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What no cricket thread ?

Never said it was. England will need Pakistan to play equally poorly for thèm to take the series, which, to be honest, they should. That said, England needs to look closely at its captaincy and coaching. They aren't especially bad, just not especially good.
Pakistan actually played really well, England played better. Your comments are ridiculous.
 
This is why test cricket is the ultimate.

Two really good teams going at it, players redeeming themselves, proper narrative.
 
Buttler showed why he is a number one pick for the IPL: he knows how to damage an attack then sit back and grand thym slowly into the ground. In Woakes we have a great bowler who today showed that he can bat bit, too. Why there should be any query in either of them being in the team can only be because they don't fit the current Captain/coach thinking.

Nothing in the rule book to say you can't have 2 world class all rounders in every match ! Stokes and Woakes should be in.
And Buttler if on form. That surely takes pressure off No1 & 2 to have to score big: just get 20-30 runs regularly and take the shine off the ball.
Someone needs to work with Archer, mentally and physically, to get him at 90+mph when he needs to be. If not why is he in ? Stokes/Woakes bowl at 85.
 
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England were extremely lucky. Their captain is, at best, médiocre, but the have easily the best lower middle order around. Buttler showed why he is a number one pick for the IPL: he knows how to damage an attack then sit back and grand thym slowly into the ground. In Woakes we have a great bowler who today showed that he can bat bit, too. Why there should be any query in either of them being in the team can only be because they don't fit the current Captain/coach thinking.

Pakistan has a similar problem with their captain, who, great batsman that he was, has lost the confidence of his team through a poor batting run and some on-the-field tactics that don't seem to be working. He'll be lucky if he's there for the rest of the series.


Do you mean lucky to have Jos behind the stumps? If England had fielded better, they would have won comfortably.
 
Just watched the highlights, what a great game & I can see why they persist with Buttler. Woakes batted superbly & was justifiably MoM.

I think England are a good team, they have won the last two matches with a weakened batting line up but each man has contributed.
 
We have been good at home on seaming pitches and swinging atmospherics.

The challenge and mark of a great team is to win in the sub-continent and Oz - we seem a long way from being capable of realising that under Roots/Giles leadership.
 
Playing behind closed doors takes away quite a bit of home advantage though - nobody to really cheer them on at the last knockings.
 
Pakistan have the worlds loudest cricket supporters :) so they would have given as good as they got! I agree about the Aussies however. This is a good team but seems young still to me and with Anderson ageing and archer a? In my mind I’m not quite sure if we have the bowling attack to take them on down under.
 
You didn’t rate Mike Brearley then?
You are joking, of course. He was a great captain, theorist and tacticien. That's not just my verdict, but most Australians, especially those who saw the controversial game at the MCG.

He is a good example, though, of someone whose place in the team, nearly any team in the world at that time, would have been assured. The fact he was an average batsman didn't come into it.
 
You are joking, of course. He was a great captain, theorist and tacticien. That's not just my verdict, but most Australians, especially those who saw the controversial game at the MCG.

He is a good example, though, of someone whose place in the team, nearly any team in the world at that time, would have been assured. The fact he was an average batsman didn't come into it.

He had a first class batting average of nearly 40, which was pretty decent for an opener at the time, and as you say, he was a wonderful captain. He couldn't transfer that form to test cricket, but he did play half of his tests against Australia. He was also rock solid on the SA boycott which is more than you can say of some of his team mates.

His book, The Art of Captaincy is well worth reading too.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1447294351/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
You are joking, of course. He was a great captain, theorist and tacticien. That's not just my verdict, but most Australians, especially those who saw the controversial game at the MCG.

He is a good example, though, of someone whose place in the team, nearly any team in the world at that time, would have been assured. The fact he was an average batsman didn't come into it.
My point being that Root’s record as captain is up there with Brearley’s. Better than Strauss and Vaughan. You have to go back to Jardine to find a captain who was in the job a decent amount time with a better win ratio.
 
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Brearley only captained in 15 tests winning 11 and losing just 1

Under Root's captaincy England have failed to bat for a draw, while the manner of some of the defeats has been terrible.
 
We have been good at home on seaming pitches and swinging atmospherics.

The challenge and mark of a great team is to win in the sub-continent and Oz - we seem a long way from being capable of realising that under Roots/Giles leadership.
Oz -That’s where Wood and Archer need to unleash 90+ mph.
Horses for courses.
 
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Brearley only captained in 15 tests winning 11 and losing just 1

Under Root's captaincy England have failed to bat for a draw, while the manner of some of the defeats has been terrible.
Incorrect, Brearley captained in 31 tests...win ratio of 58%.
Root 42 tests...win ratio of 55%.

I know there’s more to it than data but it just annoys me when people have a go at Root’s captaincy because he doesn’t have the bravado of some.
 
Incorrect, Brearley captained in 31 tests...win ratio of 58%.
Root 42 tests...win ratio of 55%.

I know there’s more to it than data but it just annoys me when people have a go at Root’s captaincy because he doesn’t have the bravado of some.

I think the 15 may relate to Ashes tests - sorry about that.
 
During the summer England players would be playing for their county when there was no international match, so probably playing more cricket but less at international level.

During the winter the England team would be on tour and the rest of the county players delivering coal or finding other ways to get by. Hopefully they would still be fit for the new season.....
 
During the summer England players would be playing for their county when there was no international match, so probably playing more cricket but less at international level.

During the winter the England team would be on tour and the rest of the county players delivering coal or finding other ways to get by. Hopefully they would still be fit for the new season.....

Did you hear Atherton on commentary, Jimmy Anderson has only made 80 odd appearances for Lancashire while Brian Statham played over 400 times - central contracts. It wasn't long ago that the best county cricketers were paid peanuts and had to find winter jobs, as you say - it's completely different today, for the stars anyway.
 


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