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Cricket Thread

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rf_fozzy May 2023 10:34am, 17 May 2023 20,075 posts	Quote Pin rf_fozzy He'll probably bat at 6 or 7 depending on how sore Stoke's knee is. Crawley (!) and Duckett (!!) opening, Pope 3, Root 4, Brook 5, stokes 6, Bairstow 7 then 4 bowlers I'd guess at Anderson or Woakes depending on fitness of the former, Broad, Wood and Robinson for the first test.
Oscar the Grouch May 2023 10:41am, 17 May 2023 6,075 posts	Quote Pin Oscar the Grouch They've said 7 already It's a decent middle order - strongest for some time.
SPR May 2023 10:45am, 17 May 2023 40,539 posts	Quote Pin SPR I think the main risk will be if for some reason they decide to take the gloves off him. His head always used to drop when that happened which is the likely reason for the average difference. I think he'd finally got round to expecting to never have the gloves again so potential to mess with him mentally.
Ocelot Spleens May 2023 10:50am, 17 May 2023 37,264 posts	Quote Pin Ocelot Spleens 7 is waste, at least 6. The trouble with Stokes now is that he's not an all rounder anymore he won't bowl enough, he'll have bat better, so they'll unbalance the team to fit him in, also hence having a batsman/keeper rather than the best keeper. Still, they keep winning, so who knows.
SPR May 2023 10:54am, 17 May 2023 40,540 posts	Quote Pin SPR No, that's not why Bairstow is in, lol. It's the only way to get him in without him opening. They don't want to drop anyone in the middle order.
SPR May 2023 10:54am, 17 May 2023 40,541 posts	Quote Pin SPR It's not an extra batting issue, it's a we want Bairstow on issue.
SPR May 2023 12:00pm, 17 May 2023 40,542 posts	Quote Pin SPR Maybe Foakes should start opening at county level, lol.
Ocelot Spleens May 2023 12:03pm, 17 May 2023 37,267 posts	Quote Pin Ocelot Spleens Why not, Crawley is hanging on by a thread.
SPR May 2023 2:01pm, 17 May 2023 40,543 posts	Quote Pin SPR If he succeeded, he'd be an addition to the wicketkeeper/ batter room and would make himself pretty indispensable. As harsh as it is on Foakes who has done nothing wrong, I can see why they wouldn't risk setting up Bairstow to fail by trying him there. There's not much risk with swapping him for Foakes and it should mean a better team if his batting form continues.
Bazoaxe May 2023 7:06pm, 17 May 2023 24,870 posts	Quote Pin Bazoaxe I guess it is nice to be in a position to have these choices to make rather than trying to scrabble a team together.