General cricket thread

[hornetrider]

spikeyhead said:

TMS wanting us to declare before tea.

Are they? So do I really. Lead will be north of 400 after an hours play.

[Fishtigua]

Ballance get's his ton.

Windies under the cosh.

I hate it when my two teams meet.

[RichB]

At last we've declared. Do you reckon 437 is safe I suppose it means we can bowl to aggressive field settings with such a lead.

[DJRC]

Ballance out for 124 I think , The Boss on 30 with Jordon in for then to thwack it. So which of England's 3 - 6 does KP replace?

[London424]

DJRC said:

Ballance out for 124 I think , The Boss on 30 with Jordon in for then to thwack it. So which of England's 3 - 6 does KP replace?

Any of them.

[SydneyBridge]

9 for 1 at tea, going to plan so far

[Cheib]

AAGR said:

Just look what happened a generation ago when some buffoon tried to turn Geoffrey Boycott into a captain as well as retaining him as a world-rated opening batsman ....

Not really a surprise that making the most selfish English batsmen of a generation captain was a failure!

Unfortunately the propensity to make your best batsmen/player Captain is probably at best a 50/50 success rate....and maybe not even that. Captain's are generally batsmen for obvious reasons...but the skill set to be the top scoring batsmen isn't what you want in a captain. Scoring runs has got fk all to do with being a great communicator.

[DJRC]

London424 said:

DJRC said:

Ballance out for 124 I think , The Boss on 30 with Jordon in for then to thwack it. So which of England's 3 - 6 does KP replace?

Any of them.

And that would be why because...? Im sorry, I can't quite remember - is Ballance on 4 or 5 centuries in his first 9 tests? Perhaps you could remind us...
Or you want him to replace Ian Bell?
Or the 34 yo KP to replace Joe Root?

Let me guess, you actually want him to replace The Boss and keep wicket, yes?

Not even FIGJAM's biggest round these parts in Mr Garg. is advocating him replacing 3-7 at the moment, so unless you got a bright idea of sending him in to face Mitch and the Rhino first up, I wouldn't go applying for Moores' job just yet!

[anonymous-user]

Surely better than Bell?

[London424]

DJRC said:

And that would be why because...? Im sorry, I can't quite remember - is Ballance on 4 or 5 centuries in his first 9 tests? Perhaps you could remind us...
Or you want him to replace Ian Bell?
Or the 34 yo KP to replace Joe Root?

Let me guess, you actually want him to replace The Boss and keep wicket, yes?

Not even FIGJAM's biggest round these parts in Mr Garg. is advocating him replacing 3-7 at the moment, so unless you got a bright idea of sending him in to face Mitch and the Rhino first up, I wouldn't go applying for Moores' job just yet!

He's still the best batsman in the country. You stick him first on the team sheet.

I wouldn't worry about him replacing anyone bar Root. Bell, no problem, he's 33 and not nearly the player KP is.

Last time he faced the Aussies he was the highest scoring batsman...it's all the others I'd be worried about.

Balance hasn't faced a decent attack in his career barring his debut (scored 7 and 18 against Oz) so wouldn't be fussed about that one either.

[zygalski]

London424 said:

DJRC said:

And that would be why because...? Im sorry, I can't quite remember - is Ballance on 4 or 5 centuries in his first 9 tests? Perhaps you could remind us...
Or you want him to replace Ian Bell?
Or the 34 yo KP to replace Joe Root?

Let me guess, you actually want him to replace The Boss and keep wicket, yes?

Not even FIGJAM's biggest round these parts in Mr Garg. is advocating him replacing 3-7 at the moment, so unless you got a bright idea of sending him in to face Mitch and the Rhino first up, I wouldn't go applying for Moores' job just yet!

He's still the best batsman in the country. You stick him first on the team sheet.

I wouldn't worry about him replacing anyone bar Root. Bell, no problem, he's 33 and not nearly the player KP is.

Last time he faced the Aussies he was the highest scoring batsman...it's all the others I'd be worried about.

