The Cricket Thread 2016

[Villan For Life]

I wonder if Cook is actually the problem.

This is essentially the same core group that Strauss led to such success yet under Cook they seem to be fractious and dispirited. Maybe Strauss had the ability to man-manage all of the personalities and certainly when you're winning it's easier but I find Cook to be not very likeable and a bit snidey. He's a bit too school prefect for my tastes.

[Villan For Life]

Ali does not deserve to be dropped, but I think we should take a look at Lyth as an opener in the Caribbean. I'd rather see a player opening in the first Ashes test who has test experience rather than a rookie.

I hope Trotty's dark days are well behind him and he once again prospers in an England shirt.

[paul_e]

Regarding Ali,he was playing against a dreadful India side,who any cricket follower knows do not travel very well. Even England managed to thrash them.

It was also the best spinner performance against India outside of India for about 30 years, by any nation.  That's excellent bowling and he was rightly praised for it at the time.

Precisely it was outstanding bowling. Also I think his batting gets overlooked. He's generally asked to do a job of upping the tempo and plays unselfishly. He has the ability, his brilliant century against Sri Lanka shows that.

Yes his bowling performance against India was superb and hopefully he can build on that and become a good all-rounder.  Producing top form, he could make that position at six his own, allowing four seamers to be picked as well.  At the risk of repeating myself, I think Rashid will get a chance in the Carribean  and if he does well, Ali might struggle to get back in

Given the lack of a clear opening partner for Cook I'd still like to see him get a run at the top of the order.

Ooh, I'm really not sure about that.  There are still major questions about his playing of the short ball and that's not great for an opener.  Besides, it looks like Trott and Lyth will be battling it out to open with Cook.

but he never had those problems at county level, this is hat I mean about settling, he needs time to adjust to the demands.  His focus last summer was bowling because we needed him to be an international class spinner and he delivered.  To me the changes in his bowling between the SL tests and Indian tests was so huge that it showed that he's adaptable and talented enough to make the required changes to his game.  I think his batting technique and approach is solid enough that he shouldn't be written off as a top order batsman.

[peter w]

Other than THAT series Cook has done very little to warrant his place in the team at test level. I'm not too sure for all his plaudits that he actually deserves them. His captaincy has been questioned at every turn and it appears that we have become starstruck because of Australia, his looks, and his lovely southern accent. He hits the odd nice 4 but I would very much question his place in the team. That he is as good as we've got at the top order says as much about our present state as anything. Or, do we need to get a coach in that simply needs to get them playing without fear?

[Villan For Life]

Regarding Ali,he was playing against a dreadful India side,who any cricket follower knows do not travel very well. Even England managed to thrash them.

It was also the best spinner performance against India outside of India for about 30 years, by any nation.  That's excellent bowling and he was rightly praised for it at the time.

Precisely it was outstanding bowling. Also I think his batting gets overlooked. He's generally asked to do a job of upping the tempo and plays unselfishly. He has the ability, his brilliant century against Sri Lanka shows that.

Yes his bowling performance against India was superb and hopefully he can build on that and become a good all-rounder.  Producing top form, he could make that position at six his own, allowing four seamers to be picked as well.  At the risk of repeating myself, I think Rashid will get a chance in the Carribean  and if he does well, Ali might struggle to get back in

Given the lack of a clear opening partner for Cook I'd still like to see him get a run at the top of the order.

Ooh, I'm really not sure about that.  There are still major questions about his playing of the short ball and that's not great for an opener.  Besides, it looks like Trott and Lyth will be battling it out to open with Cook.

but he never had those problems at county level, this is hat I mean about settling, he needs time to adjust to the demands.  His focus last summer was bowling because we needed him to be an international class spinner and he delivered.  To me the changes in his bowling between the SL tests and Indian tests was so huge that it showed that he's adaptable and talented enough to make the required changes to his game.  I think his batting technique and approach is solid enough that he shouldn't be written off as a top order batsman.

If he continues his previous form then he's not far off being considered a genuine all-rounder.

[Villan For Life]

Other than THAT series Cook has done very little to warrant his place in the team at test level. I'm not too sure for all his plaudits that he actually deserves them. His captaincy has been questioned at every turn and it appears that we have become starstruck because of Australia, his looks, and his lovely southern accent. He hits the odd nice 4 but I would very much question his place in the team. That he is as good as we've got at the top order says as much about our present state as anything. Or, do we need to get a coach in that simply needs to get them playing without fear?

Cook has looked lost and the side rudderless since the end of the last Ashes series. Maybe a new coach is needed. It worked wonders for the Aussies with Lehmann and an under performing, Ashes-losing squad. He has really turned them around.

[PaulWinch again]

Regarding Ali,he was playing against a dreadful India side,who any cricket follower knows do not travel very well. Even England managed to thrash them.

It was also the best spinner performance against India outside of India for about 30 years, by any nation.  That's excellent bowling and he was rightly praised for it at the time.

Precisely it was outstanding bowling. Also I think his batting gets overlooked. He's generally asked to do a job of upping the tempo and plays unselfishly. He has the ability, his brilliant century against Sri Lanka shows that.

Yes his bowling performance against India was superb and hopefully he can build on that and become a good all-rounder.  Producing top form, he could make that position at six his own, allowing four seamers to be picked as well.  At the risk of repeating myself, I think Rashid will get a chance in the Carribean  and if he does well, Ali might struggle to get back in

Given the lack of a clear opening partner for Cook I'd still like to see him get a run at the top of the order.

Ooh, I'm really not sure about that.  There are still major questions about his playing of the short ball and that's not great for an opener.  Besides, it looks like Trott and Lyth will be battling it out to open with Cook.

but he never had those problems at county level, this is hat I mean about settling, he needs time to adjust to the demands.  His focus last summer was bowling because we needed him to be an international class spinner and he delivered.  To me the changes in his bowling between the SL tests and Indian tests was so huge that it showed that he's adaptable and talented enough to make the required changes to his game.  I think his batting technique and approach is solid enough that he shouldn't be written off as a top order batsman.

If he continues his previous form then he's not far off being considered a genuine all-rounder.

I'd say he is a genuine all rounder.

[PaulWinch again]

Cook was a fine player, I don't want to get too revionist on this. But he's had technical issues before and addressed them. The worry is now that he doesn't appear to get out of a rut.

[peter w]

He was a final test series hundred against Pakistan away from being dropped for the series in Australia that made him.

[Villan For Life]

He was a final test series hundred against Pakistan away from being dropped for the series in Australia that made him.

Strauss was the same, I think it was a series in New Zealand where he almost faced his nadir.

[Villan For Life]

More violent hitting this time from Martin Guptil. 237 off 163 balls with 137 off the last 52 balls.

The Kiwis hit 15 sixes in their innings, which is more than England scored in the entire tournament. So far the Windies have hit 16.

We are so far away from this kind of cricket and it will take years to get us anywhere near it.

[PaulWinch again]

Brilliant innings by Guptill. I really hope NZ win it.

[spangley1812]

New Zealand v India final for me

[PaulWinch again]

The brilliance of NZ across all formats now puts England to shame.

[passitsideways]

Feel like the toss will be critical in Sydney. India have bowled very well all tournament but I fancy us getting into them when they don't have the backing of a massive total; the same probably applies to them in regards to our bowling.

There are some noticeable soft spots though - Wahab brought it up last night; and our bowling was creaky against Sri Lanka, who might have even won if Chandimal hadn't hurt himself. I'd love to see a trans-Tasman final though - would be a brilliant cap on a rather good tournament.