Baz Windham Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 (edited) Gladstone's fears about Trott and Bell seemed to come true today, they strangled the innings far too much for me. There is re-building and then there is negative batting, 2 or 3 an over should have been 5 or 6 more often than not. Whether you are re-building or not a strike rate of nearly 50 is not good enough. Poor shots from there all the way down really. Â The team looks lacking something with this side and for me it comes back to what I said earlier, the lack of Collingwood/Bopara/D.Hussey who is good for a few overs and also a good genuine all-rounder. In an ideal world I'd have 5 batsman, one of whom can give you a few overs, then Wicket Keeper (Prior should bat here not at the top), then genuine all rounder, not Luke Wright but that same sort of mould. Then finish off with your 4 genuine bowlers most of whom we have can bat at least a bit. Having Bresnan in at 7 and no other real option than to bowl 5 bowlers for 10 overs isn't sitting well at the minute. Â Edit - Yeah as Gladstone says the team seems weird without at least one of Broad, Anderson or Swann. I'd wager it's been a while since that was the case Edited January 21, 2011 by Baz Windham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey Dent Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 What the hell is up with our One day batting? 250 should've been easily gettable and we threw that right away. They all seem to be caught in two minds and end up giving wickets away cheaply, except Anderson and Finn of course who were great fun at the end. With our squad we really ought to be doing quite well in the upcoming World Cup but I just can't see it. Bowling on the other hand is quite good, we've got a lot of injuries there and I'm pleased with the strength in depth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LariatTom Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Not a clue, I saw the Australian score and thought that 250 should be a fairly simple run chase for the English players. Once again though, the top order has let the side down and failed to get early runs on the board. They need to stick with the top XI for the World Cup and we've got a good chance of doing well. At this rate though, I can see a few shock results...the one major plus is that we'll have some fresh bowlers coming back from injury which could be key. Â It's certainly fun living with an Australian now though, cricket banter has stepped up a notch... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey Dent Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Not a clue, I saw the Australian score and thought that 250 should be a fairly simple run chase for the English players. Once again though, the top order has let the side down and failed to get early runs on the board. They need to stick with the top XI for the World Cup and we've got a good chance of doing well. At this rate though, I can see a few shock results...the one major plus is that we'll have some fresh bowlers coming back from injury which could be key. It's certainly fun living with an Australian now though, cricket banter has stepped up a notch...   I just feel the top 6 or so don't seem to have the pacing down. They don't know whether to start smashing it or build an innings. Personally, I'd move Prior down and have Bell open, I think he might be a bit calmed and put together an innings. Prior's a good hitter, but I think he rushes things sometimes and plays some ill advised shots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LariatTom Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Not a clue, I saw the Australian score and thought that 250 should be a fairly simple run chase for the English players. Once again though, the top order has let the side down and failed to get early runs on the board. They need to stick with the top XI for the World Cup and we've got a good chance of doing well. At this rate though, I can see a few shock results...the one major plus is that we'll have some fresh bowlers coming back from injury which could be key. It's certainly fun living with an Australian now though, cricket banter has stepped up a notch...   I just feel the top 6 or so don't seem to have the pacing down. They don't know whether to start smashing it or build an innings. Personally, I'd move Prior down and have Bell open, I think he might be a bit calmed and put together an innings. Prior's a good hitter, but I think he rushes things sometimes and plays some ill advised shots.  I'd definitely support the idea of having Bell move up the order. I'm not sure about him opening but I'd definitely give him another shot at coming at 3. The top order does just seem to come out and either smash it and get out quickly or they try to build, take too long and then are forced to play silly shots later on in the game.  Interesting, Warne and Vaughan are having a bit of discussion on Twitter about the English batting and Warne has suggested the same as you, to move Bell up to open. Maybe that would be the smart thing to do. We've lost the series now so they must consider it to see if it makes a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey Dent Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 (edited) Yeah its worth a go I think. I know Bell hasn't had an awful lot of game time opening but I think now's the time to try. He's got a cool head and he's a classy player. I wouldn't mind him at 3 but I think Trott has to stay there, you can argue with his form. Â Some big decisions have to be made, presumably we'll be playing Swann and Yardy due to the conditions at the World Cup, so someones going to have to miss out. Who do you drop? If you leave out Collingwood and go with 3 seamers and 2 spinners we might be leaving ourselves short. I know Pietersen and Trott can chip in with a couple but Colly has been bowling well this series. Pietersen isn't in the most consistant form, but he's a big game player and I wouldn't want to drop him. Trott and Bell are probably our most in form batters and Morgan has almost single handed re-invigorated the one day set up. I'm glad I don't have to make the call. Â Â Also a little news tidbit here about the next Ashes tour possibly being moved. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12123_6707782,00.html Edited January 30, 2011 by Harvey Dent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey Dent Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Eoin Morgan, along with our World Cup chances, has been ruled out of the ICC World Cup. Balls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergio Bellend Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 Eoin Morgan, along with our World Cup chances, has been ruled out of the ICC World Cup. Balls. Â That's a huge blow. Despite the gash ODI's in Australia, I was still fairly confident of a decent world cup showing. Morgan is such an important player-I don't think a match is ever lost until he is out-that I reckon our slim chances are gone. Â Elsewhere, there was an excellent Storyville documentary on BBC4 the other night about Afghanistan's road to qualifying for this World Cup that started down in Division 5 playing the likes of Singapore, japan and Jersey. Some great fish out of water moments as well. Â Here's the iplayer link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikey Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Thanks for the recommendation, Sergio, I really enjoyed that. I've followed Afghanistan's emergence from afar and they accomplished exactly what the ICC wanted when they created the World Cricket League, emerging from nowhere to sit at the top table in international cricket. Over the past five years, the second tier of cricket has seen some changes at the top end with the emergence of Ireland and Afghanistan. Genuine progress is being made while, at the same time, the ICC took the disappointing decision to exclude non-test nations from the World Cup in 2015. It's stupid and pointless. You create the mechanism for teams to improve and evolve and then you blame them because India were shit in 2007. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Curious Orange Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Just seen that Pietersen opened the innings today against Canada. Interesting call - not sure that'll work too well against the bigger teams as his footwork at the start is a bit ropey at times, plus it seems to negate his skills against the softer, older ball later in the innings too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted February 16, 2011 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 16, 2011 I'm amazed, I have to say. It pretty much says to me that England haven't got a clue who should be opening with Strauss, and now Pietersen's getting the next go. It's all turned into a bit of a shambles in the last couple of months and I've got a bad feeling about this World Cup. Â This decision reminds me of before the 1996 World Cup when England suddenly announced that Phil DeFreitas was going to start bowling off-spin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergio Bellend Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 What's wrong with having Belly or Trotty opening? A top 4 of Strauss, Bell, Trott then KP isn't that bad. From being very confident of a good world cup before the Aussie one-dayers, the shambles of the last month with injuries and terrible performances suggests an early exit. Â In lighter news, Swanny was found innocent today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baz Windham Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 A few days before you start a World Cup is not the time to be putting a woefully out of form in ODI's player into a position he isn't used to, bad move for me. It could pay off and I'd hope they know what they're doing but seems like a hell of a risk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THELONEGUNMAN Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 I see the stadium inmumbai (is it really called the wankaday stadium or is that just how the guy on the news is pronouncing it?) has failed a health and safety inspection on fire grounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted February 21, 2011 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 21, 2011 Graeme Swann has called his new son....Wilfred?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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