The International Cricket Thread

[taylorsworkrate]

25 from 15 and out for Duckett. Stokes and McCullum probablu view that as some sort of success

[olaftab]

Sibley is in fine form and must replace Crawley at Lord's.

[taylorsworkrate]

Sibley is in fine form and must replace Crawley at Lord's.

More chance of Anderson getting an international renaissance than Sibley playing for England whilst McCullum and Stokes are in charge!

[Ducksworthy]

Decided to learn the basic rules for my first match of cricket for Sri Lanka - Bangladesh since I’m in Sri Lanka.

From what I can tell and how it felt, they fought back really well and ballsed it up for themselves right on the cusp of turning it around. A very familiar feeling.

[PaulWinch again]

When this team chucks in a stinker it really does. They’re getting smashed to pieces here.

[PaulWinch again]

Root’s gone mentally in this game.

[taylorsworkrate]

That was a really good ball in fairness. Woakes, Carse and Tongue should be watching India's seam bowlers (without Bumrah) and feel massively embarrassed. They've got so much more out of conditions than they have.

Piss poor performance from the start when Stokes made a horrendous decision to bowl first. Bowlers are utter shite to a man and besides Brook and Smith the batting has been pathetic.

[cdbearsfan]

72 down, 536 to go. Piece of piss.

[taylorsworkrate]

Without the Brook and Smith partnership, England would probably be looking at the biggest defeat by runs in test history. Thats how pathetic the performance has been

[PaulWinch again]

Well yeah but that’s an odd argument, because the Brook/Smith partnership does exist and they’re both part of the team so you can’t just erase it.

England have been poor, but the biggest lesson they need to learn is you can’t always win and a draw can be positive. Also if you have a particular way you like to go about games that’s fine, but don’t let it blind you into poor tactical decisions.

[taylorsworkrate]

Well yeah but that’s an odd argument, because the Brook/Smith partnership does exist and they’re both part of the team so you can’t just erase it.

England have been poor, but the biggest lesson they need to learn is you can’t always win and a draw can be positive. Also if you have a particular way you like to go about games that’s fine, but don’t let it blind you into poor tactical decisions.

It was more to make a point about how horrendous the other 9 players have been in this match. We've had to have a miracle partnership to prevent an unbelievable humiliation.

Poor is a massive understatement as to how England have played in this match. The bowling has been as bad as I've seen in my 30 years of watching England. Though the attack is very poor so its difficult to expect much more from them really. Batting wise has been embarrassing besides Smith and Brook. 7 ducks and the probability of more tomorrow on a flat pitch.

I would geuninely change the entire attack for next test. I agree with your previous comment that it is extreme to do that, but which of the bowlers over the course of the last two games have justified keeping their place in the team? India will be desperate for us to rock up at Lords with Woakes, Carse, Tongue and Bashir in the line up.

I'd pull the plug on Crawley now too. Averaging 30 over a long period in the team is crap and todays shot was the final straw for me. Who comes in I'm not sure but Crawley is not going to work for this series or in Australia.

Stokes and McCullum have been largely good for the test team. A poor summer and a thrashing in Australia could undo a lot of that. Hopefully they will learn and learn quickly

[Exeter 77]

1500 runs scored in 4 days tells you everything you need about the pitch.

[PaulWinch again]

I think you’re reacting though - the attack definitely needs a refresh. It isn’t the attack they’d pick in an ideal world. One of the big problems is Woakes, Carse, and Tongue are all coming off injuries too.

The decision from Stokes at the toss was wrong and it really didn’t help the bowlers. Like I said, England need to be really careful they don’t let how they like to approach games (chase) cloud their judgement when it isn’t the right thing to do.

There is talent in all the bowlers, but the circumstances aren’t great. Carse isn’t an opening bowler in England, Tongue is more impact, and Woakes needs assistance from the pitch and is rusty. In a better balanced attack each of them can add value.

The batsmen it’s just a really bad game, both Pope and Crawley performed in the last game. Root is Root, Duckett has had a quiet game but is one of the best in the world. Stokes is out of nick.

It looks really bad, but it’s a bad week. I wouldn’t draw too many sweeping conclusions at this point - if they play like this for the remainder of the series then yeah that’d be a big concern.

[taylorsworkrate]

1500 runs scored in 4 days tells you everything you need about the pitch.

We've also had 7 batsmen get ducks on the pitch though.....

[taylorsworkrate]

I think you’re reacting though - the attack definitely needs a refresh. It isn’t the attack they’d pick in an ideal world. One of the big problems is Woakes, Carse, and Tongue are all coming off injuries too.

The decision from Stokes at the toss was wrong and it really didn’t help the bowlers. Like I said, England need to be really careful they don’t let how they like to approach games (chase) cloud their judgement when it isn’t the right thing to do.

There is talent in all the bowlers, but the circumstances aren’t great. Carse isn’t an opening bowler in England, Tongue is more impact, and Woakes needs assistance from the pitch and is rusty. In a better balanced attack each of them can add value.

The batsmen it’s just a really bad game, both Pope and Crawley performed in the last game. Root is Root, Duckett has had a quiet game but is one of the best in the world. Stokes is out of nick.

It looks really bad, but it’s a bad week. I wouldn’t draw too many sweeping conclusions at this point - if they play like this for the remainder of the series then yeah that’d be a big concern.

I agree about the batsmen (besides Crawley whose overall record is poor and he isn't showing signs of improving).

I disagree about the bowling. Its conceded over 1800 runs in 4 innings, only looking threatening when India had a very long tail at Headingley. Carse I agree could be ok as a change bowler. Woakes unless its a green top/heavily overcast shouldn't be considered. I just don't see it with Tongue (who also struggled badly against Zimbabwe) and Bashir is a long way away from being international quality (though may get there in a few years).