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I'm not a huge cricket fan but what an absolute shambles. I feel for Moores who has been given no time to try and sort this mess out amidst the Pietersen backdrop and the untouchable Cook.

And I thought the football team was a mess

right decision on moores but implemented disgracefully

should treat people better than that



not sure strauss is the right appointment as director. too close to the players still....

moores shouldn't have got the job in the first place, and has been poor since he took over for the 2nd time. Seems like he was picked solely by downton, who thought the world of him, once he left it was curtains. impossible for strauss to be objective on issues such as cooks captaincy (as they are close friends) and should kp come back (as he hates him)

as england have a batting coach (ramprakash) and bowling coach (ottis gibson) what actual coaching did moores do? it seems a football-style manager is what is required, a man-manager, a motivator, someone with tactical acumen ... basically michael vaughan.

link between selectors and coach/captain needs to be addressed also. You have a situation where squad is picked, rashid seems to be number 1 spinner, then they try and change him on tour to bowl quicker, he struggles to adapt in warm-up game and then you have a situation where he doesn't play behind tredwell (doesn't play 4 day cricket at kent) and moeen |(who wasn't ft enough for original squad) despite all 3 pitches being receptive to spin and we played 5 bowlers.

the ashes series will be painful imo

Bet KP is glad he turned down the IPL ££££ to play CC for Surrey now Strauss is in charge.

Sick timing by KP, Strauss doing a press conference tomorrow, gonna be hard to rule him out now.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/32696838

Really can't see it myself. Had it been Michael Vaughan or Alec Stewart appointment I think he would have been back in regardless of how many scored today.

Unfortunately I think the England set up currently "Jobs for the boys" as opposed to earn your place on merit.

KP is clearly a bell end, but how many great teams have been built around somebody like that in history and worked fine?

Strauss clearly still hates him, given he called him a c*nt on sky last year and had to apologise about it. Add into the mix that we have no spots open in the middle order up for grabs and it means todays knock, though briliant, doesn't really change anything, apart from KP can have another P.R field day if they don't pick him. Mistake was making him the scapegoat and binning him very publically after the ashes when literally everyone under-achieved on that tour, but i wouldn't have him back now, the autobiography surely killed any chance of that

Pietersen is a massive knob, no doubt about that but you surely got to pick your best team if you can. There's a Trott sized space in the team for him right? At 34 it's probably use KP now or never.

Personally I would open with Lyth and Root, Ballance at 3, KP/Bell 4 & 5, Buttler/Moeen/Stokes interchange 6-8, Rashid 9, Anderson and A.N.Other quick 10/11.

This is exactly why he should be in the team.  He can deliver whenever he wants.  Everyone knows he is only focused for this county game to stick it right up Andrew S.  He probably doesn't even care if he is picked again he just wanted AS to have to sweat in front of the media tomorrow and answer tough questions.  That will fuel KP's ego as much as getting back in the test team imo.

The greatest in every sport are usually ***** behind the scenes because they know their power and can get what they want.  Can't imagine Beefy was much different to KP throughout his test career.  Probably worse trying to control him with Vic and Joel off the field in the WIndies.

We managed ok with Botham and Boycott in the same team.

County cricket isn't producing batsmen ready for 90mph deliveries. It's a massive problem for the England decision makers. You have three options:

1) Promote Root or Bell into a position they can play in, but aren't as good or comfortable, thereby risking disrupting the balance of the line up, but there are a few guys who can fill the middle order gap;

2) Bring in KP to open against NZ, given he can play the short ball well and could turn out to be something unexpected up there as a short-term fix; or

3) Throw in a new guy like Lyth, knowing he'll be completely thrust into the lions' den and potentially end up rotating guys who struggle to cope with the immediate impact of the test game (see Compton).

As Strauss is meeting KP, we can assume that all three options are live.

keeping root in the middle order would be a must for me, struggled against the new ball but has been outstanding down the order, plays with great tempo and has a hell of a future. would be loath to see his development be stunted by a quick fix 1 year of kp.  i'd happily get rid of bell for kp, but zero chance of that happening and thats just because i'm anti bell and always have been for no logical reason  :)

Tell KP he can have his opportunity as an opener. Also tell him he has 3 tests to prove himself, like Trott did.

He's always been one to take on a challenge, I really think this could bring out the best in him.

I cannot forsee kp being in team captained by cook, way too many bridges burnt. It's not like pietersen just fell out with a few people in the England setup, he has been alienating himself in cricket dressing rooms through his whole career. Comparing him to botham who was in generally liked by his team mates is misguided.

Opening is so different to batting 4, haven't we just tried this and it being unmitigated disaster? I think we need to forget him, while scoring a triple century is massively impressive it doesn't really change a lot. Leicestershire have one bowler of any quality (clint McKay), they are the weakest 4 day county side in the country.

The batting line up is a no brainer IMO for nz next week: Cook, Lyth, ballance, bell, root. We have tried root opening and he has been revelation at 5. Not sure why you would want to move him, when he is producing so well in the middle order.

Would like to see us be a bit more ruthless with the bowlers, only Anderson is a must pick. I would perservere with broad as 2nd seamer, but would like to see plunkett who has genuine pace as first  change and rashid picked on surface likely to offer turn. Also getting people like footit at Derbyshire in the fold who is quick if a little raw.

10m ago
Test Match Special ‏@bbctms

We understand that Kevin Pietersen has been told this evening that he won't be picked to play for England again

You have to laugh after being told to go back to county cricket and he scores a triple century on that day told he will never play again.

The ecb communications over the last 18 months has been the worst I can remember. At least Strauss seems to be clear in what he wants and making decisive decisions.

Any price on KP issuing legal proceedings for his IPL losses?

They really are a bunch of blithering idiots. 

This was leaked, as was the Moores sacking and the Straus appointment.  Surely just a handful of people should know why is having a meeting, and not millions.  Did they not learn anything at the weekend?

They should look closer to home if they need to sack anyone else.

England senior management are an absolute shambles and an embarrassment in the cricket world.
Pretty obvious KP was never getting back in the team with Cook/Strauss around, don't know why he even bothered trying TBH.

I would be getting rid of stokes, not a test standard bowler imo. Need some fresh blood with express pace and movement of the ball

Difference is 30 years ago these ego boys didn't have Twitter etc at their fingertips and had to work a lot harder to spoil the beans about what went on.

You need to be a knob to succeed in many sports. Remember we are British. We build you up to knock you down.....you need the inner strength.

Just reading something elsewhere, I'd forgotten that Straussey got caught out on live TV and called KP a c***  rotflmfao

With that in mind this decision is the least surprising thing ever  ;D

Should really question why he is in charge. Clearly not acting in anything other than his own interests.

I assume the timing of this means it is Strauss who has ditched KP irrespective of form?  How petty.  I imagine he won't drop his mate 'Cooky' irrespective of how dreadful his performances might be.

Kevin Pietersen: Andrew Strauss confirms batsman's England exile




http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/32703824

"I don't trust you
We don't trust you
They don't trust you
Would you like an advisory role?"

Absolutely ridiculous

The ECB look pathetic.

£80 for a ticket for the first days play of the Lords test match against New Zealand. I suggest the majority of those paying those prices would like to watch KP batting 4, when clearly one of the best six batsmen available.

gonig to be fun and games when both NZ and Aus beat us

I hope we get stuffed in both series.  Had enough of Cook running the show with his personal preferences when he has been below par for so long.  And now Strauss is in the mix his position is even more secure.

So I guess I am on my own in agreeing that Pietersen should never be selected again. Not saying the selectors and management are anything but inept but I like this decision. If you see Pietersen staying in on a dodgy wicket for 4 hours and grafting 50 runs let me know and I will reconsider.

Point taken.  But on the flip side we have some one paced batsmen who won't score quickly when the conditions are in their favour (both in the ODI game and Tests).  Grinding out 50s is a great skill sometimes but we are being left behind in general.

Not that Pieterson is a long term option of course, but other players could learn from his domineering mindset. 

I guess my issue is that if Pieterson's poor team ethic causes problems then Cook's insipid negative demeanour is equally damaging.  Yet one person is messed around completely and the other is still held as a golden boy because he is a "yes" man.

Agree about Cook's demeanour and uninspirational captainship. Find a new captain as a temporary  measure. We are already struggling to find an opener to go with Cook so we shouldn't be looking for 2 openers. Do what England did in the 70's and find a Brearley. Not worthy of a place on statistics but got everyone to play as a team. I don't think that a teams top batsman should be captain as they have so much pressure anyway.

There must be Newcastle fans looking at the ECB and thinking 'Jeez, that organisation is a badly run shambles'

pretty much sums up my view on this.

Cook is improving nicely as a captain in my opinion.

Set some excellent fields in the Windies, not really his fault he has one very reliable and world class bowler to work with and not a great deal else left now.

I find a lot of the commentary around cricket captains baffling, most good captains are classed as such because they have an excellent bowing attack who they can rely on.

It's his demeanour.  Even when we had a top bowling attack I can't think of anything less likely to get a performance out of a team than a group huddle led by Cook.

Cook aside, the number one thing that enrages me about the England setup is the way in interviews they always have to refer to themselves by their schoolboy nicknames.  Cooky did this, Belly did that, Rooty, Swanny, Broady  ARGHH!  No wonder half of them are seemingly undroppable.

I was hoping KP might sign for the last couple of games if he doesn't have any cricket to play. Can't be worse than Gouffran.

Makes you glad Alan Mulally isn't playing anymore.

@thecricketgeek

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CE0YQ4UXIAMmBEy.jpg)

That's all well and good, but the national team in sport is a representative side, rather than the employer. The selectors select and, provided they comply with the Equality Act (or wherever equivalents exist in other jurisdictions), they can select who they want.

The situation in cricket is clouded slightly by central contracts, of course, but KP won't have one now anyway.

Some people will want the best openers, the best middle order, the best keeper and the best bowlers. Others will want some balance in the team. Others will want a team working together and fighting for each other.

The biggest let down for me is how it's been handled. The moment you feel sorry for KP - after the texts, the attitude and the autobiography - is the moment you realise just how badly the ECB have managed this situation. If they'd stuck by their guns a few months ago and said "stay in India; you won't be needed here", I would have supported that.

