The International Cricket Thread 2018

[PaulWinch again]

Yeah I’d say it’s pretty harsh. I’ve never had the impression that Cook or Jimmy don’t put the hard yards in.

[paul_e]

Key thing here is to not let the disruptions to the day get to us. We've lost loads of time already and I suspect it'll be rained off at some point this afternoon so give nothing away, accumulate sensibly whilst you're there and work our way into the lead. The exception to that is that I'd let Bess go for it a little because they're clearly going to try to rough him up a bit and bounce hi m out but that does create scoring chances.

[paul_e]

Losing Root was frustrating but taking the lead with only 3 down is still a very good place to be after the winter we had.

Fairplay to Bess, he's looked a much better batsman than a bowler so far.

[paul_e]

That's a brillaint ball to get rid of Malan to be fair, not sure there's much he can do about that one.

[Villafirst]

Sam Curran isn't ready to play test cricket, looks a bit lost to me, he's not even looked close to getting a wicket.

Olly Stone or even Henry Brookes would do better.....but they don't play for a Southern County!

[tomd2103]

Yeah I’d say it’s pretty harsh. I’ve never had the impression that Cook or Jimmy don’t put the hard yards in.

Maybe a bit harsh on reflection (particularly on Anderson), but I was talking more about their best form rather than how hard they try.  For some time now it seems to have come on the back of poor performances and criticism and it is almost as if they need that to fire them up to perform at their best. 

Broad’s reaction to the criticism he has received is reminiscent of Gabby’s ‘sshhhh’ antics and as Michael Vaughan pointed out, it has come on the back of good form in one innings.  But, that performance has probably secured for the India series, where he probably start slowly again, get criticised and then produce a performance towards the end of the series that will secure his p,ace on the winter tour. 

[paul_e]

Sam Curran isn't ready to play test cricket, looks a bit lost to me, he's not even looked close to getting a wicket.

Olly Stone or even Henry Brookes would do better.....but they don't play for a Southern County!

Having seen him with the bat now I'm certain that he's a batting all-rounder which means he'll be useful cover for Stokes.

On the game, Buttler has been excellent here and fully justified his selection, hung around, built a score until he was left with the bunnies and now he's smashing it out of the ground to push the score along.  Lead is 170 now which is massive in these conditions, we could easily win by an innings from here. The real problem is that, with broad just gone, Buttler might run out of partners.

[tomd2103]

Sam Curran isn't ready to play test cricket, looks a bit lost to me, he's not even looked close to getting a wicket.

Olly Stone or even Henry Brookes would do better.....but they don't play for a Southern County!

Having seen him with the bat now I'm certain that he's a batting all-rounder which means he'll be useful cover for Stokes.

On the game, Buttler has been excellent here and fully justified his selection, hung around, built a score until he was left with the bunnies and now he's smashing it out of the ground to push the score along.  Lead is 170 now which is massive in these conditions, we could easily win by an innings from here. The real problem is that, with broad just gone, Buttler might run out of partners.

Yeah shame Broad and Anderson couldn’t hang around as Buttler was really going through the gears and it was great to watch.  Good start with the ball this afternoon as well.

[UK Redsox]

Pretty straight forward in the end.

Good to see Bess taking wickets

[PaulWinch again]

Bess has done very nicely.

[paul_e]

Yep, I hought Bess struggled with the ball last test but today was much more like it.  The good thing with him and Curran getting game time is that they've both got lots of years to offer, even if they're not quite there yet getting them experience early will help them with their bowling because they'll have seen that they need to adapt.  I'd be looking at getting 2-3 more around that age some experience over the summer as well so when the likes of Cook, Broad and Anderson drop out we've got players who know what's expected ready to make the step up. Hameed is already on that list and I suspect Brookes will get a look before long if he carries on as he has, an 18 year old taking wickets like he has, especially bowling at real pace, wil lcatch attention even in division 2.

[Villa Lew]

England facing joint 2nd highest ODI run chase of all time.

[ADVILLAFAN]

Scotland’s highest ever score.

[Chris Jameson]

Way Bairstow has started they’ll not need anywhere near 50 overs.

[Villan For Life]

Way Bairstow has started they’ll not need anywhere near 50 overs.

It was a pity he got out, I think an individual world record ODI score was there for the taking today.