England Cricket chat

[TightEnd]

Smith can't insist.

Dr passed him on the afternoon it happened, failed him the morning after.

[TightEnd]

Smith is still not training today by the way, Headingley test in 48 hours so not looking good for him sadly

[AlbusFawkes]

Smith can't insist.

Dr passed him on the afternoon it happened, failed him the morning after.

Not suggesting he went against medical orders, but if I were captain I would not have let him go out again. It was such a severe blow to the base of the skull that concussion, if not immediately apparent, would have been almost inevitable.

[tikay]

Smith is still not training today by the way, Headingley test in 48 hours so not looking good for him sadly

Now confirmed he will not play.

A great shame imo, but the correct decision.

The third Test will be much the worse for his absence.

 


https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/49408323

[nirvana]

Smith is still not training today by the way, Headingley test in 48 hours so not looking good for him sadly

Now confirmed he will not play.

A great shame imo, but the correct decision.

The third Test will be much the worse for his absence.

 


https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/49408323

It is a shame, I hope he only misses one test as most supporters would want to see us (hopefully) beat them with him in the side I think.

[Woodsey]

Smith can't insist.

Dr passed him on the afternoon it happened, failed him the morning after.

Need independent docs imo, find it hard to believe they won’t have their arm twisted....

[tikay]

Smith is still not training today by the way, Headingley test in 48 hours so not looking good for him sadly

Now confirmed he will not play.

A great shame imo, but the correct decision.

The third Test will be much the worse for his absence.

 


https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/49408323

It is a shame, I hope he only misses one test as most supporters would want to see us (hopefully) beat them with him in the side I think.

Very much this.

He's quite extraordinary to watch, too. Most batsman, when they play & miss, or play a false or mistimed shot, sort of "air practice" the shot afterwards. Not Smith, he does these weird jabs, swats, stabs & hoiks with his bat which have no relevance to anything.

Then he has all those little tics, touches both pads, thigh pads, box, shirt sleeve, helmet, & so on.

A psychiatrist would have a field day with him.

On top of which, he has a really weird technique, shuffling across every ball. He's almost always going to work the ball to leg, but it's a bugger to stop him. 

I thought I'd be all mardy & cross with him after Sandpapergate, but in fact I've loved watching him. 

[tikay]

I've loved watching Archer, too. Oh my, what a talent he is.

Not so sure I like the idea of him hitting batsman in their upper body & head though, it scares the life out of me.

Every time I watch the replay of that ball that caught Smith in the neck I shudder. Then I heard the version with the stump microphones on. Yikes, that is so scary, & in some ways, he's maybe lucky.

Think I'd rather see full helmets, with those next extension things, compulsory. The last thing I want to see is someone seriously injured, especially in the head/neck area, on the cricket field.

Can you begin to imagine a cricket ball connecting with the side of your head or neck at 90+ mph? Does not bear thinking about.

[Karabiner]

Is Smith as fidgety as Derek Randall?

There is an argument that because of compulsory helmets the batsmen no longer avoid fast bumpers proficiently.

[Pokerpops]

Smith is still not training today by the way, Headingley test in 48 hours so not looking good for him sadly

Now confirmed he will not play.

A great shame imo, but the correct decision.

The third Test will be much the worse for his absence.

 


https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/49408323

It is a shame, I hope he only misses one test as most supporters would want to see us (hopefully) beat them with him in the side I think.

I don’t think anyone who celebrates our win in 2005 ever says “Wish McGrath hadn’t got injured”

[Doobs]

Smith is still not training today by the way, Headingley test in 48 hours so not looking good for him sadly

Now confirmed he will not play.

A great shame imo, but the correct decision.

The third Test will be much the worse for his absence.

 


https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/49408323

It is a shame, I hope he only misses one test as most supporters would want to see us (hopefully) beat them with him in the side I think.

I don’t think anyone who celebrates our win in 2005 ever says “Wish McGrath hadn’t got injured”

Yeah this; of course their first test victory was meaningless because Anderson got injured. :/

[nirvana]

Smith is still not training today by the way, Headingley test in 48 hours so not looking good for him sadly

Now confirmed he will not play.

A great shame imo, but the correct decision.

The third Test will be much the worse for his absence.

 


https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/49408323

It is a shame, I hope he only misses one test as most supporters would want to see us (hopefully) beat them with him in the side I think.

I don’t think anyone who celebrates our win in 2005 ever says “Wish McGrath hadn’t got injured”

Haha. That's true

[tikay]

Is Smith as fidgety as Derek Randall?

There is an argument that because of compulsory helmets the batsmen no longer avoid fast bumpers proficiently.

Loved watching Derek Randall, & he was a Premier League fidgeter for sure, though he never did those weird jabs, swats, & scythes with his bat after playing & missing that Smith does so inexplicably, almost as if he has Cricketers Tourettes.

Alan Knott was another, with the added peculiarity that he always had his handkerchief half hanging out of his left pocket.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

Jofra Archer achieved the remarkable feat of a clean sweep of the back pages this morning, every single one runs a headline & photo on his prowess & how he's going to wreak havoc in the 3rd Test, accompanied, as always with newspaper headlines, by a variety of woeful puns.

And he may well do so, even though Headingley won't be as favourable a pitch for him as Lords, he seems to be the real deal, but God help him if he has a disappointing match, those very same newspapers will be in like a shot to crucify him as a failure. In fact I have a hunch newspapers prefer failure to success, it seems to suit their narrative better.

Meanwhile, delayed start today due to rain, but I believe it's stopped now, so maybe we'll get some play before Lunch. 

[Woodsey]

Jofra Archer achieved the remarkable feat of a clean sweep of the back pages this morning, every single one runs a headline & photo on his prowess & how he's going to wreak havoc in the 3rd Test, accompanied, as always with newspaper headlines, by a variety of woeful puns.

And he may well do so, even though Headingley won't be as favourable a pitch for him as Lords, he seems to be the real deal, but God help him if he has a disappointing match, those very same newspapers will be in like a shot to crucify him as a failure. In fact I have a hunch newspapers prefer failure to success, it seems to suit their narrative better.

Meanwhile, delayed start today due to rain, but I believe it's stopped now, so maybe we'll get some play before Lunch. 

11.20 start apparently.