The Cricket Thread 2016

[Villan For Life]

Good article by Athers in today's Times

 Buttler’s batting has fallen short in recent times, having scored just one half-century in his past 15 innings


Mike Atherton Chief Cricket Correspondent, Dubai

Last updated at 12:01AM, October 28 2015
 
The limited-overs specialist has found out how tough the longest format can be

Two cricketing truths were made plain to England in Dubai. First, no matter how well you compete, one bad session, such as England suffered on the third morning when they lost seven wickets, can cost you a Test match. Second, of all the jobs that surround the England team, selection remains by far the most important.

Once selected, players are on their own. For all the talk of the influence of Mahela Jayawardena and other coaches, Test cricket is a harsh environment where rapid self-learning in sometimes alien conditions is the only way to succeed. Getting selection right in the first place is the most important task of those in and around the team with no playing responsibility.

England got themselves into a muddle initially on this tour by asking Moeen Ali to do a job that he is unsuited to do. To repeat what was written here before the series: “England will be mistaken if they employ Ali as an ersatz opener. Opening is a specialist position and either England have faith in Alex Hales, in which case he should play or they do not, in which case he should not be here in the first place. Ali’s principal role should be as a spinner and as a middle-order batsman at No 5.”

The way he bowled in the second innings of the second Test suggested that the compromise has had a detrimental effect on his batting and his bowling.

Now, though, England may feel that they have a bigger problem than Ali’s unsuitability at the top of the order and that is Jos Buttler’s form and confidence. Although he got a brute of a ball in the second innings in Dubai, his batting has fallen short in recent times, scoring just one half-century in his past 15 innings. There were signs that his confidence had started to crumble and that it was having an effect on his wicketkeeping.

Given that England have competed well, and had the measure of Pakistan for long periods, they will not want to make too many changes, indicating panic. Instead they will probably want to make one judicious change to stabilise a misfiring middle order, as they did during the Ashes when Gary Ballance was jettisoned.

Inertia can be as damaging as chopping and changing and as Trevor Bayliss admitted yesterday, leaving a player out can sometimes do him good. Jonny Bairstow has spent some time on his wicketkeeping skills, but they would have to be certain that he has done enough.

Only those closest to the dressing room know the state of Buttler’s mind. Is he shot? He is not outwardly combative, like, say, Matt Prior and is quieter and more reflective. Appearances can be deceptive, of course, either way: the quieter ones often have inner steel; those of a more outwardly confident nature can be bluffers. On the day after the match Bayliss indicated just how difficult it is even for those closest to the players to intuit such things. It was, he said, a “gut feel” decision, hinting that he was leaning towards giving Buttler a break.

From the outside it would appear that a break would do him good and there is no reason why he should not return. So far he has benefited from England’s recent determination to upgrade the importance of one-day cricket. In the past, Test players would be given more opportunity than they deserved in ODIs; now, with Buttler, that process has been reversed. England are desperate for him to succeed as they see destructive potential.

At present, though, he is discovering just how much more difficult Test cricket is than one-day cricket, where he remains hugely influential. Fundamentally this is because the longer the game, the more value is attached to the fall of a wicket, a truism that makes life especially difficult for a free-flowing batsman and wicketkeeper.

Every mistake with the gloves is magnified: Buttler has kept well in this series but an early drop in Pakistan’s second innings and a decision not to go for a catch later on were highlighted as much as the rest of his glovework. Such is the burden a wicketkeeper carries.

For Test batsmen, each visit to the crease carries an extra weight of responsibility compared with one-day or Twenty20 cricket because of how valuable a wicket is. Buttler does not have the licence to be the freewheeling thrasher he is in one-day games. As a result, it is a much harsher environment.

The change, then, is likely to bring James Taylor into the middle order (Bairstow, Ben Stokes and Buttler contributed just 92 runs between them in both innings in Dubai), where his low centre of gravity, and ability to manoeuvre the ball should help him to negotiate Pakistan’s spinners as well as if not better than some of his colleagues. Samit Patel could be considered, but given the way the pitches have yet to deteriorate as expected, and given how well Pakistan have played spin compared with seam, two spinners should probably suffice.

Any notion that Ian Bell should be demoted is premature. England have only three batsmen who are proven in Test cricket in all conditions at present and Bell is one of those, along with the captain and Joe Root. There were signs of a return to form in the second innings in Dubai, when his footwork seemed more decisive than for some time. Given the doubts over Cook’s fitness, Bell becomes even more important to the team.

