Yes, I watched it as well. Very underwhelming. I’m not sure why Tammy Beaumont was dropped.
I agree ref foot movement but it is common with a lot of players and formats. Jos Buttler hardly moves his feet, it found him out in red ball but not in white ball, it seems.
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I think we both know red ball strips are very different to the white ball concrete runways, and swing, if it exists in the latter instance, only lasts 3/4 overs. Some of the IPL strips used this year look like they’ve been rolled to a nice shine 
IMHO, it doesn’t look like the England side is developing talent-wise. They can hit against pace-on (just about), but struggle with anything else, especially when it’s stump2stump. I suspect they may struggle in the games coming up, not just against Aus and India. I’d also like to see Charlie Dean as captain, as NSB has obviously got other roles (assuming she’s fit), and it’s Botham-syndrome with her.
I also don’t understand the antipathy towards Heather Knight, as when the time comes, she usually delivers…and there are several more in front of her in the queue for the taxi IMHO.
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Looking at Englands last three T20 I’d say Heather Knight is the only England player with any batting technique.
I think several others have gone backwards from when they first played.
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Me too - and I wonder if players like HK, whose skills were formed playing in men’s leagues, are now being replaced by parties whose primary skill is that they sometimes can whack the ball. We all know that technique reduces batting risks e.g. by playing straight, and with the right bodyshape.
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Tammy Beaumont must be wondering what she has done wrong.
Some of our players do not keep their heads still let alone play straight. I’m surprised because under Edwards I expected players with good technique who, if anything, were a bit slow. We now have neither and are way behind Australia and India. I hope the “old hands” will be back for the World Cup because our current line up is going to be humiliated.
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When you look back at the squad for the WCWC (50-overs) in 2017, even allowing for NSB’s development, this team looks a lot worse IMHO, which begs questions about what has been achieved in the women’s game in England/UK. By now, some 9 years later, one would have thought some technically able batters would have emerged. Instead, when you remove Sarah Taylor and allow for an ageing HK (in cricket terms), the current squad looks materially weaker – and the faults are in-bred it seems.
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Thought I’d see how England v India women’s 1st T20 would play-out. Well, with India having gifted 2 wickets to England in the first over (5-2), the 2nd over yielded 27, and was as comedic as they come. This is getting to the stage now of ‘all the gear, no idea’. I struggle to understand how the commentators keep a straight face at times.
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If I’m reading the scorecard correctly, England bowled 19 wides which made India face over 23 overs plus the extra 19 runs. India bowled 1 wide. That is a pathetic stat in my book.
As my late Dad would have said: There is more chance of me becoming the next Pope than England winning a tournament at the moment.
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Some were 4-wides deliveries, 2 in the 27-run 2nd over IIRC. We all know cricket can be a punishing game when things go wrong, but you shouldn’t be playing at this exalted (ha, ha) level if you cannot bowl straight. Some of the bowling set-ups and field settings were highly sub-optimal IMHO. And, unlike England, India bat very well and deep, especially when given a very flat deck with a quick outfield. I want to like women’s cricket, but it just delivers continual disappointment and, IMHO, performances and skillsets have gone backwards from 2017 and earlier. To me, it’s the antithesis of the Red Roses rugby set-up.
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England are turning this series around. This is superb batting from Knight and Capsey, great to see Knight getting back into form after some quite slow knocks. The fielding has been a lot better (apart from that gaffe from Ecclestone on the last ball.)
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That was a really good run chase, especially after the early wickets.
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Yep, quite a turnaround from Game 1, and I think England were a tad fortunate in G2 – and were very thankful for India shipping so many on the final over, and credit to Freya Kemp to getting 39 from just 13 balls!
I really don’t understand the antipathy towards HK, some of which has come from the Sky commentators – I’d much rather someone get 25 from 25 balls, than someone who gets 10 from 5, and England run out of talent and wickets. Plus, HK is one of the few who in this team who can play through the offside in front of square.
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The first mens Test of the summer looms, NZ at Lords on Thursday. Only about 7 weeks into the season…
McCullum sounds predictably unrepentant. Self reflection is not in his skillset.
Anyway team news; Gay will open, Bashir is the first choice spinner and Stokes swaps with Smith to bat 7 with Smith 6. Why?
Bethel is declared fit after injuring a finger (doing what? Twiddling them in the IPL changing room?) and apparently Archer may not even be fit for the 2nd Test after his IPL exertions. Cue face plant. I suppose at least he was actually playing.
Whatever. The forecast is awful for the first 2-3 days. Shame, NZ are always very welcome visitors.
Bruce
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Ye olde pro’s must be looking at this and think they missed out on some ‘easy money’ (thanks RLJ). 13 games over 2 months, max 4 overs per game, so 52 overs, so fielded max 260 overs, which is not far off a 1970s CC game. To think that not many years ago, England’s white-ball cricketers were in heavy demand for the IPL.
Will be interesting to see the ticket sale/attendance for the NZ games, as there have been suggestions of heavy post-Ashes blues – plus there’s a footy tournament around, which even the media seem to be struggling to get excited about.
I honestly think it’s time to move on from Archer. Apart from his apparent fragility his record at test level isn’t that great.
He is unfortunately, one for T20 rather than test matches.
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I understand the frustrations but don’t agree.
After his long injury layoff he has shown a commitment to International cricket. I would not have been surprised if he had opted for a lucrative franchise-only career in the manner of some other fast bowlers with injury issues, but he did work back to full Test fitness. Since his return he has been reasonably robust, and was very impressive in the winter Ashes at times if not consistently. He missed the last 2 with injury. Of course his commitment to England is probably helped by a multi-year contract allegedly worth £900k/year. That the ECB allowed him to play the full IPL despite that contract is probably not his fault.
Finally, if not Archer then who? Brydon ‘long hop outside off stump’ Carse is injured, Gus ‘random’ Atkinson too. Sonny Baker is an untested tyro, Olly Stone seems to have dropped away and is also fragile, Josh Tongue has done well but needs support. Stokes is on one leg etc.
All this is just a reminder of the excellence and durability of Anderson/Broad. 117 Tests playing together, aggregate 895 wickets. How easy that made things!
Bruce
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I think the frustration is that Archer has been on a highly paid contract that covered long periods of injury. We we told that this was to ensure his commitment and availability for England. Hmm.
I’m not sure how many New Zealand players were in the IPL but we had Archer, and Bethel spectating which seems to have deprived us of Test Cricket in May, when the weather was nice. We could have at least offered Ireland and Scotland a game.
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There was certainly a plethora or criticism yesterday and Capsey and Knight had a really good response to it
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The delay in starting Test cricket has been a feature for years now. More lucrative formats have squeezed English Test cricket into a small window. Last year the first Test started on the 22nd May (a one-off vs Zimbabwe), and the last started on the 31st July. Not one Test starting in August or September. The County etc season ended 27th Sept.
This year at least the Pakistan series goes into September.
Bruce
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Is his late availability the ECB’s fault rather than Archer’s? Hard to know, maybe it is some sort of compromise. It seems to make a bit of a mockery of the contract though.
Bruce
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