Roy on 1 leg

Think we have to do this on Sunday vs India. If it ends up making his hammy worse and he's out for a few weeks after then replace him in the squad with Hales (Morgan back-tracked slightly during the week about him, so there seems more chance of that happened then a few weeks back).

Continuing with Vince against Bumrah and Shami in their current form is a huge risk, confidence (or lack of it) must be an issue.

Other options within the squad would be open with Moeen (looks out of nick also) and go 3 spinners since Edgbaston turned loads last game, or swap Vince with Root to take the heat off slightly. But Roy on 1 leg seems the best for me

He didn't make the prelim squad, but in the 17 for Pakistan series. Performs well there and they'll find a spot for him, either take a bowler out or Denly.

Injury replacements can be made during the tournament so Denly could be vulnerable, Hales comes in for a bat if they want to rotate/short term injury, already have 2 all-rounders with likes of Woakes more than capable, already 2 spin options in there etc etc. Could see him making way. Also be less fuss about a player losing his spot in the squad that's got them to #1 in the world, as Denly hasn't played an ODI side 2009.

Curran has gone from a number 7/8 who's only any good with the new ball to a pinch-hitting opener and death bowling king :-)

They might persevere with Curran, paid a lot for him (shouldn't matter but it usually does) and only other option in that role are Henriques (doesn't bowl much any more). Other way they'd go is Ashwin up to 7 and pick another overseas bat (Miller/Pooran) and play another domestic bowler. You'd imagine banker 3 overseas will be Gayle, Tye and Mujeeb.

If he gets games it'll be a good learning curve for him, as with the ball he'll struggle to get it swinging and could be fodder if he doesn't adapt and with the bat he'll be in some high-pressure match situations coming in 7.

Good call on Miller, though slightly strange to change so many players from a winning team

4 changes was extreme, Miller/Tye coming in is fair enough but other changes looked bizarre. Viljoen/Chakravarty instead of Mujeeb/Rajpoot would be picking 2 worse options for me. I'd swap Mandeep with Sarfaraz also, Mandeep has opened in the past so be fine batting 4 where as Sarfaraz is suited to death overs.

Ashwin has a reputation of being a "quirky" captain, and they look a franchise capable of self-destruction at the best of times so I'll expect weird stuff all the way through.

^^^^

Ha, yes, he has a bit of a thing about Steve "Robotic" Myth.

I enjoy his stuff, quite thought provoking, just I don't like seeing that word used as it is.

I don't have deep cricket knowledge, so it helps me to follow guys like you & him.


Yesterday, after someone suggested Steve Smith should have been Mankad'd, he Tweeted;


Shouldn't really try to get him out. Let him stay in and soak up balls IMO.


That really interested me, as I'd never thought of that angle.
 

As soon as anyone gets off to a slow start the debate on whether you should retire a batsman out begins haha. Think even Dhawan was getting stick yesterday. Wouldn't be doing it with Delhi, who've gone with only 5 batsman this season (some top 5 mind you, but drop off is alarming from 5 to 6).

Don't think it will be long till it happens to be fair. If you have someone like Andre Russell next in and your "anchor" opener is chewing up balls, it would be a positive tactical move to get him in etc

They might persevere with Curran, paid a lot for him (shouldn't matter but it usually does) and only other option in that role are Henriques (doesn't bowl much any more). Other way they'd go is Ashwin up to 7 and pick another overseas bat (Miller/Pooran) and play another domestic bowler. You'd imagine banker 3 overseas will be Gayle, Tye and Mujeeb.

If he gets games it'll be a good learning curve for him, as with the ball he'll struggle to get it swinging and could be fodder if he doesn't adapt and with the bat he'll be in some high-pressure match situations coming in 7.

Hi Nell,

Do you have a Twitter account?

Saw something cricket-related on there which looked a little like your "handwriting" but it disappeared before I could delve into it or "Follow". 

@nellbergcricket

fair warning, I'm normally just arguing with Australian's on there or complaining about captains doing dumb shit haha

That's the one, thank you, you have a new Follow now.

Do you engage with @SimUKCricket? He can be more abrasive than Bancroft's sandpaper. Has some entertaining views on the Australians & Indians, though has an unfortunate habit of referring to those he dislikes as "mongs" which annoys me intensely.

Decent club cricketer himself I believe, plays a decent game of poker, too. Nice bloke in real life.

