The Cricket Thread 2013

[Dave Cooper please]

I think you are over-anylising Peter.
I don't think there's a lot wrong with our batting, it's just that none of the buggers seem to be able to put in more than one or two consecutive decent performances.
Cook has recently beat the record for England centuries, Trott is as belligerent as ever, Bell was out of form but scored probably the match winning century yesterday...we will be fine if just two or three of them can string a few decent inning together.

 I think we need to look at this Test with regards to The Aussies, they battled like bastards!

[Pat McMahon]

Are the match highlights available anywhere?

They're currently being shown on Channel 5 +1. Other than that, maybe try the Channel 5 website.

Cheers Darlo - found it!

[KevinGage]

Hard to disagree with most of that Peter.

I was thinking of slotting Root back down the order to take the pressure off, but that might be seen as too much chopping and changing.  The better sides have consistency of selection, and after making the call to drop Compton, I think they'll persist with Root at the top of the order for a while. 

Bresnan for Bairstow might be an option though, if they want to remain with Finn on his home deck but want the security of more depth to the attack should he misfire again.  Broad seemed to be carrying a knock early on, and that punishing spell Anderson had to put himself through might have consequences, be that injury or fatigue going into the second test. 

[Dave Cooper please]

Nah, Anderson just had a bit of cramp, understandable given the heat. A few salt tablets and a couple of days rest and he'll be fine.
I wouldn't change the team, Finn will want to prove a point and Swann won't bowl that badly for the rest of his Test career.
The only change I'd consider would be to drop Bairstow who isn't contributing anything at the moment, maybe bring Morgan back for a bit of momentum down the order?

[Steve R]

We needed tailenders out today and only managed it because Anderson flogged himself to the edge and back again without losing any of his menace.

The thing is, Australia don't seem to have any genuine rabbits in the tail-end, they have about five No. 8s, none of them great batsmen but all capable of getting a few runs.

They seem to know how to coach them. Even Warne and McGrath ended up as useful/annoying runmakers.

Agar seems to have a good eye and temperament but a bit of a dodgy technique. I suspect he'll become a pretty good bat.

[paul_e]

6 is the problem position and has been since Collingwood retired.  You need someone who can dig in or swing depending on the situation and we just don't have anyone coming through who can do that other than Prior who i really think should move up a spot.  then at 7 you can go for a Morgan or Bairstow as the quick scoring option or you can bring in an extra bowler in the form of Bresnan to give you options.

England have had a fixed order for a long time now and it's not really giving us much by way of flexibility.

Finn - he needs to learn to bowl a fuller length on pitches like this.  His normal length is marginally on the short side but is effective on quick bouncy wickets but when the pitch is slow he just gives away cheap runs.  I know Broad has a lot of doubters but he bowled very well in the 2nd innings because he took his length about a foot closer so it wasn't dying in the pitch quite as much.  When Broad was 22-23 he was encouraged to vary his deliveries and try bowling full and bouncers, etc.  It made his figures poor for a while but has given him the ability to play the conditions, Finn needs to do the same and find a way of taking wickets on pitches he doesn't like.

To bring it all back round, this is why I like Bresnan, he's not a front line Anderson like wicket taker but he will get you 2-3 a match regardless of conditions and rarely goes at more than 3 an over.

Swann - yes he struggled at times but 4 wickets for 165 runs from 63 overs is perfectly acceptable for a spinner on a wicket that just didn't suit him, if it hadn't looked like it was going to turn massively on day 4 and 5 no one would be slating him.  He did a good job of keeping the rate down and building pressure, he just couldn't turn it into wickets.

s for the 'australia have a better attack' comment, that's rubbish I'm afraid, Swann is better than Agar, Jimmy is light years ahead of Siddle, Broad is better than Pattinson and there's little between Finn and Starc.  The latter 2 might go on to become very good bowlers but both, like Finn, need to learn how to offer something in bad conditions.  Remember Australia bowled in this pitch in what turned out to be easily it's most dangerous phase on the first morning and it was only because of Siddle that they really got the most out of it.

[Villan For Life]

Nah, Anderson just had a bit of cramp, understandable given the heat. A few salt tablets and a couple of days rest and he'll be fine.
I wouldn't change the team, Finn will want to prove a point and Swann won't bowl that badly for the rest of his Test career.
The only change I'd consider would be to drop Bairstow who isn't contributing anything at the moment, maybe bring Morgan back for a bit of momentum down the order?

Swann has a surprising poor record in tests at Trent Bridge. He's taken 7 wickets in 4 tests on his home ground. At Edgbaston & Headingley he's taken 10 wickets in the same number of tests. None of these grounds are spin-friendly. At the Oval he's taken 24 wickets in the same number of tests.

I'm sure that as the series progresses he will be as important a bowler as Jimmy.

[paul_e]

Nah, Anderson just had a bit of cramp, understandable given the heat. A few salt tablets and a couple of days rest and he'll be fine.
I wouldn't change the team, Finn will want to prove a point and Swann won't bowl that badly for the rest of his Test career.
The only change I'd consider would be to drop Bairstow who isn't contributing anything at the moment, maybe bring Morgan back for a bit of momentum down the order?

Swann has a surprising poor record in tests at Trent Bridge. He's taken 7 wickets in 4 tests on his home ground. At Edgbaston & Headingley he's taken 10 wickets in the same number of tests. None of these grounds are spin-friendly. At the Oval he's taken 24 wickets in the same number of tests.

I'm sure that as the series progresses he will be as important a bowler as Jimmy.

The Edgbaston and Headingley stats are probably misleading because both generally setup a pitch that is ultra quick for the seamers.  I'd guess Swann just doesn't bowl enough overs on them to take more wickets because the quicks bowl longer spells.

[PaulWinch again]

The same squad for Lords, not a surprise really. I would like to see Tremlett involved, but I doubt that'll happen under we go down to Australia.

[olaftab]

Same squad is the right decision however some bowling load will need to be removed from Anderson's shoulders otherwise he could end up missing later test matches.  Skipper requires and needs his other bowlers to be reliable and  in the match just gone Finn let him down. Need more spin options as well later in August.

[Chris Jameson]

I thought we didn't look quite right with Root at the top and Bairstow at 6. The latter is nothing more than one-day player with little or no technique for test-match level. 

This is one of the few occasions where I'm fairly confident I've seen far more of a player to be able to state quite confidently that Bairstow is not merely a 'one-day player'. He's played some brilliant Innings in the County Championship when he's been allowed to play, he came into this Test having not played any cricket whatsoever for 35 days for some bizarre reason. Too early to judge Root and Cook as openers after one Test.

[PaulWinch again]

Same squad is the right decision however some bowling load will need to be removed from Anderson's shoulders otherwise he could end up missing later test matches.  Skipper requires and needs his other bowlers to be reliable and  in the match just gone Finn let him down. Need more spin options as well later in August.

Root should be able to bowl some useful spin overs.

[ADVILLAFAN]

FUCKING GET THE FUCK IN. JIMMY ANDERSON I THINK I FUCKING LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Was out and missed the cricket yesterday, did I miss much?   :-)

[UK Redsox]

FUCKING GET THE FUCK IN. JIMMY ANDERSON I THINK I FUCKING LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Was out and missed the cricket yesterday, did I miss much?   :-)

Nah, it was just like the first four days. A totally dull test match

[Dante Lavelli]

The same squad for Lords, not a surprise really. I would like to see Tremlett involved, but I doubt that'll happen under we go down to Australia.

My mate is physio at Surrey and he said that has always been the plan as his injury was more serious than reported and they're trying to bring him through slowly.