The Cricket Thread

[Dr Gloom 21869]

4 hours ago, Alex said:

That was Anderson’s 400th test wicket in England 😮

More then Botham managed in his whole career 😳

[Alex 34954]

Incredible, isn’t it? 

[Dr Gloom 21869]

58 minutes ago, Alex said:

Incredible, isn’t it? 

The mad thing is he looks as athletic and as skilful as ever 

[Alex 34954]

1 minute ago, Dr Gloom said:

The mad thing is he looks as athletic and as skilful as ever 

Dale Steyn said something about him being wired for test cricket. Just quick enough, economical run up, perfect wrist position allowing swing and seam movement. Or along those lines 

[Dr Gloom 21869]

i was allowing myself to get optimistic this morning, should have known better!

[Ugly Mackems 133]

Gutless spineless bastards. 

[Alex 34954]

Mainly down to being at least 100 runs light in the first innings 

[Dr Gloom 21869]

Hell of a spell from Bumrah mind. He and Jadeja were the difference 

[Alex 34954]

Bumrah is top drawer like. 

[Dr Gloom 21869]

Sometimes you have to concede you were beaten by the better side. Our bowlers looked tired and a bit one-paced and one-dimensional in their second innings. Low 80s mph length bowling was too easy to play against with little variation or assistance through air or off the deck. None of them able to produce the kind of spell Bumrah managed on a flat pitch.  Bumrah was bowling in-swinging yorkers today at 89mph. Plus jadeja had Burns and Malan in his back pocket while Moeen was mostly innocuous.

Our attack looks a gallop short when it isn’t swinging, according to Vaughany. He isn’t wrong. Those seamers are going to look toothless in Australia with no Archer on the plane. Could be another long tour. Robinson might do ok with his accuracy and extra bounce but we’re lacking the genuine pace you need on Aussie wickets. We need to wrap Wood up in cotton wool

[RobinRobin 11193]

10 hours ago, Alex said:

Mainly down to being at least 100 runs light in the first innings 

And them being 50 runs from Thakur too heavy.

[RobinRobin 11193]

10 hours ago, Ugly Mackems said:

Gutless spineless bastards. 

#cowards 

Essembee wants a word

[Toonpack 9321]

3 hours ago, RobinRobin said:

And them being 50 runs from Thakur too heavy.

And thick end of 100 runs from Rohit being dropped.

catches win matches

[Alex 34954]

9 hours ago, Dr Gloom said:

Sometimes you have to concede you were beaten by the better side. Our bowlers looked tired and a bit one-paced and one-dimensional in their second innings. Low 80s mph length bowling was too easy to play against with little variation or assistance through air or off the deck. None of them able to produce the kind of spell Bumrah managed on a flat pitch.  Bumrah was bowling in-swinging yorkers today at 89mph. Plus jadeja had Burns and Malan in his back pocket while Moeen was mostly innocuous.

Our attack looks a gallop short when it isn’t swinging, according to Vaughany. He isn’t wrong. Those seamers are going to look toothless in Australia with no Archer on the plane. Could be another long tour. Robinson might do ok with his accuracy and extra bounce but we’re lacking the genuine pace you need on Aussie wickets. We need to wrap Wood up in cotton wool

It’s a one dimensional attack when there’s no movement but England were on top for most of the match. How many catches were dropped and run outs missed? Must’ve been in excess of of 6 for the former alone. Ditto dismissals from poor shots in England’s first innings when batting was easy. The argument they were simply outplayed by the better side isn’t really representative of the way the match unfolded imo. Totally accept what you say about Bumrah and Jadeja like. 

When you look at the last few years though England have struggled at home with bits of individual brilliance papering over the cracks rather than there being good team performances. A good hiding in a series has been in the post and it might be what it takes for the authorities to adjust their priorities a bit. Especially if it’s followed up by another heavy defeat down under. Although that’s probably wishful thinking.

The ECB have been taking the piss for years with the odious Giles Clarke setting the tone when he gave up the pretence that anything other than money mattered. But this summer has been utterly ludicrous. The Hundred had lots of good things about it but playing it alongside other shorter formats with no first class cricket for weeks and weeks is a recipe for disaster in terms of test batting in particular. It also marginalised some counties to the extent they did play a single match for the best part of a month in the height of summer. I could go on...Sorry about the rant but it boils my piss. Tl:dr - the ECB are greedy cunts 

[Dr Gloom 21869]

44 minutes ago, Alex said:

It’s a one dimensional attack when there’s no movement but England were on top for most of the match. How many catches were dropped and run outs missed? Must’ve been in excess of of 6 for the former alone. Ditto dismissals from poor shots in England’s first innings when batting was easy. The argument they were simply outplayed by the better side isn’t really representative of the way the match unfolded imo. Totally accept what you say about Bumrah and Jadeja like. 

When you look at the last few years though England have struggled at home with bits of individual brilliance papering over the cracks rather than there being good team performances. A good hiding in a series has been in the post and it might be what it takes for the authorities to adjust their priorities a bit. Especially if it’s followed up by another heavy defeat down under. Although that’s probably wishful thinking.

