is still a 4th innings decider. If Pakistan gets to chase around 200 (even more than 150) in 4th innings, i would fancy England to win it.
 
How are these deadass players like Stoneman and Malan still in the team. Where are the guns at?
 
paulscholes18 said:
Not surprised to read that England bowlers were bowling to short, it’s pathetic
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If the batsmen stopped wafting at wide ones and the bowlers pitched it up this team would improve immensely. Watching England is like watching United over the last few years, so many brain fades that it makes you think something is fundamentally wrong but in the end it's the players being thick and the coaches not earning their corn.
 
Bess keeping it tight when it's not spinning much which has been a huge issue with English spinners since Swann packed it in.
 
Babar having to retire ffs. Hope it's not a break/serious. Played very well.

England should be looking to bowl us out for under 100 now.
 
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