[John_D]

Re: cricket - general cricket chit chat thread : Fri Feb 24, 2012 9:24 am  

PAUL M wrote:

Pakistan's death bowling was the difference tonight.

The timing of Bopara's wicket could not have been worse. Personally, I blame Kieswetter.

Re: cricket - general cricket chit chat thread : Fri Feb 24, 2012 1:19 pm  

John_D wrote:

The timing of Bopara's wicket could not have been worse. Personally, I blame Kieswetter.

Was bad timing. Plenty of hitters came in afterwards though, just that they could not read Ajmal and the seamers bowleed too full to hit boundaries. Why Kieswetter?

[John_D]

Re: cricket - general cricket chit chat thread : Fri Feb 24, 2012 1:38 pm  

PAUL M wrote:

Why Kieswetter?

Don't rate his keeping. As a batsman, he's supposed to get us off to a flier and he isn't doing that. 14 off 18 balls yesterday before backing away so far to leg that he was bowled leg stump by one he couldn't reach. If he isn't getting us away in those first six overs, his keeping isn't good enough to warrant selection. Better to bring in a proper opener (Hales and Cook both in the squad) and hand the gloves to either of the middle order wicket-keeping biffers who are also in the squad in the shape of Buttler and Bairstow.

Rant over

Re: cricket - general cricket chit chat thread : Sat Feb 25, 2012 11:04 pm  

good showing from young Bairstow today, and excellent catching generally

[John_D]

Re: cricket - general cricket chit chat thread : Tue Feb 28, 2012 9:33 am  

That last ball from Dirtbag last night... Way to hold your nerve under pressure. Still don't rate him though

Morgan dropped from the Test squad going to Sri Lanka. James Tredwell is in, as is Fat Sam.

Re: cricket - general cricket chit chat thread : Tue Feb 28, 2012 1:16 pm  

John_D wrote:

Morgan dropped from the Test squad going to Sri Lanka. James Tredwell is in, as is Fat Sam.

Last in, first out it seems.

That final Test double century against the Indians last summer seems to have bought Ian Bell some leeway.

Given Morgan is going to play next to sod all in the way of first class cricket between now and the start of the summer home Test series it's hard to see how he can get back into the side from here.

[John_D]

Re: cricket - general cricket chit chat thread : Tue Feb 28, 2012 1:38 pm  

Andy Gilder wrote:

Given Morgan is going to play next to sod all in the way of first class cricket between now and the start of the summer home Test series it's hard to see how he can get back into the side from here.

A Neil Fairbrother de nos jours

Re: cricket - general cricket chit chat thread : Tue Feb 28, 2012 1:46 pm  

John_D wrote:

A Neil Fairbrother de nos jours

I'd forgotten just how bad a Test player Fairbrother was. A quick visit to Cricinfo shows a Test batting average of 15.67 from 10 matches.

Morgan's more Anthony McGrath but without the bowling threat.

[John_D]

Re: cricket - general cricket chit chat thread : Tue Feb 28, 2012 4:48 pm  

Andy Gilder wrote:

I'd forgotten just how bad a Test player Fairbrother was. A quick visit to Cricinfo shows a Test batting average of 15.67 from 10 matches.

Morgan's more Anthony McGrath but without the bowling threat.

Fairbrother not as prolific or as quick-scoring as I thought he was either, but it was a different era when needing 8 off the last over was all but impossible.

And Morgan will never match McGrath's figures (waist size, for instance)

Re: cricket - general cricket chit chat thread : Tue Feb 28, 2012 5:17 pm  

Andy Gilder wrote:

Last in, first out it seems.

That final Test double century against the Indians last summer seems to have bought Ian Bell some leeway.

Given Morgan is going to play next to sod all in the way of first class cricket between now and the start of the summer home Test series it's hard to see how he can get back into the side from here.

Don't think it's just a case of last in first out. Morgan only averages 30 in test cricket, while Bell averages 47, and scored heavily last year, even before that double ton. While the batsmen all had poor series, Morgan was the only one yet to prove himself at test level.

Will be interesting to see who they replace him with in the team. Suspect it will be Bopara, as an easy option (next in line, can bowl a few overs), but may be a case for Patel, as a third spinner, or an attack of Bresnan, Broad, Swann, Anderson and Panesar. The latter is unlikely though.