I'm a believer in team unity, but there is a dearth of test-ready talent in England and I can't honestly believe there's a better batsman not currently playing for England than KP in the context of tests against NZ and Oz. If there were someone else, I'd pick them, but I don't see it. Maybe the selectors do.

I know for sure the Aussies would prefer Lyth to Pietersen right now.

I'm no fan of KP in a 'wow what a great guy sense' but obv he should be playing for England.

The thing that grates most is the thought that the rest of the players don't have the mettle to speak out on this in an honest & open way

Gonna get abso stuffed this summer, with or without KP, but looks specially silly as it will be without

There is no denying ecb has been a horror show over the whole issue. If anything pietersen has been worse, the autobiography was all about slagging off pretty much everyone involved in the England set up and his rhetoric still isn't about the team it is still all about him.

I wouldn't have him back, the middle order is England's strength at the moment, as a like for like replacement he is an upgrade but not huge one IMO. If he was a fast bowler, world class spinner or opener then that is a different story. Australia would love him to open, he isn't an opener and Lyth is much the better option for that role.

the thing i can't get my head round is strauss is standing there today saying the ecb will be open and honest, and that kp isn't in their plans. claims its a decision made by him, graves and harrison and they all agree, yet it was barely a month ago graves said to kp " go get a county, score some runs and we'll pick the team on merit". then when this is put to harrison he avoids the question and uses buzzwords to chance the subject. if anyone should have trust issues it should be kp!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/kevinpietersen/

Exactly, and if im paying £80 of my hard earned to watch, I want to watch the best 11 English (people who have an English passport or wife) Cricketers I can. Which is why I'm not even bothering to go to the New Zealand test up here this year.

KP's a twat, but the ECB were bang out of order leading him up the garden path like this. Sounds like he can at least go back to India to earn a few quid.

Piers Morgan ripped into Strauss on Talk Sport this morning, Ecb is a disgrace, just because players don't get on with each other never seemed to bother Andy Cole and Teddy Sherringham, do your job, get the runs, play to your best of ability. KP is not a womaniser or goes out on the razzle, he is the best we have and we should use him, Did the FA stop Gazza playing for his country?

Yeah but Poers Morgan is KP's mate, as is Michael Vaughan, those two defend him most of the time.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CE1WX3TWEAIsCfr.jpg:large)

:-)

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNexLoG19rg

Vaughan was off the long run last night

said that when he spoke to the ECB about the job he insisted he wanted the right to pick KP

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/tms

Alec Stewart was excellent, a masterclass in understated indignation, yesterday lunchtime

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6Huf9BVu-c

Kevin Pietersen ‏@KP24
Morning all, after a pretty bad day yesterday I've given it a lot of thought overnight. I'm applying for the coaching job! #StraussLogic 😂


(http://media.giphy.com/media/tFXumD21XKRkQ/giphy.gif)

lol!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/32720069

absolutely class.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CE6qoEjUMAEwqrY.jpg)

Good - let's get rid of Cook.  The captain obvious can't manage different personalities in his squad so isn't up to the job. 

LOL - never mind Cook. That article basically says that if all the secretaries/teaboys don't like a player then he won't be picked, if they can influence it this way.

Just when you think the ECB couldn't look any more stupid!

GeoffreyBoycott: 'England are shambolic - there are questions over almost every player'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/england/11616179/England-are-poor-on-the-field-and-a-shambles-off-it.html

England chums club in complete disarray once again.  Cooky out, looks like they'll need Belly and Rooty to sort out the problem.

Joe Root in excellent touch again to dig England out of the hole (well half out of the hole)

Do you think Straussy has had a +ve effect yet ?

Brendan stayed far to attacking for to long early on and before you know it England are back to at least par and probably on top

Nice jig of the batting order from strauss  to

completely disagree. another wicket at 30-4 was the plan, and McCullum had to keep attacking. they were a sliver away from getting root lbw before lunch on the review which was just umpires call and then they have a chance to roll us over...

once the track flattened out, it being dry underneath, the chance was lost..hence need to keep attacking for the first two hours

the Ali at 8 was Farbrace/Cook. Strauss has spent the afternoon on a train to leeds to speak to gillespie. his role is not hands on running the team

If is a big word in sport

they didn't was good to hear 3 separate pundits on tms mention similar. Attacking captains never questioned it seems

Stokes just confirmed he was told he would bat 6 yesterday by strauss btw

they are all results orientated

mccullum is lauded for being different and attacking when it works, criticised when runs are given away.

i cannot listen to tms because of tufnell. horrible horrible "analyst" who the bbc seems to think the cricketing public wants to hear from

 

I felt Bmc let us off the hook a bit. I agree at 30-4 you stay attacking to break the game open, but you need a plan B and to be able to throttle back when the batsman start to get on top.  113-4 off 26 overs at lunch showed to me he might have got the balance wrong.

Clarke as often lauded for being innovative and attacking, but you'll see most matches watson will bowl a miserly spell of 5 overs whilst the main men rest, he'll "sit in" for that period of time then attack again when harris and johnson are back on. Nothing wrong with that, just playing the game situation, not letting the other team have a sniff. When Root and Stokes were going they'd relinquished the control they'd earned with the new ball.

I'm a fan of negative, "grind them down" cricket though in general, so obviously biased towards that, but i like a captain who can switch gears with his tactics depending on the situation and momentum shifts in the game

another old fashioned fan! nothing better than 6 hours of 2 runs an over :-)

113-4 off 26..different story if the extra catcher makes it 113-5 at lunch. the alternative is 80-4 and saving some runs but in the context of the game the possibility of the extra wicket is more important than the 30 runs

of course by mid afternoon Stokes in particular meant the pendulum had swung, really good counter attacking innings but i am quite a fan of a captain not putting the sweeper on the boundary etc...higher variance than many captaincy approaches though, certainly

i felt he underbowled anderson too, who is a partnership breaker.

Anyway, there's still plenty in the wicket with the new ball and Anderson should have a lot of fun sometime tomorrow

corey might be short of a gallop coming back from injury. he could be their stock bowler / golden arm depending on situation, give the openers a rest, normally bowls more than he did today. does look a new ball pitch, would like to see the back of williamson early, think he is excellent. if it flattens out and they have a platform their middle order will certainty get the game moving along!

Captains innings. ..

Great stuff this

Bm done the same this session

Stokes played superb but rather than even try to tie him up has served him bouncers for 30 minutes

Loved the Root salute, wonderful.

Great stuff from Stokes

Cook shouldn't be underplayed either. don't like his captaincy much but remains a very gritty test opening bat with what will end up being an all time good test record in terms of runs scored/centuries

from what i saw inbetween hiding behind the sofa (last day of the prem was nervy for us toon fans) Bmac was again a bit too aggressive? Stokes is the kind of guy you want in a scrap like, which is why he is a must for the ashes despite his poor bowling returns, but Cook is the glue today, stokes can't play with that freedom without the solidity of cook. on the flip side of the Bmac aggression coin, as Ian smith was saying, if he fancies chasing down whatever we leave them, the whole team will go for it with complete conviction, so tomorrow could be a real classic day of cricket with momentum going from side to side ... intriguingly poised

It's already been a great Test. It may yet get even better.

It's like watching that DeGale fight last night. Neither really good enough, full of weaknesses and unsophisticated at times, but entertaining because of it and the odd flash of brilliance and favouring attack over defence makes it enthralling.

I do worry about what lies ahead, mind.

Very harsh that

Been a really good test been moments of poor bowling but also some very good spells. The spell the New Zealand quicks bowled first up this morning was top class and only Cook digging in and Root riding his luck a tad stopped it being all over very early.

Would have seriously troubled any top order for that 90 minutes this morning.

I really do not see the Ashes being as one sided as so many think. It is not easy to win test matches away for any side and we have real depth to our batting line up. Bowling is an obvious concern but we should make enough runs to be competitive.

Clarke has lost seven of his last ten away tests as Captain as well.

a fantastic performance and a great test

Well well well. What a test match.

Great game.

It's rare to go into Day 5 with all 3 results possible, and this game has swung & swong back & forth for 5 days.

Some Test Match, that.

NZ scored 523 in their first innings & still lost.

Over 1,600 runs scored, & both sides bowled out twice, or nearly so.

How much of that can we put down to what, presumably, was a very well-prepared pitch?

Quite a lot. Plus Ben stokes scoring runs quickly and nz attacking when other sides would have gone on the defensive with bat and ball. Maybe one day instincts more into test cricket.

The pitch was a good one

I am not sure it was as good as the runs suggested though, England could easily have been bowled out for 200 yesterday if Cook and Root not bedded down.

And similar in the first innings New Zealand had the luck on their side then which they did not have today...

How poetically apt was it for the game to be won with an unbelievable catch too?

Best Test Match that I can remember since the 2005 Ashes series.

Not feeling nearly so gloomy about the Aussies now.

Always feel this happens in every sport England compete in. Before this test match we were shite and one win later there's much to be hopeful for.

We've beaten New Zealand. Big deal. I'll start feeling better once we've had a credible result against a better class of opponent

I thought the best part was that the final catch would have been taken comfortably if Cook had Ali back at third man.

we are a good test side especially at home

It's not a one off

Cook can't win tal :)

You know what I mean. There was such a glorious irony to that. The world had spent six hours asking why we had a third man in and we nearly don't win the test when he's brought up to fly slip. :D

Yes, how ironic was that?

He moved Ali there before the short attack started tbf

Get the feeling everything Cook does as a captain will be scrutinized like no other in the world.

He made some excellent bowling changes today at the right times and managed the bowling attack very well.

He is a very tough man and is improving as a leader, he will never be an excellent Captain but i have no doubt the team like him and will play for him which is half the battle.

The reaction to his innings yesterday showed us that.

I was not suggesting England were great, or otherwise George - just saying I thought it was a wonderful game of cricket.

The best thing about having no particular allegiance to any team is we get to enjoy the spectacle so much better, win or lose.

Lords is always a good batting track. Bowlers got some help from the weather.
Awesome test match, probably due to a lot of the players being in one day mode.
One to savior for England, still getting stuffed by the Aussies though!!!

