The Cricket Thread 2016

[paul_e]

Superb bowling from the quicks, topley and willey keeping it tight and woakes benefitting to get wickets, really good as a unit.  Spinners have backed them as well, can't see them making 200

[Bernie]

So' Warner's 253 wasn't even enough to make him top scorer in the match- or to give his side a first innings lead!

[Bernie]

....and I see that Taylor didn't hit one 6 in his 290- some sort of record surely?

[OzVilla]

Mitchell Johnson announces his retirement from international cricket at the end of this Test Match.

Ends as the 4th leading wicket taker in Test Cricket for Australia behind Warne, McGrath and Lillee.

They've lost a few now over the last couple of months.

[Villan For Life]

Good performance in the field so far and it's nice to see a side other than England suffer a dramatic collapse and go 20-odd overs without hitting a boundary.

[PaulWinch again]

It's been good in the field, missed stumping aside, but Pakistan have been bloody awful.

[PaulWinch again]

Good effort to get them out for 208, although a slightly annoying 20 run partnership at the end.

[Chris Jameson]

I really hate Pakistan's over the top appealing, they sound like a bunch of kids desperate to get their own way.

[paul_e]

Nice to see Buttler get some runs, he's really needed that.  I liked that he took the 6 to finish it despite knowing that 2 4s would've been his 50, that attitude is good for us.

[PaulWinch again]

Excellent from Taylor and Buttler. Taylor is an absolute gem of a player who has fully earned his chance.

[paul_e]

Excellent from Taylor and Buttler. Taylor is an absolute gem of a player who has fully earned his chance.

Taylor looks like a player who was allowed to progress properly at first class level.  12-18 months ago i thought he had a problem with concentration which saw him make silly mistakes with 20-40 to his name, he seems to have resolved that now and is pushing on and getting his 50s.  He has the advantage of having very quick hands which makes the game easier but he has to be careful not to rely too much on that, which is the major change in him for me.

Praise for Woakes again for me as well, if he can keep taking important wickets I think he's definitely good enough to play test cricket, I can see him being the longer term replacement for Broad as someone who can get through a shedload of overs, if he can develop those unplayable spells that Broad brings then I'm certain he'll get his chance.  Like Moeen I think he's a very intelligent player who picks things up fast so good coaching is the key.

[Villan For Life]

One of the things that pleased me about the batting performance is that a couple of the top order failed and others stepped up to score runs. That is in stark contrast to the test side.

John Westerby in today's Times hints that matchfixing may be involved:

A sport that has been so recently sullied by corruption will inevitably, at times, be watched with varying degrees of scepticism. When the venue is Sharjah and the team in question are Pakistan, a ground and a side that have been implicated in past scandals, such scepticism only tends to intensify.

In a week when Chris Cairns, a former international captain, remains on trial in London on charges, which he denies, of perjury after being accused of match-fixing, the issue is prominent in the minds of many onlookers. Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, summed up the frustration neatly yesterday. “I hate the fact we watch cricket with so much suspicion,” he tweeted. “It shouldn’t be that way.”

The ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit had noticed no irregularity in betting patterns for the game. Sharjah, though, is still trying to shake off its troubled past. International cricket returned only in 2010 after a seven-year absence after the city’s frequent appearance in Justice Qayyum’s report into corruption.

It is these clouds that cause former players to question whether shadows are still being cast. “That’s a sensitive issue and something I’m not going to get involved in,” Eoin Morgan, the England captain, said.

I think that the suggestion is a bit harsh and at times the Pakistan bowlers caused our batsmen problems. I wonder if he makes the same suggestion every time that England suffer a similar collapse?

[PaulWinch again]

I suppose it's the 3 terrible run outs that raise suspicion a bit, but you'd think if you were match fixing you'd make it less obvious.

[tomd2103]

One of the things that pleased me about the batting performance is that a couple of the top order failed and others stepped up to score runs. That is in stark contrast to the test side.

John Westerby in today's Times hints that matchfixing may be involved:

A sport that has been so recently sullied by corruption will inevitably, at times, be watched with varying degrees of scepticism. When the venue is Sharjah and the team in question are Pakistan, a ground and a side that have been implicated in past scandals, such scepticism only tends to intensify.

In a week when Chris Cairns, a former international captain, remains on trial in London on charges, which he denies, of perjury after being accused of match-fixing, the issue is prominent in the minds of many onlookers. Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, summed up the frustration neatly yesterday. “I hate the fact we watch cricket with so much suspicion,” he tweeted. “It shouldn’t be that way.”

The ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit had noticed no irregularity in betting patterns for the game. Sharjah, though, is still trying to shake off its troubled past. International cricket returned only in 2010 after a seven-year absence after the city’s frequent appearance in Justice Qayyum’s report into corruption.

It is these clouds that cause former players to question whether shadows are still being cast. “That’s a sensitive issue and something I’m not going to get involved in,” Eoin Morgan, the England captain, said.

I think that the suggestion is a bit harsh and at times the Pakistan bowlers caused our batsmen problems. I wonder if he makes the same suggestion every time that England suffer a similar collapse?

England haven't got a notable history of match fixing or corruption.  As for the match itself, as a Bears fan I was pleased for Woakes.  I hope the form shown by Hales and Taylor over the past few games will earn them both a place in the test side. 

[Dr Butler]

I suppose it's the 3 terrible run outs that raise suspicion a bit, but you'd think if you were match fixing you'd make it less obvious.

like the over stepping the crease at Lords ? 

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