International cricket rolling thread

The Game Room
101

It’s funny that you should bring up the 90s England in your earlier post, and their habit of finally turning up to a series once it’s been lost, because I think the current problems with the England setup are similar to the problems we had back then. We’re not letting anyone settle, players aren’t in the team because they know that the selectors back them and know they are good enough, but because they are the lastest cab off the rank in a desperate search for the next Alistair Cook.

It’s not just the openers. Here is a graphic showing the England middle order (3-8) and their positions they’ve played in the previous three series. Look at what’s happened to Bairstow, Stokes and Buttler in particular, but none of them (with the sole exception of Joe Root) are settled.

It’s not so much that I want Jennings in particular in my Ashes side, more than I want this team, in this order, in my Ashes side, to let them gel as a side, with players in known roles and positions.

I don’t think Jason Roy is the answer, and I don’t think his name would have come up (as it hasn’t, really, until now) if he wasn’t simply one of the few openers we haven’t chucked in yet. As you say, he doesn’t open in County Cricket.

102

I think, in general, there is a lot of sense in what you’re saying. We don’t want to be chopping and changing the team or the batting order as much as we have been doing and this is, probably, at least part of what is causing inconsistency in our batting performances. About the only constant is Root at 4 at the moment and everybody shuffling around trying to solve our issues at 3, is having a deleterious effect on the form of guys in the lower order. We should hit on a team and stick to it and I would say that:

Burns, Jennings, Denly, Root, Buttler, Stokes, Bairstow, Ali, 3 seam up bowlers

Is probably about right.

BUT

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/440780.html?class=1;template=results;type=batting

That is Keaton Jennings Test match performance over the course of his career. He averages 17.7 in matches in England over 18 innings - he can’t play the moving ball and he has been shown up here as struggling against pace. Starc and Cummins are going to eat him alive. He looks like someone that I’d be happy to have go to the sub-continent but facing seam up bowling, he’s going to struggle unless he fixes some fundamental technical flaws. For me, the general ethos of what you’re proposing is right (particularly if you can be sure you’ve identified the right players) - but I think you can bed in the remaining 10 players in the team in the right places in the order, and still say, “he’s not good enough - let’s see if we can find someone else”.

Now - my get out of jail free card. England’s next test isn’t until the end of July (against Ireland) and there will be a lot of county cricket to be played. Jennings doesn’t play ODIs, so he should get as much red ball time as we can give him in the early season. If he starts scoring some runs and is the best of the options available to us, I’m not against him sticking. On the other hand, that’s also a lot of red ball cricket for other guys - Holden, Gubbins, Bell-Drummond, even recent discards like Stoneman, to also score a lot of runs. I’d hold the #2 position open in the side for the moment and select whomever performs best for us, rather than be wedded to Jennings in the name of consistency.

Roy for me is an utter non–starter but better judges than I, at least people I have some time for in the press, are talking it up which is usually an indication that someone in the England selection camp is talking it up as a possibility or they’re seeing something that I am not.

104-5 in the Caribbean. England are going to win this comfortably, barring an act of God (either via weather or a West Indian partnership being touched by him).

103

Windies cricketer Shannon Gabriel charged by ICC over ‘homophobic’ comment to Joe Root Windies cricketer Shannon Gabriel charged by ICC over 'homophobic' comment to Joe Root | UK News | Sky News
Good, tired of the homophobia in sports. I don’t mind players getting a mental edge by telling someone their game is weak, but using ‘gay’ as an insult has got to stop.

104

So, yeah. This was not great. Gabriel has been banned for 4 (largely meaningless) one day matches starting from next week. Seems about right given the ban meted out not a month ago for racial remarks in the Pakistan/South Africa series.

Seeing some of the tin foil hat brigade in the cricketing internet community talking about how the stump mics should be turned down and this stuff left on the field. Not for me. Turn the buggers up and make sure all of this gets stamped out. The best sledges go down in history (“Tickets please!”, “When in Rome dear boy”, etc) and show some evidence of wit and intelligence - not battering on in horrific fashion using racism, homophobia or elsewise. Maybe if the players know they’re being properly monitored they’ll only say stuff that’s worthwhile - or perhaps just shut up with sledging/abuse altogether.

England won. Rather one-sided. Not much else to discuss. It’s now the long drag into the World Cup - the IPL will get underway soon too. Is it right that the Big Bash still hasn’t finished yet? Feels like it went on forever.

105

Yes, but I think the theory is that if you’re going to be out within 35 balls anyway due to lack of technique, you may as well pick someone who might use those balls to score 50 occasionally, rather than someone who gets 7. Not saying I agree that’s the right approach, but it does have some logic behind it.

As for Jennings, really enjoyed George Dobell’s comment on Cricinfo: “worse driver than Prince Philip”.

“Every time I fuck your wife, she gives me a biscuit.”

Does anyone know what Gabriel actually said? Agree 100% that Root and the ICC took the right stand.

106

Well, Gabriel was apparently slated for a return to the ODI side for this series in the run up to the world cup, so this ban could put a serious dent in his hopes for playing in that. The ban isn’t just for this, though, like the Jason Holder ban earlier, it’s an accumulation of points. It appears as though the major problem with this points accumulation system is that people, even journalists, don’t seem to realise that getting 3 points for an infraction and putting yourself over 20 points for the period doesn’t actually mean you got the ban for the 3 point transgression.

You’re right, Cumbrian, that there is a lot of county cricket to go before the Ashes, and indeed a Test match at Lords against Ireland to get past. Atherton in the radio commentary made a point that a top three of Cook, Trescothick and Bell was more likely than the current top three making it to the Ashes, and I don’t think he’s far wrong (in that they are both equally unlikely).