This New Zealand team is a credible standard of opponent imo, they've got an awesome side. Quality result and amazing test match!

There aren't too many better sides than NZ at the moment imo.  In England conditions probably only Aussies and SAF offer a tougher test.

that was a very exciting test series

shame it is only two matches

NZ great value for this win, aggressive cricket, quick scoring

they scored 350 in 70 overs at the start, normally sides take 100-120 overs to score that many

this gave them 30-50 overs in hand which they needed with the rain delays

for england

the positives

cook back in form

stokes has arrived

buttler a solid 7

anderson, still, and wood's emergence

broad's wickets


the negatives

ballance and bell are in no form

what to do with mo ali? can he be the fifth bowler and front line spinner? if not, should he play?

broad going at 5-6 an over


the ashes are going to be tough, as aus are nz in style and agressionbut better with more depth

england's top six is going to have mitch, starc, hazlewood and harris coming at them with the ball. nasty

England ODI squad: Morgan (capt), Billings, Buttler, Finn, Hales, Jordan, Plunkett, Rashid, Root, Roy, Stokes, Taylor, Willey, Wood

exciting selection

roy, hales, billings, taylor and willey are some of the best one day players in the county game. all high strike rate bashers

Saw hales the other weeks here in notts, immense innings. Think he hit 6 consecutive sixes from his strike at one point.

I personally think the Aussies will thrash us. Our batting will not hold up against their bowlers and our bowling unit is very average.

As good as he is Anderson is past his best imo and no longer consistent enough.
Broad has done his usual of pull out a couple of performances when his place is under thread. Will no doubt spend all summer trying to bounce out the Aussies and getting smashed all over the place.
Stokes is not a test standard bowler.

will be a tough summer against the aussies. just judging it on the bowling attacks we are (rightly) proud of jimmy as a very good test bowler, but harris is equally as good. i think hazlewood will be superb in our conditions once he adjusts to pitching it up half a yard further than he does back home, either of the left arm mitchs could wreck havoc (though starc needs to prove his progression with the red ball) and lyon is streets ahead of any spinner we have. tough first assignment for bayliss!

Im still not convinced about Ben Stokes, but think he is crucial if we stand any chance of competing. Would love him to prove me wrong, but i just think he is lacking about 15% in one of his disciplines to be good enough.

How Adil Rashid hasn't played in at least one of the matches against the Windies and New Zealand is just insane. All our eggs in one bearded basket.

One of my major worries, which is quite ironic as Cook is considered such a boring captain, is that we really struggle to strangle opponents. Teams just seem to get away when they start having a go at us, we've seen this with New Zealand this summer and Australia in recent history. Australia have great, attacking pace bowlers, but what is equally as impressive is the way when a partnership starts to form against them, Clarke can switch his field round, and get Watson, Lyon and even Harris, to bowl to plan and shut off any runs, leading to build up in pressure and a wicket. I'd quite like England to mould stokes in Shane Watson, tell him to focus on his batting, and bowl a constant top of off stump line.

A big positive from me is Jos Butlers keeping. Think its come on leaps and bounds in two pretty difficult destinations to keep at.

can he just play as a fielder?

https://amp.twimg.com/v/28d92086-0024-4f12-a926-aa7f366c0245

wowzers

Think England have really missed him in the field.
Put him in at 3 instead of Bell, been batting well for Sussex ;D ;D ;D

Wow.

Anyone else think Alistair Cook is a bit unlucky as captain? I'm not saying he's a good captain, just he never seems to get that slice of luck. Quite a few times vs NZ the ball flew through the vacant slip position. Yes that could be his fault for having fielders in the wrong place, but you can only have to many, and you need a bit of luck that it goes to one.

He also doesn't ever seem to bring someone who has a golden arm. Watching the WI vs Aus game tonight, and Clarke throws the ball to Steve Smith for an over. The one ball he actually managed to land on the pitch is a rank long hop, which is top edged to a fielder? Never seems to happen for poor Alistair.

The batting is very exciting I'm little surprised vince isn't in the squad I know he hasn't started the season well, the bowling is a worry though but it's definitely the right thing to do to go new younger players.

Great series it's a shame it was only two games a great advert for cricket and love the attitude and the spirit nz play the game,I certainly think the ashes will be closer than the whitewash naysayers

What a great picture from last night

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CHySg6rWsAAoBdP.jpg)

It has been a brilliant tour having nz over, they have brought a great brand of entertaining, competitive cricket while playing the game in the right spirit, which England seem to have responded to in a similar manner. Going to be a bit downer when we get the Aussies, all snarling and full of bluster and the fact that they will probably beat us.

Surprised to see Rashid left out of the 14 man squad going to camp in Spain, which will presumably make up the test ashes squad. I think rolling the dice and taking some risks is the way we may somehow win the ashes.

like rashid, think he is talented. would have wanted him to play in the west indies and see how close he is

also do not think he is good enough for 5 tests against the aussies as of now

the lack of development of spinning talent and the earlier than required retirement of swann has left us struggling

last time in the home ashes we prepared dry pitches, swann took 22 wickets and was real difference maker

we can't do that this time, nor can we prepare green tops as starc, johnson, harris, hazlewood and siddle against anderson+2 doesn't see us any better off either

we might be competitive for spells but i can't see what pitches we will prepare that see us have an edge

any small chance Rashid's exclusion is part bluff to the aussies so they don't prepare for him / giving him an extra county championship game to state his case? whilst he isn't the finished article he offers a lot, and the aussies have a bit of a weakness against wrist spin. giving the way Moeen has bowled since coming back from injury Rashid surely has to be at least on the selectors radar? yeh, if we prepare pitches to suit seamers we'll be in bother, toughest problem at the moment for the aussies is which quick to bench out of Harris, Johnson, Hazlewood and Starc. Harris is a lock, Hazlewood looks like McGrath mark II, Starc will be a handful with new and old ball and the sight of Mitchell Johnson makes out batsman weak at the knees!

So, dawn will break tomorrow on one of the most tingly days - the first day of an Ashes series.

A few months ago I had no expectation of success whatsoever - thinking only rain could prevent a 5-0 drubbing but an odd feeling of confidence has gripped me. Cook's back in form, so is Broad. Stokes is suddenly looking very Flintoffesque. Root is scoring runs for fun, Mark Wood looks promising - it's all good.

Well, obv Bell is still in the doldrums, and Ballance is going through the process of getting found out but I have confidence. Maybe these Aussies aren't as good as we were led to believe. Harris has gone, Hazlewood is not all that, Haddin and Rogers are nearly as old as I am.

I've had a lump on us winning in Cardiff at 16/5 - forecast looks fair.

this was good, by the normally horrible standards of the green marketing men

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88lyifXTlw8

https://soundcloud.com/abc_grandstand/aus-v-essex-6-into-the-commentary-box

Can't wait for it to start and all the talk to stop,my biggest concern is the bowling just think we will struggle to take 20 wickets can't see us producing green seamers for the series that would be a mistake

Ryan Harris being out isn't going to do us any harm, they still have a very good bowling attack though....

there is a very simple ashes fantasy game at

www.alloutcricket.com/ashes/fantasy

if you want to pick a team, log on and register and PM me for the password to the mini league at

http://www.alloutcricket.com/cricket/fantasy/mini-leagues?m=view&id=429

then go ahead

the league is set up just needs people

Bloody hell, forgot it starts today!! Fooking new job distracting me from the important stuff in life  ;frustrated;

See Ponting's been at the Just For Men then.

What the hell is this crap before the game, this is cricket just get out there.

great minds think alike

"It's 11am. Its not raining. why are we messing around with hymns, flags and anthems? i mean, really....."

good grief, a slow low seamer.

Irony?


A poor start by the Australian seamers; not making the England batsmen play enough.

i loved this line

"Pitch appears to have been prepared with some form of industrial horse tranquiliser."

Not managed to see much because busy with work this week but reading this made me smile  ;danafish;

'Once again, Mitchell Johnson bore the brunt of England's assault on a riotous second morning as he recorded figures of 0-111 - the worst of his Test career.

Mercilessly mocked by the home crowd, Johnson's mood worsened when he was finally awarded a first wicket, only to have it overturned.'  rotflmfao rotflmfao rotflmfao

I hope a get to join the mocking mob at the games I go to.  :)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/33463749

Me too - I was planning on starting the following:

He goes to the left,
he goes to the riiiight,
Mitchel Johnson,
His catching is shite.

And there may also be some inappropriate(?) wig wearing going on...

a long way to go

but scores so far

blondepoker Leaderboard
Position   Team   Points
1    Mere Novices    2712
2    nellberg's nurdlers 2686
3    Tighty's titans    2652
4    KOLPAK XI    2444
5    Nakor    2324

I'm surprised that it's as close as that.

look, i provided that information for free. No boasting. Bloody egos.

 ;marks;

Probably the first time in the last 2 years iv been gutted about having a monday-friday 9-5. Best thing about nightshift in a casino was never missing a ball of the cricket.

"Anderson not just making the new ball talk. He's making the new ball confess a string of unsolved crimes dating back to the 70s."

england odds on

pitch not gonig to be easy at all come sunday

england call for the light roller now, hope the pitch breaks up......

Think it's gunna be a great series, lets go England.

I love the summer.
Lets go England.

Think we are in for a good day tomorrow. Know it will be tough for Aussies but i would have been happier with another 30-40 runs.Could go down to the wire.

Surely 2/5 is buying money on England winning?

I mean...

number of 400+ chases in history ... less than 10? what's the weather forecast like? unless it's going to be a downpour 2/5 is too big

Looking good great day for England today could have done with batting in the morning but very happy to try and defend 400 plus 😃

Will finally get to see a bit tomorrow! Went to the Notts T20 tonight, great close game, has got me in the mood......

(http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq167/Andr4w/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsissdiobz.jpg) (http://s444.photobucket.com/user/Andr4w/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsissdiobz.jpg.html)

(http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq167/Andr4w/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsg5rop1iq.jpg) (http://s444.photobucket.com/user/Andr4w/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsg5rop1iq.jpg.html)

Strange but true:

BLONDEPOKER LEADERBOARD
Position   Team   Points
1   Tighty's titans   4002
2   nellberg's nurdlers   3946
3   Mere Novices   3875
4   KOLPAK XI   3610
5   Nakor   3531


Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

Got to be honest, didn't see us winning this game as well as that before it kicked off!

