It seems to me that outside of the tests there are no warm up games that are meaningful & Lions tours don’t seem to have any intensity so why not instead have the Lions in West Indies also for the two weeks before 1st test and play 2x4 day games AvB?? Surely the intensity will be there from Lions to want to prove themselves and work over the established players??
You do wonder if the young batsmen today see test cricket as the ultimate or whether they are focussed on the flashy stuff to get IPL or BBL £? We at Worcester have had Joe Clarke over the last few years (before he left to play for a test ground county) & he seems to have gone on 4/5 Lions trips (until excluded for current one after selection for his links to the Hepburn case) yet has not been called up for the main squad once - is it too cosy? Are they challenged enough to be smashing the doors down to be selected?
I think this is a really good point Gareth. I'd like to see them in and around the England dressing room, taken on tours and playing in the warm up games, even if we know that they are not up to Test standard as yet. A bit like letting a kid train with the first team squad at Villa. The Lions is great too, but let them sample the real thing and serve an apprenticeship.
I hope they begin to play with some determination and application in the next test. There are two tests before the Ashes kicks off in August. On current form that is a massive concern.
Foakes dropped because the top of the order are crap.
Bairstow has put him self under a lot of pressure as well following the reaction in Sri Lanka.
I feel like our selection is very reactive at the moment. Assuming Bairstow drops down the order that’s another number 3 gone.
Bairstow has put him self under a lot of pressure as well following the reaction in Sri Lanka.
I feel like our selection is very reactive at the moment. Assuming Bairstow drops down the order that’s another number 3 gone.
Just saw an interview with Mike Atherton and Nasser Hussain. Atherton was saying that he thinks Jennings will open and Denly will bat at three and then it will be Root, Buttler, Stokes, Bairstow, Ali, Wood, Broad and Anderson.
If Stokes is in as a pure batsman he needs to up his game.
3 down for less than 100 again.
3 down for less than 100 again.
A top three of Burns, Jennings and Denly doesn’t fill me with confidence.
Really need Hameed to start the season well
Really need Hameed to start the season well
He’s been awful for the last three seasons and in the 2018 county season he scored 165 runs in 17 innings. I think that the pressure and level of expectation has got to him and his game has disintegrated.
3 down for less than 100 again.
A top three of Burns, Jennings and Denly doesn’t fill me with confidence.
I'm willing to give Burns and Denly a few more games, Jennings has shown over and over again that he's rubbish against pace, Australia will eat him up.
This has been an excellent spell by Stokes and Buttler. On this pitch i reckon 300 would be a very good score, with an hour to go and a set pair we'll be looking at 240-250 by the close and then bat until lunch.
Fuck sake, he took the shot as the post was saving.