The ECB have been taking the piss for years with the odious Giles Clarke setting the tone when he gave up the pretence that anything other than money mattered. But this summer has been utterly ludicrous. The Hundred had lots of good things about it but playing it alongside other shorter formats with no first class cricket for weeks and weeks is a recipe for disaster in terms of test batting in particular. It also marginalised some counties to the extent they did play a single match for the best part of a month in the height of summer. I could go on...Sorry about the rant but it boils my piss. Tl:dr - the ECB are greedy cunts 

i'm not going to defend england's fielding, which hasn't been good enough and contributed to the result, but i genuinely think the indians are better than us at the minute, the aussies and kiwis too.

we can still be competitive at home, in the right conditions, but we used to regularly win home series against the top sides. england used to be as difficult a placer for touring sides to visit as australia or the subcontinent. that isn't the case anymore - we're on course to lose or draw this series, the aussies retained the ashes on their last visit and cained us at their place, NZ dispatched us at home earlier in the summer. you're right that's it's all about the moolah. the ecb prioritised the white ball - to good effect with the world cup win - but we have consistently struggled to develop test players as a result. it's a shame as for me it's still the best format. 

in this game, as at lords, india went through the gears when they needed to despite being under pressure at various moments. we depend too much on root's batting and lack the character to bat when the pressure is on. we've seen it time and time again - england look alright when they're ahead in the game but you always feel a collapse is on the cards when they're up against an imposing total. despite all this, i think you have to applaud india yesterday. that spell by bumrah would have troubled the best batting in the world and he managed to produce it on the most benign pitch of the summer.

[Alex 34954]

All three are countries that have managed to have consistently good white ball teams without sacrificing the best interests of their test sides though. The point still stands about England’s first innings. Good batsmen set, in benign conditions in a position to bat India out of the game getting out playing T20 shots. That’s mentality and preparation more than a lack of talent. India batted brilliantly and our bowlers lacked penetration. But India don’t make as many runs with the scoreboard pressure if they’re 200 behind. Ditto Bumrah isn’t as likely to bowl that spell if we’re chasing 200. Like we should’ve been. A good opening partnership and the field spreads etc and the pressure on the batting eases. India knew they just had to stick to plans because even when England were 100-0 India winning or the draw were far more likely. It’s more nuanced than best team won. I do think India are the better team mind, especially without Stokes, Archer, Wood, Broad etc. Bairstow can fuck right off too. The luckiest player ever to get that many test caps for England 

[Alex 34954]

Don’t get me started on this shite about Root being England’s most successful captain either. No Ashes series wins, one overseas series victory of note. It’s like saying he’s better than Sobers because he’s scored more test runs 

[Dr Gloom 21869]

13 minutes ago, Alex said:

All three are countries that have managed to have consistently good white ball teams without sacrificing the best interests of their test sides though. The point still stands about England’s first innings. Good batsmen set, in benign conditions in a position to bat India out of the game getting out playing T20 shots. That’s mentality and preparation more than a lack of talent. India batted brilliantly and our bowlers lacked penetration. But India don’t make as many runs with the scoreboard pressure if they’re 200 behind. Ditto Bumrah isn’t as likely to bowl that spell if we’re chasing 200. Like we should’ve been. A good opening partnership and the field spreads etc and the pressure on the batting eases. India knew they just had to stick to plans because even when England were 100-0 India winning or the draw were far more likely. It’s more nuanced than best team won. I do think India are the better team mind, especially without Stokes, Archer, Wood, Broad etc. Bairstow can fuck right off too. The luckiest player ever to get that many test caps for England 

bairstow is so frustrating because he has shown he is capable of scoring runs at this level but how many times does he make a nice-looking 20 or 30 before gifting it away? he did get a good one from bumrah in their second innings. wouldn't fancy facing a yorker like that first ball. the fact he keeps getting so many chances says a lot about the lack of genuine test batsmen 

[Sonatine 11329]

4 minutes ago, Dr Gloom said:

he did get a good one from bumrah in their second innings.

 

Wasn't he the bad guy from the Thundercats?

[Dr Gloom 21869]

[Alex 34954]

38 minutes ago, Dr Gloom said:

bairstow is so frustrating because he has shown he is capable of scoring runs at this level but how many times does he make a nice-looking 20 or 30 before gifting it away? he did get a good one from bumrah in their second innings. wouldn't fancy facing a yorker like that first ball. the fact he keeps getting so many chances says a lot about the lack of genuine test batsmen 

He’s averaged about 20 over the last 3 years in tests. No 100s in something like 34 innings. 

[Dr Gloom 21869]

5 minutes ago, Alex said:

He’s averaged about 20 over the last 3 years in tests. No 100s in something like 34 innings. 

not alone there is he? root aside, they all seem to average high 20s/low 30s these days, which really isn't enough.

we were talking about this the other day, but pretty much every batter in that team of collingwood, trott, peitersen seemed to average north of 40

[Dr Gloom 21869]

i mean, i agree about bairstow. his form isn't good enough but the fact that he keeps getting picked says it all about the lack of options. the one positive on the batting - root aside - to take away from this series is hameed. i'm desperate for him to do well because he at least looks like an opener and has to be worth sticking with - sibley isn't good enough sand just doesn't have enough scoring options for a test match opener, sorry.

burns is worth sticking with. i like his character but he's another one whose dodgy technique will probably prevent him scoring loads of runs at this level. there is still no obvious number 3. malan is a top white ball player but i'm still not convinced. ditto crawley and lawrence and fuck knows how many others we have tried. 

Edited September 7, 2021 by Dr Gloom

[Alex 34954]

8 minutes ago, Dr Gloom said:

not alone there is he? root aside, they all seem to average high 20s/low 30s these days, which really isn't enough.

we were talking about this the other day, but pretty much every batter in that team of collingwood, trott, peitersen seemed to average north of 40

He’s averaging 21 over a 3 year / 34 innings period though. And you’re talking about a player with just short of 80 caps batting in his preferred middle order position. There’s no way he’s have been afforded those chances without the Yorkshire connection. He’s basically proven he’s not good enough over a lengthy period. Is there anyone else who’s been in the side with a record like that over that amount of time with the same level of experience being allowed to hide in the middle order? Rhetorical question obviously 

Edited September 7, 2021 by Alex

[Dr Gloom 21869]

i don't disagree, but who else is there? 

i think root likes him, which explains why he keeps getting picked when others would have been discarded.