The Cricket Thread

[Ian]

:D

[Jimmy Floyd]

I reiterate this Test is the best I have ever seen Ashwin bowl, if he bowls like this he will destroy us in all five Tests.

[Ian]

I'm watching the Debate (sigh) and just saw the ball that sent Cook on his way. Some delivery, that.

[Ian]

Did you watch this, Jim? Trott talking up Curran. Your Kleenex material.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Curran's spell to the not-Kohli Indians earlier reminded me for some reason of this scene.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNoWveBtrZc

[niko_cee]

I don't think I've ever known a team that can turn a winning position into a losing one better than this England iteration. They're going to lose in three days having been 200-3 on the first, which is some going, particularly when the other lot were 180-8.

[ItalAussie]

I spent a lot of time on the "Ashwin is actually a very, very good bowler" hill. He's legit.

The other side of that coin - I notice that India didn't even bother pretending that Jadeja would accomplish anything here.

[Jimmy Floyd]

He's a lot better in this game than I have ever seen him before. He is bowling proper clever overs and our mongs have no clue against it.

I wish we would pick people who can bat.

[niko_cee]

We're such a shambles.

[Max Power]

It’s bad today but we really lost the game on first innings again. Threw away a position of dominance with the bat and dropped catches in the field.

[igor_balis]

Feast or famine arrogant no fight wankers, I'm still fuming at bairstow wafting around to stuff lobbed down leg by Ashwin, just leave it u cunts

[Jimmy Floyd]

The giveaway with Ashwin is if you look at the side of his trousers, it's all red - you wouldn't see that in the subcontinent. He's almost bowling like a swing bowler and trying to pull the batsmen this way and that before spiking them the other side. Then against the left handers he has the added weapon of the one that turns sharply away from the bat. It's some of the best slow bowling I've ever seen in this country.

[Max Power]

Give me a Buttler COUNTER ATTACK. It’s surely one of the prime reasons he’s been picked. To turn a game on it’s head with his vast array of strokes.

[Max Power]

Or not lol

[Pleb]

87/7 :D

Typical.

[Mellberg]

That counter attack went well.

[igor_balis]

Christ. Brainless again.

[igor_balis]

Gotta say tho this has been a wonderful spectacle of a test. Pleased that the start of my holiday was day one of this.

[Max Power]

Yeah I’ve managed to watch most of it and it’s been fascinating. Second session yesterday especially was cracking stuff.

[Mellberg]

Still think it may be tight. England to squeeze out a lead of 160/170 and a couple of early wickets to set the tone.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Making Buttler vice captain was absolute fucking shite.

Come on Sammy, we could do with another 80 here.

[Mellberg]

Stupidly talked myself into £20 on England @ 4/1

[Jimmy Floyd]

4/1? You've been had.

[Mellberg]

Was hoping for 6s or 7s, but was the best I could find. As low as 10/3 with Skybet.

It's happening anyway. Curran and Rashid 200 partnership with a Joe Root fivefer.

[Jimmy Floyd]

If they give the new ball to Broad here there should be executions.

[igor_balis]

Awesome test

[thommo]

If they give the new ball to Broad here there should be executions.

Who first?

[Max Power]

Why is this idiot still in the slips?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Probably some analytics saying he pouches them.

Root is such a bad captain.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Sorry Broady, I shan't doubt you again.

[Max Power]

What a match this is. India at 2.3 value imo, we ain’t getting Kohli and he’s gonna start farming soon.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Only person who's getting Virat is Curran with an inswinging yorker.

[Max Power]

Looks nice and sunny. Think they cruise this five down sadly.

[Max Power]

Praise the Lord he’s caught one. Here we go boys :drool:

[Max Power]

Stokes you absolute champion. Can we not have some government interference to squash his upcoming court date?

[Mellberg]

Just when you think it's won Ishant Sharma leads a ten run over.

[Waffdon]

That was fun.

[igor_balis]

I honestly can't remember a test match I've enjoyed that much since Ashes 2005. That was outstanding.

[Max Power]

We aren’t a good enough team to drive home this advantage so can easily see India coming back and a real classic topsy turvy series.

[Mellberg]

4/1? You've been had.

:eyemouth:

[Jimmy Floyd]

Stokes you absolute champion. Can we not have some government interference to squash his upcoming court date?

Would defo happen in India. Oh well.

[Max Power]

Ollie Pope called up to replace Malan and Woakes in for Stokes.

Wonder what the balance of the team will be. Feel that a couple of people will be batting too high.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Pope will be one of them. Lovely kid but batting him 4 in a Lord's Test is on the bold side.

[Shindig]

Ben Stokes is going to come out of this looking like a massive twat.

[ItalAussie]

News reports definitely don't paint him in a positive light. He always seemed like a dick, but now he appears to be barely house-trained.

[Ian]

He sounds comes across as a wanker of the highest order but that's no huge surprise.

[niko_cee]

This is the prosecution's side of the story though, which, you know, in our system isn't necessarily geared towards being the truth.

Some guy came at him with a bottle and the other with a street sign. In the absence of him going all Tony Martin/American History X on them I'm inclined to think beating the shit out of them in response is arguably a proportionate response.

[ItalAussie]

Isn't that pretty close to what got Mellin sent down?

[niko_cee]

Aye, but he's a normal, and I don't recall whether someone started on him with a street sign.

[ItalAussie]

So this shot clock idea?

Seems sensible enough to me, although there are undoubtedly complications that I haven't considered.

[niko_cee]

This quote from Ponting in an article about over rates/the shot clock seems apt, even though it is about something else (reverse swing/ball tampering):


"So let's look at having a fair playing surface then the problem might start looking after itself."

Slow over rates are only really a problem when conditions are heavily stilted in the batsman's favour, which is a much easier (and preferable) thing to deal with than parking a massive digital countdown on the side of the pitch.

[Ian]

I quite liked that "Cricket in Mumbai" programme on Sky.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Some fairly epoch-defining lols already. They could go over for about 35 if we get much more play in.

[niko_cee]

Farcical scenes. They really need to sort out the speed with which they an get back out on the field. Taking lunch during an hour of dryness having played 6 overs was ridiculous. Until a session has been played teams should be on 10 minutes notice to get back on the field.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The whole idea of setting inspections for certain times is ludicrous. There should be a permanent state of inspection with play ready to start in 10 minutes when the word is given.

