Cricket 2023/2024

[andrewjohnsmith]

Oh there's no doubt we've been terrible with the bat, Bazball or no Bazball.

Most should be thoroughly pissed off with their form.

Foakes will probably lose his place now to 'accomodate' another batter like Lawrence

Harry Brook to come back. Probably puts Bairstow behind the stumps again. I think that is England's preference. And Foakes was picked for India. You need your best keeper in India with all the spin. But it will back to a keeper/batsman in summer I think.

[Kennyb41]

Yeah, i forgot about Brooks, who i'd like to have seen.

[weasel]

To me this is nothing to do with Bazball, which ever way we could've played we would've been beaten by a good Indian side away.

They have proved they are simply better than us.

If we played tippy tappy shyte they'd skittle us.

If we play Bazball, we'd probably have more runs but still got skittled

Indeed. For me I feel we have had a few players that have been trying to play in a way they can't. Duckett a prime example went from blasting a century to trying to occupy the crease scoring at 3 an over. So he has been getting low scores but taking longer to do it. He is far better going after every ball, probably last the same amount of time, on average, but score double. The fact Crawley is our only batsman to average over 40 for this series says it all and he is the one who has remained consistent throughout the tour, going after the ball and getting runs and getting out. He hasn't made a century but yet is our leading batsman.

I expected us to get pummelled by the Indian batsman due to our poor bowling attack but I expected our batsmen to do better. The big disappointment for me has been Bairstow. I would be interested to know his test average if you take away his purple patch (think he scored 6 centuries in 12 matches but has only managed 6 in his other 88 matches). For me he simply doesn't get enough runs as a standalone batsman and probably doesn't even get as much to justify him being a keeper/batsman especially when you then add in what we lose by not having Foakes as keeper. For me he would be the one to drop out with Brooks coming back in and Foakes keeping the gloves - his average as a keeper is fine and he has scored runs in tough situations.

The rest of the batsmen I'd stick with. Sure none have done well but they are capable fof better. Let them play their way, accept that they won't occupy the crease for more than 20 overs very often but know that they will still score quickly and have decent enough averages. They will also take the shine off the ball by hitting it hard. Pope will be fine, Brooks too and Root. Stokes is Stokes and will go from sh*te to brilliant at the flip of a switch.

[andrewjohnsmith]

Indeed. For me I feel we have had a few players that have been trying to play in a way they can't. Duckett a prime example went from blasting a century to trying to occupy the crease scoring at 3 an over. So he has been getting low scores but taking longer to do it. He is far better going after every ball, probably last the same amount of time, on average, but score double. The fact Crawley is our only batsman to average over 40 for this series says it all and he is the one who has remained consistent throughout the tour, going after the ball and getting runs and getting out. He hasn't made a century but yet is our leading batsman.

I expected us to get pummelled by the Indian batsman due to our poor bowling attack but I expected our batsmen to do better. The big disappointment for me has been Bairstow. I would be interested to know his test average if you take away his purple patch (think he scored 6 centuries in 12 matches but has only managed 6 in his other 88 matches). For me he simply doesn't get enough runs as a standalone batsman and probably doesn't even get as much to justify him being a keeper/batsman especially when you then add in what we lose by not having Foakes as keeper. For me he would be the one to drop out with Brooks coming back in and Foakes keeping the gloves - his average as a keeper is fine and he has scored runs in tough situations.

The rest of the batsmen I'd stick with. Sure none have done well but they are capable fof better. Let them play their way, accept that they won't occupy the crease for more than 20 overs very often but know that they will still score quickly and have decent enough averages. They will also take the shine off the ball by hitting it hard. Pope will be fine, Brooks too and Root. Stokes is Stokes and will go from sh*te to brilliant at the flip of a switch.

My point about it was that I support Bazball in essence. But it has to revolve around a player playing his normal game. I think Crawley and Duckett have done exactly as expected. Crawley, for me, is allowed to attack. But he's improving too. He's becoming more like a Michael Slater for Australia. Duckett is kind of a pinch hitter for Test cricket. That's why he was picked and that's how he should play. Root and Pope are the two big disappointments. Root showed his proper game last test when he got the 100. But both he and Pope have got out to silly shots. Both are world class. Neither one should ever give away their wicket cheaply. Bairstow plays the way he's supposed to. You reign him in, he won't score runs. He's just been an enigma, because he's looked good a few times in this series and never got out of the 30's. Stokes is much more measured than people realize. He just hasn't been in form. And Foakes has pretty much batted to his limited ability.

