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Post by pierredelafranchesca on Jun 12, 2021 15:18:39 GMT
Can anyone remember when England last didn't review an LBW decision? That was embarrassingly plumb, but its almost like they think, we've got 3 we might as well.
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Post by pierredelafranchesca on Jun 12, 2021 15:46:15 GMT
I mean.....Pope can have that one, fair play.
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Post by nemouk on Jun 12, 2021 16:24:10 GMT
Crikey. Bracey's defence is usually so good but he's not playing like he normally would. Wonder if giving him the gloves last minute messed with his preparations?
Don't think Jos, Stokes and co. are going to be too worried about their places.
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Post by Balladeer on Jun 12, 2021 16:32:34 GMT
Mmm... Position could be worse right now. Aged like milk, this.
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Post by nemouk on Jun 12, 2021 16:37:06 GMT
I mean, it could be worse, the following few hours proved exactly that.
Someone needs to bat 3 and 6 v India. Any suggestions?
On the other side of the selector eequation, NZ have a tough side to pick for the WTC final. Young, Henry and Patel have both impressed, can they get in the side? Will they fall into the England trap and play four seamers? If not it's three from five.
I think I'd guess:
Latham Conway Williamson Taylor Nicholls Watling De Grandhomme Jamieson Patel Southee Boult
But that is ridiculously harsh on Wagner who did so well to get them here.
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Post by pierredelafranchesca on Jun 12, 2021 18:50:28 GMT
Surely the way to go is 4 RFM bowlers, a keeper who is good at white ball stuff and then whoever can hold a bat right?
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Post by Balladeer on Jun 12, 2021 20:37:11 GMT
Works for England!
...oh wait.
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Post by nemouk on Jun 12, 2021 23:03:29 GMT
The whoever can hold a bat but is proving tricky.
England's fast bowling reserves right now might be the best they've ever been, but it'll count for nothing if we have nobody who can score a run.
Hard to see who you'd replace the current players with though. Not many in county cricket I'd be confident of seeing how badly Bracey has fared. Feel for him, being asked to keep when he was gearing up as a specialist bat in the top three, his keeping clearly isn't good enough and it affected his batting, which might well be otherwise.
Hindsight is 20:20 but John Simpson should have kept for me. Brilliant gloveman, doughty batsman. Not ahead of Foakes or Buttler but with neither available he'd have been a much more like for like replacement.
Easier to say than do, but we need to find a 3 and a 5. Pope seems to be the player everyone accused Ian Bell of being, capable only of flashy cameos. Sibley and Burns aren't great, but will do a job if the middle order hold up their end.
It's all a bit of a mess, but fair play to New Zealand who are a genuinely excellent test team with depth and quality. WTC final should be great.
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Post by Balladeer on Jun 13, 2021 8:15:49 GMT
For 5 I would probably give Dan Lawrence a bit more rope to hang himself. For three, in the Ashes... Malan maybe? If nothing else he is now used to big stage cricket from his T20 experience. I don't think there's a good answer though, not since my rank unravelled (relatively speaking).
As for the attack... what is England's best attack now? Is it Broad Ollie Wood Leach? New ball expert, workhorse, speedster, spinner? Feels like a strange one but it might be. In Australia maybe you replace Broad with Jofra?
New Zealand are really good. I agree with the side above I think, although it is harsh on Wagner and it lacks a workhorse bowler. They should win this WTC final.
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Post by nemouk on Jun 13, 2021 9:53:33 GMT
Best attack is conditions dependent, England have a nasty habit of picking an attack for a hypothetical future test match rather the one happening at the time.
Best attack is Stokes, three pure bowlers and one spinner.
If it's English conditions then pick from Woakes, Anderson, Broad, Robinson.
If it's Australia, pick from Archer, Wood, Stone, Robinson and maybe one of the others
If it's a mix of conditions play a balanced attack.
Pick Leach. If you're not sold on Leach, then stop fucking putting him in squads and give Parkinson a go - he'll be much more expensive but he might be a better partnership breaker.
England's constant obsession with the ashes is poisoning the selection policy against the best two test sides in the world.
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Post by pierredelafranchesca on Jun 13, 2021 10:04:29 GMT
Hilarious. England absolutely Englanding it this morning.
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Post by pierredelafranchesca on Jun 13, 2021 10:09:50 GMT
We're going to be utterly thumped here, batting issues long discussed and there are no easy answers when only 1 current player averages over 37, one area we aren't getting hammered on enough is fielding though, our slip fielding has been an absolute disgrace compared to NZ, stats over the past few years I think showed their slip %s in the 90s ours late 70s. Dropped catches have cost us, what 120 to 140 odd runs in this test? More if you factor in the Crawley "catch".... Add that on to this target and its a different game. Nemos right, our attack is good, v good, but if you're having to take 13/14 wickets a test you will always struggle
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Post by nemouk on Jun 13, 2021 10:36:51 GMT
Lots of focus coming on unusual batting techniques which I do understand, but it's not like no batsman has ever successful with an idiosyncratic technique - even leaving aside freakish talents like Steve Smith you have the likes of Chanderpaul who were very unorthodox but had long, successful careers.
The problem we seem to have is the gap between first class and test cricket and techniques getting exposed. Obviously it would help if the CC was at a sensible time of the year but realistically that's not happening. For me the Lions programme needs looking at - all these guys have been on those tours and those games working with supposedly excellent coaches and playing in high standard games. Why do they therefore look frozen at test level? Is it mental? Is it just a function of having too many inexperienced players at once? No idea, but someone at the ECB needs to find out.
Personally I quite like Malan but not convinced this is as simple as a personnel issue.
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Post by Balladeer on Jun 13, 2021 13:20:37 GMT
Best attack is conditions dependent, England have a nasty habit of picking an attack for a hypothetical future test match rather the one happening at the time. Were these typical English conditions though? The pitch seemed pretty slow and flat - which made the collapse even more egregious, of course. I'm not surprised that Crawley, a 'potential pick' when those sorts of things work once in a blue moon, is coming unstuck. I'm not particularly surprised that Bracey, being asked to fill a role he's not used to, is either. It's Pope who's really worrying.
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