[Max Power]

Is it only raining in London? Haven’t had a drop here in Leicester. Move the next three days to Grace Road.

[niko_cee]

It seems to be entirely localised to St John's Wood.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'm sitting in Chertsey which gets Lord's weather 20 minutes before, and I haven't seen a drop since 2pm. Sparkling blue skies. Must be some metropolitan elite sprinkler system.

[Pleb]

The bowling from Woakes :drool:

[Jimmy Floyd]

Indians against lateral movement never fails to amuse.

[Max Power]

Ffs this slip fielding :lol:

Still all over them mind

[Pleb]

All out by the end of the session/day would be so lol.

[Jimmy Floyd]

If we're any good we'll have them all out for double figures here. Woakes is irresistible.

[Pleb]

Woof.

[Max Power]

Sam Curran inswinging into my heart

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'll be knocking one out over that for many years to come. Dragged on my arse.

[thommo]

I'll be knocking one out over that for many years to come. Dragged on my arse.

On first viewing I thought he had as well, but that was a cracking ball. So nice to have a left-armer in the attack too.

[Jimmy Floyd]

There are left armers but that one was shades of Wasim Akram, albeit 10mph slower and with a lovable baby face.

Woakes though has been actually unplayable.

[Pleb]

Wasting a batting review :D

[Max Power]

Genuinely can see Jimmy being rolled out for home series for YEARS to come. He is an absolute artist with the Dukes ball.

[niko_cee]

Timing this to absolute perfection. No tricky few overs before the close for Cook to inevitably get out. Well, as long as we don't get the last one too quick . . .

[Jimmy Floyd]

Genuinely can see Jimmy being rolled out for home series for YEARS to come. He is an absolute artist with the Dukes ball.

I was thinking that. If we just cotton wool him during all winters, can we not keep wheeling him out at home until he's 45, thereby infuriating Australians and Indians for the rest of time?

[Max Power]

He’s about to go past McGrath which is excellent but he can definitely annoy further.

A silver haired Jimmy bowling 74mph taking 4-20 on the first morning at Headingley in the 2025 Ashes :drool:

[Jimmy Floyd]

Just look at Indian Twitter right now, it's a glorious sight. Doctored deck apparently. The ball doesn't swing off the deck, chaps.

[niko_cee]

Those first 6 overs (and Ravi Shastri's face) were brilliant.

I didn't catch much more of it today, but I can only imagine it continued from there.

8 weeks of unbroken heatwave and then they turn up and it's overcast, damp and GREENTOP compliant. lol doesn't cover it. Hopefully we bat for 4 sessions in unbroken sunshine before the atmospherics kick back in.

[Pleb]

It was fucking glorious.

The seethe from the Indian batsmen though.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The last session was amazing, Kohli got through the initial Anderson spell (playing and missing literally 3 times an over) and then Woakes comes on and it was literally 6 jaffers an over. I think we dropped Kohli at least a couple of times amongst the mayhem but there was never any danger of them reaching 120.

I think we'll get 250 top end, Sunday will be rained out and it will be a draw.

[ItalAussie]

Just look at Indian Twitter right now, it's a glorious sight. Doctored deck apparently. The ball doesn't swing off the deck, chaps.

You managed to import clouds. Doctored atmosphere. :nodd:

Where can I enjoy some Indian twitter?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Go to the feed of any major English/Indian cricket figure or journalist, and look at the replies.

And I'll have you know those were good old homegrown British clouds. People accuse us of always using foreign-born clouds, but the gulf stream's hardly our fault.

[niko_cee]

Woakes(y).

:cool:

What a time to be alive.

If the weather forecast is anywhere near accurate, and the skies are grey and threatening this morning then we have to stick them in straight away. No fucking about.

[igor_balis]

I know moaning about lack of declarations is a bit of a lazy cliche but why the fuck are we batting this morning?!

[Jimmy Floyd]

Especially with Shami getting it to do bits and a shitty forecast (although Athers seems to have decided it's cleared).

[ItalAussie]

Not that anything would have saved India here, but is the whole "all touring teams get pumped" thing not starting to get a little bit old?

Players are getting used to their own style of pitch, which is so far from anyone else's that they're incapable of dealing with it when they travel.

[Ian]

It is a bit. Are the bigger teams just happy to win the majority of their home series? I suppose the risk is let's say one nation makes a long term plan to get their young players used to different conditions, until that happens they might end up getting beat home AND away if other teams don't follow suit.

[niko_cee]

Not that anything would have saved India here, but is the whole "all touring teams get pumped" thing not starting to get a little bit old?

Players are getting used to their own style of pitch, which is so far from anyone else's that they're incapable of dealing with it when they travel.

I dunno.

Not playing two spinners and winning the toss would have had them in with a shout.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Most touring teams should do better, they're just lazy and consistently select the wrong players.

Murali Vijay and a few others have no business being on this tour but teams love selecting on what happened 2 years ago rather than what is likely to happen now. England are terrible for it as well.

Ravi Shastri literally doesn't have a clue, you take Kohli and Trashwin out of that side and they're ranked 6th instead of 1st.

[Max Power]

Probably no coincidence Pakistan have done well in England the past two tours (2-2 and 1-1) and had a lot of proper preparation and warm up matches in English conditions. Some poxy 15 a side 3 day game against Essex isn’t exactly ideal.

[niko_cee]

Good of the filth and the CPS to waste everyone's time for the last year or so. How utterly predictable.

[Jimmy Floyd]

If there's one thing I know about the ECB, and cricket selectors in general, then they'll ban him for as long as it takes to get out of the bases loaded jam that currently confronts them on the selection front.

[Shindig]

I find it hard to believe that, just after midnight, there were very few witnesses to this stupid fight.

[Pleb]

Curran out of the third test because of Stoke's inclusion.

What muppets.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The ISM boys need looking after eh Joe.

Call me a philistine but I'm not convinced Stokes is all that much better than either Woakes or Curran.

[Max Power]

Sports Science nerds probably have had a word about playing 12 year old Sam in a tightly packed five match series but still doesn’t seem right.

Could have left Buttler out if they really wanted Stokes back in...

[Jimmy Floyd]

For some unknown reason, Buttler is vice captain. Why isn't Anderson? In fact, he should probably be captain.

[Ian]

Call me a philistine but I'm not convinced Stokes is all that much better than either Woakes or Curran.

Is this some higher peaks bullshit?

Why the fuck is Curran out?

