The Cricket Thread

OMG..... well that made my party yesterday afternoon extra special. Boiling hot day and within a few minutes of everyone arriving, news filtered out to the garden that England only need 19 to win with one wicket.... we then had a lounge full cheering every run! Amazing!

 

Something amazing happened...Bob Willis smiled.

 

Just watched the highlights again.

That Stokes lad may have a future in cricket - he looks quite good.

 

A company has offered Leach a lifetime's supply of glasses

 

I must admit it was so funny to see him polish his glasses before every shot. Very village green cricket. Also, so ironic that Stokes couldn't watch and the test match was sponsored by Specsavers

 

That was so, so nerve shredding. After the World Cup as well. Both games, I looked on as the task seemed beyond any reasonable expectation and yet they found a way to win.
There will be some performances which will deserve scrutiny. The run out in particular was beyond stupid. Of course, no-one will remember the poor batting or judgement. This will always be Stoke’s Test- and hopefully Stoke’s Ashes.

 

Specsavers is probably the company giving him glasses for life...there's an advert in there somewhere.

 

Yes, I read it was Specsavers somewhere.

 

The umpires won’t look back on this series with fond reflection either. Stokes was plumb lbw the over before the winning runs but not given, and no reviews left.

 

It isn't the swap I would do, but it is the swap I would expect them to do.

It will though mean that we've gone from having Moeen at 8 and Woakes at 9 (which, by and large, has been hugely successful for us at home for about five years now), to Archer at 8 and Broad at 9.

Good thing we've got a brilliant top 7...

 

Agreed that it is a risk but those two haven't even looked like scoring runs. Im just drooling over a bowling attack of Broad, Anderson and Archer. This will be one of the few times we might see it with Anderson surely retiring soon

 

As Kent stutter in t20, pleased to see the signing of South African captain du plessis for the final fixtures. A very good average in this format and handy leg spin too.

 

https://twitter.com/Specsavers

 

As am I. But an attack of Broad, Anderson, Archer and Woakes makes me drool even more.

Woakes is averaging 28 this series, so he's hardly not scoring. 28 is absolutely fine for a number 8.

In fact, it's a better average that Buttler, Roy, Bairstow and Denly. Just one innings ago, only Burns, Stokes and Root had out-scored him - and Root with a lower average.

Even if you put aside the long tail which would be caused by picking all of Archer, Broad, Anderson and Leach, for at least a year now I've been tempted to see what harm can come from picking Woakes in the top three. If it doesn't work, well nothing lost. Not that I would expect it to anywhere near the same level of success, but Australia went down that route with Watson.

Woakes might not be a "batsman", but when he's out-performing Roy and Buttler with the bat - and can then offer a whole different option, as a bowler - dropping him is a crazy notion in my book. But like I say, it's what I'm expecting.

 

But the Aussies squandered their review. And who cares how the umpires feel- provides we win, obviously

 

The missed LBW stands out because it was near the end of the game but there are incidents like that in almost every game....appeals wasted or chances to appeal missed. Using appeals correctly is part of the game. Sometimes you earn the right to a bit of luck. The Aussies wouldn’t care if it went their way....the series is all open again. Hope we can keep the momentum going.

 

And that couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of chaps....

 

This is a lovely and touching video.

 

Somerset’s customary collapse under way, after 67-0 in the power play, now 94-4 after 11

 

Looks like a wicket to favour the spinners (which isn't too surprising after the weather of recent days). So Waller and RVDM could do some similar damage.