Cricket

[Busaholic]

England 39-5 nearing the end of the second day, Trott did at least open his account, Bell a pair and Ali just out (not run out either): Ballance the only top order batsman not out. This after Anderson produced two great spells, bringing him six wickets, so he would have justification in being annoyed at his batsmen. England only a little over 100 ahead, so a loss is on the cards.
In the meantime, Robson of Middlesex reminded everyone he was an incumbent England opener throughout last summer's tests by scoring 184 against an Onionless Durham.

 

[Arglwydd Golau]

England 39-5 nearing the end of the second day, Trott did at least open his account, Bell a pair and Ali just out (not run out either): Ballance the only top order batsman not out. This after Anderson produced two great spells, bringing him six wickets, so he would have justification in being annoyed at his batsmen. England only a little over 100 ahead, so a loss is on the cards.
In the meantime, Robson of Middlesex reminded everyone he was an incumbent England opener throughout last summer's tests by scoring 184 against an Onionless Durham.

Extraordinary days play! Edge of my seat! England need another 150, I would suggest...not sure they will be able to do that, tho'!

 

[Busaholic]

England's position as the third-ranking Test team in the world is safe for now, thanks to Pakistan drawing their one-off Test against Bangladesh.



Voges isn't being played into form, he is already in great form as he is coming off a great season as the top run scorer in the world's best domestic cricket competition, while the local players are coming off six months on the couch eating Christmas pudding and watching Downton Abbey.

Food for thought - only one of the top five County scorers so far did not spend time in the English winter playing in either the BBL or the World Cup. Just goes to show that you can't keep up match awareness in the indoor nets.

Voges would have to re-establish his form over here though, as conditions so different. Maybe like Mike Hussey his time has finally come, but, unlike Hussey M or even D he never made much of an impression as a county pro, more like Marcus North than Chris Rogers.

Your point about the most prolific batsmen in the counties thus far is slightly negated, I feel, by Hales actually being allowed to play so little in Aus/NZ.

 

[ainsworth74]

Pathetic.

That is all.

 

[Busaholic]

Moores and Cook must take a lot of the blame. Selection of Trott as opener on what basis? The chance to blood Lyth, and to a lesser extent Rashid and Wood, lost. If Plunkett had played in the last test, surely he'd have got more out of the wicket than Broad? Broad must no longer be an automatic selection, indeed he might have played his last test: his batting now non-existent and his fielding as poor as his father's was!

 

[DownSouth]

Voges would have to re-establish his form over here though, as conditions so different.

No more so than playing at the SCG one week and the WACA the next.

Maybe like Mike Hussey his time has finally come, but, unlike Hussey M or even D he never made much of an impression as a county pro, more like Marcus North than Chris Rogers.

I don't think so, I expect that he'll end his career as one of those players who was always right up there at the top end of domestic cricket but never quite good enough to break into the international ranks.

Your point about the most prolific batsmen in the counties thus far is slightly negated, I feel, by Hales actually being allowed to play so little in Aus/NZ.

True, from memory he only got four or five BBL matches instead of the full eight - but that's still four or five more than those sitting at home enjoying their holidays got.

Carberry did very well over here as well, I'm surprised that he hasn't been picked in the new ODI squad now that they need to clean out the dead wood and start rebuilding for the home World Cup in 2019.
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Pathetic.

That is all.

But absolutely brilliant for Test cricket to have a credible West Indies side again - just like the 2005 Ashes where England's lucky win was the first memorable Test series of the decade.

 

[Whistler40145]

It doesn't help having such a rubbish captain in Alistair Cook.

 

[muddythefish]

But absolutely brilliant for Test cricket to have a credible West Indies side again - just like the 2005 Ashes where England's lucky win was the first memorable Test series of the decade.

Give it a rest, Ned. England stuffed the convicts fair and square.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Should we really be viewing the current Test Match series between the West Indies and England for what it actually is...two of the lesser quality Test playing sides currently.

 

[Whistler40145]

I hope England have a rethink and bring in Lyth to open against New Zealand and Australia, if they continue with Trott as an opening batsman, he'll fail and make us a laughing stock.

 

[Oswyntail]

I hope England have a rethink and bring in Lyth to open against New Zealand and Australia, if they continue with Trott as an opening batsman, he'll fail and make us a laughing stock.

