Cricket

Agreed, although his Test record is poor his technique looks more suited to 1st class cricket than the short forms, so having presumably decided he hasn’t a Test future I’m not sure why the selectors decided to give him yet another try in the ODI team.

Fantastic result for Ireland yesterday, so good to see them deliver against a top team. Two fine knocks from their senior players. And I always like seeing Eoin M from Finchley do well. :grinning:

I was wondering whether Moeen Ali has served his last game for England; was the vice captaincy a reward for long service?
His batting is dated, always having a go rather than assessing the bowling, and his bowling lacked teeth.

It was a pleasure to see Ireland win yesterday. I hope that get more opportunities to play test and short form cricket.

Agree with you about Moeen and to be honest with Morgan off the field he did not really stand up as Captain either.

Nice bloke and great to watch when in firm, but confidence seems to have gone. He might come again but I am not sure where he comes in to Test or ODI if everyone is available now.

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England v Pakistan, that’s a welcome surprise. Had no idea the match was on.

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Pete - oh yes and the Pakistan side look a lot better than the WI, with strong technique and a wish to remain at the crease and hit the bad ball, of which there have been a few today.

I really like to watch batters who have classic technique as shots can look effortless, unlike those who play with a dominant bottom hand (e.g. Sibley) which means the bat face closes so often as they try and drive - and then they stand and rehearse the shot! Er, too late.

I fear England could be chasing quite a few after Pakistan’s 1st innings. Also good to see a quicker wicket than the ones against the WI.

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Only watched about an hour and it was 102/2, both batsmen looked comfortable till the rain came. Hopefully I’ll get see more tonight.

…if you’re an England cricket follower it’s time to hide behind the sofa, we’re batting against what appears to be a quality bowling attack.

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Yes, but compelling to watch. Abbas proving the value of craft over pace!

Indeed. There was an article on the BBC 'site a few days ago which appeared to be lauding the England bowling attack as the best there’s ever been (the usual drivel nowadays).

Unfortunately, while the stats may suggest this could be the case, the article of course omitted to mention we probably have one of, if not the weakest batting line-up of the major cricket playing nations (even with Root & Stokes)…and I’d swap the Aussie bowling attack for ours any day.

I hope Root & Pope can drop anchor, noting Pakistan have some excellent spinners too and England’s record against spin is, well, not that good.

Root’s batting has rather gone to rat-sh*t since he shouldered the burden of captaincy :cry:

Is Pope the new, old, Root? If you see what I mean.

Playing with some class at 62-4, Root is now out too.

Pope does indeed look like a gem to be nurtured in the middle order and puts those above him to shame vis application and shot selection.

We appear to have 2 openers who play across straight-ish balls (the WI worked out Sibley on this), with the pad getting in the way of their perverse bat arcs. As Sky observed about Babar, he’s gone leg-side in his set-up so he plays more down the line and he’s now scoring lots of runs. Stokes needs his GPS re-setting with a lane departure warning buzzer for when he goes walkabout - thing is, his issues are a relative easy fix (you would think). Sadly, Root’s batting has become infested with one day shots and going after balls which should be left alone in a 5-day Test match.

I must admit a personal dislike for the modern way of batting via covering your stumps. This seems to generate playing across the front pad far too much and it closes down off-side driving. Moan over.

Would love Pope to get a big ton today - we need to get >250 to have a chance of saving this.

Aside from Root, I don’t see another potential captain for this team. I think it would be over-burdening on Stokes and there’s not another Brearley-type figure out there to galvanise the team.

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Interesting to hear that Shan Masood share/d a batting coach with Sir Alastair Cook. Sounds an interesting and articulate chap too - look forward to hearing him commentate in 10 years or so!

Sadly the first innings is something we’ve seen far too often from Anderson and Broad throughout their careers. They start with a poor length, pitch it just a hit too short, keep it very tight but waste the wicket-taking potential of the new ball. They are very fine bowlers, so when they come back on later they take wickets and because the opening spell was tight, their innings figures look good. But actually they’ve allowed the top order to bed in and the opposition get a good total. When they fire they’re two of the best, but too many times they’ve done this for me.

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Rob Key described this during a game I was watching as ‘pretty bowling’ i.e. looks good in the book but not overly threatening. To be fair, they both passed the bat a number of times at the outset and Pakistan can count themselves fortunate but their batters played well IMV - albeit I’d like to see Masood’s DRS review again when he had about 70. It looked very much like pad indication on the system (big splodge on the mic) rather than a nick (usual smaller profile). There again, every batter deserves the benefit of the doubt and these things usually even themselves out.

I accept that Burns and Sibley have done OK but both have significant technical issues that even I can see. The thought of Sibley in the sub continent desperately trying to work out how to score against decent spinners makes me shiver. For me Crawley has more potential long term as an opener than Sibley, and yet he is not getting a game.

However we view the England bowlers you have to credit Pakistan. They batted really well and the quick singles were a real weapon at unsettling England all through the innings. There is a lot of talent in this Pakistan team. With confidence they will be tough to beat.

I was amused by the amount of on field chatter last night. The Asian players I play with, and against, think nothing of appealing for lbw from square leg and when they are on top are constantly noisy in the field with dramatic groans and shouts. I quite like it, except when I am batting!

I have wanted Foakes to have a chance for a while, Buttler looks distracted and even more in need of a break now.

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Buttler simply isn’t a test-class wicket-keeper.

Have to agree with you regarding Crawley. He’s looked impressive when given a game. He also looks to boss the bowler which is essential in modern test cricket or you end up creeping towards a low score.
Good job Pope is now a fixture in the side at number five/six after being messed about in the order.

I think Pope will end up at 3 or 4. Has the technique and now developing the mentality to shape a game not just add a good looking thirty something.

I had to smile when the Pakistan 'keeper not only took a catch to the spinner but also stood up to Abbas. Buttler must have been spitting feathers

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