The Cricket Thread 2016

[Villan For Life]

There aren't many of them returning home with their reputations intact are there?  Here are my ratings:

Cook 6: he seems to be returning to some semblance of form with the bat. He needs to be stronger in the field and at times he seems to captain by committee. I was mystified as to why Jordan is not a permanent fixture in the slips.

Trott 3: he's not an opener. It was good to see him back but his performance and the emergence of Ballance means his career at this level is over, unless weight of runs for the Bears and injury/loss of form from others gives him a fresh opportunity.

Ballance 7: solid and dependable. I bet his would love to go to the crease after a solid opening partnership.

Bell 5: his ton in Antigua aside a very poor series with the bat compounded by some poor shot selection.

Root 8: a good tour and he is fast becoming the great hope of English cricket. He seems unfazed by the pressure and plays with a maturity beyond his years. Bowled well in the second innings in Barbados.

Ali 6: Victim of two stupid run outs, one of which was his own fault. Should not have been selected as first choice spinner in the second and third tests as he was dreadfully undercooked. He really struggled with the ball.

Stokes 6: he needs to channel his aggression into something positive. The Aussies will target him. I like his spikiness but needs to contribute with bat and ball.

Buttler 6: Hasn't dominated a test with the bat yet, however he batted sensibly with the tail in the second innings in Barbados. Needs to work on his keeping.

Jordan 8: What a slip catcher! His confidence grew and bowled exceptionally well in Barbados.

Broad 6: his bowling seems to be returning to previous levels but his confidence is fragile. His batting has deteriorated over the past couple of years, where is the batsman that scored 169 in a test?

Anderson 9: once he got the monkey of Botham's record off his back, he bowled with class and skill. He carries the attack at times and we are heavily reliant on him.

We missed an opportunity to blood a good young opener in Adam Lyth. It's understandable why they went with the Trott experiment given his test record but that experiment should have ended after the second test.

Moores is a poor coach and we lack the killer instinct that we had in getting to number one in the test rankings in 2011. He should carry the can for a particularly dire winter for English cricket in all forms of the game.

[olaftab]

That's got to be the end of Moores. Failing to win that series is dismal.

Not his fault. He can't perfume this pig of a team's performance. Almost every player failed and when that happens it's not the Coach it's the goods he's been given is the problem.

[Villan For Life]

That's got to be the end of Moores. Failing to win that series is dismal.

Not his fault. He can't perfume this pig of a team's performance. Almost every player failed and when that happens it's not the Coach it's the goods he's been given is the problem.

Surely he has input into squad/team selection?

[PaulWinch again]

There's enough good players in that team to beat the Windies. One of our main issues is conservatism and that's a hall mark of Cook and Moores. I like Andrew Strauss, but I fear he's not the man to shake us up in the Director of cricket role.

I'd say the positives from this series are Cook's return to form, Ballance, Root and Anderson. Also Broad starting to look like a quality bowler again and Jordan's fielding.

[aj2k77]

We really could do with solidifying the opening partnership. Ballance keeps coming in basically as an opener. I still think we were too hasty in dropping Carberry, after an extremely tough ashes series away he still managed to get 30+ in 6 of his 10 innings, which wasn't too bad. It appears his face didn't fit again.

[spangley1812]

Trotty has retired from International cricket with immediate effect

A shame but inevitable I am afraid

[Chris Jameson]

Bet Adam Lyth wishes he'd taken that decision before the shambles in the West Indies. Wasted a great opportunity to see if he's up to the task of Test opener.

[peter w]

shambolic all round. How many more clean sweeps do we need? Graves is a good start but Strauss? seriously? Unless he surprises us all then it'll be same old same old.

[PaulWinch again]

Well done on a fine international career Trotty you've made the right decision.

[tomd2103]

Well done on a fine international career Trotty you've made the right decision.

Yep.  You do have to wonder about the impact playing pretty much all their cricket in the international arena has on players. 

[pooligan]

Sad to hear about Trotty deciding to retire from International cricket,but i think it is the right decision .I hope he can now concentrate on playing for the Bears,as at the moment we sure could do with a in form Trott

[UK Redsox]

Geoffrey on Cook

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/england/11582181/Alastair-Cook-is-so-up-himself-he-thinks-he-is-untouchable-as-England-captain.html

[PaulWinch again]

Quite an inflammatory article that.

[john e]

Geoffrey on Cook

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/england/11582181/Alastair-Cook-is-so-up-himself-he-thinks-he-is-untouchable-as-England-captain.html

gota laugh Boycott talking about Moores and Cook being cautious,conservative, careful and stubborn individuals
the exact words you would use to describe him

[tomd2103]

Quite an inflammatory article that.

Not really sure Cook should be making such comments about the incoming chairman.  To be honest, if the turnaround for the New Zealand tests hadn't been such a short one, it might have been worth relieving both Cook and Moores of their duties as captain and coach respectively.  I can't see us going anywhere under their leadership and we need a fresh approach.