The International Cricket Thread

[simboy]

Brilliant by Bethall

I’d add Joe Root as a positive, scored two hundreds and again probably our most consistent batsman. From what I read appears to have had long chats with Bethall,with Bethall joking he didn’t understand it. What a great mentor to have if it’s true.

I wonder if Smith cannot bat and keep on tour, clearly his cricket brain is frazzled atm. You wonder - or at least I do - with a fully fit Stokes Smith bats 6 Stokes 7 and Foulkes 8. Trouble is we are very reliant on part-time spin option if that is the case. Shades of Moeen.

Think archer was a positive too.  I do wonder with some of them like smith, Duckett etc - players with a bit in the bank - are subject to the fact it has just turned into a shit storm and arent thinking straight.

At the moment there looks like a lack of leadership - and I think stokes is a very good leader so not sure what’s going wrong other than coaching and prep.

Agree on Archer.  He's just such a weapon to have in the side, but like others his body just doesn't seem to be able to cope with playing the longer form of the game for extended periods.  I suppose it's probably down to him at this point and what his appetite for playing test cricket is going to be like.  The thought of following the T20 circuit with the financial reaards that brings must be tempting and it would be understandable if he decided to follow that. 

Don't disagree on Archer. if you were the England camp you might have thought about not playing him in the second test, manage his time. Then again you might have thought that a practice match match on the WACA before the first test might have been a good investment of time and money.

As i think someone said on twitter, the English management are to be commended as I did not think they could organise a p*ss up in a brewery, I was wrong. What they could not manage was a successful Ashes tour against a second XI Aussie team

[TheTimVilla]

The Brook story is not good on a number of levels. How on earth can an England captain think that is ok the night before a game? And how naive are they to think it wouldn’t come out.

Jofra Archer did similar during the T20s in the WIndies in November 2024. The 4th & 5th games were back to back, Saturday & Sunday, and he was still on it at 04:30 on the Saturday!

[olaftab]

I’d add Joe Root as a positive, scored two hundreds and again probably our most consistent batsman.

I wouldn’t. I think Root didn’t do what was necessary at crucial times in many innings on this tour. The job of world class sportsman to take a difficult situation and make it happen for his team. He failed on that count not once but many times.

[tomd2103]

I’d add Joe Root as a positive, scored two hundreds and again probably our most consistent batsman.

I wouldn’t. I think Root didn’t do what was necessary at crucial times in many innings on this tour. The job of world class sportsman to take a difficult situation and make it happen for his team. He failed on that count not once but many times.

He got the monkey off his back in terms of the ton in Australia and although he added another one, I think it's probably fair to.say there were a few too many failures to consider it a successful tour for him.  Maybe one more century would have made up for the lower scores.

[PaulWinch again]

Reality is for his various failures. Root twice got big runs in the first innings of a Test that gave us the platform to control the game - which other players then failed to take. That’s hardly terrible.

[Monty]

Not his greatest series ever, and easily our player of the series.

[olaftab]

Reality is for his various failures. Root twice got big runs in the first innings of a Test that gave us the platform to control the game - which other players then failed to take. That’s hardly terrible.

Yes first innings but did nothing in critical pressure situations. Whenever England were under the cosh he failed.

[PaulWinch again]

Well I’d argue setting up the opportunity to win in two games is as important, if not more.

[olaftab]

The very best do it when it matters, when it’s total jeopardy they take it and nullify it. Root didn’t do that. So I agree that we will  stay disagreed😊

[paul_e]

He's a number 4, he shouldn't have spent most of the series having to try to avert a disaster because the top 3 had failed. The main job of 4 and 5 in to turn a solid start into a match winning score by piling on the runs in the most favourable of batting conditions.

In the entire series the latest he came in was the 19th over in the very last innings, that's just not good enough. Bethell was a big step in the right direction but Crawley and Duckett are out of their depth and need to be replaced. Poor openers has been the bedrock of our failings for most of the last 20 years though and I don't see anyone obvious to bring in.

[PaulWinch again]

The very best do it when it matters, when it’s total jeopardy they take it and nullify it. Root didn’t do that. So I agree that we will  stay disagreed😊

Indeed - I’d say the best set the game up so the team should be able to win. Reality is it should be a combination of both, so I’d rate his tour as 7/10.

[LeeB]

Joe Root is the last of our problems. Look how bad John McGinn looked in the last days of Gerrard.

[PaulWinch again]

Definitely and Root still set us to win two games - we just didn’t take the opportunity.

[dcdavecollett]

Sadly, Tongue and Bethell were brought in too late to influence the series when it was still live.

[PaulWinch again]

Another top collapse.