The International Cricket Thread

[tomd2103]

Dawson called up is interesting.

There is no other choice. I would like to have seen "Sibley replaces Crawley and Pope's place goes to a bollard" headline.

One of the reasons Cook put forward for Dawson's inclusion is that he offers some batting as well.  Not sure we will see Woakes play at Old Trafford so there probably needs to be batting added to the tail.

Will be interesting to see what they do in the next test - does Carse get a rest?  Can Archer do consecutive matches? 

[tomd2103]

Crawley tends to pull a big score out of the bag when he needs to, he scored 189 against the Crims in the last Ashes but other than a ton against Zimbabwe earlier this season he’s done nothing since.

He’s a frustrating player to watch but I wouldn’t personally change the batting order right now. The Crawley/Duckett opening partnership has added to important runs at the top of the order which allows others further down the order to play with more freedom.

They will need to take a look at Bethell in red ball cricket before the Ashes but time is running out. There are only two more tests before the first Ashes test so if he doesn’t play in this series then you can’t play him in the Ashes as that is too much of a risk.

I’d pick Leach for Bashir and rest Woakes, bringing Atkinson back to replace him. It was also stated that Mark Wood may play in the 5th test so they need to give him some action too.

I think the thinking with Crawley is that he has done reasonably well against the Aussies, so can't really see him being left out until after the Ashes really.  If Bethell is to come in, the only real potential spot would be replacing Pope at 3.

[PaulWinch again]

I think there’s a really good player in Pope, but it’s not as a three. His pattern of starting well in series and then there being a trend of diminishing returns suggests it’s either teams work him out or he unravels a bit. I think he’s suited to lower in the order. But the question is whether there’s a spot there, probably not at the moment.

We’ve seen very little of Bethell, but he seems like a calmer character at the crease and also looks to have a more solid defensive technique.

We won’t win the Ashes if the number 3 is averaging 30 odd and that figure being heavily influenced by a single big score.

[Villan For Life]

I think there’s a really good player in Pope, but it’s not as a three. His pattern of starting well in series and then there being a trend of diminishing returns suggests it’s either teams work him out or he unravels a bit. I think he’s suited to lower in the order. But the question is whether there’s a spot there, probably not at the moment.

We’ve seen very little of Bethell, but he seems like a calmer character at the crease and also looks to have a more solid defensive technique.

We won’t win the Ashes if the number 3 is averaging 30 odd and that figure being heavily influenced by a single big score.

The issue is that they’ve got to give Bethell a couple of tests before the Ashes so they need to pick him now or they keep the batting order as it is and Bethell waits until next season for his test debut.

[tomd2103]

I think there’s a really good player in Pope, but it’s not as a three. His pattern of starting well in series and then there being a trend of diminishing returns suggests it’s either teams work him out or he unravels a bit. I think he’s suited to lower in the order. But the question is whether there’s a spot there, probably not at the moment.

We’ve seen very little of Bethell, but he seems like a calmer character at the crease and also looks to have a more solid defensive technique.

We won’t win the Ashes if the number 3 is averaging 30 odd and that figure being heavily influenced by a single big score.

I can see that Paul.  Let's say Harry Brook went to 3, you could then move Pope to 5 which might suit him more.  4, 5, 6 & 7 looks pretty settled at the moment though, so I wouldn't really want to be changing that too much.

[Richard]

I think there’s a really good player in Pope, but it’s not as a three. His pattern of starting well in series and then there being a trend of diminishing returns suggests it’s either teams work him out or he unravels a bit. I think he’s suited to lower in the order. But the question is whether there’s a spot there, probably not at the moment.

We’ve seen very little of Bethell, but he seems like a calmer character at the crease and also looks to have a more solid defensive technique.

We won’t win the Ashes if the number 3 is averaging 30 odd and that figure being heavily influenced by a single big score.

The issue is that they’ve got to give Bethell a couple of tests before the Ashes so they need to pick him now or they keep the batting order as it is and Bethell waits until next season for his test debut.

Bethell has already played 3 tests. It's time to give him another go.

[tomd2103]

I'm a cricket fan so have an obvious bias, but I've got to say that a closely fought five test series like this one is right up there in the sporting world for me.  So many twists and turns along the way and so many questions going in to the next test with everything still up for grabs. 

[Rory]

I'm a cricket fan so have an obvious bias, but I've got to say that a closely fought five test series like this one is right up there in the sporting world for me.  So many twists and turns along the way and so many questions going in to the next test with everything still up for grabs.

Agreed. It's exactly what test cricket needs.

[tomd2103]

I'm a cricket fan so have an obvious bias, but I've got to say that a closely fought five test series like this one is right up there in the sporting world for me.  So many twists and turns along the way and so many questions going in to the next test with everything still up for grabs.

Agreed. It's exactly what test cricket needs.

I do wonder though whether we are a bit of an outlier when it comes to test cricket and others around the world just don't have the same level of interest.

[Rory]

I'm a cricket fan so have an obvious bias, but I've got to say that a closely fought five test series like this one is right up there in the sporting world for me.  So many twists and turns along the way and so many questions going in to the next test with everything still up for grabs.

Agreed. It's exactly what test cricket needs.

I do wonder though whether we are a bit of an outlier when it comes to test cricket and others around the world just don't have the same level of interest.

Possibly, yeah.

In 20 years, Test cricket might be a kind of exhibition in the same way that T20 was 20 years ago. One match per series, as a curiosity.

I hope not, because I think Test cricket is the best sport in the world.

[dcdavecollett]

Dropping Pope becomes more problematical as he is the vice-captain (fuck knows why after his pathetic performance in this role in the last teat against Sri Lanka last summer).

It was obvious from the start that he's no number three.