It'll be interesting whether this has a long term impact on his batting. Being hit has affected many in the past. He was also a close pal of Hughes, who was killed on a cricket pitch, which mentally must have an impact on his recovery.
[ I was listening to the TMS podcast, and Michael Vaughan (who is an excellent pundit) was saying he would move Denly up to open with Burns, push Root to 4 and Roy to 3. I think I would go with that also. Smith, as you say, should be back for the 4th test, but after the mauling Archer gave him, he will be apprehensive about facing him I would say, which just might unnerve him.
As much as a mauling Smith got at the hands of Archer everytime I have seen the bloke bat one thing he has in abundance is courage .. it's set up for an intriguing contest between the two .. as for Denley opening not sure about that tbh .. moving Roy down the order to where he plays his county cricket would make sense but tbh I think another opener needs to be found in fairness.. personally I dont think Denley is test match standard but I guess we have what we have for now. Only time will tell if Roy is test match standard for me but everything points to him not being good enough opening in red ball cricket
Root at 4. Roys shouldn't be anywhere near this team but given that he is he shouldn't open. It's an imbalanced team tbh, but given that they've chosen it then I'd honestly consider something really left field, like Bairstow opening. Or even Leach.
it may have been this abortion. pretty sure it was this song, so perhaps a later version, though this has the same nauseous feel. the lyric "riddly-dee-pat" or whatever it is was always highly dodgy in any case, but to hear the hollies sing the song like some kind of religious thing i find cringeworthy in the extreme. i'm a big buddy holly fan, and i mostly like the hollies (60s particularly). unfortunately, this effort is just crap.
I certainly agree Denley is not an ideal opener, and a new opening partnership needs to be found. However, not easy to do that for this next test, so Denley is likely to do no worse than Roy in the opening slot, as technically he is more suited to test cricket than Roy is, so moving Roy to 3 might just get an innings out of him. Basically moving them should have a better chance of getting more runs from both collectively.
I met Ruby Murray once, in a bar in Jersey (or Guernsey - it's all a bit hazy) around 1980. Those of you who are aware of the problems she suffered in her life can probably guess the state she was in. She seemed to me like a really old lady from a bygone age (I was only 17 tbf), but a quick calculation reveals that she would have only been 45 then.
With England the difference between batting at 3 or 4 is about 1 over so it does not make much difference
Don't remember Roy getting struck. Wouldn't be a sneaky way of replacing him, would it? https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/49421396
Tough question for the 4th test regarding the bowling unit : Which 3 get the nod ? Anderson, Archer, Broad, Woakes ? For me its between Broad and Woakes who gets the 3rd spot Broady can deliver devastating spells of bowling whilst Woakes is "Steady Away" who can add valuable runs in the middle/lower order. Tough decision !
Leave him alone! He's being messed about for last few years with batting position/ taking gloves off him. He was world class keeping/ batting at 6 or 7 til they started ****ing about with him. Denley has had several good starts, similar to Burns when he started. I think in the absence of anyone else, let him open for the rest of the series. Root does need to be back at 4. So Roy sacrificial lamb at 3, with the slight chance he comes off.
Hopefully the third test will give us some idea. Anderson will have to get through a county game unscathed.
Even if Jimmy gets through this game prior to the 4th test, he is 37 now, and good still breakdown under pressure, so I would stick with Archer/Broad/Woakes and also keep Leach the left-arm spinner. Ali needs a good rest away from the game to get his mojo back. Maybe play Jimmy in the last test, if he is fit enough.
Yeah, must be some concern that they have rotated their bowlers and not even played Starc yet. I'd play Anderson in the 4th at Old Trafford (home ground) assuming he has played a 3 dayer first. There's been little mention that we've had Anderson, Wood and Rashid, injured who would all have played some part in the series (Rashid at The Oval if the need for a second spinner)