Balance hasn't faced a decent attack in his career barring his debut (scored 7 and 18 against Oz) so wouldn't be fussed about that one either.

Clearly you didn't watch KP in his final dozen or so test matches. Quickfire 30 runs, trying to smash good balls all over the place but missing them or getting out, head not in the right place, upsetting the dressing room every time he's in the team, and so on. His batting was village cricketer oafish towards the end. It was embarrassing.
The KP you're talking about wanting back is a nostalgic memory of yesteryear.
KP in his mid to late 20's - one of the best. Nowadays he'd fit right in with our current top order.

[London424]

zygalski said:

Clearly you didn't watch KP in his final dozen or so test matches. Quickfire 30 runs, trying to smash good balls all over the place but missing them or getting out, head not in the right place, upsetting the dressing room every time he's in the team, and so on. His batting was village cricketer oafish towards the end. It was embarrassing.
The KP you're talking about wanting back is a nostalgic memory of yesteryear.
KP in his mid to late 20's - one of the best. Nowadays he'd fit right in with our current top order.

And yet in his last test series against the Aussies he top scored.

[DJRC]

So basically your argument is: he did the least worst in the last ashes series. Since when he has never played another test. Since when he has only played a handful of proper first class games. Since when he has made even less than a handful of first class scores of note.

Set against this you wish him to replace batsmen who are scoring centuries and fifties in current tests and have been doing so in the last Test year?

You actually wish to disrupt the strongest area of the England team. This is your wish.

I quote from none other than a Guardian of the Galaxy: You are an imbecile.

[London424]

It's ok to disagree, it's just an opinion. I still think he's the best batsman in the country. I think you should play your best player.

I'll reserve judgement on how well the team is doing until they actually play the decent sides.

[ManFromDelmonte]

KP is a hasbeen. He shouldn't even be talked about until he scores a LOT of county runs, as in more than anyone else in the league (which is Div 2 remember).

For me, he has to prove he is the best player in the country to get back in the side, being slightly better than Bell for example, shouldn't even get him mentioned in dispatches.

The risk/reward ratio of bringing him back needs to be right. The risk is always going to be high so so does the reward.

[Legend83]

DJRC said:

I quote from none other than a Guardian of the Galaxy: You are an imbecile.

It is possible to debate without resorting to insults you know.

[DJRC]

He may well be one of the most talented batsmen in the country - he is a long way from the best player though! Over a period of say the last 6 yrs that has demonstrably been the Burnley Express.

In terms of batsmen you split into openers and then 3 - 6. 6 is your all rounder and KP is absolutely not worth displacing Ben Stokes currently who is adding runs and takes wickets. So it's 3 - 5. Well Ian Bell has long been regarded as the best batsman in the country. His issue was mentality until say 5 yrs ago whereby since then he has taken every attack in the world apart. When the Aussies were last in the country he scored how many centuries?

So that leaves Ballance or Root. Arguably the two most talented young batsmen in the country.

[Amirhussain]

I think we should just accept KP won't be playing for England again, as much as some of us, including myself would like to see. I don't like how the whole situation was treated, but just accept what's happened has happened.

[spikeyhead]

Amirhussain said:

I think we should just accept KP won't be playing for England again, as much as some of us, including myself would like to see. I don't like how the whole situation was treated, but just accept what's happened has happened.

This ^^^

I lost faith with the KP some years ago. It's a team game and it was quite clear that his attitude on the pitch was more focused on himself. It also didn't help when he developed the yips against left arm spin.

It was handled badly. It would have been far easier to just have dropped him, but making statements about never playing for England again was careless in the extreme at best and reckless at worst.

Cook
Moeen
Trott
Balance
Bell
Root
Buttler
Stokes
Jordan
Broad, who needs to be taught how to deal with a short ball again
Anderson

There are only four senior players in that line up, but a lot of potential. Four Seamers plus spin of Moeen and bits from Root is enough bowling, and even our number 10 has a test century to his name. All that's needed is some confidence and captaincy and we'll be fine.

[Leithen]

What do you do with Cook and the captaincy if he doesn't score?