i'm a big believer in round pegs in round holes. Moeen is not a number 3 batsman. Neither is Brookes. Our squad is every bit as good (if not better than the Aussies) we have to play our very best side in their proper positions and for me that means no Anderson...I hate to say that because he has been on the worlds very best...sadly not any more
Yep. Root's record at four says play him at four. Brook's record at five says play him at five. Likewise Stokes, though five would be okay for him. Bairstow is a seven now IMO, as his technique isn't really suitable for three ( or opening). He gets bowled too often. So I'm guessing it will be Ali again as the extra bowler will be handy. We have to win.
Anderson for Robinson seems nailed on (personally I would go with Tongue but I don't think that will happen). Moeen justified his place this test and they may well be tempted to stick with him going in at three. Disrupting Root and Brook from their preferred slots seems counterproductive as Brook showed in the last innings. According to CricViz Bairstow has missed 8 opportunities behind the stumps this series so far and the fact that he didn't go for the catch that Brook ended up taking shows his confidence is just not there at the moment. He should be having serious conversations with the management team about whether he is up to that role at the moment. We cannot sacrifice a bowler for him and he is not significantly outperforming either Duckett or Crawley with the bat therefore it should be a straight choice between him and Foakes (who Stokes has said is the best WK in the world). If Foakes just takes a quarter of the chances that Bairstow has missed that would more that make up for any dilution in the batting strength.
I can see why you say that, but he is so skillful, he'll handle it okay IMO. And while not having Bairstow's potential for explosive batting, he is by no means a mug with the bat. I think they'll feel that Bairstow has enough credit in the bank to keep him in the team. His keeping did improve through the match a bit, and Old Trafford might suit his batting. If he fails though, and we lose, he loses the gloves and he won't get them back. It's all been about seeing him as a batsman who can keep . It's an old tension in cricket, going back to when I was a kid and Jim Parks would get the nod instead of better keepers who couldn't bat as well as him, ( according to my dad at the time anyway!).
He will have played over 100 FC matches batting in the top 3 mind. It's where he batted for Worcs for years. Even if a long time since he's played their regularly and his most recent years of test match cricket he's not done much with the bat. So likely he'll be stopping there for the rest of the series. As Brook looked like a rabbit in the headlights and much better back at his correct position of 5.
I was just repeating what the stats bloke on TMS was saying yesterday. Although admittedly TMS clearly believe he shouldn't be doing both jobs
Well, they're sticking with Bairstow. Squad for the 4th Test: Stokes, Moeen, Anderson, Bairstow, Broad, Brook, Crawley, Duckett, Lawrence, Robinson, Root, Tongue, Woakes, Wood I reckon they'll go: Duckett, Crawley, Moeen, Root, Brook, Stokes, Bairstow, Woakes, Wood, Broad, Anderson
Yep. That's the team. Ali doing just enough I suppose, especially if he can get some rest at three. I think Liam Dawson is unlucky. He's got something about him that lad. And I'd go for Tongue, but he'll have the drinks tray.
One change from the last test - Anderson replacing Robinson. No one saw that one coming! https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/3593394?...00004372659162+&utm_campaign=Men's Ashes 2023