What price would you back Australia at now for the Ashes?

Hard to see them playing as badly and England so consistently well next time.

Don't want this to sound like after timing and i am not massively up to date on cricket but why was this aussie side considered so great?  I don't see any all time great world beaters in the side compared to the aussie sides of the past 20 years?

England, however, have their all time leading test wicket taker and run scorer in their squad.  I appreciate this is a rather simple view of things but i am just a bit surprised having watched a fair bit of the first test as a casual cricket fan why the Aussies were considered such big favs pre event for the series away from home.

I would never ever be such a Judas at real prices....

Thought we bowled really well today and Cook captained the side pretty well.

Massive wickets just before lunch, and just after.

There will be a very different pitch at HQ. The groundsman isn't known for listening to "advice" on how to prepare his pitch. If it's fast and bouncy - well, anything but a slow, miserable thing - it should be a different match.

Everything went England's way this test. I don't think you're aftertiming. It's closer to recency bias, really.

I don't agree that Australia are overrated, but anyway, long may this run of England wins continue!

Teams who have gone 1-0 up in an Ashes series have won something like 70% of the series in the history of the Ashes, and it's happened 15 of the last 17 series, with England
going 1 up in 97 and Australia leading 1-0 in 2005 the only recent occasions of a series lead flip-flopping.

The odds on the series are now England 11/10, Australia 15/8, the draw 9/2. Going purely by the stats England looks a good price, but I can't have it. Starc's injury issues are a worry for an aussie backer, but given the inconsistency of England in recent times I'd want to be on the Aussies at lords.

What are the historical maths on a drawn series after a team goes 1 up after one test? 9/2 looks tempting, but its just gut feel & I have no idea of the math.

Weather often plays a significant part in these matters in England, of course.

no drawn series since 1972, is that right? jeeeeeeeeez. only 5 ever, 4 of which were in a 6 series period in the 60's and 70's. Seems strange given they are often competitive series that there has been so few drawn series. genuinely surprised by that. 22 straight series where there has been an outright winner. 100% book at best prices as PP went top price on Eng and Oz, must be keen on the draw like you :-0

Wow, that's really surprised me. So much for gut feel. 9/2 does not seem quite so big now. ;)

Is the only reason the Aussies are faves for Lords test because they think the pitch will do more and offer a bit to the Aussie quicks?

Seems very strange to me that England have absolutely torn the Aussies apart in Cardiff but aren't faves at Lords. I know the wicket will be different, but still seems a bit silly. Before I wade in, am I missing something obvious?

We should all wade in, it's a 10% arb at the moment :-) Aussies only marginal favs tbf. They came into the series as pretty hot favourites, i guess one solitary result isn't enough to change favouritism. Pretty much everything went right for Eng, and everything wrong for Aussies. will it be repeatable for Eng? given the book % at the moment you're unlikely to get a bigger price than is available atm

Tourists always raise their game at Lords, home of cricket and all that and wanting their names on the honours boards. It's one of the reasons they switched the first test away from Lords a few years back because England were finding themselves 1-0 down after the first test far too often.

I keep hearing this 'everything went right for England' but their record wicket taker only took 3 wickets and their record batsman had 2 failures yet they still hosed up?  

I wouldn't place too much emphasis on "record wicket taker, record batsman". Steve Smith's got 11,000 runs to go to be their top runscorer in history but he's no.1 batsman in the world atm. Root's our best batsman at the moment, him getting dropped on 0 was a huge turning point. Anderson only took 3 wickets but played his role as part of the bowling group. Depends what group you're in, the "momentum" angle so you'd be pro england's chances, or just putting it down to a bad game and thinking class will tell and staying pro australia's chances.

Lords is a much quicker wicket and England's batting is awful against express pace.

umpire challenge game

http://umpire.telegraph.co.uk/?WT.mc_id=tmgspk_toppc_606055_100&utm_source=tmgspk&utm_medium=toppc&utm_content=606055&utm_campaign=tmgspk_toppc_606055_100&pso=1

Well I'm definitely eagle-eyed.  ;D

Naturally got 6/6 with no restarts.

Which is good, I guess, as I am an umpire lol!

More deep insight from Botham this morning:

"It could be a good toss to lose".

slow low pitches are fine if you win the toss and bat

i think most fans, irrespective of affiliation, would like to see more pace and bounce. makes for better matches

Draw currently 6/4 - has to be a decent bet as unless the pitch breaks up I can't see them taking 20 wickets. Joe Root could bat till September.

Its already a dry pitch with footmarks

Australia will take 20 wickets, scoreboard pressure, Nathan Lyon

the draw will trade too short for the next two days

no he cant as the pitch is needed for other games before then

What's wrong with this picture?

BLONDEPOKER LEADERBOARD
Position   Team   Points
1   Mere Novices   6764
2   KOLPAK XI   5975
3   nellberg's nurdlers   5835
4   Nakor   5050
5   Tighty's titans   4787

I think thats a terrible price.

Not that easy to bat 2nd/4th when you pretty much know your batting for a draw.

*DISCLAIMER* I KNOW THE SQUARE ROOT OF FUCK ALL ABOUT CRICKET

When I was a kid, every bloody test match seemed to end in a draw. A 5 match series invariably ended 1-0 or 1-1.

What is the reason why test matches never seem to end as a draw these days?

(I believe they replace some time lost by weather breaks these days, correct? Is this the sole/main reason?)

just a much faster game, meaning the game traveks at a much faster rate. in the 80s, 230 runs in a day was good going, now 320-350 is the norm.

Whilst the 50 over and T20 forms have given batsmen new ways of scoring and have developed more batsmen with much more aggressive styles in test matches, the technology seems to have helped the bowlers more than the batsmen.

If a batsmen is a bit susceptible to an lbw, everyone knows that, but it's the small weaknesses in a batsman's footwork early on or the way he plays against certain balls that gets eked out by video analysis that was never available 20 years ago.

Bowlers can now bowl with very specific field settings on lines and lengths perfectly suited to the best chance of stopping the batsman scoring or getting him out. The plans are much clearer and more readily based in maths.

So, if the batsmen are scoring more quickly and the bowlers are taking wickets more quickly, test matches aren't going to take as long.

One of the reasons we love cricket. Standards.


PS - What a shame to see that jarring exclamation mark.  The sentence, intended to be light-hearted, stands perfect scrutiny without the exclamation mark, but the guy thought it was necessary to make his point. Poor form Sir, poor form.



(http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/07/17/00/2A9447D700000578-0-image-a-44_1437087718154.jpg)



(http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/07/17/00/2A99507F00000578-0-image-a-45_1437087720341.jpg)

Derek must have been expressing surprise that Graham Swann was appropriately attired.


Dear Tal

I noticed you dusted off your chips in the first level, while it did not escape my attention that you were on a table adjacent to tikay, who had well above starting stack!

As you will understand, I have no option but to report this on the relevant fora.

This is not the first time that this has happened...

Yours sincerely, Society

Fewer draws

- One day tecniques and approaches leaking into test cricket. New Zealand and McCullum have been in the vanguard of this, but in general scoring rates are accelerating to 4 per over and above. games progress faster. 90 overs a day at 4 =360 a day x 5 so games now crack on far more than they used to

- Technology

a) Bigger bats, better player strength and conditioning, video analysis

b) DRS. Even if the umpire doesn't give a clear decision, the players can call for a review. This has particularly helped spinners. Swann reckoned that DRS added over 50 wickets to his final test total. previously umpires were very reluctant to give lbw decisions if the batsman had got a big stride in to the spinner and impact was a way down the pitch. DRS has shown that often these appeals are out, and in turn umpire behaviour has changed..these decisions are more readily given

only takes a maximum of 40 wickets to finish a test match, and at the margin DRS has led to more dismissals

c) Drainage. Prior to 2013, driven by commercial considerations (didn't want to lose a day's play and have to refund punters), the ECB ordered all English test grounds to install modern drainage systems under squares. this means that weather interruptions are shorter

gone are the days where it can rain, then the sun comes out but dickie bird tells a full house that the outfield is too wet to play on, as famously happened one test match staturday at headingley

d) technology in pitch protection too. Hover covers take less time to cover the pitch and to remove. super soppers remove water quicker....

e) floodlights. occasionally play continues after floodlights at test grounds. it never used to. less time lost

f) the corollary of c and d are that pitches are drier...they dust up earlier, sometimes crack...this means they can be more difficult to bat on later in games. Its much more trickier to bat out for draws than it was

Now of course pitches like this Lords one, horrible for a spectacle, are more likely to produce a draw than other pitches but my money would still be on nathan lyon spinning Aus to victory sometime on sun-mon

in the tms podcast after cardiff Vaughan, a bit of a pratt but a very shrewd cricket thinker said

"unless the weather really intervenes i don't see any game in this series being drawn"

he's probably right for reasons a-f above

 modern drainage systems under squares


Now that's fascinating. Details, please.

you can watch the process at lords if you like

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcB7Sa60-o8

Lord's installed the first ever sand-based drainage system at a cricket ground in the UK

The entire outfield, but not the square, was dug up and the natural clay-based soil replaced with a sand based one - allowing rain water to drain from the top layer of grass at a faster rate.

Since that winter there has been a drastic reduction in the amount of time spent off the field from rain delays.

The Lord's model has also been followed by the majority of professional clubs around the country, with the ECB providing grants to counties in order to install the new drainage system.

There was a stat on TMS yesterday that 3/4 of Tests nowadays end in results, whereas of Boycott's 108 Tests, 53 were draws.

Still, draw is now 5/4 which means that Tighty should really be unloading the clip on Australia to win.

another clip

think the draw might trade odds-on first though, then i will "pounce" (go to oddschecker and leisurely click some buttons)

as for TMS, sadly because it is a terrific institution it is barely listenable to at times at lords

the baffling insistence on continuing to use Henry Bloefeld really detracts, his schtick is boring and his faculties are waning sadly

as for Tufnell, the worst pundit in any sport in history

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CKGsKAJWsAEKcyq.jpg)

Agree as to Blowers & Tuffers.