[Jimmy Floyd]

The logic they will have used is:

- don't need five seamers
- might need a spinner
- Woakes was really good last game and is (as Mike Selvey put it) a more accomplished international
- Stokes is a must pick

I'm ok with the first three, just really not sure about the last. I'm also not sure you can't play them all as batsmen and bin off Buttler or Pope.

[Max Power]

As Mark Butcher has said many times, Buttler as a specialist 6/7 is stupid. Take the gloves off Bairstow and then you can bat him four even. We have a plethora of six and sevens in the squad it’s insane.

[Max Power]

Sky have Rob Key doing the match. Long overdue he is great.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Key and Butcher need to come into the main squad for Botham and probably, whilst I like him, Bumble.

Michael Holding should be retained until/if he dies, though. I want the last thing I ever hear to be him saying 'Edged... and gone.'

[Max Power]

“Pace and Bounce” stirs something deep within me.

Sir Beef needs binning but I still like Bumble. Could actually can Gower and have Ian Ward present, I like him a lot.

Sangakkara has been great this summer as well but he needs to be ICC president not commentating

[Jimmy Floyd]

Oh and Nasser Hussain, the greatest of them all, nailed the Stokes situation as only he can.

https://twitter.com/SkyCricket/status/1030708403222396928

The ECB should pay him whatever and give him the keys to English cricket.

[Max Power]

He’s not posh enough sadly

[Jimmy Floyd]

That is quite true. Fucking Ed Smith, do me a favour.

[Max Power]

The Nasser thing touches on it but generally I hope this whole affair really pushes Stokes on to properly realise his talent because he arguably hasn’t yet. A player of moments rather than series.

[Max Power]

Rishabh Pant plays for India, great talent. I really like Kohli btw, sorry guys.

[Jimmy Floyd]

He's growing on me this series, in the same way Shane Warne did in 2005.

Genius selectors done us no favours here but it means the brown hats get a fired up Curran for the pink ball day/nighter, so :drool:

[ItalAussie]

I do like players who react well under adversity, and who learn from previous failures. I like Kohli a lot, and he's learned from his last tour in England.

[ItalAussie]

As Mark Butcher has said many times, Buttler as a specialist 6/7 is stupid. Take the gloves off Bairstow and then you can bat him four even. We have a plethora of six and sevens in the squad it’s insane.

What qualifiers one to be a specialist 6/7 that makes them worth selecting internationally, but not worth playing any higher than that?

[Max Power]

No idea. Especially when they aren’t getting runs and dropping chances in the slips.

Openers is a more pressing and longstanding issue. I’m sure Cook will chisel out a score at some point in the series but Jennings hasn’t done anything and looks to be getting worse.

[Max Power]

Pathetic stuff again

[Max Power]

Hey can we pick some batsmen please

[niko_cee]

English conditions are just anathema to the modern cricketer.

We'd be better off picking Chris Jordan to open. At least he's good in the slips.

[Ian]

A century each for Jimmy and Rash. No danger.

[Max Power]

Didn’t see this lasting until tea so fair play to Buttler and Stokes. Shows that it wouldn’t have been beyond the realms of possibility if we had a top order.

[Ian]

Vince in as cover for Bairstow. Yay.

[Max Power]

Hey can we pick some batsmen please

...

At least let’s have a classic Mo counter attack then

[Jimmy Floyd]

Remember they dropped Sam for the last match. Fucking geniuses.

Root must go.

[Ian]

I didn't realise how much I was taking for granted back when we had a top order

[niko_cee]

It's probably about time for Cook to play another career saving innings, but I'd imagine that will be saved for the fifth test.

Nice to see big Mo back on board.

Roy and Hales in for the Oval. Is it at the Oval?

[niko_cee]

Just seen Jennings' dismissal.

:D

Put him in the mincer.

[igor_balis]

Cook
Burns
Bell
Root
Bairstow
Pope
Stokes
Moen
Curran
Broad
Anderson

fuck it

[niko_cee]

Not to labour a point, but Keaton Jennings has a worse first class batting average than Chris Woakes (34.02 plays 34.88, 6000 runs v 5500 so it's not an anomaly either).

Dropping Buttler would be unnecessary.

It's gravitating towards it so they should just play the ODI team, less Morgan and with Broad and Anderson.

[igor_balis]

Not to labour a point, but Keaton Jennings has a worse first class batting average than Chris Woakes (34.02 plays 34.88, 6000 runs v 5500 so it's not an anomaly either).

Dropping Buttler would be unnecessary.

It's gravitating towards it so they should just play the ODI team, less Morgan and with Broad and Anderson.
i'd argue picking him in the first place was even more unnecessary but away from my semi-facetious fantasy selecting i would keep him in for now.

also i imagine that woakes' fc average is somewhat inflated by red-inkers but yeah jennings is hopeless and surely they must be considering burns. shame haseeb's form collapsed so much, i thought he was going to be the FUTURE, made him my facebook cover photo and everything. barely gets in the lancashire 1st XI atm

[niko_cee]

Aye, unless you have him as 'keeper, but he's batted fairly competently which is more than can be said of most of the other 'specialists'.

I'm definitely on board for a bit of 5th test heroics from Ronald, but we'd probably rather concede the series than countenance that.

[igor_balis]

Aye, I'd agree with that. IN FAIRNESS I think having Buttler as specialist bat at 8, whilst seeming well wacky, would raise less eyebrows in a less dysfunctional side. Also think his selection is more a symptom of the lack of top-order options knocking around than anything else.

[Max Power]

Buttler looks pretty good tbf. I think he will score runs at this level. Fuck it just bat him or Moeen or Bairstow in the top three - have a dart at the new ball instead of being terrified of the bloody thing.

Sky kept talking up the Jennings dismissal as some masterful bowling becuase he chucked a couple outswingers beforehand. He is hopelessly out his depth.

[igor_balis]

tense stuff on the verdict

[Ian]

tense stuff on the verdict

Now that they don't do it properly any more you really need England to be shit for a good episode of, sigh, The Cricket Debate.

Back when they'd have a pundit from the visiting nation you were guaranteed good stuff either way.

[Luke Emia]

We need a Trott plus someone to stick around opening with Cook. Root could then be at 4 and things would be a bit better. The other thing I take from all this is that Root looks more out of depth than Cook ever did as captain and that's saying something.

[Ian]

Watching the Debate and fucking hell Cork just won't countenance any criticism of England's top order, will he?

