The management need to work on balanced team approach. For far too long England test team has tried to rely on bit part players and trying bat deep rather than 5 1 5. 5 batsman 1 outstanding wicket keeper 5 top bowlers. The 5th bowler should be an all rounder. That’s where Stokes started but now he is under far too much pressure being England’s second best batsman and second best bowler. He will only perform at top level when test of the team is stronger. Of course that’s where the problem is. Only Root, Anderson and Foakes are test match standard other than Stokes.
The big difference for India now is they have real depth and quality in their seam attack. That will enable them to compete around the world. If they have Ishant, Bumrah, Siraj, Yadav, and Shami fit and firing this summer they’ll have a seriously dangerous attack, and some selection headaches.
Foakes is a better keeper than Buttler, but anywhere other than the sub-continent the difference doesn't matter.Standing back, Buttler's not going to be much less effective than Foakes and, as a batsman, he's far better at shepherding the tail.Having said that, I think that Foakes has potential to be an excellent higher order batsman if there was any way of giving him more games.Hopefully, England won't have him sat around for another summer as a reserve and let him play some four day games for Surrey
Blimey we really thumped India today.
Quote from: PaulWinch again on March 12, 2021, 04:51:12 PMBlimey we really thumped India today.We're an exceptional team in the shorter formats, that's been clear for a few years now a number English players have starred in the various t20 leagues regularly and the knock-on effect of that is that we play well in the format in almost all conditions.