Cricket 2024

[whiteswan]

Third and final ODI against South Africa tomorrow. England 2 - 0 down, let's hope they can avoid a whitewash.

Lots more cricket to come including 2 Tests v New Zealand (16 Feb), ODI x3 and T20 x3 v Bangladesh (1 March), test v Ireland (1 - 5 June) followed by The Biggie.....The Ashes begin 16 June

[Byebyegeegee]

Third and final ODI against South Africa tomorrow. England 2 - 0 down, let's hope they can avoid a whitewash.

Lots more cricket to come including 2 Tests v New Zealand (16 Feb), ODI x3 and T20 x3 v Bangladesh (1 March), test v Ireland (1 - 5 June) followed by The Biggie.....The Ashes begin 16 June

Not done too badly against South Africa in my opinion. Ok we’re 2-0 down but they’ve both been closeish games. Harry’s had a duck and a good score so far, hope he gets another good score in the 3rd.

Can't wait for the Ashes this Summer.

[andrewjohnsmith]

Third and final ODI against South Africa tomorrow. England 2 - 0 down, let's hope they can avoid a whitewash.

Lots more cricket to come including 2 Tests v New Zealand (16 Feb), ODI x3 and T20 x3 v Bangladesh (1 March), test v Ireland (1 - 5 June) followed by The Biggie.....The Ashes begin 16 June

It's been rough for Buttler since he took over. Wonder if we're looking at alternative options. Don't see Moeen being any better either. I'm sure they'll stick with Jos. But would love to see Stokes running the 50 over team too.

[wilsdenwhite]

Busy as hell today and forgot the 1st NZ test started. Good start. Declaring after 58 overs on day 1 But it obviously made sense.

[wilsdenwhite]

Third and final ODI against South Africa tomorrow. England 2 - 0 down, let's hope they can avoid a whitewash.

Lots more cricket to come including 2 Tests v New Zealand (16 Feb), ODI x3 and T20 x3 v Bangladesh (1 March), test v Ireland (1 - 5 June) followed by The Biggie.....The Ashes begin 16 June

Very happy the Ashes is starting much earlier in the summer this time

[whiteswan]

Busy as hell today and forgot the 1st NZ test started. Good start. Declaring after 58 overs on day 1 But it obviously made sense.

Watched an hour in the early hours, then watched the highlights this aft. Some good cricket from us but Joe got done trying to be a bit too clever.....enjoyed our lad Harry Brookes who just missed our on a hundred, unlucky Harry lad.
Good start from our bowlers.....30 mins to go before day two

[andrewjohnsmith]

Harry Brook is bloody brilliant. The new KP. And he's ours. Root -Brook-Bairstow. White Rose proud (if we're still allowed to say that)

[The Subhuman]

2 days down and well into innings three ... test cricket ala 20/20

[Kennyb41]

Absolutely delightful to watch us just play and enjoy it, have confidence in your own ability and play with no fear of losing.

Pity all the boring b@stards still want GS in charge of the footy.

Go Brendan and go that English girls footy coach, shame they're not English and it takes foreigners to show us what we're capable of.

[weasel]

Absolutely delightful to watch us just play and enjoy it, have confidence in your own ability and play with no fear of losing.

Pity all the boring b@stards still want GS in charge of the footy.

Go Brendan and go that English girls footy coach, shame they're not English and it takes foreigners to show us what we're capable of.

It's interesting to still hear commentators going on about us getting out to reckless shots. They are fine with us scoring lots of run with reckless shots but then lay into the 'tactics' when someone is out to a reckless shot - it is like they can't fathom the reason we are 300-5 instead of 78-4 is because we play 'reckless' shots. Like McCullum says 'every innings you are going to get out so make the runs when you can. Why scratch around for 2 hours and make 7 and then get out to a good delivery when you could have made 50 and then got out to that delivery? Also if you are hitting the ball well itimproves your timing etc so you are probably more likely not to get out to that good delivery, it also demoralises the bowler if you are smashing him around, look at the New Zealand fella today went for 10 an over despite picking up 2 wickets.

We also show that we can play the situation, like today when Leach played a more defensive way to eat up time so that we didn't have to bowl too early as we wanted the floodlights to be on before we started bowling.

Such a shame some of our great talents from the past that never quite adapted to test cricket couldn't play in a side like this where I think they would have flourished. Players like Graeme Hick and Mark Ramprakash who would play their natrual game for their countries but then get bogged down for England because they knew if they got out to a reckless shot they would likely get dropped.

[Irish Ian]

I personally hate Baz ball.

But then again the days of me sitting up late
or getting up early for the test matches are long behind me.

Amazing that Broad and Jimmy are still going at their age.

[Kennyb41]

Yep Weasel, there'll always be boring fckers in this world, you see them sat in a corner in a pub sulking coz someone's enjoying themselves and they don't know how to.