I very much miss the late CMJ, ditto John Arlott.

They used to use an ex-Somerset cricketer, forget his name, he was top rate, too.

Vic Marks? v good

vaughan, swann and ed smith of the newer breed are very good too

you don't need to force the humour, the right mix of personalities and it comes naturally

That's him. Got the balance just so.
 

Nothing wrong with them!!

Shane Warne has got to be right up there !       For an ex "great" of the game his knowledge is terrible plus his voice grates.

You can visibly see the likes of Gower, Athers, Botham ,Hussain etc cringing when he voices an opinion.

I don't mind Blowers and Tufnell. You only get Blowers for half an hour a session and I think that's the right amount - more than that and it would grate. Tufnell is a clown but I find him entertaining. Again, we get the right amount of him. Swann will say something interesting about the game, but then spend ten minutes chuckling at his own dreadful banter.

Ed Smith I've not warmed to yet, mostly just because of his voice - there's a peculiar lack of character in it. He seems to say insightful things but he just doesn't have the timbre yet. He sounds like a generic BBC sports reporter, rather than a man of substance. You can detect the change when he finishes and Agnew/Blowers/Maxwell come on - they just have better voices for the radio. There's not much Smith can do about that.

I think Boycott is cooked though - he's like an elderly relative who sits in an armchair in the corner, babbling incoherently about the 1950s whilst everyone else politely nods and say 'Yes, Grandpa - do you want another cup of tea? TEA, DO YOU WANT MORE TEA?'

No wonder there were so many draws, if Sir Geoffrey playing.  He'd do anything possible to maintain his average above what was best for the team, allegedly.

Just thought of anither blast from the past, Chris Tavare.  The youth of today are blessed to never have to sit through a Tavare innings.  Wikipedia is excellent, as ever.

 Among his slowest innings was a score of 35 runs in six-and-a-half hours at Madras in the 1981/2 season.  Alex Massie wrote that, for Tavaré, scoring runs seemed "a disagreeable, even vulgar, distraction from the pure task of surviving.   The Test selectors dropped Tavaré in 1984, after he had made 25 Test appearances, following another time-consuming score of 14 against the Sri Lankans  ...

I think they are all entertaining in their own way tbh, yes tuffers is a clown but he's quite funny, probably makes me laugh more than any other on there. They had some bird commentating the other week wtf is all that about? Just sounded wrong lol  rotflmfao

really?

Alison Mtchell is a very accomplished journalist, done 5 live cricket for ages, womens tests etc. think its good. cricket needs to be more inclusive

you are wrong on tufnell imo. detracts massively from the whole thing. stick to reality tv, question of sport and other crap

My favourite slow-scoring story is India's first ever game in the World Cup in 1975. Chasing 334 in 60 overs they finished on 132/3 - Gavaskar 36 from 174 balls.

I don't care how accomplished she is, didn't like her. How can an opinion be wrong or are you always just right?  ;djinn;

Aggers is top notch, the moment he is on air, he exudes enthusiastic energy, & really projects his voice. Really brings TMS to life.

i said, "in my opinion".

which on this happens to be right :-) borne of fervently listening to TMS since the age of 8. a long long time ago

I learnt to fly at the same time as Aggers at Tollerton. Really funny hearing him over the radio in a totally different context, spoke to him a few times over a cup of coffee but didn't let on I knew who he was. Agree he is the best 'commentator'.

the lunch menu for players today

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CKHNChmUAAAwXNC.jpg)

I got a stern look and a quiet word last year when I was a guest in the pavilion at lords. I had a suit on but was not wearing a tie, it is very traditional in that way. What surprised me about the pavilion was how much they adapted modern technology, loads of plasma screens showing cricket.

Aussies come in and they need to give it the "sorry sir we are out of the sea bream, steak, etc, we only have the chicken meatballs."  Seriously chicken meatballs?  whoever thought that was a good idea?

pitch is doing a bit more, bit of grip, bit of turn, one kept low to get Marsh

Broad has been excellent today

Knobs.

?????????

Hence the 'knobs' comment.

A spokesperson for the company said:

We decided that, on balance, although potentially amusing for the cricket fan, the sentiment of the advert crossed the line and had the potential to cause offence.

It’s not often Paddy Power make this kind of decision but in this instance we believe we made the right call not to run it.

We can confirm that we will be destroying the advert and it will never be released in public.

We apologise for any offence caused.

FY press release.

oh my word, ben stokes.

run your bat in!

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CKSM87lVAAAbQ7g.png)


what do you do with lyth, ballance and bell for the 3rd test?

pick them?

replace any of them?

who with?

Very tough to know what to do really.

Ballance I think has to go, irrespective of his start in test cricket I can't remember anyone looking so little like they had any kind of clue

He could go and possibly move up Bell and Root and bring Taylor in.

Probably stick with Bell because I can't think of anyone obvious.

Wouldn't mind Hales or even someone like Compton coming in for Lyth either

i would keep Bell, and back him to come good

Ballance and Lyth....yuk tough one. you don't want to kneejerk but the Aussies work players out so quickly

Lyth to go, replace by Lees perhaps. Not sure Hales is seen as a test opener. Compton has batted 3 all season for Middlesex

Ballance i think will be under pressure from Bairstow

Bairstow would bat 5, although i wouldn't want to move him, Root may have to go to 3

We are so poor up top that we have free reign to experiment.

Ali up to open with Cook. Bring in Rashid and prepare slow, turning pitches. Leave Bell and Ballance in the side.

More interesting is what do you make of England's decision to save themselves a day's toil to give up today?

1-0 up at Lord's and needing to grind, show some fight and bat bat bat, England folded like superman on laundry day. There was no desire to leave balls that weren't on the stumps, no hard graft on display and we never looked like fending off the Aussies' Plan A.

A shameless display we would never see from the opposition. Collapses happen and pitch conditions will often help, but the lack of determination on show today will give the baggy greens complete confidence that they will win the close games from here. The fiftyfifty tackles are no more, unless Cook and his seniors can find some heart in their men for Birmingham.

Tut.

Whoops! Thank you, Mere.

Lyle, Ballance and Bell all need dropping, but you don't want too many newbies in all at once against the Aussies. Bairstow has got to come in.

Team poor across the board though. Fielding poor with catches going down and bowling nowhere near good enough from some. Anderson needs to start producing wickets and showing he's still a top 10 bowler. Stokes once again has shown he's not a test standard bowler. Buttler needs to score more runs and do so more consistently.

Perhaps worth dropping one of the 3 batters and having an extra bowler.

Agree on Ian bell will come good eventually ,hales isn't an opener in the long form hate it when notts put him up to open in the championship which he struggles as he isn't an opener as batting at 3 when he was piling the runs on earlier in the season(he's a 3/4 batter in championship imo) think lyth needs a run should have played in wi after being the man in form it's a couple of years to early for lees imo,I worry about bringing bairstow in despite his brilliant form as he's another who's struggled against the short ball,if I was going to replace anyone it would be ballance

Think Bell has earned the right with his contributions over the years to to be stuck with for the series. At least we don't still have clamours for KP anymore lol.

Think i'd go:

Cook
Lyth
Bell
Root
Bairstow
Stokes
Butler
Ali
Broad
Wood
Anderson

Think root should be higher than 4. And on current form Bairstow is the man to slot in. I do think Gary Balance can have a good international future, but his head is currently scrambled and needs to go away and clear it and work on his game. Very similar to Joe Root, his head was scrambled is Oz and had no idea what his batting style was. Went away and we all know whats happened since.

I still want him back in the team, but whats the point in banging on about it when it ain't gonna happen.

Surprised this hasn't appeared yet

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkBzaChXJxE

Name the lady's partner? (please keep quiet if you have already been told)

saw it live and wasn't sure if it was him, it looked like him but not sure

went to twitter later, indeed it is

pretty girl too

Is it guessable or one of those that you need to know?

famous British poker player......

Barney boatman

Another clue, she is sat beside him

I gathered that lol, is it tikay?

I went a googling I like how warney knew the guy next to her changed to warney knew her like he knew many other women

I thought it might be Ronald De Wolfe as i haven't seen him on tv for a while and he might have changed somewhat as it doesn't look like him 5 years ago.

we have a winner

did I win?

Same result as the tipster comp I'm afraid

One day

Seen that a few times and never noticed!

Stick with Lyth, had one bad dismissal in this test and got one absolute snorter from Starc - already made a ton against a strong NZ attack in helpful conditions this summer.

Ballance looks in real trouble and has to go work on his technique elsewhere imo, missed a straight ball in first innings and struggles when it's full and straight and Aus are onto him. Probably Bairstow in, good recent record in county cricket and form is huge in this situation. Bell will hopefully figure it out

Cook
Lyth
Bell
Root
Bairstow
Stokes
Buttler
Moeen
Broad
Wood
Anderson

for me

what is this sourcery.....

Cook knockers gone quiet again

Think Cook's probably been knocked about the least of all the England players in this Ashes series.

lol, he would have batted if he had won the toss too

good toss to lose, better to be lucky than anything else....

Could Clarke have declared at 9 down after the rain delay?  As in within the rules of the game? 
With the forecast much better tomorrow and the conditions today must be a line worth thinking about?
Obviously 10th wicket will get 50+ now.

Never ever.

could have declared whenever he wanted, but of course never would.

facing johnson and starc now is not going to be fun

at last a fun pitch with some grass and bounce

Ah just seen this.

Roland was at a cricket/charity poker event a few weeks ago and seemed good friends with Eoin Morgan.

Bit aftertimey but since we're not betting I guess it's OK.

Was thinking how the Wood injury might really help the team when it was mooted yesterday. So focused on Batters after the last test didn't consider bowling changes we might make but I like this one, however we got there

Agreed

he looked really good. the ball that got clarke was brilliant

Haven't seen that yet but looking forward to highlights obv, He's just so obviously a proper test bowler whenever he's near his best so really good for us potentially that he is back near his best this year

http://gfycat.com/ImpassionedScratchyDonkey

if you haven't seen it and would like to..

