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Post by Balladeer on May 15, 2018 14:14:16 GMT
So... pick the one new batsman in yonks who's had a modicum of success, and push him up the order? Sounds great, after all it worked so well with Root opening... Bess is good, Stoneman still in is shrug, Buttler in is even bigger shrug.
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Post by pierredelafranchesca on May 15, 2018 14:17:01 GMT
Same (non-spin) bowling attack too.....Woakes and Wood retain their places, not sure I agree with that either, reward for not even mediocre at best performances over the past 6 months for Woakes.
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Post by Balladeer on May 15, 2018 14:19:41 GMT
I'm more or less okay with that. I'll be less okay if they play Woakes over Wood in the first Test. Don't care how good he is in home conditions, he offers very little over Broaderson (with the ball).
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Post by jevans90 on May 15, 2018 14:21:14 GMT
I see that Smith's analytics driven selection has lasted all of 0 squad announcements before taking a punt on an admittedly excellent white ball player whose FC record aspires to mediocrity.
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Post by Humair on May 15, 2018 14:29:33 GMT
It is a complete joke that Buttler has been selected on IPL form and an insult to everyone playing county cricket.
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Post by pierredelafranchesca on May 15, 2018 17:20:33 GMT
All of this on the same day in which the England football team announce a genuinely progressive world cup squad, including promising youngsters who are in form rather than the same old hat names too.....
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sdhoneymonster
Ricardo Vasconcelos
Posts: 220
Team Supported: Somerset, Bath, Hurricanes (the NZ rugby ones, not the Hobart crickety ones), Wolves, St George Illawarra Dragons, New Orleans Saints, Baltimore Orioles
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Post by sdhoneymonster on May 16, 2018 10:55:42 GMT
Not sure I agree with the Buttler selection but:
1) I actually thought Smith's reasoning when he explained it was solid, even if it's not what I would have done, and: 2) They actually want Buttler to embrace his talent and play freely. I thought in his last stint as a Test player he'd gone far too far into his shell in a desparate attempt to prove he was a red ball player, and: 3) For the majority of other options, it's the wrong time to pick them - Livingstone and Lawrence aren't in good enough form, for Clarke and Pope it's too early - and they were looking for a similar injection of momentum as Bairstow can bring down at 7: not the easiest thing to do for a player used to batting higher up.
Whether it's the right decision I'm less convinced by - it seems odd to try and solve top order instability by bringing in another flighty strokemaker down at 7 - but at least there is some clear-headed thinking behind it. Buttler's leadership qualities were rightly brought up by Smith too: he's been excellent when given the chance in limited overs cricket to captain, and could help Root in that regard.
Elswhere I'm genuinely unconvinced by Root moving to three - his average gets progressively lower the higher up the order he moves. I'd be moving him back down to five if anything, although it's a bit of a needs-must at the moment I suppose if they're not convinced by the other options (I think Gubbins or Burns could do a job at three personally, and then of course there is the unstoppable force that is the #Madswagon). Maybe it comes at the right time for Root too: if he's up at three he might be less inclined to throw his wicket away with a soft shot, and therefore his conversion rate could theoretically improve. I think giving Stoneman this series is fair; he was far from the weakest link over the winter, although his form is worrying. For once Pakistan don't really have any out and out electric pace in the attack so he's unlikely to be bombed as he was in Australia, but if he starts showing vulnerability to the short ball again I'd whip him out straight away. In an ideal world it's too early for Bess, but in the absence of Leach and with Moeen having been dropped it's a perfectly good call; Moeen should have to work harder to get back into the team (something that slightly irritates me with the Woakes selection) and he's not been playing enough to warrant a second chance currently. Also given said struggles in the top order England still need batting depth, so his all round game is probably more useful than Virdi would be to the side at the moment. Would like to see proper pacers like Stone come into the equation as the summer goes on: Woakes is fine in home conditions but ultimately both he and Wood look better limited overs bowlers nowadays.