[Kennyb41]

That's exactly what i'd do with Bairstow to buck him up and fight for his place.

replace him with Brooks and keep Foakes

[The Subhuman]

Bazball has too many weaknesses to survive long. It's test cricket not 3 day 20/20 cricket. You have to have innings builders as step an bash it has a low success rate

And you can absolutely play yourself in, my dad was a first class opening bat who always taught me to play myself in for 20 overs or so so that it's like you're seeing a football... He wasn't wrong.

[Lorimer46]

Despite Jimmy's amazing achievement, it looks like another hefty defeat is on the cards here

[White Riot]

Folded like a pack of cards again

Bazball my arse

Everyone's favourite team to play against, reminds me of something

[wilsdenwhite]

Bazball has too many weaknesses to survive long. It's test cricket not 3 day 20/20 cricket. You have to have innings builders as step an bash it has a low success rate

And you can absolutely play yourself in, my dad was a first class opening bat who always taught me to play myself in for 20 overs or so so that it's like you're seeing a football... He wasn't wrong.

Exactly that. I like Bazball but it has its limits. It is exciting and fun to watch when it works. For all the talk of it revolutionizing test cricket when we went on that run of wins, in truth it has revolutionized nothing. It changed how England go about test matches that's all, and that was much needed after the dreadful mess we found ourselves in a few years ago. I doubt many if any teams will walk away from England any time soon with a series win under their belts and Bazball will have success against the minor test teams on the road. I accept how we play now but by accepting it I also have to accept England will never walk away from places like India and Australia as victors.

England rarely have success on the road against the best teams, bazball or not. To achieve that success patience at times and more importantly, adaptation are required. I don't think the current England team have the desired qualities in either respect and are still a million miles away from major success against the best teams in their own backyards. It will be interesting to see what changes, if any are made to address this.

[White Riot]

Ánd there you go, another innings defeat.

Nice three day training session for India to improve their averages as they notch up an easy series win.

Shame Joe couldn't get his century, but that would be a hollow trophy.

We competed well in the first test, but after that India have just had fun with us.

[PhoenixUnited]

Ánd there you go, another innings defeat.

Nice three day training session for India to improve their averages as they notch up an easy series win.

Shame Joe couldn't get his century, but that would be a hollow trophy.

We competed well in the first test, but after that India have just had fun with us.

Credit where credit is due. India simply bested England in this Test series.

There have been some very big players missing matches or unavailable for India in this series - in Kohli, Shami, KL Rahul, Pant, Jadeja - but there is so much depth in the talent available that those coming in seemed to have slotted in seamlessly. Quality replacements throughout.

Playing against India in India is always a tough ask especially in the past when the pitches favoured the home team. The playing surfaces now are top class as are the wonderful stadiums. Visiting teams have to be at the very top of their game to stand any chance and I'm afraid England were not up to the task but 2 spinners have emerged showing huge potential.

[White Riot]

Credit where credit is due. India simply bested England in this Test series.

There have been some very big players missing matches or unavailable for India in this series - in Kohli, Shami, KL Rahul, Pant, Jadeja - but there is so much depth in the talent available that those coming in seemed to have slotted in seamlessly. Quality replacements throughout.

Playing against India in India is always a tough ask especially in the past when the pitches favoured the home team. The playing surfaces now are top class as are the wonderful stadiums. Visiting teams have to be at the very top of their game to stand any chance and I'm afraid England were not up to the task but 2 spinners have emerged showing huge potential.

[weasel]

Crawley out for 0 from 16 balls faced. That shows how frazzled the minds of these players are. They are listening to all the external noise and it is messing them up. Crawely trying to occupy the crease bat for time etc - it isn't his game and as shown he then gets out. If he went out and bashes the ball around, playing his normal way, then he 'gets in' quickly and is seeing the ball well and likely doesn't get out to that ball and simply times a shot away.
Root top scores playing his way. Bairstow the only other batsman to get a decent score and he did it playing his way with 39 runs from 31 balls. Like I said earlier a lot of these batsmen aren't capable of surving a huge amount of balls so should get their runs the best way they can, playing their way. Bairstow faced less than twice the balls that Crawely faced but got a decent score. You can tell when Crawley's mind is frazzled because his concentration goes and he drops catches.