Ha, pretty good :-)

Lyth can't continue opening, surely?

also, just as I was thinking that Cook looked well set..... *ahem*

who would you open with

Compton (not persona grata)
Stoneman (unfashionable)
Chopra (not a heavy scorer this year)
Westley (young, but cook rates him)
Robson (tried once)
Hales (not seen as a red ball opener/technique)
a n other?

not an easy or clear choice....

Since Strauss retired, Cook's 6 opening partners have scored 1717 runs in 63 innings at 28.61 so its an ongoing problem

After the last discussion I did think Moeen might actually be a reasonable shout - think Tal mentoned it

Clarke not looking so clever as a skipper here

Gower with a gentle dig about the defensive field already. Be laying into cook if positions reversed

Alex lees would be next go to but not convinced he is the answer.

Hales is not a long form of the game opener, he has batted 3 for Notts this year with some success certainly has improved his technique over the last couple of years but not a test opener.

Don't know enough about the county game to suggest an alternative but that post-Strauss stat is rather damning...

Ali averaging less than 30 in the relative calm of the middle/lower order, would be quite a leap to expect him to average 40 up top. We need to pick one and stick with one, The aussies were desperate to have Sam Robson before he picked us. I would go back to him, and just back him for a good while. Winter tour of South Africa isn't going to be easy, need a settled top order.

Looks like the England batting will let them down yet again.

Going nicely now

Clarke again how can he wait so long to turn till Hazelwood ?

Yes this partnership is a disaster for Australia.  Match winning partnership potentially.

About as much chance of Warne criticising Clarke as of me winning 100 metres gold

Cook inspired again

Switches finn end and two wickets later

Got tickets for Saturday, not looking good!

Why is that not out when hawkeye shows it was hitting the stumps?

Well this is going rather well.

The enigma that is Steven Finn, has so much potential just needs the confidence to fulfil it. Saw him bowl earlier in the season for Middlesex and he looked nowhere near.


If less than half the ball is hitting the stumps it is considered a marginal decision and stays with the decision made on the field by the umpire. The DRS (decision review system) was brought in to stop absolute howlers not make borderline decisions.

Ok seems weird to me.  Cheers for the reply.

19 of 21 DRS decisions have stayed with the umpire this series, more than half on umpires call

It is meant to overturn real howlers, of which there are far fewer in the DRS era (it has improved umpiring standards).

where less than half the ball is hitting the stumps the benefit of the doubt goes to the umpire's initial call

If this finishes today I bet Edgbaston won't half do a lump.

covered by insurance. Edgbaston do for early finish and weather, some grounds only for weather (cardiff for example)

The thing that bugs me about DRS is it only reverses one way.

So if someone is given not out you have to have over half the ball hitting the stumps to overturn whereas if someone is given out if it then misses by half a millimetre it is overruled surely it should be half a ball either side?

Totally different to tennis where if u hit 1mm of the line the ball is in.  Don't really understand why it isn't the same in cricket.

because it is mainly there to eliminate howlers from an umpire, although often not sued like that by teams

in tennis its in or out, with cricket there are a lot of really tight judgement calls an umpire has to make, in tennis if its in and called out its a mistake  .

in cricket its there to support the umpire not help the player

Tennis is more black and white as you know where the ball landed. Cricket they are often predicting the trajectory of the ball so a lot more chance of error, so it's a computers best guess basically.

Anderson suspected torn intercostal muscle

Uh Oh.

I've not read the exact laws of cricket, but, having played my whole life, my understanding of the law is that umpires shouldn't give LBWs if they there is an element of doubt (so they shouldn't be giving out decisions where they think it's probably clipping leg stump). As such, balls that are missing the stumps by 1mm and given out are actually quite bad decisions, as benefit of doubt should be given to batsmen in the first place. Likewise if it's hitting by >1/2 the ball, it should really have been given, but perhaps it should need to be more than that. Certainly isn't as black and white as tennis, where a ball is either in or out, no 'benefit of doubt' comes into it.

Three one-sided games, where, barring the odd, brief spell of talent, the quality of bowling and batting have been mediocre at best.

With the bat, neither team has dug in as a unit when facing any sort of adversity. Wickets have fallen in clumps not through momentum but through carelessness. In Birmingham, the top order has played the short ball like they were dealing with Walsh and Ambrose in Antigua. Nathan Lyon has been made to look like Saqlain Mushtaq. At Lord's, England rolled over with all the grace and delight of a nappyless infant and haven't batted any better here.

They have been flattered by poor bowling. No line or length. No building of pressure when even the bloke in the David Gower mask dressed as a nun who's had a dozen IPAs can see there's a little bit in the air and on the ground to create all the variation you need.

In 2005, every ball was contested. No quarters given. No single jogged. Five hard fought tests.

This has been an awful advert for Ashes cricket.

Great summary that Tal.  Was just saying similar to someone this afternoon.

Same for Tennis as cricket. 3mm give for Hawkeye in Tennis.

As Rich and Mark have said, the review system is there to get rid of the howlers, unfortunately too often the reviews are tactical.

Did you not see the Anderson bowling performance in the first innings or Finns in this?

They both would have troubled any batsman from any era. The first two wickets mj got this morning would have got anybody as well.

Feared this would be the reaction if England were competitive or god forbid even looked like winning.

Come on England very proud today could have easily faltered today.

Any opinions on the new coaching team so far

There have been moments of brilliance but they have been sporadic, not supported by the other end and massively helped by woeful batting decisions (here, terrible choices on off stump location and terrible negotiation of the short ball).

I'll be delighted if we roll the aussie over tomorrow and then twice more because I'm an England fan. But, as a cricket fan, I want so much more.

Yeah but the ball lands where it's gonna land in tennis, no element of predicting future trajectory unlike cricket.

Tal, so many of the batting line ups on both sides are out of form. Beyond Rogers, Smith, root and occasional knocks $ron moeen and stokes nothing is happening.must be the weakest aus middle order in a Long time. The aus bowling attack hasn't fired together either

I agree. Without sounding like a Brummie Boycott, they are out of nick but it doesn't stop them digging in.

As grumpy as I sound about this, watching Ricky Ponting smile with gritted teeth whenever Lord Garrrr sends a little josh his way is worth the entry fee alone :)

It didnt look a weak middle order pre the ashes so maybe we should get some credit.

Thought Shane Warne was disgusting today on comms, suggesting Cook had slagged of Clarke regularly (no such evidence) and constantly referring to how Haddin (his best mate) should be playing. Certainly his views give you a great indication as to who he hates, mildly dislikes and loves in the Aussie camp.

Even argued with the Clarke captaincy away stats (that i posted pre series) as being "misleading" (how?!!) and that he is not in bad form. Pointing by contrast was excellent very balanced and able to be critical of people you can tell he respects and possibly even likes.

Has Punter done commentary in Oz before this or have Sky just struck oil? He's a real Gary Neville. Suberb.

2005 was something of a one-off as a comparator

Such a heightened experience because England were at last competitive again after so long and the sides were pretty well matched.

Some bowling skill levels today are as good as any at any time and so it's not a complete surprise that teams get blown away from time to time.

I've enjoyed cricket for a long time, even when test cricket was just about the dullest thing in the world of sport. On balance, I'd rather watch these abbreviated, fast scoring matches than some of the turgid stuff I watched in the past.

I have heard him briefly on the Big Bash stuff before but was not particular taken either way. Obviously more time in the tests, just superb.

Still nothing quite beats Michael Vaughan on TMS late evening he knew the Aussies were "not up for this test" by the body language before the toss on Wednesday morning. Quite how he garnered this i have no idea, i have never heard such an after-timer on any media form.

Find McGrath has a really good dry sense of humour on TMS - knowledgeable too izzit

Botham is pretty terrible after timer as well. Vaughan has been a massive disappointment to me post career, he is just a bit of a prat IMO. Was a big fan of his captaincy and his style when batting.

Vaughan is just a shameless media whore these days, saying shit just to keep him in the cricketing public eye.

I know what you saying, but it still not completely accurate in tennis. makers themselves say 3mm leeway. Pretty obv watching Wimbledon this year where there are occasional errors, as clearly evident on the faces of players.
Everyone knows it is not 100% for cricket, but does what it supposed to do and prevents the howlers

I agree with comments made on Ponting's commentary - he really is very good. I envisaged him being very dry and matter of fact but his tactical nous shines through and for such a fierce on-field competitor he is surprisingly balanced.

I also will admit to enjoying Warney's commentary despite his seemingly endless search for controversy. The banter between him and some of the England lads (Hussein et al) is fun to listen to and adds a bit of spice.

The same bit of spice which seems to be lacking on the field tbh.

Mcgrath has been bang on so far, really enjoyed listening to his stints on TMS but i think he is about the only one i do enjoy listening to on there.

Booked the day off graft today so i could have a good weekend watching the cricket. That's went down the shitpan. I was doing a bit raindance at 11.30 on wednesday morning.

Open with Lyon and get in a second over before lunch?

bell knows hes got 3 days right lol.

Hope lyth gets out, he needs dropped and think selectors make mistakes based on us winning= no need to change.

Who are you replacing him with?

Anybody.

Not sure, seen some debate from people who follow the county game and obvious its not an easy solution but might as well roll the dice on someone.

thats the exact opposite of what England do

better to suggest things that are realistic.

there is no easy ready made solution, hence the difficulty and why he might stay.

i would pick compton, but england won't.

Stoneman, geordies have great records in ashes adversity.

Tough one with the opener role. Opening the batting is very tough. Just shows how great Cook has done. The possible (already tried) contenders to replace Lyth for me are (in no order)

Carberry
Robson
Compton

who have all had a dip with minimal success and have all been treated fairly harshly. Can't think of anyone untried who could step in here.

The best thing the selectors could do would be to put an arm round Lyth, tell him he is the future and will be opening for the final 2 tests. Having said that, his confidence does seem shattered and he has looked outclassed.


A left field option for me would be promoting Moin Ali to opener and given Rashid a run out at 8. Trouble is, England won't really need a second spinner at Trent bridge so this is lefter than left field

Keep lyth leave Ali were he is

[img]    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CLQEPsfUYAE483v.png        [img]

Compton seems a reasonable choice he was treated harshly, dropped for scoring too slowly than volume of runs. Seems a strong character who will dig in. Problem is that he is batting 3 for Middlesex this year not opening.

