The Cricket Thread 2013

[paul_e]

The pitch  isn't blameless, the players struggling to get 'set', even rogers who got a century never looked settled.  yes they're poor shots but they're on the back of indecision because they don't trust the pitch.  It's not just the batsmen either, in the field everyone looks really cautious of the bounce as well.  There has been 1 score over 300 on the pitch in the county championship, that's not a coincidence and fits entirely with what you can see here, this pitch is tough to bat on.

[taylorsworkrate]

The pitch isn't a road, but it certainly doesn't look like a 230 plays 270 wicket. I'd put it down to 2 decent attacks and 2 very poor batting line ups. England should really have made 350 in the first innings.

We need to somehow muster another 200 runs to give ourselves an outside chance. Highly unlikely given how woeful the batting has been all series.

[taylorsworkrate]

I'd like to see Flower publicly criticise some of our batsmen. They seem far too content in their little comfort zones and appear to face no consequence for continual failure

[peter w]

But the stats do show that its not a 300 pitch and having seen both teams bat one it does suggest the stats are right.

[paul_e]

The pitch isn't a road, but it certainly doesn't look like a 230 plays 270 wicket. I'd put it down to 2 decent attacks and 2 very poor batting line ups. England should really have made 350 in the first innings.

We need to somehow muster another 200 runs to give ourselves an outside chance. Highly unlikely given how woeful the batting has been all series.

That's the point, it is a ~250 wicket if you look into the stats over the summer (and it's closer to 200 for 2nd innings).

All the commentators on both sky and tm have said it's a pitch you have to score quickly on because at some point you'll get  ball with your name on it, Broad and Harris in particular have proven that true.

[paul_e]

The stat I'd like to see is the deviation  in the amount of pace lost in the pitch.  Every now and then 1 seems to not 'stick' as much and just gets to the batsman quicker than they expect.

[taylorsworkrate]

The pitch isn't a road, but it certainly doesn't look like a 230 plays 270 wicket. I'd put it down to 2 decent attacks and 2 very poor batting line ups. England should really have made 350 in the first innings.

We need to somehow muster another 200 runs to give ourselves an outside chance. Highly unlikely given how woeful the batting has been all series.

That's the point, it is a ~250 wicket if you look into the stats over the summer (and it's closer to 200 for 2nd innings).

All the commentators on both sky and tm have said it's a pitch you have to score quickly on because at some point you'll get  ball with your name on it, Broad and Harris in particular have proven that true.

Thats a fair point, but county pitches are generally prepared with more life in them, either to suit the home county or to ensure a positive result as points for a draw are minimal and matches only last 4 days. They don't have to worry about the crowd as much as there's usually a couple of hundred there.

Test match pitches on the other hand are, most of the time more placid, to ensure as much play as possible as its a county's money spinner.

You obviously make a fair and valid point about the stats at Durham this year, but from what I saw of this pitch on day 1, 238 was by no means an acceptable score. The fact that Lyon took 4 wickets without the ball spinning alludes to that.

[taylorsworkrate]

But the stats do show that its not a 300 pitch and having seen both teams bat one it does suggest the stats are right.

I personally think that says more about the low quality of the batting line ups

[taylorsworkrate]

Australia showed it can't have been a bad pitch to bat on. They got to 205 for 4 before they collapsed, bought on by a couple of poor shots and a weak tail.

England got to 150 for 2 also and batting looked pretty easy at that point.

[peter w]

The pitch isn't a road, but it certainly doesn't look like a 230 plays 270 wicket. I'd put it down to 2 decent attacks and 2 very poor batting line ups. England should really have made 350 in the first innings.

We need to somehow muster another 200 runs to give ourselves an outside chance. Highly unlikely given how woeful the batting has been all series.

That's the point, it is a ~250 wicket if you look into the stats over the summer (and it's closer to 200 for 2nd innings).

All the commentators on both sky and tm have said it's a pitch you have to score quickly on because at some point you'll get  ball with your name on it, Broad and Harris in particular have proven that true.