Like a Leeds defence English cricketers can't defend to save their lives and are better with being allowed the freedom to play to what they themselves consider 'the best of their ability.

Bowlers : Hey batters get out there and get us any sort of total and we'll try our damnedest to get the fckers out for you, coz we can't rely on you to get any sort of chasing total......

'Oh! hold on a minute, you've changed your mindset and attacking positive mental attitude thinking and you can'

Fortune favours the brave pal.

[The Subhuman]

This is a great inning from Brook, 246 run partnership here off 309 balls on a GREEN TOP!! Brook 163, Root, playing the perfect foil, 75.

On a wicket the experts and locals were saying is a 250 wicket England are 273-3 after being put in and being 21-3

[The Subhuman]

Root's 100 up

315-3

[The Subhuman]

and it's raining

[Kennyb41]

I mean - Look at this young talent we've got and some old stupid prick like Boycott would be moaning " but it just ain't test match Cricket"

Stupid bastards - set them free ffs.

You listening Southgate ya prick, we'd love the team more if they went down fighting ffs !""£"!"£!!$%^***

Brilliant Brook flirting with all-time greats
For as brilliant as Brook has been at the start of his Test career - this was his seventh score in excess of 50 - this was his best effort, not only for it being his highest score, but because of the conditions, match situation and his utter dominance of the home attack.

Though Brook has beaten the previous best after nine innings - 798 runs by India's Vinod Kambli - he has a shot at an even more historic record: the fastest time to reach 1,000 runs is 12 innings, jointly held by England's Herbert Sutcliffe and West Indian Everton Weekes, two all-time greats.

He moved up and down the gears. Nineteen from his first 11 balls, slowing to 63 from 81. At that point he hit successive sixes of Daryl Mitchell, whose fill-in medium pace was singled out for the harshest treatment.

Brook scored all around the wicket. When New Zealand were full, he played sumptuous drives. When Neil Wagner tried to bounce him, Brook cleared the front leg and thwacked the ball away, baseball-style.

He reached three figures from 107 balls, his slowest hundred in Test cricket, by cutting the off-spin of Bracewell. In doing so, he equalled Sutcliffe in reaching a fourth Test hundred in his ninth innings, an England record.

Brook then went from 100 to 150 in 38 balls and was flying towards what would have been England's second-fastest Test double-century when the rain arrived, walking off with a Test average that had just gone into three figures at a strike rate of 99.

[andrewjohnsmith]

Root's 100 up

315-3

I love this Bazball - Stokesball. It's brilliant. Test cricket is dying. I love test cricket, Been watching for over 40 years. It's the pinnacle of the game. But there's no point if noone watches it.

Was in an argument on facebook recently. The Windies were playing someone s**t (Bangladesh maybe?) They were limping along first innings at 2 an over with no wickets down. I said it was a bad show for test cricket. I got accused of being T20 man. I'm not. Actually detest that stupid entity. But I think something needs to be shaken up in test cricket to keep it relevant. I love test cricket. It needs to survive. But it won't if nobody watches it. If players (Quinton DeCock) abandon it for $$$. At least Stokes is taking the initiative and making test cricket exciting again.

And I absolutely love watching the Yorkshire boys. Brooks, Root, Bairstow.

[The Subhuman]

One wonders where Bairstow fits back in ...4/5/6 and 7 are, rightfully, assigned with Root - Brooks - Stokes - Foakes atm... Not sure Bairstow is a top 3 batsman

[andrewjohnsmith]

One wonders where Bairstow fits back in ...4/5/6 and 7 are, rightfully, assigned with Root - Brooks - Stokes - Foakes atm... Not sure Bairstow is a top 3 batsman

He fits in for sure. Number of options. And it's hard to predict in this system what they will go for.

Foakes has done well - brilliant keeper and good anchor man down the order. But They could bring Jonny back to keep wicket. But batting at 7? I doubt it. Stokes won't bat at 7 either.

Probably opening or number 3. It's not his strong suit. He's never done well at 3. But Bazball is different. I'd bet on him replacing Crawley and opening. Jonny's not a test opener. But this is not your typical test team either.

On that last point, I was even thinking about Jason Roy. He was unfaily put at the top order in the 2019 Ashes. It was based on all the hype after the world cup. And he failed miserably. I think Roy could be a test opener under this system. And so could Bairstow.

[andrewjohnsmith]

Watching Day 1 on rerun right now. Had to work last night, but was constantly refreshing the scorecard.

Brilliant stuff. Brooks is just sensational. I used to be a regular at Yorkshire matches. Disappointed I haven't got to watch this lad play more often. New Kevin Pietersen? He might be better. Hard to compare in a different era.

Can't underestimate Joe Root's innings either. Batting at 21-3 on what looked like a dynamite of a wicket. Batting 2 feet outside his crease, walking forward to the quicks. Even though Brooks is making the highlight shots, I think he's learning a lot from the master at the other end too.