A new opener is the only adjustment necessary in the batting. We don't have to pick a Yorkshireman, just because Boycott and mini-Boycott tell us . The captaincy was not bad.
The bowling is critical. It is always true that bowlers win matches, and you cannot do that consistently with only one up to standard. A five-for is laudible, but what does it say about the other bowlers? Broad can be good, but obviously needs his head sorted out (shades of his dad there!). There do not seem to be proper backup seamers coming through the counties; Jordan and Stokes may come good, but they need to know what their role is (sometimes it involves bowling tight simply to give Anderson and Broad a rest). The real tragedy is the spinners. Moeen is good enough as a second spinner (and is developing fast) but he is not first spinner yet); Root is not. We do not know why Rashid was not picked, but the same has happened before in his test career. But, again, there are no obvious first spinners coming through the counties.
Make no mistake, it was the bowlers that lost that match

 

[Whistler40145]

Yes, the bowling attack was weak and needs looking at, we need backup pace bowlers who can fire to give Broad and Anderson a rest, as for the spin department, I don't know who else could fill this role.
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I would definitely want Adil Rashid back for England, other spinners to try out would be Danny Briggs, Simon Kerrigan, Jigar Naik, Ollie Rayner, Adam Riley & David Wainwright. As for pace bowlers, either of the Overton brothers, then you've got the likes of Jack Brooks, Chris Rushworth, David Willey, should Tim Bresnan be in the team?

 

[Johnuk123]

A whitewash by both NewZealand and Australia is certainly on the cards this summer.

 

[Arglwydd Golau]

Yes, the bowling attack was weak and needs looking at, we need backup pace bowlers who can fire to give Broad and Anderson a rest, as for the spin department, I don't know who else could fill this role.
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I would definitely want Adil Rashid back for England, other spinners to try out would be Danny Briggs, Simon Kerrigan, Jigar Naik, Ollie Rayner, Adam Riley & David Wainwright. As for pace bowlers, either of the Overton brothers, then you've got the likes of Jack Brooks, Chris Rushworth, David Willey, should Tim Bresnan be in the team?

Well, they all seem to be good, solid, county players...but are any of them able to step up to the next level? Willey, perhaps? As for the spinners, Shane Watson would be looking forward to facing Simon Kerrigan again, I'm sure! I would prefer to see how Moeen Ali develops, it was only a few tests ago that he was receiving a great deal of praise. Of the available bowlers, I would really like to see Finn back in the fold, though not if he is only capable of bowling in the low eighties.
It will be a hard summer for England supporters, no doubt...but at least the 3rd test was exciting, far more memorable than anything I saw during the World Cup.

 

[Whistler40145]

Only problem with Finn is his no ball problems.

 

[Busaholic]

A new opener is the only adjustment necessary in the batting. We don't have to pick a Yorkshireman, just because Boycott and mini-Boycott tell us . The captaincy was not bad.
The bowling is critical. It is always true that bowlers win matches, and you cannot do that consistently with only one up to standard. A five-for is laudible, but what does it say about the other bowlers? Broad can be good, but obviously needs his head sorted out (shades of his dad there!). There do not seem to be proper backup seamers coming through the counties; Jordan and Stokes may come good, but they need to know what their role is (sometimes it involves bowling tight simply to give Anderson and Broad a rest). The real tragedy is the spinners. Moeen is good enough as a second spinner (and is developing fast) but he is not first spinner yet); Root is not. We do not know why Rashid was not picked, but the same has happened before in his test career. But, again, there are no obvious first spinners coming through the counties.
Make no mistake, it was the bowlers that lost that match

Can't agree with you that the bowlers lost us the match. Eighteen wickets in a day (eight of them English, over two innings) had NEVER fallen in a test in WI before, not even in the days of Roberts, Holding, Marshall,etc. Trott and Bell failed in both innings, Cook did get that century at last but, not only did he get a let-off before passing 50, he ran out the only batsman playing fluently in the first innings, Ali. Buttler not out twice, so he can be excused, and Jordan got two marginal decisions that were 'umpire's call'. From reports I read, Stokes unlucky with a couple of decisions and Jordan bowled well in the first innings. We can't now say, though, Broad must play because in one innings of a five-match series he might bowl a tremendous spell, having maybe scored a total of 100 runs in those matches and dropped a couple of sitters. He is a liability and probably about 40% of the cricketer he once was, and 20% of the cricketer he thought he was.

I agree Lyth shouldn't be a shoe-in. Hales should have an equal chance imo and Robson can't be totally ignored. If Carberry scores enough 1st Division runs, maybe he could get a first-ever home test, but I admit it's extremely unlikely to happen.

 

[Whistler40145]

I agree that Broad isn't as good as he used to be. Carberry is a good batsman, so is Robson and Hales. It seems that Morgan might have had his opportunity, we've always got James Taylor for a possible recall.