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Post by pierredelafranchesca on May 16, 2018 11:59:12 GMT
SD - on the subject of Moeen and Woakes, who are both fine in home conditions, I agree that dropping Mo is the right thing to do, and making him earn a position in the team based on form is wholly correct, I also think the same should have applied to Woakes too, he was no better than Mo in the winter yet seems to have got a free pass which I find strange
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Post by Mattzo on May 16, 2018 12:35:54 GMT
Looks a reasonably strong team on paper. I wouldn't have selected Buttler but I can see the thinking. Stoneman is lucky. Way, way too soon for Pope and Virdi. Mo's does nothing to get back into the team. I like Woakes most of the time, so happy to see him get another go. Far from convinced by Wood.
Cook Stoneman Root Malan Bairstow Stokes Buttler Woakes Bess Broad Anderson
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Post by Balladeer on May 16, 2018 17:22:47 GMT
I loathe Matt's proposed bowling attack, solely because it contains three/four seamers that do exactly the same thing - rfm with a bit of swing. You can argue that Stokes gets a bit more reverse swing or that Broad's a bit taller or that Woakes is a bit quicker, but none of them really bring anything different to the attack. In England that's okay, but they can't always be thinking only as far as the next series.
Stone's started to make a good case, and Sam Curran is worth a shout somewhere down the line, but with Wood being the man in possession I don't think a dodgy first innings back from T20 (and a six-for in the one after) is good reason to throw him out for a couple of lads who aren't much less callow (if at all? Not sure, haven't researched) than Pope and Virdi.
Stoneman is lucky though, and I can see the thinking behind Buttler but would wait to be convinced. Root at 3 is bleah.
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Post by Mattzo on May 16, 2018 17:48:47 GMT
Wood averages 42 in tests and 46 in ODIs, from 37 caps. That's why I chose Woakes over him. When I last watched him play he was bowling 85mph with no seam or swing.
Needs to do more for me.
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sdhoneymonster
Ricardo Vasconcelos
Posts: 220
Team Supported: Somerset, Bath, Hurricanes (the NZ rugby ones, not the Hobart crickety ones), Wolves, St George Illawarra Dragons, New Orleans Saints, Baltimore Orioles
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Post by sdhoneymonster on May 17, 2018 10:24:29 GMT
Balladeer - Smith was fairly honest in saying this was a team picked to beat Pakistan here and now, rather than a team with an eye on future away tours. If England hadn't had such a disastrous winter it'd be the wrong approach in my opinion but at the moment they just desperately need a win. Given that the weather's been predominantly good for the last couple of weeks it might not be an early season seamer come Lord's though, at which point England could find themselves exposed again. If that does happen then maybe it's time to fast track one of the promising young pacers, along with Virdi or Parkinson. But for now I think horses for courses is fair enough.
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Post by Balladeer on May 17, 2018 17:13:51 GMT
Given that the weather's been predominantly good for the last couple of weeks it might not be an early season seamer come Lord's though, at which point England could find themselves exposed again. I think this is a big point, isn't it? (Although I'd hope there was some future planning, and Bess looks like that to an extent, however good he is right now.) Even in England you can't assume that four rfms and an untested spinner will deliver the goods. Wood isn't the be-all and end-all of fast bowling, but he can bowl faster than Woakes, he can give people the hurry-up, and just in doing that he provides something, anything, different. Woakes does not. Even in England with the most short-term of short-term mindsets I wouldn't play Woaderson as my first choice, but I don't think any selector should have that mindset for more than one Test. In which case, if it's on a green-top and Woakes takes 6-squat, what do they do next game?
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Post by Balladeer on May 23, 2018 17:50:39 GMT
Tests, all! Tests! Only two of them, but still. When some white ball nonsense is dominating domestic cricket, it's good to have some red ball nonsense to enjoy. (I say 'enjoy' until Mohammed Amir has 5 for 10 on the first morning.)
Also: that Leicestershire warm-up match was bad and it should feel bad. Nobody should have a warm-up against the worst county's second XI.
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Post by pierredelafranchesca on May 24, 2018 8:09:48 GMT
Yes!!! Time to wash away the pain of going for 21 off 1 pathetic 8 ball (well 10 ball with the wides) over last night in a game we lost by 2 wickets and the pain of being a Yorkshire fan with the pain of being an England fan.
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