yeh the option to go HAM without negative judgement whenever you feel like it is huge for a team like england where more than a couple of batters have truck-sized holes in their technique


by the looks of crawley today he gets out 100% of the time for bugger all trying to play normal shots. was completely lost, yet made another 30 odd after the no-ball reprieve by swinging as hard as possible at every ball. and bazball lets him do it

I know there's a lot of tongue in cheek but this wondeful piece of history springs to mind.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/r...an-bore-583298
I hadn't recalled the last bit. After being dropped for making 246 against India int he 1st test:

Phenomenal test match, some great performances with the bat and ball on both sides. England 5/112 to 10/353, India 7/177 to 307 and then India’s 4th innings 5/192 (61).

Great 100 by Root, no one ever seriously doubted him, as long as he bats the way that got him to 10,000 runs. Jaiswal is ridiculous, spewing he fell just short of becoming the 6th fastest to 1000 runs (15 inns, 971 runs. I’ve given Crawley a lot of crap in the early days, deservedly so, but I’m starting to come round. And two very impressive and mature innings with the bat from Jurel.

No shame losing in India but if England want to come close to being the best in the world, they will need to learn how to spend time at the crease. Capitulating within 40 overs in the 3rd Test was unforgivable. Rather than have some players suggest they can chase any total, it would be good if any of them had the belief that they could knuckle down and bat for 200 deliveries. Sometimes, that’s what the situation requires. Adaptability is not a dirty word.

In the end, it looks like India will win the series 4-1 with only a 28 run loss in the first Test preventing a whitewash.

it would be great if more than a couple of them could bat a long and patient innings, and the situation sometimes (often) requires it, but they aren't capable of it. they dont have the technique.

would be like asking a medium pace bowler to crank it up to 93mph because the pitch suits pace. he just cant do it, and forcing him to try is going to lead to all sorts of tomfoolery

we arent close to the best in the world, i mean no team with duckett and crawley opening, with respect to some valuable contributions they have made over the last 12 months, could possibly be so. but we can make you **** yourself, which is pretty fun

Crawley 32
Duckett 42
Pope 34
Root 49
Bairstow 36
Stokes 35

Having 4 batters in your top 6 averaging 36 and below is is just not a recipe for success. Duckett at 42 is fine but the sample size remains small and he doesn't inspire me with confidence tbh

Obviously there is Brook to come back and perhaps we can hold onto Stokes if we think his captaincy and talismanic impact is worth a lack of real, consistent test #6 production but at least two of Bairstow, Crawley and Pope need to be replaced.

Of the three,

Crawley just doesn't have a test technique. He doesn't

I still can't quite quit Pope because he looks so classy. But he's had 42 tests now and he clearly doesn't have it mentally.

Bairstow is the marginally winning mtt player who ran hot for 4 months, won two bracelets and WSOP player of the year but has had variance catch up to him

Would you still voice these takes if it was currently 2-2?

Of course. Because I’m not a one eyed idiot. I’ve made the same points several times in here before

Do you honestly think England’s batting is good enough?

thoughts and prayers going out to AllBlackDan

Today sucks

Why do we bottle it so regularly against Aussie, so annoying!!!

Pitch has settled a bit and we let Green and Hazlewood get a last wicket 100plus run partnership...

Early wickets including an atrocious run out of our star player who is off the back of 3 centuries in 4 innings.

More wickets no doubt to come since our players now seem to have the intestinal fortitude of amoebas

29/5

There we go, just needed to whinge publically and we have a big partnership...

and then you ruined it by posting positivity

Always happens... we suck again

I would praise Glen Phillips but that would curse him

Lyon spinning it square and fast on a 2nd day green top here...

Smith ruining his average with his move to opener, love to see it

Cue a hundred from him in the 2nd test

Truly awful day of cricket from NZ

Yep, awful

Even those 2 big late wickets didnt salvage it. Even if we roll Aus for 150 its a 350+ chase dammit

We have a chance with boy wonder, Mitchell and action Phillips to play... Lets go lads...

Interesting twitter exchange I just saw

Well that didnt last long Lyon with a spinning pitch is tough

It is a disgrace if NZ make the world test championship with that line up.

Only decent batters are Williamson and Ravindra. Meanwhile I don't fancy any of their bowlers. Southee is pathetic. Can barely bowl 125km/hr. Henry looks to have lost 5 to 10km/hr as well. O'Rourke looks good but fragile.

We need to win the next test match to displace the Kiwis and put us in the rightful 2nd place.

I tend to agree, we have not played enough or well enough to deserve it, dont see much hope for the next test..
Need our big batters to step up

Not great so far from England. 8/190 (53)

At least Stokes won’t have to declare on Day 1.

England 10/218 (57.4)

I don’t care so much if England score quick or not, but being dismissed consistently in 50-70 overs is not good cricket. Not many of these players have the capacity to spend time at the crease.

Match is India’s to lose. Can they score 350+?

Jaiswal needs 29 runs in this innings to reach 1000 Test runs in his 9th Test and 16th innings.

Only 5 batters have achieved the feat quicker: Sutcliffe (12), Weekes (12), Bradman (13), Harvey (14) and Kambli (14). Vinod Kambli didn’t last much longer, he finished his career on 1084 Test runs. After reaching 1000 Test runs, he went 0, 0, 6, 18, 0, 27 and 28 and that was it.

Kambli had a weird career. He was the kid who partnered Tendulkar in the ridiculous partnership when they were at school