[igor_balis]

Watching the Debate and fucking hell Cork just won't countenance any criticism of England's top order, will he?

told ya. actually went on his wikipedia to see if he was involved with the england set-up somehow cus it was mental. even bob was being a bit of a fanny.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The problem they have is that ELITE sportspeople all think in the same way, which is basically 'back yourself to succeed'. This is because at their peak, because of their massive talent, success came easily and they didn't have to think about how to do it. Sky pundits are the same, because they're all ex ELITE players, you'll never see them take a sideways look at things or find a creative way around a problem. It's all CONFIDENCE and EXECUTE YOUR SKILLS and so on.

What they actually need is to stop using shit hunches and select people who can actually bat in Test matches. They also need to fire Root as he's developing a crony selection which I don't like.

[Ian]

Cork was being particularly mental. Any criticism of Cook was met with "But he's CLASS"

He had an excuse for everything.

[Dave.]

The continued selection of Jennings is horrendous, he is barely good enough for county cricket never mind test cricket. His 34 average in first class is actually inflated because of one freak season for Durham. Rory Burns is far, far better and I would prefer Stoneman too. We would even be better off with Stokes or Woakes opening. I'd push Stokes up to 3 (he has the best technique among our batsman) and open with Burns and Cook.

[Ian]

Surely Stokes is far too shit-or-bust to be playing at 3?

Also I just saw Jennings' dismissal from yesterday. I don't think I've ever seen LBW on nearly the back of the back leg before. Cork's defence of it seems even more ludicrous.

[Dave.]

Surely Stokes is far too shit-or-bust to be playing at 3?

Also I just saw Jennings' dismissal from yesterday. I don't think I've ever seen LBW on nearly the back of the back leg before. Cork's defence of it seems even more ludicrous.

We're not really blessed with options in this area. His technique is very good and has shown good application in his last couple of innings. If we had a decent number 3 then I wouldn't even consider doing this but we don't.

[igor_balis]

Why did Hildreth never get a go?

[Dave.]

Why did Hildreth never get a go?

The middle order was almost set in stone when he was at his peak (Trott, Pietersen, Bell and Collingwood) so he didn't really get a look in.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'm with Martin on that, if any of those mugs are going to bat 3 then better Stokes than Buttler or Bairstow.

[Max Power]

Or the bloke that bats there for his county and scored a double hundred there last week...

[Dave.]

Or the bloke that bats there for his county and scored a double hundred there last week...

An entirely fair point. I wouldn't be against recalling him but I don't think we'll go down that route.

[Max Power]

Maybe only for a decider against India to potentially avoid embarrassment but not exactly a long term fix.

[Max Power]

It is a tough one in the sense that we have a lot of very talented players who shouldn’t really be batting higher than five and ideally would be at 6/7 but you can just pick them all and hope it works out can you?

[igor_balis]

I'd be up for putting just about anyone at 3 just so root can play 4. Fuck it, stick mo there.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Cook at 3 isn't the worst idea, tbh.

[Danny]

Or the bloke that bats there for his county and scored a double hundred there last week...


An entirely fair point. I wouldn't be against recalling him but I don't think we'll go down that route.

Saw this elsewhere, and since I presume we are talking Bell here and not Mo as he did the same thing last week I figured I would post it


Bell has made four Championship centuries this season but three of them, including his current high score, have been against against Glamorgan, who are bottom of Division 2.

I saw a stat earlier that shows if you remove his performances against Glamorgan he is averaging 34.15 this season.

[Max Power]

Root has massively underbowled spin today. Hopefully that’s recitified now and might escape with a manageable deficit.

[Danny]

Mo bowling more than Rashid. He must be very good for team spirit cause we are using him for fuck all else

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'm not a big believer in only counting runs vs the World XI on a minefield. Runs are runs.

[Max Power]

My boy at it again. Always in the game with bat or ball. Great cricketer.

[Ian]

6 runs without loss. :drool:

India on the ropes.

[ItalAussie]

Seems like this is a cracker of a series, which it didn't look like being.

If they can do this against you in England, they're going to murder us here later in the year.

[niko_cee]

Doubtful. You'll just brutalise them on flat tracks.

This series is a case in point as to why test cricket is at it's best in (proper) English conditions, where the ball has the edge over the bat. The ball moving through the air and off the pitch, spinners in the game (Ashwin at Lords, Mo here), runs available for good batting, 300 being a good score - it all makes for good games. A nail-biting but successful chase for India would put it into classic series territory.

[ItalAussie]

Don't forget that we have to score runs without Steve Smith.

I'm all for multiple hundreds from Glenn Maxwell, but there's some optimism in that.

[Ian]

That's a shame. Still, Jimmy's boy threatening again.

[Jimmy Floyd]

We had Kohli there, the third umpire isn't competent. Mistakes are OK but he didn't do the process properly.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Lol at that last wicket. I think Oxenford just guessed pretty much every decision in that match. Dharmasena is an absolute gun umpire though.

[Danny]

Athers :D

https://twitter.com/SkyCricket/status/1035926395938131969?s=19

[Jimmy Floyd]

A quick thought on why these Indians are much more likeable than the last few Indian touring sides. MS Pony is no longer there, and the brilliantly impressive Kohli is. Huge difference in class between those two men.

[ItalAussie]

Could not be more true. A lot of their most obnoxious players have shuffled on. Still got Dhawan though. And theoretically Jadeja.

[Luke Emia]

Maybe a reprieve for Jennings with Chef chucking it in.

[Max Power]

He’ll be back. Can see him scoring a hatful for Essex next season and he will reconsider.

[Ian]

They talked about Rory Burns on the Debate a few times this series so far but he's basically the only one they talked about as a serious prospect at opener other than one that Luke Wright was talking about yesterday, though that might have been a 3 he was on about.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Rory Burns has an unusual trigger movement, so the selection geniuses will probably do something retarded like ask Moeen to open, or recall Lyth.

Luke Wright wanting to recall Denly as a Test batsman ostensibly because of his form as a T20 leg spinner was up there with the worst ideas I've heard.

[Ian]

Luke Wright wanting to recall Denly as a Test batsman ostensibly because of his form as a T20 leg spinner was up there with the worst ideas I've heard.

That was the one. I'd never even heard of him.

[Jimmy Floyd]

From memory I think he played some ODIs about ten years ago and has on and off been a strong player for Middlesex and Kent, but a Test callup would be most bizarre.

