The International Cricket Thread

[taylorsworkrate]

I would like to say to Stokesy take it easy mate but doubt if he would listen. At least one team is trying to play cricket.

He has to play this way now. There's little chance of substantial runs from Broad onwards

[LeeB]

I would like to say to Stokesy take it easy mate but doubt if he would listen. At least one team is trying to play cricket.

He has to play this way now. There's little chance of substantial runs from Broad onwards

Looks like Broad may disagree

[Monty]

This would feel a lot different with Woakes or Sam Curran out there at 8...

[olaftab]

Is it time to think the unthinkable?

[German James]

Is it time to think the unthinkable?

LaLaLaLa... Not listening, not listening!

[Small Rodent]

Piss face Ponting having a moan about the catch now. Another reason to dislike the Aussie's, they think they know better than everyone else.

What is it with Aussie sportsmen? I know tons of Aussies in real life who aren't like this at all, but this constant chippy whinging gimmick they do whenever they put on a pair of gym shoes is such a thing. And incredibly boring.

They are a country with absolutely zero history. So much is put into sport as a national identity.

Well, a few people there have a bit of history. 40,000 years of it, in fact...

I know what you mean, but I think you also know what I mean!

[nigel]

I would like to say to Stokesy take it easy mate but doubt if he would listen. At least one team is trying to play cricket.

He has to play this way now. There's little chance of substantial runs from Broad onwards

Looks like Broad may disagree

Broad is capable of a decent score, so is a good partner for Stokes to have out there

[olaftab]

I think it's wrong strategy to miss out on these singles. Just get runs where you can.

[Monty]

Piss face Ponting having a moan about the catch now. Another reason to dislike the Aussie's, they think they know better than everyone else.

What is it with Aussie sportsmen? I know tons of Aussies in real life who aren't like this at all, but this constant chippy whinging gimmick they do whenever they put on a pair of gym shoes is such a thing. And incredibly boring.

They are a country with absolutely zero history. So much is put into sport as a national identity.

Well, a few people there have a bit of history. 40,000 years of it, in fact...

I know what you mean, but I think you also know what I mean!

Of course, of course. In fact, the people without the history are the ones responsible for denying that of the people with it. So to speak.

[tomd2103]

This is gripping stuff.  A couple more overs like the last one from Starc and the total will reduce quite quickly. 

[TonyD]

How was that not a wide from Green

[edgysatsuma89]

Fair play, Stokes is different gravy in these situations.

[olaftab]

How was that not a wide from Green

And Starc as well now. Just different form of cheating.

[TonyD]

Blimey that’s a big tv screen in the sky. 

[Rory]

I think Stokes needs to drop the bowling altogether.

It's one thing to be an aggressive pace bowler and destructive batsman in your early and mid 20s - maybe even a bit later these days if you're a t20 specialist.

But he's 32 now, and has been playing test cricket solidly for nearly ten years.

How many fast-bowling all-rounders have there been, really? And how many were still effective at both disciplines at 32? The most recent comparison is obviously Flintoff, who retired at 31.

Seam bowling is a very unnatural movement, and it's no coincidence that most of those with the greatest longevity have been very lean. Stokes is a big, heavy guy. With his style of fielding thrown in, it's no wonder his body is fucked.

I really think he could do with trimming down, even if that means losing some muscle, stop trying to do everything and spend his time in the nets. If he were to focus on his batting, he's a natural no.5 - the guy's got 12 test hundreds, for fuck's sake.

I can't really comment on his captaincy, because cricket captaincy is magic as far as I'm concerned, but in terms of his individual performances, he could either focus on being one of the best no.5s in the world for the next five or six years; or carry on with what he's currently doing for another 18/24 months until his body breaks down completely.

Agree with all of the above … however, just a point of order, one of the best all rounders of all time, Jacques Kallis retired when he was 38.

I think Stokes is better by comparison than most English all rounders of any generation but clearly his left knee is restricting his bowling and has done for a while. I agree. I would like to try him in place of Crawley but only when he’s fit and he adjusts to it mentally.

Point taken on Kallis, he was pure class, but even he was a much better batsman than bowler, plus he fielded in the slips. Stokes wants to do it all - not through ego, that's just the kind of bloke he is - and I think he'd be better concentrating on his batting 🙂