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Cricket Thread

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Gobi Jul 2015 9:52am, 21 Jul 2015 56,681 posts	Quote Pin Gobi I am stunned that England are so thin on the ground
Wriggling Snake Jul 2015 11:20am, 21 Jul 2015 9,888 posts	Quote Pin Wriggling Snake I think England have been for a while, that's why the team was full of South Africans and stuff. The Seam bowling might stand up once Anderson goes, Wood seems ok, I am sure FInn will come back,one or two others. The batting looks a mess apart from the bangers in T20 and ODIs, maybe they will convert like Warner, maybe not.
Nelly Jul 2015 11:51am, 21 Jul 2015 2,594 posts	Quote Pin Nelly I'm still struggling to understand how some people think dropping the number 3 batsman and replacing him with a spinner, with the associated promotion of the number 8 batsman, will actually strengthen the batting line-up?
Too Much Water Jul 2015 11:54am, 21 Jul 2015 4,851 posts	Quote Pin Too Much Water Because Ali is not a front line spinner, and he is a specialist batsman
Nelly Jul 2015 11:59am, 21 Jul 2015 2,595 posts	Quote Pin Nelly Agreed, but he's already in the (failing) batting line-up. The suggestion seems to be to replace Balance with Rashid; is Rashid a better batsman than Balance? No.
Nelly Jul 2015 12:04pm, 21 Jul 2015 2,596 posts	Quote Pin Nelly I should add... would that change improve the bowling line-up? Yes. Does the bowling need improving after only taking 10 wickets in the second test? IMO, yes. Would it give a more balanced side? Who knows. BUT, it definitely weakens the batting line-up, which is what everyone seems to believe is the biggest problem.
Wriggling Snake Jul 2015 12:06pm, 21 Jul 2015 9,893 posts	Quote Pin Wriggling Snake Ali has scored some runs, 80 odd and 30 odd, and can bowl, Balance has scored sod all and can't bowl at all, so you could argue it. It depends how you look at thelast game, Did we lose becase we couldn't bowl them out, or because we could not stand up to the mental pressure in thelast innings? I think we need to be able to bolw them out, so I see little chnage, Bairstow, James maybe, bowling the same, on hopefully a different tpe of pitch. I stills ee Australia winning though, but not by 400 runs.
Too Much Water Jul 2015 12:18pm, 21 Jul 2015 4,853 posts	Quote Pin Too Much Water My argument is that I view Ali and Stokes as batsmen who can bowl 10-15 overs a day. Therefore if Ali bats at 8 we have 3 seamers and two bowlers who are not front line bowlers, i.e. a weak attack. Also I don't feel that Ali can tie up an end or be an attacking wicket taking threat. So he can't do (yet) the two roles of a spinner.
Chrisity Jul 2015 1:00pm, 21 Jul 2015 14,352 posts	Quote Pin Chrisity I consider it likely that if we had won the toss and batted we might well have won or drawn the game. I suggest that we replace Cook with Derren Brown.
Ceratonia Jul 2015 2:05pm, 21 Jul 2015 2,393 posts	Quote Pin Ceratonia Was it Vaughan who said much the same before the start of the series - expects the games to go with whoever wins the toss, unless the weather intervenes or there's an outstanding performance from either team? The magnitude of England's win in the first and the Ozzies in the second is the surprising thing, not the outcome.