[niko_cee]

Sounds a fairly extraordinary game down in Taunton.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I don't think there's anything funnier in cricket than a doctored pitch backfiring (which it invariably does). Down at Ciderabad they've been preparing wickets to start 'as on' day two for a few years now, this one must have been day three.

That said, all the batsmen moaning about it being a 'poor pitch' can piss off. Get your head down and score some runs you entitled twats.

[ItalAussie]

So who's going to open for England going forward? Jennings must feel pretty safe, at last. I was impressed with Hameed, if I remember rightly.

Also, the list of England test cricketers makes for fascinating reading. Eighteen debuts since the start of 2016. None of them could be really considered to have locked down a place at this stage.

[Max Power]

Rory Burns surely. Ed Smith will try something funky though. Bairstow to open or something.

[niko_cee]

Hameed was great until he started struggling to get a game for Lancashire seconds, which is a worry.

Alex Hales is an objectively better cricketer than Jennings, and it's not as if being a useless twonk against anything that deviates off the pitch or through the air is an impediment to getting selected anymore. England really need an entirely new top 3 (assuming Root is going back to 4).

[Jimmy Floyd]

It's lucky Jason Roy destroyed his own face with a bat, or else we'd be Ed Smithing him into the top three.

I read somewhere that Ed Smith sees himself more as a general manager than a selector, which made me want to jump off the top deck of the Oval pavilion.

[Max Power]

Sort of makes sense as he never seems to be actually gazing through those expensive round sunglasses on any actual county cricket as he’s always at the Test match and has been at training this week.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I can only imagine the vast contribution he makes being at training.

'Say, Stuart, old boy. One second. Could we chat?'

*Broad troops over*

'I think you need to bowl faster, and also more accurately.'

'You reckon?'

'That's what the data says, Stuart. We're not slaves to data, but we can use it to our advantage, and the data says that if you bowl faster and more accurately, you'll take a slew.'

'A what?'

'A slew. Of wickets.'

'Oh.'

'Perhaps it's a Tonbridge phrase, old boy. Anyway, good to have a chinwag, but Chris Cowdrey's waiting for me in the upstairs bar. Chars, chars.'

[Max Power]

Lovely Oval road for a farewell Cook ton.

Jennings however... getting out on this should seal his fate.

[Jimmy Floyd]

128/1 off 60? Is it Nagpur?

[Max Power]

Actually have a contribution from the top order and bat sensibly for a session or two and still collapse to sub 250. Amazing really.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The Yorkshire contingent are having an absolute nightmare in this series.

[Max Power]

This is such a weird team. I kind of like them, it’s stacked with talent and brimming with a number of individuals who can win a game on their own and yet they just don’t quite work and are prone to hilarious collapses at any place or any time.

[Jimmy Floyd]

If they change the captain (in spite of my usual comments about him, I reckon Buttler might be a shrewd move) I think they'd have a better chance. I don't think Root has a lot going on upstairs.

[niko_cee]

The number of times Moeen played and missed was insane. There was a period in the afternoon session where he may as well have been blindfolded when facing Shami.

Root looked imperious in the ODIs, and whilst I appreciate there are substantial differences, maybe the captaincy is an issue. Just let Jimmy be the captain.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It was the sort of innings we need, though, not pretty but fucking hung in there and allowed people to bat around him (they didn't, but the point stands).

[niko_cee]

Aye, but, love Mo as I do, I'm not sure how much you can really credit him for sticking around. It's what happened, yes, and he didn't play aggressively, but on another day he'd have edged at least 20 of the balls he faced. Credit to him for reigning it in, but there really wasn't much to drive or hook at.

Retrospectively thank christ Rahane shelled Cook, and at least this probably gives him one more chance to grind out a test hundred.

I reckon these must have been the best sustained test conditions I've ever seen in England. The ball's almost always been doing something.

[Ian]

Just let Jimmy be the captain.

Anderson or Floyd?

[Ian]

Monty Panesar is on Celebrity Masterchef and he seems proper gormless.

I don't know that I've heard him properly speaking before.

[Jimmy Floyd]

He's a bit of a sad case, unfortunately. His twitter feed is properly tragic at times. Think he's had a few mental health problems.

That said, a cricketer being 'proper gormless' is hardly a shocking or rare phenomenon.

[Ian]

Or sportsmen in general, I suppose. I'm not sure why it surprised me.

However what he's doing to these breadcrumbs is fucking special, the mad bastard.

[Ian]

Is this a concerted effort from Buttler to try and play proper innings or does he just happen to be in a bit of form?

It felt previously like if he got a good score in tests it was still at a run-a-ball type right and he just didn't cop an unfortunate delivery.

"Broady" staking his claim for middle order again too. What a hero.

[Max Power]

What has been good about Buttler this summer in whites is that he looks to have a plan. Whatever technical issues he has he actually seems to want to construct an innings. He plays each bowler in a certain way, targets bowlers, bats out his crease etc. Other players higher in the order with more impressive first class form don’t seem to be as thoughtful about their game.

[Jimmy Floyd]

He seems to have found an identity for himself in the batting order. In his previous Test run it was 'ooh, here comes Buttler to smear 50 off 30' and if the situation didn't demand that he looked lost. This summer, mostly, he has played (or been forced to play) a lot more within himself, and it's also helped having Curran behind him.

His batting has reminded me somewhat of Prior at his best, but with a much wider range of strokes. I'd like him to keep ahead of Bairstow as a) he's better and b), as Nasser I think pointed out during the last Test, we review so much better with him there.

[ItalAussie]

If Karun Nair never makes it back into the Indian test side, is he going to end with the stupidest test stat line of all time?

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'm pretty sure for his last few Tests, Australia were only picking Adam Voges to distance his average from Bradman's by the required amount.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Every time they show Ed Smith in the stands, it PROPERLY winds me up. I'm not sure if it's the attempted minor royalty vibes, the expensive suit, the awful bins, or all of the above and more.

[Luke Emia]

Cook should retire more often. Best he's played in months.

[Max Power]

Great moment. Delighted for him. Still not sure he won’t be tempted back at some point when we’ve burned through 12 more openers and he’s racking them up at Essex.

[Ian]

Sounds like it's been a wonderful day. Might actually watch all the highlights.

[Ian]

That Rashid delivery was filthy.

[Danny]

https://streamable.com/2jue5

[Jimmy Floyd]

Haven't seen that sort of dirty business since Warne in 2005.