Thats a fair point, but county pitches are generally prepared with more life in them, either to suit the home county or to ensure a positive result as points for a draw are minimal and matches only last 4 days. They don't have to worry about the crowd as much as there's usually a couple of hundred there.

Test match pitches on the other hand are, most of the time more placid, to ensure as much play as possible as its a county's money spinner.

You obviously make a fair and valid point about the stats at Durham this year, but from what I saw of this pitch on day 1, 238 was by no means an acceptable score. The fact that Lyon took 4 wickets without the ball spinning alludes to that.

So, to logically follow it on, its the pitch. Batsman are getting themselves out because they realise runs will be at a premium. Where you are right is questioning the batsmen's ability, on both sides, to get those runs.

[taylorsworkrate]

The pitch isn't a road, but it certainly doesn't look like a 230 plays 270 wicket. I'd put it down to 2 decent attacks and 2 very poor batting line ups. England should really have made 350 in the first innings.

We need to somehow muster another 200 runs to give ourselves an outside chance. Highly unlikely given how woeful the batting has been all series.

That's the point, it is a ~250 wicket if you look into the stats over the summer (and it's closer to 200 for 2nd innings).

All the commentators on both sky and tm have said it's a pitch you have to score quickly on because at some point you'll get  ball with your name on it, Broad and Harris in particular have proven that true.

Thats a fair point, but county pitches are generally prepared with more life in them, either to suit the home county or to ensure a positive result as points for a draw are minimal and matches only last 4 days. They don't have to worry about the crowd as much as there's usually a couple of hundred there.

Test match pitches on the other hand are, most of the time more placid, to ensure as much play as possible as its a county's money spinner.

You obviously make a fair and valid point about the stats at Durham this year, but from what I saw of this pitch on day 1, 238 was by no means an acceptable score. The fact that Lyon took 4 wickets without the ball spinning alludes to that.

So, to logically follow it on, its the pitch. Batsman are getting themselves out because they realise runs will be at a premium. Where you are right is questioning the batsmen's ability, on both sides, to get those runs.

I'd say its more batsmen getting themselves out because of either poor form, poor technique or an unwillingness to work hard enough to play a proper test match innings. Trott looked in excellent form on day one, yet played a lazy half hearted shot to a nothing ball from Lyon.

Pietersen strangely played for spin when there was none, and Bairstow backed himself into such a corner that he played an awful sweep shot. Broad and Swann gave their wickets away.

I think South Africa would have got at least 350 on this pitch in the first innings, probably over 400

[taylorsworkrate]

Must get to tea losing no more wickets.

[Chris Smith]

But the stats do show that its not a 300 pitch and having seen both teams bat one it does suggest the stats are right.

I personally think that says more about the low quality of the batting line ups

England do not have a poor batting line up. A few are out of touch out but they've got players with very healthy test averages who haven't become bad players overnight. It's also a pitch that is doing a bit in overcast conditions.

[taylorsworkrate]

But the stats do show that its not a 300 pitch and having seen both teams bat one it does suggest the stats are right.

I personally think that says more about the low quality of the batting line ups

England do not have a poor batting line up. A few are out of touch out but they've got players with very healthy test averages who haven't become bad players overnight. It's also a pitch that is doing a bit in overcast conditions.

It's a bit more than overnight though Chris. I think Paul Winch gave us the stat that England have only scored over 400 8 times in the last 50 or so attempts. I was of course incorrect by saying were poor, but as a collective unit, ever since the India series at home in 2011 they haven't performed well enough.

We've won games mostly because the bowlers have generally been excellent, and there's been one batsman who has got us out of a precarious situation a number of times.

I don't know whether getting to No 1 went to a few of the players heads a little, but I wouldn't rule it out.

[taylorsworkrate]

Anyway, Bell and Pietersen are batting nicely here. I think whatever is in this pitch, it's very much with the new ball which makes Cook and Trotts shots all the more disappointing