Really is England's weak spot along with the spinning department in terms of depth. Could reel off a few middle order batsman/ seamers even wicketkeepers that England could give a go from county cricket.

We won though and the Aussies look terrible against the moving ball, so all is good!

for all the problems we have, the aussies have more. 4,5,6 looks a dreadful middle order on form, smith looks vulnerable against the moving ball (about the only thing he is vulnerable to), hazlewood and starc had poor games

and absolutely no time to sort it out

i suppose shaun marsh will come in for voges. might think about siddle for his control.

hopefully the pitch will be grassy in nottingham too but at 2-1 up you might think about preparing a featherbed and praying you win the toss.....

The problems at no 2 highlight just why England were so desperate to try Trott there, should have blooded Lyth prior to Ashes if they were so keen on him.
Personally would go for Compton, his style is what England are missing right now.
Keep Ali at 8, has really strengthened England's previous weakness of having a long tail.
Buttler needs to start scoring runs, or give someone else a chance

well you could give bairstow the gloves and pick a second spinner for the oval

probably wouldn't, but i would be thinking about it

Buttler seems so diffident batting, didn't want to review his dismissal here, similar at lords....

would love to see him have the confidence to paly like he does in the ODIs

He's also no Prior at calling reviews from behind the sticks.

Nothing like leaving work and walking through a city full of Richard the Lionhearts and damp check shirts, chanting "Long to reign over YOU..."

Glad to see they made the most of their ticket. As, I am sure, is Warks CCC :D

Yeah, Bairstow in my thoughts too. Despite his low score, which in fairness was a peach of a bouncer, he deserves a run in the team. Don't think England would ever drop Buttler for Bairstow though.

$31m offered just for signing a contract?

Russell Wilson's agent, take a bow.

the NFL.... its just not cricket lol

I may have made a small posting error...

all these sports now, they are just so similar lol. Tbf I read the first part and started looking to dig out my bat.

Still pinching myself over the turnaround from lords so pleased the promotion of bell to 3 only 18 months to late never mind, I would stick with lyth nobody pulling up trees in county cricket plus there are lack of specialist openers in county games as I've said previously I certainly wouldn't be going back to Compton.Id be more worried who's going to replace Jimmy got a bad feeling it's going to woakes who I'm yet to be convinced about

18 months to late?

Balance broke all records before this summer as a "new" number 3 to suggest he should have been dropped before this series is utterly baffling.

Woakes is only 2 games back from his injury. SUre he would have been very close if fully wound up but its too early

Wood will probably play, with someone like Footitt in as squad cover. Maybe RUshworth who takes shed loads of wickets on slow seamers at Durham, and you could see similar at TB

I gather that, for the first time ever, England have run up this sequence in 7 straight games.....


Won

Lost

Won

Lost

Won

Lost

Won

What price the sequence continues?

Australia 11/8 for trent bridge

so far this series they've lost at 10/11, won at 6/4 and lost at 10/11 again

England have won at 7/2 twice

Easy game to predict!

Ballance should be playing in the middle order which would have helped break the top 3 which had a tendency to get stuck  that's where he's always played for Yorkshire,bell was the senior batsman and should have been pushed up instead of pushing the new las up there after kp was pushed aside.Ballance will be back he was just terribly out of form and looked all at sea

Fred could have lost a lot of money betting on this series so far. As predictable as the Championship. Who could possibly have predicted that Edgbaston rout after the Lords debacle?

 :dontask:

http://www.betpal.com/the-third-ashes-test-29th-july-2nd-august

Excellent, well played. I keep forgetting to read those things, you really should stick a link up to them every week.

Plunkett and Footitt in. (Lyth retained)

for who? Anderson and...?

They wont do anything new i dont think, be Wood in for Jimmy. Wont change anything, especially as Wood has impressed so far in his short test career

i was just stating the squad selection.

if fit wood will play

Yeah, just cover for Wood in case he not fit enough.

ah right my bad!

2 interesting bits of info leading into todays test, in the county championship games at trent bridge that finished in a result they were all won by the team batting first, after the captain who won the toss stuck them in. So looks like bat first and cross your fingers that your top order can stick it out!

Also, last 8 tests at TB have seen a bowler win the MOTM award. Given the top 3 in the market are batsman (root, smith and warner) the bowlers might be a bit of value. Took Broad and Starc for split stakes.

News that Shaun Marsh replaces Mitch Marsh? very strange

So much for me getting sleep listening to tms today 10-3 after 8 balls they are getting excited

Oi Oi!

I keep trying to get some work done and I'll I'm hearing is Englands got another one!

Cracking stuff.

unhappy pugs

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CLt_siLWIAE11mk.jpg)

Nice work Nellberg, just read that thinking it made a lot of sense... Admittedly a bit earlier for congratulations but the thought process looks pretty spot on.

half of my theory looks horrendous (batting first being key isn't looking so great now haha)

however, the broad motm punt has had a reasonable start ...

stat alert

this innings is the earliest the fifth wicket has ever fell in a Test match.

that catch was a bit special

full speed it was behind him when he stuck his hand out

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CLuCMFeUAAAzu9Z.jpg)

!

wide half volley....wicket.

Broad 5 for 6

Crikey, they could be all out before lunch on the first day.

Our "most runs at Cardiff" is unlikely to be threatened at TB.

Broad 7 wickets for 11 runs.  Best bowling figures ever?

Meanwhile, at home watching it on the telly, Jimmy Anderson is punching the cushion in frustration.

Thoughts on England forfeiting an innings and just keeping going ?

lol...brilliant!

Came here to ask if this is a) allowed, b) in the spirit of the game and c) advisable...

Broad seems to have pulled off a wonderful piece of magic. He's convinced the Aussie line up that the ball is moving round corners when all it's doing is nipping back of a length a bit. Fabulous.

In Tests, it must be the best by anyone, ever, surely?

*Wisden geeks rush off to check*

It is allowed and has happened once in test cricket.  Back in 2000 when 3 days of a test were washed out with the South Africans.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_and_forfeiture#Test_cricket (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_and_forfeiture#Test_cricket)

Wouldn't say its advisable, just have to hope our batting line up can stay in the middle for more than 2 minutes at a time!

" Michael...have another ago , see if we can finish this off by tea"

its a gentle county nibbler. nothing too extravagant. see this all over the country in the domestic game. someone like chris rushworth takes bucketloads a season on these

unfortunately the aussies are too used to smacking 400 off 50 overs on roads wearing pyjamas, it seems


as to sticking them in again, why take the risk? they could get 450 and put you under it. well they might

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CLuNIMeWIAAlYV1.jpg)

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/62814.html (http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/62814.html)

it doesn't happen too often, but i do enjoy the aussie papers when things go wrong

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CLuNyt2UYAA7LnN.jpg)

Ahh, God bless Jim.

In more recent times Kumble got 10 wickets in an innings against Pakistan

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63829.html (http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63829.html)

All done, with 20 minutes left in the first session.

Never seen such a thing in my life.

8 for 15 then

at least Michael Clarke's move to five was vindicated. second top scorer.

Broad could easily surpass that, just needs 3 in the 2nd innings.

Oh **** now we've got to bat ......... :D

edited, ment to say 10 wickets in an innings.

First time extras has been highest scorer in Ashes innings

Err, yes, there's the thing......

In all Test cricket, in all cases of 8, 9 and 10 wkts in an inns:

GLohmann 8-7 1895-96

JBriggs 8-11 1888-89

SBroad 8-15 2015

so the third most economical 8 wicket haul ever

Ahh, well that's different, that one's safe.

Paddy Power ‏@paddypower 1m1 minute ago

Well that's it! We think it's is done & dusted so we're PAYING OUT EARLY on England to win the 2015 Ashes! You're welcome.

Didn't Devon Malcolm get 9 in an innings for England at the oval i think?

Broad 8-15 are best figures for England since 9-57 D Malcolm v SA Oval 1994 and best for England in Ashes since Willis 8-43 Leeds 1981.

At the game, found a single ticket online two days ago, what a bink!!!

Happy with that, had day four tickets here and same at Edgebaston, was in danger of seeing no cricket. Happy to swap it all for this!  ;cheerleader; ;danafish; ;cupcake;

this is stat heaven

Australia were all out in 111 balls - the fewest amount for a first innings in Test history http://bbc.in/1MRkd3Y 

You must be salivating Rich, you & your Stat OCD.

It really is one of the great "moments" in sport though, ever. We'll remember where we where when it happened in years to come.

Yes, but subsequently we knew the reason Cronje was so determined to force a result.

SPOTY?

If England don't bat again presumably we are getting to the point where we have to acccept that Lyth has failed as a test cricketer?

I suppose so

if we do win the series here you can go with an opener at the oval you want to take through the winter. don't know who that is though

Iv getting the flu tomorrow morning.

Captain Cook

Just fantastic

Root and Cook making the pitch look a beauty!

Is it wrong that I want Root out for the Cook series bet? Seems un-patriotic on possibly the greatest day of my life as a cricket fan.

He flips better than a 2003 Roland de Wolfe.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CLu6nVGWUAAZU2G.jpg)

I've got to fk off for work reasons in the next hour, if anyone can get down and wants my ticket to see the last couple of hours they are welcome, let me know.

did anyone listen to chris broad at tea-time on tms? an emotional interview

"'It's extraordinary,he was born 8 weeks prematurely,weighing just 2lbs 2 ozs,now he's 6ft 7 ins,with 300 Test wkts'

Ok offer expired I'm outta here...

.

Clearly, for the aussie press, being humiliated by England is conceptually too difficult to compute. So challenging that they've misunderstood which one the Poms are.

Joe Root is the first batsman to score a century on day 1 of an Ashes Test batting in the 2nd innings of the match.

These aussie quick's don't fancy more than 3 over stints

Warner with his gentle medium pace had had the most control says a lot

A quite superb day and series for england

great bowling from broad, reminded me of the harmison bowling against the WI, although think harmison had a few more slips...

