Off Topic Cricket 2019

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Stroller said:
Well that's important of course, but so is scoring runs at a reasonable rate. Famously, Bob Willis once sent Botham in to bat with orders to 'run the bugger out' when Boycott was more interested in protecting his wicket than scoring the quick runs that were needed to set a target. England have rightly discarded Jason Roy (temporarily, I hope) because he gave his wicket away too easily, but he's been replaced with Dom Sibley, who scored a mountain of runs very slowly in last season's Championship and got himself a reputation for being able to bat for long periods. Sibley, though, has a weird technique which precludes scoring runs on the off side because of the way his bat comes down. Not a Test batsman, I'd say.
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Could be a description of Steve Smith.
 
sb_73 said:
There are plenty of batsmen who were consistent, made the opponents sweat for their wickets and scored runs. Root used to, but has been in pretty steep decline for 3 years now. Stokes varies wildly from season to season, 2019 being his best year by far.

I’m sure the current lot would be much better if they had more than a couple of nothing practice matches which are little more than extended nets before going into Test matches on unfamiliar pitches. But of course preparing isn’t profitable.
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How often do we make our best batsman captain and it effects his game?

We are a very average test team with some incredibly talented one day players.
 
rangercol said:
Could be a description of Steve Smith.
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Hardly. Smith's bat is straight by the time the ball arrives, while Sibley's is pointing towards mid-on. Smith is predominately a leg-side player but he can play all around the wicket. The way Sibley's bat comes down it's virtually impossible for him to play a cover drive. Hopefully he'll work to correct this, but until he does I don't think he should be picked.
 
Stroller said:
Hardly. Smith's bat is straight by the time the ball arrives, while Sibley's is pointing towards mid-on. Smith is predominately a leg-side player but he can play all around the wicket. The way Sibley's bat comes down it's virtually impossible for him to play a cover drive. Hopefully he'll work to correct this, but until he does I don't think he should be picked.
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Sibley doesn't look good enough agreed.

I agree with Stan that the demise of county cricket has had a hugely detrimental effect on the players' ability to play test cricket.
We're just not very good.
 
In the news today, the ECB supports plans for 4 days Tests. Why not, it’s rare to go into the fifth day now.

But surely they should go for 3 day tests with a golden over or whatever to ensure there are no draws, which are impossible for people to tolerate, let alone appreciate. Then they might be able to squeeze another couple of Tests into each series. Even better, just play 6 back to back 20-20 games over a couple of days and call that a Test match.

Hoo ****ing ray.
 
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Butler gone now 221/6....

All bar Crawley have done the hard work, got in and then failed to push on....
 
262/9 At close.....

No idea what a good score is on this pitch but I'd guess that it's better than England have produced today.....
 
Tramore Ranger said:
262/9 At close.....

No idea what a good score is on this pitch but I'd guess that it's better than England have produced today.....
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Reckon 350 would have been decent.
Whatever happens, England need to stay in the game cos batting last on that wicket probably won't be fun.
 
Anderson goes pretty quickly, but it was a good last partnership of 34.

Sadly, Broad and Anderson seem to be very much past their best.
Both have been magnificent, but are leaking runs and bowling poorly.
Also, they both bully the very weak Root concerning field placings.
It's not just our batting in tests that is a problem.
 
A good session for England with the ball. If we can get a first innings lead, we will be strong favourites to win the match.
 
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