The Cricket Thread

On the Cook front I think that's his 7th of the summer in all comps. Quite fantastic.

In other news, the clock runs out for the Aussies and their board to agree a deal to end the pay dispute in a few hours. Having done some reading and privided I have understood the issue correctly, I do have some grudging respect for them in standing up to Cricket Australia bully boy tactics.

I guess it was never really in question, but BBC securing the radio rights means more TMS. I mean, nobody in their right mind would try and replace TMS but it's nice for it to be confirmed.

Rex Kramer wrote:I guess it was never really in question, but BBC securing the radio rights means more TMS. I mean, nobody in their right mind would try and replace TMS but it's nice for it to be confirmed.

"Now over to Tuffers in the tactics truck..." :dread:

And there we have it, confirmation of what everyone knew to be true, that the ECB have been gagging to get their golden boy Gary Ballance back into the team at any cost. It is regressive and represents a backwards step in selection policy, IMO.

In an interview with TMS the other day, Bayliss said that whilst he prefers his best batsmen to bat at 3, Root has made it clear that he wishes to bat at 4 and Bayliss would ultimately let the decision sit with Root. On that basis you would expect Jennings to open with Cook and Ballance to come in at 3.

However in today's interview, selection honcho James Whitaker directly contradicted that statement by saying that Ballance will "add maturity and experience to our middle order". They have no strawberry floating idea what they are doing. We already know all about Ballance, by persisting with him we learn nothing new about other players. He has had an excellent season but ultimately he is destined to be one of the Ramprakashs of the world: too good for county cricket, doesn't meet the grade at international level.

I do feel that Robson and Stoneman have been unlucky here. Ballance going to Australia (which he will irrespective of how he performs over the summer) is a recipe for disaster. I would have had Stoneman or Robson open with Cook and have Jennings slot in at 3.

Ballance is the latest in a long line of Graeme Hicks.

And almost to stick it to the ECB Stoneman has scored 144* in the RLODC final.

Drumstick wrote:And almost to stick it to the ECB Stoneman has scored 144* in the RLODC final.

And now Hales has too. He's currently 144* out of 201-5 :lol:

- Selectors may be wishing they'd announced squad 24 hours later...

What. A. Knock.

Safe to post now. Hales :wub:

And incredibly there are still people out there that don't think Hales should open for England in limited overs because he opted out of Bangladesh. Cretins.

By the way, something that flew totally under my radar is that we appear to have selected Liam Dawson to play the first test against South Africa. Um, why? Are we honestly saying that he is the best spinner we have at county-level? I’ve no issue with his selection in limited overs matches (still wouldn't be in my first XI though) but Test matches take a particular level of discipline. I’m guessing he’s been picked as an all-rounder. Perhaps they don’t think the pitches being prepared will spin enough to make selecting a specialist spinner worthwhile.

Dowbocop wrote:
Rex Kramer wrote:I guess it was never really in question, but BBC securing the radio rights means more TMS. I mean, nobody in their right mind would try and replace TMS but it's nice for it to be confirmed.

"Now over to Tuffers in the tactics truck..."

Could be worse, TalkSport could have got the rights and you'd be listening to Adrian Durham and Stan Collymore discussing it.

Been offered a ticket to England v SA on Saturday 8-)

Never been to Lords before! Should be good (if it doesn't rain)

BTB wrote:Been offered a ticket to England v SA on Saturday

Never been to Lords before! Should be good (if it doesn't rain)

Mad Jelly! Absolutely love watching test matches at Lords. Fantastic experience.

Confirmed team for first test:

Cook, Jennings, Ballance, Root, Bairstow, Stokes, Moeen, Dawson, Broad, Wood, Anderson.

Bairstow at 5 is long overdue.

With 3 of those bowlers having recent injury issues, I wonder if we'll be regretting not going in with Roland-Jones.

Last edited by Drumstick on Thu Jul 06, 2017 9:40 am, edited 1 time in total.

Been doing some checks on our most recent test matches at Lord's. Last 6 matches the team batting first has either won (4) or drawn (2). Let's hope we win the toss and make what appears to be clearly the right decision.

Edit: in fact you have to go back to 2012 to when the team that batted first lost (West Indies). Strauss waltzed his way to a century.

Looking at the forecast, you'd 100% think it's a win the toss and bat day - even without that statistic!

My prediction: England win toss and bat. Root makes a century first innings as captain. Calling it.

I'm just dreading the thought of Amla getting in early and batting all day.

Drumstick wrote:I'm just dreading the thought of Amla getting in early and batting all day.

Oh god, that was the most boring test match I've been to :dread:

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