The Cricket Thread 2013

[PaulWinch again]

If we can't change our approach we will never progress. We absolutely must be more aggressive in the middle overs.

[paul_e]

I'm not sure I agree.

I think 290 is fine on a pitch like the oval, but you have to apply pressure to batsmen.

Where we needed some aggression was in the field.  We always have all the 'close' fielders pushed to the edge of the circle which means we give away a lot of singles.  If you let a team like sri lanka milk you for 4-5 singles a over with no risk for 25 overs (with the odd bad ball being sent to the rope to get the average up over 5) they've going to beat you.  We needed to spend the first 25 putting them under pressure and trying to get wickets, which means get some catchers in place, block the singles and invite them to hit the ball over the fielders.

Australia at their best were really aggressive in the field, and the current New Zealand team do the same by stopping the singles.

Sangakara, for example, the plan was clearly to bowl wide on his offside, from jimmy and bres particularly.  So why not have a slip, a short point and a short cover all in catching positions but also blocking singles.  You can still have 3 on the leg side, a third man and a couple sweeping the on side boundary to offer some protection if he'd gone aerial.

[JD]

England will beat the Kiwi's on Sunday. Today they had no answer for real world  class display from Sangakarra.  However India and Sri Lanka look a step above other teams in this tournament.

Don't underestimate NZ. They've just won a one day series against England, beaten Sri Lanka and would have beaten Aus as well. Dan Vettori is playing again and that only makes them stronger. England will have to play well to beat NZ. 

[PaulWinch again]

Since we are playing 7 batsmen we should be getting bigger totals, as it should allow our batsmen higher up to take risks. It's necessary to get a big score as well, because we need to make up 10 overs of our bowling with part timers.

[olaftab]

Paul I always thought test matches were won by batsmen and 1 dayers by bowlers. So I dont see why England need to play 7 batsmen. Surely 6 should be good enough for 50 overs and  that gives better bowling options? You have to have the bowling firpower to defend reasonable totals.

[paul_e]

It depends how much you trust Root and Bopara to consistently deliver 10 decent overs between them.  I think both and decent part timers but again, I think our conservative fielding means we aren't getting the potential benefit from them.  Where part timers get wickets is generally that teams 'go after' them.  We should encourage that and get catchers in place, let the batsman have a gamble.  Root/Bopara going for 7-8 an over should be the end of the world, but if they can get a couple of cheap wickets because the batsmen are trying to go big then their value becomes huge.

[PaulWinch again]

Paul I always thought test matches were won by batsmen and 1 dayers by bowlers. So I dont see why England need to play 7 batsmen. Surely 6 should be good enough for 50 overs and  that gives better bowling options? You have to have the bowling firpower to defend reasonable totals.

I agree, and I'm not sure Morgan justifies his place at the moment.

[PaulWinch again]

Also we can't afford to have Buttler getting one good innings in every 10.

[PaulWinch again]

Weather forecast is bad for the NZ game, what a surprise in Cardiff. We could be gone.

[eastie]

293 was a very competitive score - we bowled poorly and got what we deserved.

[olaftab]

Yes it was and  England didn't have enough in the  bowling department to win the game. It was poor bowling but the selection meant skipper had no alternatives.

[manic-road]

Essex were today all out for just 20.

Now thats bad.

[paul_e]

I'm not sure the bowling was that bad (bar a couple of poor overs), I think it was tactical decision that cost us more than anything else.  We need to force the game more than we have done yesterday, you can't contain and hope for inspiration/errors all the time, the captain needs to try to make things happen by being more aggressive in the field, particularly whilst we have runs to play with.

[andrew08]

Essex were today all out for just 20.

Now thats bad.

Essex were today all out for just 20.

Now thats bad.

Essex were today all out for just 20.

Now thats bad.

Including 4 boundaries as well!

[Chris Jameson]

Yorkshire top of the Championship. Just wanted to type that.