Playing their way is the only way for this team. Yes a few will get out for low scores but all it takes is for 1 or 2 batsmen to really get in and score a big hundred, we saw that with Pope's score and how it turned the game. The trouble is that we have only had 3 centuries in the 5 matches.

[ShaunL]

Not many test matches getting to the 5th day lately.
Maybe it’s time to go to 4 day test matches.
How about 30 minutes for lunch,15 for tea,no drink breaks & permanent markings on the crease for the stumps.
Once the ball has been fielded return it straight to the bowler if no run being taken.
When a wicket falls drinks can be brought out to the fielding side and the other batsmen.
Play 2 and a hour hour sessions instead of 2.
This would mean more value for money for the spectators.

[weasel]

Not many test matches getting to the 5th day lately.
Maybe it’s time to go to 4 day test matches.
How about 30 minutes for lunch,15 for tea,no drink breaks & permanent markings on the crease for the stumps.
Once the ball has been fielded return it straight to the bowler if no run being taken.
When a wicket falls drinks can be brought out to the fielding side and the other batsmen.
Play 2 and a hour hour sessions instead of 2.
This would mean more value for money for the spectators.

Yeah would advocate 4 days of 100 overs and like you say they need to speed it up. If a bowling side fails to reach the required overs then fine them runs per over short. Would still have it as 5 days with the proviso that they only use the 5th day if more than 50 overs have been lost to weather or bad light.

[weasel]

Brendan McCullum:

"If anything we got more timid as the series went on and that was because of the pressure that was applied to us by the Indian line-up."

It would appear the England coach agrees with what I said. We went away from Bazball and unsurprisingly then ended up like most England cricket teams in recent years getting low scores and getting thrashed.

All the commentators and experts etc saying Bazball lost and that this is the end of Bazball continue to show they just don't get it. We wernt away from Bazball and got thrashed. First test Pope goes on a rampage, proper 'Bazball' assault and we win. Seond test Duckett goes on the rampage and we are in prime position to win, then it seemed a switch was flicked and we stopped 'Bazballing' and meakly surrendered and then carrie don the same way for the rest of the series. Only one who seemed to stay commtted to playing the 'Bazball' way were Crawley and Bairstow. Crawley the leading run scorer for England but then decides to try to bat 'properly' in the 2nd innings of the last test. 16 balls, and out for a duck. Bairstow out after not facing many balls, 31 but at least he made a reasonable score, 39.

This team needs to 'Bazball.' Probably the only one who doesn't is Joe Root. No surprise that as we moved away from 'Bazball' Root prospered whilst the rest of the team regressed.

Full article https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/68528077

[The Subhuman]

Getting more timid has nothing to do with bazball,.. You can play yourself in with confidence, you can build an innings slowly with confidence ..

[weasel]

Getting more timid has nothing to do with bazball,.. You can play yourself in with confidence, you can build an innings slowly with confidence ..

You can if you have a solid defensive technique which I think only Root has out of our current starting XI.

[The Subhuman]

You can if you have a solid defensive technique which I think only Root has out of our current starting XI.

Then play test players not 20 over specialists.. Though tbf, we're destroying test players at an alarming rate. James Vince should have been a top test player but was "encouraged" to be a good 50 or 20 over guy and those bad habits showed up in his test game.. Dawid Malan is another, Root could be the next... Duckett isn't' an opener nor even a 3. Should probably play 5

We're basically a test team full of #4/5/6 batsmen, Crawley, Duckett, Pope, Bairstow, Stokes should be playing for two of those positions. Root should ignore bazball and play like Joe Root at 4. We need a pair of openers and a three and if any of the aforementioned can alter their game then fair play ... Bairstow at 7 is acceptable too

We've never been a country able to produce players that are top class at both forms in recent years... not sure why

[1964white]

After first four rounds of matches this season


County Championship Division One Table

County Championship Division Two Table