I was very fortunate to be there today and all my time watching cricket live ( I watch a fair bit) that was the most extraordinary session I have ever seen.

Awesome to watch.  Was like being back at junior school watching the blackwash in action in 1984 but realising it was England bowling this time!  Joe Root is just too good as well.  Can't be long until he is ranked number 1 in the world.

Never been to Lords, with that in mind as far as I'm concerned Trent Bridge is the best venue for test matches. A lot of great games there, mostly fair between bat and ball and the ground is just a great facility as far as I'm concerned. Ok I live in Nottingham but I'm a Lancastrian at heart so there is no big bias for Trent bridge because I live there really.

Still the best test I saw there was in 2005 v Aus where we effectively won the Ashes, followed by 2013 where we sneaked a win in that really close 1st test, today was the third most enjoyable moment I'd say, then again we haven't won yet lol....

Assuming there areno no-balls or wides the 2nd ball of the 16th over of this Australia innings will be the millionth legal ball in Test cricket in England

/endstats

/endthread

Does that include the neutral Tests that have been played here #nitpicking

One time don't rain tomorrow, just want our cash back lol.

sun all day woodsey.  You can have 33/1 with me the match goes to sunday if you want if you want to hedge.

Just superb

Well done to strauss. Took the decision to go with bayliss who took some persuading it seems rather than Gillespie.

Bit of a cook fan always have been his captaincy was spot on

Does Tighty have a job writing for cricinfo? The guy doing ball by ball for them on this Surrey vs Notts semi seems familiar.

not me

Mr Muthu is sitting watching a TV in India and transcribing a ball by ball

He's good so it seems like you :-)

My first trip to the oval. Opinion of MAR Galadari?

he's the wealthy indian chap who is helping to finance the ground redevelopment

Disappointing end to a very exciting summer.

We're in a better place than we were 6 months ago, in all forms of cricket. But still a long way to go.

And who the hell opens the batting in the UAE?

Completely disagree. It is a fitting end to a terrible summer's cricket. All but the fourth ODI and the T20 at the start were one sided affairs. As entertaining as watching Ivanisevic v Kraijcek in the 90s at wimbledon. It will be forgotten about shortly and the saddest part is we didn't get more England v New Zealand.

its been the worst standard of batting for many a summer, and has really spoilt the games and made far too many one-sided

honourable exceptions to root in the tests, morgan in the odis and rogers/smith on the flatter test pitches



as for the UAE, they won't promote Ali, can't pick Hales...maybe under Bayliss Compton gets the recall?

Hales has been a real disappointment in this series and I fear he has blown his chances at opening in the UAE. Surely they can't go back to Compton/Lyth/Robson......can they?

Not really sure whom to suggest instead. Would like to see James Taylor in the touring party although clearly he's not an opener.

I wouldn't mind seeing Ian Bell pushed up to opener for an interim period. I think everybody knows he is just about on his last chance. Why not move him to opener for a year. If it goes well, great, if it doesn't at least it gives time for possibly one of the others to find some form, or somebody to come through the county ranks. Whoever comes in to open now just knows their on a hiding to nothing.

We seem to be reluctant to recall guys, but I don't see the problem with it. They must have been good enough to be selected to begin with, struggled and hopefully went away and worked out their issues and can come back stronger. For the South Africa tour I'd be happy enough with Compton for some stability. Lyth will need to go back to Yorkshire and churn out the runs again, but shouldn't be permanently on the scrapheap. Robson was raved about 18-24 months ago, the Aussies were desperate to get him to replace Rogers when he retired, so he must have something about him, just needs to tighten up outside off stump, so a similar issue to Lyth.

For the U.A.E Ali is probably the best option. We're going to want to play 2 or 3 spinners, so that is one way of getting another spinner in. The Pakistani quicks will bowl a few overs up front then come back when it's reversing, so typical opening batsman qualities aren't as necessary as in other conditions. Could easily be spin in from both ends after the first hour of play. It's not ideal, but realistically I can't think of a better option.

I like Taylor, heir apparent to Bell when he retires in the next year or so. As for general batting this summer, the lack of application in general is worrying. There is no period of consolidating, no re-building after a wicket, no playing yourself in, it's just counter-attacking and when they get out "that's the way I play" excuses come out and they get exonerated under the "positive cricket" ideology. Took the Aussies till the 5th test to shelf the ego and show some graft.

Agree with the recalling bit, something England should do more of imo. It is such a big gap between County and Test standard, not everyone can come in and be a success straight away. Some need to go away and work on their game to suit Test cricket. Bell and Collingwood both had phases where they got dropped and went back to Country cricket to work on their game.

Stephen Finn was recalled (not the first time) and took 8for in his first test back. Looks a different bowler now, long may it continue.

I have a feeling they'll stick with Lyth, don't even really know who I want them to pick to be fair

R.I.P Brian Close.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/34244820

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Close

(http://www.bradfordcl.com/images/History/history_yeadon_Bran_Close.jpg)

a proper hard man. recalled at 40 to face holding and roberts in 76.

his knees only buckled once

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60GAhXvU90k

What a man he was - a real man, in every sense.

The balls hurt him just as much as they'd hurt you or me, but he tried to make out he was  ok. Don't let the buggers know it hurt.

No helmets, elbow guards, chest guards, nothing but pads &, probably, a box.

If a Holding or Roberts bouncer hit him full on the bonce he would probably have been killed. He just took a few moments to compose himself, & faced another.   

He is famously reported to have said "How can the ball hurt you? It's only on you for a second"

They don't make 'em like that any more.

A very sad day, but what an innings.


This was his torso after that game.


(http://st1.cricketcountry.com/wp-content/uploads/cricket/image_20130710134319.jpg)


RIP Brian Close.

The imprint on Brian's chest from a Holding rocket which spat off the pitch.


(http://priyankanandydotcom.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/holding_close_1976.jpg)

they picked Hales for the opener spot in the UAE


 Test squad: Alastair Cook (Essex, captain), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Zafar Ansari (Surrey), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Liam Plunkett (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Ben Stokes (Durham), James Taylor (Nottinghamshire), Mark Wood (Durham).

ODI squad: Eoin Morgan (Middlesex, captain), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Sam Billings (Kent), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), James Taylor (Nottinghamshire), Reece Topley (Essex), David Willey (Northamptonshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).

Twenty20 squad: Eoin Morgan (Middlesex, captain), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Sam Billings (Kent), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Stephen Parry (Lancashire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Reece Topley (Essex), James Vince (Hampshire), David Willey (Northamptonshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).

no surprises i dont think, Lyth doesnt really cut it. Think they will drop the 4th seamer, promote Ali up to open and play Ansari as a third spinner, along with Rashid. Saying that i like the look of hales, and will go better on slower pitches in the UAE.

My team would be something like...(not what i think it will be necessarily!)

Cook
Hales/Ali
Bell
Root
Taylor
Stokes
Buttler
Ali/Ansari if Hales opens
Rashid
Broad
Anderson

plus, i still really dont think Finn is a good bowler!! not fast enough and doesnt do enough with it imo. I know he bowled well at Edgbaston, but last 2 tests was average. Think Wood is much better, has more about him. And the Curran lads at Surrey, in 2 years will be stepping into Andersons shoes i think

Don't really see how Hales gets picked.  His performances in the ODI series were pretty underwhelming, so I don't see why he'll suddenly cut it as a Test opener.  Would have made more sense to see how Lyth went against a less potent attack imo.

I am surprised as well, he has only just started opening again for Notts. First half of the season he was batting 3 and I thought that was the better position for him, was only really moved back up to open because Notts were struggling for a 2nd opener.

Would really like to see Taylor play, if you are going to play him this is the series. He is excellent against spin, has very fast feet and uses them effectively against spin.

To fit in the 3 spinners we'll likely need over there, Ali would have to open. the 3/3 attack would certainly give us options whilst till having batting depth with Rashid coming in 9. How serious in Ansari's injury? Is Bairstow not going to be number 5, man in possession? Only averaged 30 in the ashes I guess, so hardly demanded he kept his spot, and Taylor is a good player of spin. we're going to need very good players of spin against Yasir Shah ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2V8rk1t2ck

Ansari likely to miss it, unfortunately

which spinner they would then pick, not sure. hopefully not Tredwell.

that's a blow. He may or may not have played, but had done enough to deserve the chance. They look like they want a spinner who can bat, which leaves us with some very average choices ...

county championship 2015
Div 1:
Dawson 626 runs at 33, 20 wickets at 35 (+ 159 runs at 56, 4 wickets at 18 on loan in Div 2)
Borthwick 1114 runs at 40, 13 wickets at 48 (basically just a specialist batsman now, no chance of a chuck on our seamer-friendly pitches)
Rayner 349 runs at 18, 24 wickets at 30
Samit 597 runs at 25 (poor for someone of his talent), 25 wickets at 32

Div2:
Lilley 225 runs at 37, 25 wickets at 27
Batty 361 runs at 30, 38 wickets at 26

the bowlers who can't bat in div 2:
Tredwell has 11 wickets at 40, sharing spin duties with Riley (8 wickets at 53)
Kerrigan 40 wickets at 30

Ansari was 771 runs at 37, and 44 wickets at 31 (div 2)

So basically, open with Hales and get Joe Root to be our 3rd spinner

Take Crane and Poysden as net bowlers with an eye on the future

start a long-term plan as to how we can start producing decent spinners!

Meh, Pakistani batsmen are unlikely to fall to spin anyway

Yeh, this year they've tamed the spinners against Bangladesh and Sr Lanka pretty comfortably. Ansari would have been a nice option to have though, can't see Wood or Finn having much of a part to play out there.

last time we played out there our seam attack did an excellent job, think twice we needed less than 150 in the last innings to win the game and failed twice. saw ansari at lords yesterday, and his arm was in a sling.
think the best bet is mason crane, looked decent when he played on tv this summer. not sure anyone else cuts the mustard.
bairstow cant bat 5, not good enough and taylor is definitely better. hales is the best going atm in terms of an opener, and they need to get him time before facing morkel and steyn after xmas.

Would you pick this man for England, if he were deemed to be English?



(http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150916/images/16spoGayle1.jpg)