Yeh, I get on with Sim. His one-man crusade against Steve Smith (or Steve Myth as he calls him) is worth following him for alone haha. Manners and bad language go out the window a bit online, on twitter it's X100.

Aye, think he's a decent cricketer in "real life", where as the rest of us probably just talk a good game haha

They might persevere with Curran, paid a lot for him (shouldn't matter but it usually does) and only other option in that role are Henriques (doesn't bowl much any more). Other way they'd go is Ashwin up to 7 and pick another overseas bat (Miller/Pooran) and play another domestic bowler. You'd imagine banker 3 overseas will be Gayle, Tye and Mujeeb.

If he gets games it'll be a good learning curve for him, as with the ball he'll struggle to get it swinging and could be fodder if he doesn't adapt and with the bat he'll be in some high-pressure match situations coming in 7.

Hi Nell,

Do you have a Twitter account?

Saw something cricket-related on there which looked a little like your "handwriting" but it disappeared before I could delve into it or "Follow". 

@nellbergcricket

fair warning, I'm normally just arguing with Australian's on there or complaining about captains doing dumb shit haha

They might persevere with Curran, paid a lot for him (shouldn't matter but it usually does) and only other option in that role are Henriques (doesn't bowl much any more). Other way they'd go is Ashwin up to 7 and pick another overseas bat (Miller/Pooran) and play another domestic bowler. You'd imagine banker 3 overseas will be Gayle, Tye and Mujeeb.

If he gets games it'll be a good learning curve for him, as with the ball he'll struggle to get it swinging and could be fodder if he doesn't adapt and with the bat he'll be in some high-pressure match situations coming in 7.

[When does Joffra Archer qualify for England?]

Fantastic chase.

Loved Root's innings - paced beautifully. He never seemed to play a shot in anger and just accumulated quietly letting Roy and Morgan cut loose.

To chase 360 and not need Buttler is frightening.

Some work to do on the attack, Plunkett looks to have lost half a yard and that would make him easy pickings for the top ODI batsman.

When does Joffra Archer qualify for England? He could be the X factor that takes this team from good to great.

I thought they said as early as this March

Some time in March, depending on how many days he's spends in England in the next month or so.

Yesterday kinda solidified for me that I'll be an India backer this summer. Both sides have powerfully batting, ours is better in the middle order but their bowling is a good way ahead of ours IMO. Bumrah, Kuldeep and Chahal are a decent upgrade on what we can offer up.

Was sick how easy it looked yesterday mind, knocked off 360 with the minimum of fuss. Whole chase under control. Amazing compared to where we were in the lead up to the last world cup.

It would be a a bit cntroversial and possibly would "rock the boat" but I'd have Jofra in straight away. Still not convinced by Wood (even after the 3rd test), Willey is completely gone (can only bowl with the new ball anyway but has stopped making early breakthroughs) and as mentioned Plunkett needs to get that yard of pace back or he is defo fodder.

Financially Harchibald in the champion hurdle 2005 (ah god, I've just watched the replay again, too painful)

Emotionally the toon losing away at Marseille (well just Drogba really) in the Uefa Cup semi final was tough to take at the time. We'd have lost the final to Valencia anyway mind haha

Bumrah runs in to bowl as though he thinks he's a horse.

Bumrah has really impressed me, had him pigeon holed as a white ball bowler

Alistair Cook retired with a test bowling average of 7

Hope not, I have 500's he takes a wicket in his final test haha

Tynemouth Reagan is mine

Issue with Kolhi is that when things start getting away from his side, he can't hide his emotions and that passion quickly becomes irritation towards his bowlers. He's getting better with it, has done a great job with this Indian team, particularly with fitness and the fielding.

Seen on Twitter, posted by MereNovice;


Vince Gough‏ @MereNovice · 9h9 hours ago 

 
Mohammad Irfan just bowled the most economical T20 spell ever. 4 overs, 2 wickets, 1 run. A single off his last ball!

Is on BBC sports page, ended up on losing side mind

Bar the 2 wickets (thin edges that were caught behind) I think i'm right in saying no one laid bat on him till that final ball. Amazing scenes. Then they brought on Steve Smith, who went for 37 in 2 overs and they lost fairly comfortably haha

Test cricket would appear to be in a really fragile state given the advanced ticket sales for the England vs India series