Cricket Thread

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SPR Jun 2023 8:39pm, 30 Jun 2023 41,173 posts	0 SPR There's another BBC article where Root was saying the right things (along the lines of what Stokes said last year) so they know but they seem to forget and are using bluster really. The Duckett line of Australia would think they've won is hilarious given what they did was gift Australia what they wanted.
SPR Jun 2023 8:46pm, 30 Jun 2023 41,174 posts	0 SPR bbc.co.uk Root section Two days before the Lord's Test, a dim-witted journalist (yours truly) asked Joe Root about the way England play. It was put to Root that England's style isn't a choice, but actually the best way for this group of players to be successful. "There's more to it than that," said Root. "There are times we try to put pressure back on the opposition, but there are also times when we have been very good at absorbing that, soaking it up. "That's a big part of what we're about, being smart enough to recognise passages of play where we have to suck it up a little bit. "It's easy to get lost in all of the extravagant stuff, the amazing shots and partnerships, but there are other things that are vitally important to what we're about as a team." Root is right, too. In England's run of 10 wins from 11 Tests there were the rampant run-fests of Trent Bridge, Edgbaston and Rawalpindi, but just as many times when they had to do the hard yards. Lord's against New Zealand, Old Trafford against South Africa, Karachi against Pakistan. and in regards to Duckett When asked on the second evening if England could have been more pragmatic given the match situation and Lyon's injury, opener Ben Duckett said: "I don't think that's the way we go about our cricket. "If Australia saw us doing that, they would think they had won that battle." When it's put like that, it's a good job Australia don't think they have won the battle, as opposed to actually winning it.
rf_fozzy Jun 2023 8:46pm, 30 Jun 2023 20,405 posts	0 rf_fozzy Duckett's "attitude" didn't surprise me. Given his previous antics, it suggests he can be a bit of a certain type.
Dibble Jun 2023 9:42pm, 30 Jun 2023 997 posts	0 Dibble I can kind of get the players complaining and wanting to play at Lords, but accepting members complaints if the objective was a broader audience is odd. Going back a bit, a belated reply on this. The issue is that MCC is a member's club. The committee had decided to replace Eton v Harrow and Oxford v Cambridge by the finals of national schools and university competitions, but a number of members complained, called for a vote and following this, the matches were retained for 5 years. The votes were fairly close, but members were also asked to specify how strong they felt about the issue and the vast majority on both sides said they felt very strongly. I think the expectation is that as younger members (and more women) join, a future vote will go thr other way. (Another point of debate is that the committee argue the number of matches played at Lord's is at its maximum, many members feel there is room for more).
Surrey Phil Jun 2023 10:29pm, 30 Jun 2023 9,514 posts	0 Surrey Phil Interesting night in the T20 Blast. Durham tie for the second time this season. Birmingham beat Notts in the last over after being 7-4. Roses match abandoned. Middlesex win for the second time. Glamorgan fail to reach 83 in six overs (DLS) - not helped by their captain opening the innings but only scoring 9 not out off 13 balls. Birmingham and Somerset guaranteed top spots in their groups and a home QF. Surrey or Hampshire almost certainly in the QF with Kent or Essex to join them. Only three points separates 2nd - 7th in the North Group and still a lot to play for with one game left.
57.5 Degrees of Pain Jul 2023 5:08am, 1 Jul 2023 13,199 posts	0 57.5 Degrees of Pain I wanted to ask a question to the thread. I get the feeling that many participants are of the opinion that our Test Match players get it wrong more often than they get it right. So... think back... name the years (if any) since you started watching cricket where you reached the end of the season and felt that the team played consistently well and were worthy of your praise. Obviously (and unfortunately) this question is skewed towards the men's team, because of the sparsity of women's Test cricket but that's no reason not to big up the women's best years too I would like to propose the late 70s from the Centenary Test (a well fought close game) till the end of the decade. Almost all captained by Mike Brearley, England had an excellent record home and away. There were young stars in Botham and Gower, wins against good teams and Ashes dominance (with help from Kerry Packer). A good time to be a cricket obsessed kid!
Nicholls595 Jul 2023 11:59am, 1 Jul 2023 30,567 posts	0 Nicholls595 I know there is a lot of love on here for YJB, but his keeping is shit
Nicholls595 Jul 2023 12:01pm, 1 Jul 2023 30,568 posts	0 Nicholls595 Watching for 5 minutes, 4 byes went under his gloves, then dropped catch where he dived instead of taking 2 steps backwards. Keep him in for his runs by all means, but give the gloves to Foakes
Surrey Phil Jul 2023 12:10pm, 1 Jul 2023 9,515 posts	0 Surrey Phil Gone are the days when you had a totally reliable wicket-keeper. Alan Knott, Bob Taylor and maybe Jack Richards were the last. It was only when we went through a lean patch in the 1980's, that Paul Downton and Bruce French were brought in to give us an extra batter although they didn't really excel. Nowadays, in all aspects of the game, it's batter first and 'keeper second.
rf_fozzy Jul 2023 12:36pm, 1 Jul 2023 20,408 posts	0 rf_fozzy Erm: Jack Russell? Chris Read? James Foster? Ben Foakes? I think there's a lot rose-tinted spectacles when it comes to how good past keepers were. I'm not defending Bairstow making a mess in the past 2 tests (but bear in mind he's barely kept since England started messing about with Buttlefingers), but I'd argue that some of the Wkt/Batters we've had have been just as good as those in the rose-tinted eras: Prior and Stewart immediately spring to mind. Now Russell might have been better overall at keepering, but Stewart probably brought more overall. Maybe I don't deny that Gilchrist changed the mould and a batting keeper has become more important. That all said, I'd personally still be playing the best keeper. Because I think Foakes' batting is good enough. What I thought was stupid was bringing in Buttler ahead of Bairstow.