England in India 2021

[Gargamel]

spikeyhead said:

Leithen said:

Can anyone explain why Bairstow is in the side?

It's either because he's good at playing spin, or our selectors are stupid.

As I have previously said, Bairstow is a great talent, but missing all the other tests, then bussing him in and putting him as opener is kid of madness.

Bairstow has done best at 5 and 6 in tests. They basically keep telling him he isn't good enough technically for tests, then they punt him in again, with no prep and out of order and say justify your place.

I imagine he is pretty sour about it after a pair.

[TheAngryDog]

PhilkRS said:

TheAngryDog said:

Utterly poor pitch. If this was a county game there would be points deductions for the home team.

It’s not fit for 5 days is it. Interesting debate to be had about the criteria required for preparation. I would love to see the regs around this.

It's not even good enough for a T20.

What on earth was Sibley thinking? There's LOTS of time left in the match, just take the singles, hit the really bad balls.

[PhilkRS]

Gargamel said:

spikeyhead said:

Leithen said:

Can anyone explain why Bairstow is in the side?

It's either because he's good at playing spin, or our selectors are stupid.

As I have previously said, Bairstow is a great talent, but missing all the other tests, then bussing him in and putting him as opener is kid of madness.

Bairstow has done best at 5 and 6 in tests. They basically keep telling him he isn't good enough technically for tests, then they punt him in again, with no prep and out of order and say justify your place.

I imagine he is pretty sour about it after a pair.

That’s a fair assessment. He is filling a slot he is not suited for. I think Crawley will end up there. We just don’t seem to have any quality openers and Root won’t move from 4 which is his prerogative. With Buttler in the side 5/6/7 is a competitive area and not a problem. Top 3 is our problem.

[PhilkRS]

TheAngryDog said:

PhilkRS said:

TheAngryDog said:

Utterly poor pitch. If this was a county game there would be points deductions for the home team.

It’s not fit for 5 days is it. Interesting debate to be had about the criteria required for preparation. I would love to see the regs around this.

It's not even good enough for a T20.

What on earth was Sibley thinking? There's LOTS of time left in the match, just take the singles, hit the really bad balls.

They wouldn’t dream of having a pitch like this in the IPL. They prepare different pitches for T20’s

[TheAngryDog]

Stokes needs to stop swiping. He's not playing the crims at Headingley in 2019!

[PhilkRS]

TheAngryDog said:

Stokes needs to stop swiping. He's not playing the crims at Headingley in 2019!

I hope he plays his natural game. He is a quality batsman but on this track it’s a lottery.

[thegreenhell]

Sweet, we're in the lead! Nothing can go wrong from here.

[Gargamel]

We're winning !

[anonymous-user]

PhilkRS said:

TheAngryDog said:

Stokes needs to stop swiping. He's not playing the crims at Headingley in 2019!

I hope he plays his natural game. He is a quality batsman but on this track it’s a lottery.

Indeed. Nobody’s going to last long on it. Might as well get some runs ASAP

[spikeyhead]

thegreenhell said:

Sweet, we're in the lead! Nothing can go wrong from here.

I come back from cutting the grass and find people stealing my lines. That's not cricket

[PhilkRS]

Ooh I think he was lucky there. Still benefit of the doubt to the batsman

[anonymous-user]

PhilkRS said:

Ooh I think he was lucky there. Still benefit of the doubt to the batsman

Yeah I thought it was out.

[Gargamel]

El stovey said:

PhilkRS said:

Ooh I think he was lucky there. Still benefit of the doubt to the batsman

Yeah I thought it was out.

Whose side are you two on ?

MASSIVE inside edge obviously

[Mr E]

Day off and an unscheduled one day game on sunday?

[Gargamel]

Mr E said:

Day off and an unscheduled one day game on sunday?

They should have another Test... make it a five match series.

[Pieman68]

TheAngryDog said:

Stokes needs to stop swiping. He's not playing the crims at Headingley in 2019!

Can we not mention that please? As spectating days go that was probably the worst I've had

To clarify - me and my Dad were there (we bought my Dad a ticket for his birthday and I went as his carer). Just after lunch when the foot traffic had died down I helped Dad to the gents where he promptly fainted and we ended up being shipped to LGI by ambulance and missed everything from 2pm onwards!

Edit to add - just a bit of sunstroke, he was allowed home that evening

Edited by Pieman68 on Thursday 25th February 12:16

[PhilkRS]

Gargamel said:

Mr E said:

Day off and an unscheduled one day game on sunday?

They should have another Test... make it a five match series.

Beer match

[PhilkRS]

Pope is struggling

[anonymous-user]

/5

It’s going to be all over today at this rate.

[PhilkRS]

El stovey said:

/5

It’s going to be all over today at this rate.

Not much batting left