The bowling, too, can remain unchanged. Any concerns about the way Pakistan eased the spinners around during the match need not detain us. After all, Ali and Adil Rashid remain the best on show for England and it was never going to be easy to control Pakistan’s batsmen having gifted a first-innings deficit of 136.

They can still cause problems given a pitch and a situation where England are ahead towards the latter stages of the match. Winning the toss would help too.

[Chris Jameson]

Cook's still the only batsman I have faith in.  If he's there at the crease we can score big, if he gets out I don't trust any of the other batters to take us onto big totals.  Including Root, talented though he is.  He just lacks a bit of the aura of obdurateness that Cook has that when he's in and set you know he's in for the long haul.

Root is officially the number 1 batsman in the world, what more do you want him to do?

I'm slightly baffled by Proposition's continued criticism of him!

[Villan For Life]

Cook's still the only batsman I have faith in.  If he's there at the crease we can score big, if he gets out I don't trust any of the other batters to take us onto big totals.  Including Root, talented though he is.  He just lacks a bit of the aura of obdurateness that Cook has that when he's in and set you know he's in for the long haul.

Root is officially the number 1 batsman in the world, what more do you want him to do?

I'm slightly baffled by Proposition's continued criticism of him!

Indeed. You don't want your number 4 being obdurate. You need them to score quickly against tiring attacks. The top 3 should have seen off the new ball so number 4 should make hay whilst the sun shines.  Of course that does assume that the top 3 have done their job which for me is behind many of our problems.

[PaulWinch again]

I really like that Root has come out and said that getting good 70s and 80s is not good enough and he needs to start converting into more hundreds. It's good to see his motivation is there.

[Proposition Joe]

Cook's still the only batsman I have faith in.  If he's there at the crease we can score big, if he gets out I don't trust any of the other batters to take us onto big totals.  Including Root, talented though he is.  He just lacks a bit of the aura of obdurateness that Cook has that when he's in and set you know he's in for the long haul.

Root is officially the number 1 batsman in the world, what more do you want him to do?

Root is the most gifted batsman we have. It would be nice though if someone other than Cook could take the team to 400+ now and again. If Cook goes for under 100 we tend to struggle to post really big totals.

I am not really wanting to single out Root for criticism, although I agree my posts do make it look like I have it in for him.

[spangley1812]

Woody rested for 3rd Test due to ongoing Ankle concerns

Plunkett to replace him?

[Villan For Life]

Woody rested for 3rd Test due to ongoing Ankle concerns

Plunkett to replace him?

Plunkett or Jordan for me. Plunkett is the better bowler but Jordan is a the best slip fielder that we have and if Cook can't field in the slips because of the split webbing he sustained in the first test then Jordan may get the nod. There is also the outside possibility that they will play a third spinner in Samit Patel.

Wood's ankle problems concern me. He plays back to back tests and has to rest his ankle. He is a wonderful bowler who reminds me a lot of Simon Jones. Jones had it all as a bowler it's unfortunate that Wood seems to be as unlucky injury-wise as Jones.

[PaulWinch again]

Buttler dropped for Taylor. I think that's the right call. Taylor deserves his opportunity and Buttler needs a break and to work on his game. What I don't understand is the debate around Patel or a seamer. Patel is a county player and is a better batsman than bowler, for me he adds nothing to a spin attack with Ali and Rashid.

[Whiney MacWhineface]

Pakistan 87-2 at lunch. Lost the toss again, pitch spinning (17 spin overs before lunch on the first day!), Patel in for Wood.

[PaulWinch again]

Interesting first session that and I think Cook did well getting Patel on early, if he's playing he's got to be involved.

[olaftab]

3 wickets is a good return at just after LT however this pitch could be interesting. Misbah and Younis are key pair.

[olaftab]

I see Fat Patel's little finger couldn't take his weight!

[Villan For Life]

A good afternoon session for England. We should be able to build on that after tea.

Anderson & Broad are bowling well with combined figures of 18-13-9-3

[Proposition Joe]

Just switched it on.  Broad has 1-1 after almost 9 overs.  What's going on there?  Is he just unplayable or bowling a really wide line?

[Proposition Joe]

The moment I read Misbah, my brain always starts up with "Shareef don't like it ...".  I cannot stop it.