[Jimmy Floyd]

4-1 is an absolute liberty from that series. 2-2 might have been fair. India shat the bed at the key moments, though, and Curran is a god.

[Max Power]

Really lovely match for a dead rubber and a cracking series. Maybe a toss or two going another way and of course the lower middle order bailing us out a couple of times made the difference.

[Jimmy Floyd]

And I am now absolutely bang up for Rangy Herath, who is FORTY YEARS OLD, destroying us in Sri Lanka.

There's aim number one ticked off for Jimmy, officially better than Glenn McGrath. 600 should be a doddle from here, it's how far he goes after that that will determine his true trolling potential.

[Max Power]

The roly poly bank clerk will be ending some careers thats for sure. Jennings for sure and my call is that Bairstow will not be involved in the Test side next summer. Buttler will have the gloves and Pope/A.N.Other will be in the middle order. Unfortunately I think his technique is all over the place atm and just screams failure in Sri Lanka.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Think they shat on Pope by picking him far too soon and in the wrong position. Wouldn't surprise me if they manage to get Liam Livingstone involved by then.

Buttler avec les gants does make a lot of sense.

[igor_balis]

jennings being retained on the basis that he's "good against spin", aye? with due respect to the county championship piemen, how has he actually proven that? i mean he scored a century on debut in India, but followed that up with two failures and a fifty, it's hardly enough to justify that. i just can't understand the logic. opening the batting in county games with an average of 30 i can't imagine he's even faced that much spin. reminds me of the reason they picked duckett.

[ItalAussie]

Presumably Jennings is also being retained because it's easier to find one new opener than two?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Pretty much. Einstein Ed has been falling over himself to find any excuse to keep picking him.

Of equal concern is Australia picking their team on a newfound '% of times passed 30' stat. Do these people not understand what numbers are or why they exist?

[Ian]

Did I see that Burns' county partner is Stoneman? If so... Given Jennings is rubbish why not just call those two up together? Alright Stoneman wasn't amazing but surely having a pair familiar with each other would help a bit.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Stoneman had a truly horrendous run after being dropped earlier in the summer, to the point where Surrey dropped him for a few games or at least he 'took a break from cricket'. He has come back strongly in the latter part of the season though, culminating in the mighty brown hats WINNING THE CHAMPIONSHIP today :cool:

Last time we won it, Ian Ward scored a thousand, which tells you it's been a while.

[Max Power]

Congrats to those plucky brownhatters eh? How much have you seen of Burns Jim? Whats the honest and true assessment beyond the runs?

Also, great interview with my favourite British sportsman: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/sport/moeen-ali-australia-are-abusive-and-rude-theyre-the-only-side-ive-disliked-wlptsxxvk

Its in the spoiler if you cant get past the paywall



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“It’s all part of the grand plan. I knew I needed a break from Test cricket at the end of the winter. I might have played at Lord’s as a comeback, but the weather cut the game down to four days, and [Chris] Woakes played instead and got a hundred. When I did come back, it could not have gone any better. I believe that God is the best of planners.”

Sitting in the late summer sunshine at the Kia Oval, four days after his man-of-the-match performance on his return to the side that helped to complete a series win at the Ageas Bowl against the world’s No 1 ranked side, Moeen Ali is reflecting on faith, family and cricket. In that order. For Ali, cricket is just a part of the whole — an important part, for sure, but only one part, an attitude not unconnected with his success.

It is the day before the fifth and final Test and everyone is flapping around. Just after we sit down, the media manager hollers at him to attend a short team meeting; representatives from the Professional Cricketers’ Association are badgering him for an interview to reflect on his player of the month award. I am pressing him with questions. Amid it all, Ali could not be calmer, his quiet but firm voice an antidote to the chaos of a pre-match day.

Faith is the most important thing in his life, although this was not always the case. Growing up in inner-city Birmingham on an estate in Sparkhill, Ali was a typical teenager and reckons life could have taken a very different path were it not for family, cricket, and then religion.

His father, Munir, was born to a mixed-race family — English mother, Pakistani father — and had a challenging childhood flitting between England and Pakistan, living with extended family and in financially straitened circumstances. As a father himself, Munir was determined to give his children the best start, sacrificing his career as a nurse to create time to allow him to help the cricketing ambitions of his sons, Kadeer, who played for Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, Moeen and Omar. He became a door-to-door chicken salesman.

Ali’s serious conversion to Islam was linked to the cricket, coming as it did after meeting a man called Ray Walee at the end of a game for Warwickshire against West Indies A at Edgbaston in August 2006. Role models were important, too, such as Hashim Amla, the great South Africa batsman who has broken more than one taboo during his career as an international sportsman.

“Muslim cricketers deep down want to have religion in their life,” he says. “I was a bit reluctant until I saw Hash. I was a bit hesitant. I would have got there in the end but Hash made it much easier for me. I thought, ‘If he can do it, why not me?’ ”

Not that Ali need have worried, given how understanding the England team, and cricket in general, has been of the importance of his faith to him. He remembers Graeme Hick clearing space in the Worcestershire changing room so that he could pray, which he must do five times a day in his home city and three times a day when beyond it. Noticeably, the England team make sure winning photographs are taken before the champagne is sprayed, so that Ali and Adil Rashid are not compromised by their refusal to engage with alcohol.

Ali says religion has been ‘pivotal’ to his success as a cricketer
Ali says religion has been ‘pivotal’ to his success as a cricketer
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER MARC ASPLAND
Ali believes in decree and predestination, and it interests me how that belief fits with a sporting life that can turn on luck, whim and chance. Jonathan Edwards, the former triple jumper, once admitted how he used religion as a crutch to help performance when he said: “My faith was pivotal to my success. Believing in something beyond the self can have a hugely beneficial psychological impact, even if belief is fallacious. It provided a profound sense of reassurance because I took the view that the outcome was in God’s hands and God was on my side.”

These were the views of a sportsman rather than a religious man, and Edwards re-evaluated his beliefs when he quit sport, something that is unlikely with Ali. But how does he square his belief in predestination with a need to become the best player he can be? If all is decided in advance, why bother to train and prepare? If a coach demands change how does Ali square deference to what a coach wants to what a higher authority has determined?

“These are tough questions,” Ali says. “It is easy to think that if you are successful, then God is on your side. I try to not to think about it that way. For me, the religious side of things has nothing to do with how many runs or wickets I get. That’s not the goal.

