England 2012 Cricket Thread

[PaulWinch again]

Well what a bloody shocking batting display, terrible defensive shot by Bell as well. We're buried in this game and series now, short of a miracle. Time for some changes in the batting line up. Who goes?

[PaulWinch again]

Lower order desperately trying to get us some runs on the board again. If Strauss doesn't approach a century in the second innings he should be dropped. We can't continue to tolerate this garbage.

[Villan For Life]

Awful batting display and poor shot selection. The SL attack is average at best and the pitch does not hold any demons.

Time for the batting line up to collectively grow a pair and step up to the plate.

We've got huge strength in depth with the ball but the batting cupboard is bare. Wholesale changes are fine but who to bring in? Bopara and Morgan have been tried and failed. There ain't much else left.

[PaulWinch again]

Taylor deserves a chance. In any case Bopara did well in his last Test innings and frankly these batsmen are far too comfortable in their positions.

[PaulWinch again]

Dilshan gone, but to be honest I wouldn't be confident if we bowled them out for 50.

[Villan For Life]

I think that Taylor has promise and is worth consideration. However he struggled on the Lions tour to Sri Lanka in February when he scored 201 runs in 10 innings.

I'd take a look at Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow from Yorkshire. Messrs. Vaughan & Boycott rate them very highly. Vaughan isn't as one-eyed as Sir Geoff but both are sound judges of technique and temperament.

What concerns me most is the lack of potential batsmen other than the likes of Root and Bairstow who are in their early twenties and the current squad where the youngest batsman is Cook who is 27. What is happening to our batsmen after the age of 22?

[PaulWinch again]

I think Bairstow and Root are worth a shout, Morgan if he works out a Test technique as well.

[PaulWinch again]

Swann comes to the party, finally. Right Sangka and Jaya are in this is critical, we need them both out quick.

[PaulWinch again]

Jaya gone, big wicket. Need Sangakarra and Chandimal gone as quick as possible.

[PaulWinch again]

The Sri Lankans batting sensibly now.

[PaulWinch again]

Some good mockers there! Sangakkara is gone, Swann is performing. We need to go through them quickly here, and I'm still not confident in our batting even if we do.

[paul_e]

Some good mockers there! Sangakkara is gone, Swann is performing. We need to go through them quickly here, and I'm still not confident in our batting even if we do.

Still think Swann is on the wane?  Genuine question, I think he's just as good now as he has been since he came into the side, i think the difference is we're less reliant on him now so we're not regularly seeing him destroy sides like he did a couple of years ago.  The thing with him is that, as he doesn't get massive turn, he is very reliant on changing pace and bounce and some of these sub-continent pitches take so much pace out of the ball (which is ideal for people who get lots of turn like Monty) that this tactic isn't all the great.  He is intelligent enough to make the flight and angle of delivery his deviation though and I guess that's what he's done this morning.

[Villan For Life]

I don't think Swann is on the wane. He is an important member of our attack, can contribute runs in the lower middle order and is a good slip catcher.

If Monty could offer something else with the bat or in the field then he may challenge Swann. Monty is a definate pick on sub-continetal pitches but elsewhere he's severely limited.

[Dave Cooper please]

Swann isn't on the wane, but as he hasn't really got any 'mystery balls' a lot of batsmen have got used to him, especially right-handers who can usually bat quite comfortably against him. He's got to vary his line and length a bit more to get wickets and this can sometimes lead to him conceding runs.

[PaulWinch again]

Well regardless he's bowled well today and looked threatening again. They are essentially 209-5, which may well be too much for us any given our appalling batting. However if we can bat decently, I'd say we need them out for less than a lead of 270-280 to stand a chance.