107

Amazing win just now for Sri Lanka in their first test v SA. Perera with 153* and 78 for the last wicket to win it. Given their results v England at home and Australia away plus the fact they were chasing 304 in the final innings, a real turn up for the books.

108

Those sixes in the last couple of overs… that’s the sort of game that kids dream of having, and Perera is living that dream. He scored 6 sixes in the game - 5 in the second innings, one in his first - and everyone else in the game managed one between them.

Not only chasing 300, but chasing 300 in a game where the highest previous score was 259.

109

Wow I’d written Sri Lanka off after their miserable Australasian tour.

110

Is anyone watching SA-SL 2nd Test? I’ve not seen any of it and am just looking at the scorecard now. It’s the end of the second day and the match is already over 3/4s over. SL need 197 to win and 60/2 at the end of the day. Is the pitch a minefield, the bowling brilliant or are the batsmen idiots?

Predictably, given the low scoring nature of the match, the scorecards are an absolute mess. SA’s first innings was 222 all out - 4 ducks and 3 more out for single digits - yet Markram got 60 and De Kock 80+ at basically a run a ball (which might have been a “fuck it, I’m getting you before you get me” innings). Similar story in the SA second innings - 3 guys get double digits, no one else scored more than 6…

111

I haven’t been following at all, but checked the score this morning. SL are now 158/2, and they only need another 39 runs. Fernando and Mendis both in the 60s and looking comfortable, beetling along at 4.5 an over. The pitch suddenly doesn’t look so bad.

112

When Australia was finishing off Sri Lanka a few weeks ago one of the guys at work said that it was nice to be winning again. I said that “The Sri Lankans are so bad that beating them doesn’t count as winning.” So put me down as absolutely amazed.

113

Bangladesh are playing NZ in their first Test of a series down in NZ at the moment. After Day 1, Bangladesh were all out for 234 to which NZ are already 86/0 in reply. Of note, Tamim Iqbal hit 126 off 128 balls. Fantastic knock. Obviously given the final total, he was provided bugger all support. Bangladesh were 121-1 at one point and then Neil Wagner blitzed them with short stuff and took a 5-fer. I watched a small amount of this before going to bed but the bulk of the action took place long after I’d had enough. Tamim was pretty good mind - drove well with power, and wasn’t especially reckless for the part of his innings I saw at least.

England’s ODI series in the Caribbean has wound on. Records falling all over the place for numbers of 6s scored. In two of the games, the pitches have been relentlessly flat, and it is proving very difficult for bowlers to be anything other than cannon fodder. They genuinely might be better off with a bowling machine at either end. Yesterday, Buttler hit 150 off 77 balls. Gayle followed suit with 160ish off fewer than 100 deliveries. The game was in the balance until the 48th over, when Rashid took 4 in 5 balls at the death.

England can be got, particularly if the bowlers can’t generate penetration, but as with yesterday, they seem to have a line up that will put up a big score. The 2nd ODI, that England lost, provides the blueprint for beating England. Strangle their fluency with the bat and you can ramp the pressure up. England have lost only once since the last World Cup in ODIs when they have lost fewer than 7 wickets, so you need to get into the tail of the line up to beat them. Honestly, going into the World Cup, no one should be afraid of anybody - all the sides have their flaws.

There’s also some T20 happening in Australia - where the home side have beaten India 2-0 in the mini-series. Glenn Maxwell won Australia the second match - there’s a guy I know not much about except he seems to be the perpetual “should we play him, should we not” selection. Probably worth playing him the limited overs stuff at least…

114

Final game of the ODI series between England and WIndies today, and it’ll be interesting to see where it’ll go. England have shown themselves to be a batting powerhouse in two of the games, coming up curiously short in the second game having been set a target they would have expected to chase.
Gayle has shown himself to still be a power in cricket and, after taking flak in the first game for not running other people’s singles and being a generally selfish player, seems to have bucked his ideas up a bit through the series. In that first game, he got a run a ball hundred (135 off 129, actually) having started his innings very slowly and catching up, before Jason Roy (125 off 85) shown him how it’s done these days. Gayle’s innings in the fourth innings was much better, getting going much quicker, and whilst he didn’t turn many ones into twos, he did at least run.

Been following a bit of the NZ/Bang test match, although it doesn’t really seem one for the neutral. NZ going to win by an innings and plenty after putting on over 700, harking back to the early days of Bangladeshi test cricket.

115

I love how NZ sent in a nightwatchman (Wagner) at 449-4! I assume BJ Watling had wandered off to the bar already or something.

116

And the final ODI - a batting collapse by England, another chance for Gayle to show how good he still is (and is still is good), and an easy win for the home side, forcing a probably fair drawn series.

There’s some more t20 stuff after this.

117

They are in India for this series. Reverse of the India winter tour. But no tests this time.

118

I thought England tried to deny Gayle a century in his last match by crashing out for 113. Then it looked like he might score one anyway for a while.

119

So, NZ beat Bangladesh, which isn’t surprising, but there were some positives for the visiting side, with a couple of big tons from the middle order (although they both fell just short of 150), going from 126/4 to 361/5. Unfortunately, apart from a decent showing from the openers, no one else managed double figures, and NZ still bowled them out 52 short.

Currently watching the first ODI between SL and South Africa. I’d expect SA to boss these games, but I thought they’d boss the tests as well, so we’ll see. The run up to the World Cup this year gives everything an extra edge!

120

Talking of the world cup, does anyone have tickets?

I’ve got tickets for the 4th ODI against Pakistan just before it, in Bristol, and I’m kinda hoping to get tickets for the Afghanistan-New Zealand group game, but they aren’t on general release yet, and I don’t know if they game will sell out - it’s one of the few games at Taunton, and I think the only one on a saturday.