“Religion is more important than sport to me. I work hard at my game like everyone else. Yes, you have faith in something or someone but it doesn’t mean that if you are playing poorly he doesn’t like you. You have to be very careful with that.

“I do believe in decree and predestination, but I get very disappointed like everyone else if things go badly. You know you’ve played a poor shot like everyone else, but it makes it easier to get over things and move on. My belief helps me deal with the stress and pressure. The only time I’ve ever struggled to deal with it was against Australia in the Ashes this winter.”

Ali celebrates the wicket of Ravichandran Ashwin during his man of the match display at the Ageas BowlAli celebrates the wicket of Ravichandran Ashwin during his man of the match display at the Ageas Bowl
STU FORSTER/GETTY IMAGES
Although his faith seems to insulate him from some of the pressures experienced by others, clearly he is not completely immune, as his reaction to his struggles in the winter suggests. Short of runs and wickets, he was finally left out of the last Test of the winter in Christchurch. Although it was the first time that he had been dropped from the team, he admitted that being left out came as a relief.

“I found it very difficult in Australia to switch off,” he says. “It was my first Ashes tour and I was desperate to do well and was really looking forward to it. I worked so hard on the short ball before the series began, maybe too hard. Then [Nathan] Lyon kept getting me out. I found that very hard to deal with. I never thought that I was a poor player of spin but I really struggled against him. I wasn’t getting any wickets either. Things just got tougher and tougher.

“After the third Test I’d almost had enough. You never want to get dropped but I was at that point. I probably shouldn’t have played the second Test with my finger injured; then someone got injured and I had to play the fourth Test; then I played the fifth. After that I just needed a break; needed to get away from the game.”

Ali is very critical of the Australia team, and his lack of respect for them lingers still. “Everyone you speak to . . . they are the only team I’ve played against my whole life that I’ve actually disliked. Not because it’s Australia and they are the old enemy but because of the way they carry on and [their] disrespect of people and players.”

As for the events in Cape Town that led to Steve Smith, the Test captain, being banned for 12 months, along with David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, who got nine months, Ali insists it was always coming. “I’m someone who generally feels sorry for people when things go wrong but it’s difficult to feel sorry for them. This ODI series they were very good actually; they’d been . . . ” Humbled? “Yeah, humbled.

“The first game I ever played against them, in Sydney, just before the 2015 World Cup, they were not just going hard at you, they were almost abusing you. That was the first time it hit me. I gave them the benefit of the doubt but the more I played against them they were just as bad, the Ashes here [in 2015] they were worse actually. Not intimidating, just rude. Individually they are fine and the Aussies we’ve had at Worcester have been fantastic, lovely guys.”

When Cookie told us he was finishing nobody knew what to say so I just told him he’s put a real dampener on things
Ali was brought back into the team for the fourth Test of the India series, but the way his roles have changed reflects on how uncertain England have been as to how best to deploy him. He batted at No 7 in the first innings, No 3 in the second (a position he held on to at the Oval) and, ostensibly there as second spinner, he bowled far more overs and outperformed Rashid. Having batted in every position from one to nine, he has been England’s utility man selflessly offering himself for whatever role is needed.

“The match at the Ageas Bowl felt like my debut again,” he says. “I was really excited. It was funny, I knew I needed a break from Test cricket but I found it hard to watch when I was out of the team, missed it more than I imagined.

“As soon as I started bowling I knew it was coming out well. I’d been bowling well for the club, been working with Saqqui [Saqlain Mushtaq, the part-time England spin coach]. He’s really good. Basically I don’t think we bowl enough as spinners in England and he’s always on at me to do more. I’d bowled 16 overs and didn’t have a wicket but almost for the first time as a spinner I wasn’t worried. I knew the wickets would come if I stayed patient.”

“We talked about batting at No 3 the night before. I just see it as a huge opportunity. Two years ago I went to Trevor [Bayliss] after I batted at No 5 against India and I said to him that’s where I want to be. But I ended up at No 4 when someone got dropped then immediately back down to No 7 or No 8 in the English summer. I want to get up the order somehow, so why not?”

Ali better at No 3 in the fifth Test against India and said he saw the promotion as a ‘huge opportunity’
Ali better at No 3 in the fifth Test against India and said he saw the promotion as a ‘huge opportunity’
PAUL CHILDS/REUTERS
It was at the Ageas Bowl that Ali, twinkle in his eye, cut short the maudlin silence after Alastair Cook announced his retirement aafter the game.

“Cookie had had a few beers and then got a bit emotional when he told us he was finishing,” he says. “There was one of those silences and nobody quite knew what to say so I just told him he’s put a real dampener on things, and everyone fell about laughing.

“Cook has been a great man in this team. I feel like he has always backed me, even when things weren’t going well. I know I’ve let him down with the ball and the bat from time to time but he never stopped backing me. He made me feel like I was integral to the team.

“I was so happy that things went well having got back into the side. I got a fantastic ovation from the crowd, and they were brilliant with me on the boundary edge. I really missed that buzz, which you don’t get in county cricket. I felt very proud to be doing it for my country again.”

[Jimmy Floyd]

I've seen more of Burns probably than every major commentator and pundit combined, especially Simon Hughes. The reason they haven't picked him until now is a) Cook has been there, and they've only ever wanted one natural stodger (even with Hameed they tried Duckett first) and b) Burns has a funny trigger movement, a monster backlift and tends to plant the front dog in front of all three, so the theory probably goes that in TEST MATCH CRICKET, at THE HIGHEST LEVEL someone like Mitchell Starc could exocet them in at 94mph and get him lbw. I shouldn't think he has much to fear from Lahiru Gamage, mind.

There's no way that you can ignore someone scoring that number of runs, though, and he seems to become more consistent every year.

The only other Burns fact worth knowing is that his dad once called me a cheat (I was an umpire on the day in question), and I told him to fuck off.

[Max Power]

Getting out to 95mph Starc yorkers doesnt seem the worst weakness all things considered

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'm with you on Moeen as well, absolute legend. I am deeply in love with various member of this team for different reasons, he is one of them.

[Max Power]

As I said the other day, such an odd team I really don't what to make of them. Loads of great guys, loads of talented players, it just doesnt fully work at the moment or does it?