 

[andrew bell]

The starting xi for the test against New Zealand should be this (imo)

Lyth
Robson
Ballance
Root (c)
Ali
Buttler
Bresnan
Woakes
Rashid
Anderson
Onions/Rushworth

Perhaps could play James Hildreth or James Taylor instead of Woakes or Bresnan if wanted to strengthen the batting

 

[Whistler40145]

That's bold to get rid of Cook, but quite happy you've also left out Trott, Bresnan has been a good bowler and I'd like him back, both Stokes and Jordan need to go back to their counties and improve, but Woakes would be good. Onions on form is better than Finn, there's no need to change the keeper and I don't think we're going to see Prior again behind the stumps.
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Not good at Wantage Road, Northamptonshire 385 all out and Lancashire 2-1 Reece out for a duck.
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Even worse now 4-2
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Breaking news, Jonathan Trott has announced his retirement from International Cricket.

 

[andrew bell]

Thanks for the memories Trotty, been pleasure seeing you in England shirt, even though last few weeks been hard for us to watch.

Let's all remember he was part of the side who put us at no 1 in test rankings and was a good run scorer in tests and odis, even if his scoring rate was slow

 

[Whistler40145]

On Cricinfo, Trott says that he'd decided to retire during the Grenada Test, one reason being he doesn't want to get in the way of young batsmen getting into the Test squad.

 

[Johnuk123]

On Cricinfo, Trott says that he'd decided to retire during the Grenada Test, one reason being he doesn't want to get in the way of young batsmen getting into the Test squad.

I imagine he's been told he's finished so he has decided to call it a day to try and keep some dignity.

 

[Whistler40145]

Yeah, has a more diplomatic feeling.

 

[ExRes]

I reckon that after scoring 6800 runs for England with 13 hundreds and 42 fifties Trott is more than entitled to leave with dignity

 

[Whistler40145]

Definitely.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I sincerely hope that I mis-heard a comment made by a senior member of the England tour management that Trott has earned the right to stay as opener in the second Test Match. The first Test Match shows that he scored 0 and 4, so if this is true, then someone's team management logic has gone somewhat astray in the heat of the Caribbean.

Remember this posting that I made on 19th April. It sounds like the management and players do not communicate very well as in the case of Trott and Moores.

 

[Whistler40145]

From what I'm hearing Paul, if Andrew Strauss replaces Paul Downton, there's likely to be management changes within the ECB, I wonder if this means the end of Peter Moores as Head Coach & Alistair Cook as Captain?

Also, rumours about Moeen Ali loosing his place.....watch this space!

 

[Busaholic]

From what I'm hearing Paul, if Andrew Strauss replaces Paul Downton, there's likely to be management changes within the ECB, I wonder if this means the end of Peter Moores as Head Coach & Alistair Cook as Captain?

Also, rumours about Moeen Ali loosing his place.....watch this space!

The Director of Cricket job is a new one, so the new person, almost certainly Strauss apparently, will have more direct responsibility for the England team, including, possibly, selection. Moores must and should go - asked if he considered Trott's continued selection as opener in Windies to have been a failure he replied 'no, definitely not' so I don't know what his definition of failure is - he should become a spin doctor for one of the political parties!

I think now is not the time to change the captain. If Vaughan had got the job I think that change would have been inevitable, but reading Strauss's columns in the 'Sunday Times' the last few weeks he doesn't appear to agree with Vaughan.

I hope Trott continues to play cricket successfully for Warwicks if that is what he wants. His presence will probably ensure they remain among the leading teams, maybe even get the 1st division title. IMO it's time for a few players to be told their England careers are over - Morgan, Prior, Patel, Bopara and Tredwell. Prior is injured anyway and possibly may not play again. As for a certain KP, his chances of a comeback on a Strauss watch are surely non-existent, and he shouldn't listen to his fairweather friends.

On the subject of a spinner, apparently Borthwick still considers himself a bowler who can also bat, so if he can produce a few more performances with the ball, admittedly not so easy in Durham, he must still be in the frame. Maybe, but only just, Kerrigan can be given another chance, but not against the Aussies and only if he's making an unimpeachable case for his county.

 

[Whistler40145]

Trouble with having Cook as Captain, he doesn't have an aggressive attitude unlike Ricky Ponting or Graeme Smith, so he looks like a weak leader.

 

[Busaholic]

Trouble with having Cook as Captain, he doesn't have an aggressive attitude unlike Ricky Ponting or Graeme Smith, so he looks like a weak leader.

Mike Brearley didn't have an aggressive attitude and, by common consent, was one of the best captains ever. Neither did Mark Taylor, and he was excoriated like Cook for being a long time between centuries at one time, yet was persevered with because he was a good captain, and a good man. Cronje was an aggressive captain and an appalling individual. Actually I can't 'aggressive' is the right adjective to apply to Ponting and, let's not forget, he led Australia to defeat against England in three series running, the one in Australia being particularly chastening. Yet I don't remember any great clamour to remove him as captain.