I think I like this mental bunch of collapsing all rounders managed by an Australian sunhat and selected by the most jazziest of jazzers more than the unbelievably successful Strauss/Flower bunch. Not sure though. Maybe I'm not appreciating those days as much as i should.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I used to hate that team as well. There was no joy in it, there is joy in this lot.

Cook (RIP) - legend and winds people up
xxxx - gap in the market here for a hard-drinking, Sehwag-style madcap opener
Moeen Ali - hero and legend
Root - quality player, preferred him in the ranks though
Bairstow - total weirdo in a nice way
Stokes - obligatory thuggish all-rounder
Buttler - freak show talent with a funny voice that doesn't suit him
Curran - my favourite nephew
Woakes - I'm reliably informed, by someone who spends time around the England team, that he is the nicest man ever to be born
Broad - all time great wind up merchant
Anderson - another all time great wind up merchant, but specialises in reeling in seething Australians

[Max Power]

They were just so cold and dull as well. This mob are hot headed Mavericks - I love it.

[Ian]

I recorded that Inside Track: 2005 Ashes thing Sky had on and am watching it 5-10 minutes at a time before work. I'm not sure how old the programme is but the ones they've had as talking heads so far all comes across as a bit earnest and bereft of personality.

I'd also forgotten just how much the first test followed a proper England template.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I hate the 2005 team in retrospect, and everything about them. Vaughan and Flintoff now just career around being colossal wankers.

That series also led to terrible cultural damage such as the punditry career of Simon Hughes, the ruining of Jerusalem, Billy the fucking Trumpeter, the list goes on. Awful.

[Ian]

The trumpeter is one of the talking heads on this.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Just been at Finals Day, it was basically like an eleven hour Moeen Ali tribute concert.

Turns out he is also a brilliant captain.

[ItalAussie]

Pretty much. Einstein Ed has been falling over himself to find any excuse to keep picking him.

Of equal concern is Australia picking their team on a newfound '% of times passed 30' stat. Do these people not understand what numbers are or why they exist?

The only thing worse than the Australian players right now are the Australian selectors. We could basically pick and XI off the street and it wouldn't be appreciably worse.

Glenn Maxwell should tell them to stick it, too.

[niko_cee]

That Pat Brown kid returned some impressive bowling figures in both the semi and the final, although I find it very hard to judge T20 bowling. Is he genuinely any good, or are too many modern players unable to adjust (quickly enough) to someone rolling down 67mph pies? I suppose it's not as if he was a completely unknown quantity coming into the finals. If Ian Austin had had quicker ball . . .

[Jimmy Floyd]

He was incredible. He is by nature a mid 80s quick, but was spitting out these late dipping knuckle balls like a veteran and no one in either Lancs or Sussex had any answer whatsoever. Rarely seen anything so impressive under pressure.

[Jimmy Floyd]

https://amp.theguardian.com/sport/2018/sep/16/moeen-ali-england-ashes-australia?CMP=share_btn_tw&__twitter_impression=true

The fact that people are doubting Moeen's account of this tells you that they just pay no attention to what goes on around them. Moeen doesn't make shit up.

[Ian]

"It's not right in any way that that is said on the cricket field," Root told BBC Look North.

"Most importantly, Moeen's OK and has found a way to carry on playing"

Yeah alright, Joe, he didn't lose a finger or anything.

[Jimmy Floyd]

My Ed Smith bullshit radar has just detected a Jason Roy Test squad inclusion. Stay tuned.

[Danny]

I saw that on cricinfo. If we don’t pick Burns :face:

[Jimmy Floyd]

Fortunately they decided against it. They have however selected Joe Denly. I've been scratching my head for some weeks trying to work out the reason why his form as a T20 leg spinner has catapulted him into the frame for selection as a Test opening bat (long term championship form ok to modest), and having had the true reason pointed out to me by the Evening Standard I can't believe I've been so dense.


Denly’s legspin provides a handy option, he plays spin and seam adeptly and he has shown fine temperament in high-pressure T20 leagues. Smith played with him and, a decade on, clearly feels the slow road to success has suited him.

[ItalAussie]

M. Marsh as the Australian test vice captain. Along with Hazelwood, who is presumably in the role to prevent Marsh being undroppable when his form inevitably drops.

[Danny]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhDqij-WnDQ

Tresco :cool:

[Jimmy Floyd]

M. Marsh as the Australian test vice captain. Along with Hazelwood, who is presumably in the role to prevent Marsh being undroppable when his form inevitably drops.

Did you see that stuff about CA saying Mitchell Marsh was a good fit due to his 'lineage'? Such a bizarre comment.

[Ian]

Bit ECB-ish.

[Ian]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/45734441

Good? Bad? Irrelevant?

[Jimmy Floyd]

He's a decent man and I slightly fear they will put some total idiot there in his place, but I think we need a, how can I put this, less posh director.

[Ian]

Who would you be going for?

[Luke Emia]

Nasser. That's all.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'd give Nasser the keys overnight, but assuming he doesn't want it, and notwithstanding my status as a Surrey fan, I would give it to Alec Stewart, who in the same role at Surrey has been nothing short of magnificent.

[Danny]

They are just going to give it to Flower full time.

[niko_cee]

I know we have been here before, but is this the worst Australian test team ever? On paper it looks dire.

And who the hell is Papa Shango?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Having been 142/0 that's up there with some of our efforts against Ajmal in 11/12.

Mohammad Abbas is the best bowler in the world and right under the radar with it.

[Max Power]

His presence made Leicestershire seem a competent four day side so he must be fucking close.

[Ian]

I know we have been here before, but is this the worst Australian test team ever? On paper it looks dire.

And who the hell is Papa Shango?

As in the wrestler??

[niko_cee]

Labuschagne.

[Ian]

I are confuse.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I have no idea how they're pronouncing it, Australians are capable of anything in that department. 'Marnus Labbah-Shane' has a nice ring to it but no doubt that's not how they say it.

[ItalAussie]

This is the worst Australian team I've ever seen, no question. It's hard to be too cut up about it, but in the past we've been carried by Smith, Starc, and Hazlewood. Warner and Lyon on their best days.

Everyone else is basically occupying a space. Finch is alright I guess.

[ItalAussie]

To be fair, that was a hell of an innings from Khawaja.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I love a great redemptive knock, and that was one.

[Max Power]

Finch-Khawaja a decent opening pairing. Hopefully means no international return ever for that vile cunt Warner.

[Queenslander]

I would put money on him getting into a pub fight here during his suspension.