To be fair to Burns he has tough start to his test career given both series prior to the Ashes were away series which is something he had never done before. Then his first time series is an Ashes against arguably the best bowling lineup in the world. I think he'll steadily push his average up now and reckon he'll be high 30s, maybe even sneak low 40s which would be perfect for an opener.

If Sibley can do the same then we'll be in a good position as you don't really need your openers averaging 45+. Then hopefully we can start to lay some foundations for the likes of Root and Stokes to pile on the runs.

No argument here. I'm Burns' biggest fan, I want him to succeed more than any other player.

Looking like Gary Kirsten is the front runner for the England job which would be excellent, he's a great coach and exactly what we need.

With this and the latest squad announcement, it seems we might finally be getting our sh!t together

comment by The Welsh Xavi (U15412)
posted 6 minutes ago
Looking like Gary Kirsten is the front runner for the England job which would be excellent, he's a great coach and exactly what we need.

With this and the latest squad announcement, it seems we might finally be getting our sh!t together
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Let's revisit this comment in a year, eh

True, I'm still expecting Bairstow be straight back in the side for the SA series

Away from test cricket, I've just been reading an article on the hundred and players putting themselves forward for it. Is there anyone other than a few players looking to get paid and the inventors of this format looking forward to it?

I understand the desire to bring franchise cricket to England but don't the counties do pretty well out of T20 anyway. The grounds always fill up because people see it as a good night out even if they don't really support the county or even like cricket.

I'm looking forward to it being on free to air TV which I think was only possible with a new format being created due to Sky's monopoly. Hopefully it'll increase interest for that reason and act as a gateway for new players and fans.

The actual format itself is meh.

I've been to a bunch of T20 Blast games at the Oval and Lords and it's great fun. I'd have happily gone along to franchise matches if they'd just revamped the Blast. As it is, the creation of a whole new format feels pointless and cynical which has turned me off quite a bit. It does just feel like a huge cash grab with no intention of catering to actual cricket fans - or rather, the attempt to bring in a new bunch of "quick fix" fans seems to have been prioritised fully over existing fans of the longer formats.

https://www.wisden.com/stories/international-cricket/the-under-24-seven-englands-next-generation

https://www.wisden.com/stories/county-cricket/how-a-technical-change-helped-revive-england-bound-dom-sibleys-career

Couple more decent Wisden articles

comment by Amanda Hugginkiss (U11574)
posted 3 hours, 6 minutes ago
https://www.wisden.com/stories/international-cricket/the-under-24-seven-englands-next-generation

https://www.wisden.com/stories/county-cricket/how-a-technical-change-helped-revive-england-bound-dom-sibleys-career

Couple more decent Wisden articles
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Thanks. Interesting stuff.

I expect Sibley to play in NZ. I hope he does well.

It's a shame with Sibley, as it was with Burns before him, that he's in good form and rather than going straight into the test side, he's got to wait for the winter tour.

Hopefully he'll be given time and we can see the development of a strong and watchful opening partnership so we can build from the top and work down the order. Denly certaily isn't the future but perhaps we'll see a Crawley, Yates, Clarke, Lawrence etc step into that position in the next couple of years.

Yeah - at this point I feel like it'd be an unbelievable luxury, compared to the last few years of cobbled-together batting lineups, to only have to settle for one decent-but-unspectacular player holding down their position, with 4 or 5 tailor-made prospects looking to step up.

Whens the cricket back, I hate football

Bit of a mess ain't it.

Only a month till the first NZ T20...

comment by Phe'ndombele (U20037)
posted 2 hours, 12 minutes ago
Whens the cricket back, I hate football
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At least you're safe in the knowledge that all us is in the being left behind pack are useless at the moment so the only supporters who can really have a good laugh are Liverpool and City. It's not often I say it but we're probably all grateful for the international break.

Hadn't even picked up that you were an Arsenal fan, TCM. And we were getting on so well

Hopefully our cricketing opinions can keep us civil. It's not often you'd see a Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal fan agreeing on so many things.

Who you calling Chelsea you tart

I suppose it's a fair assumption considering I'm from Surrey. I'm only an armchair fan (like I said, Surrey) but Spurs and Wolves are my teams, believe it or not

Oops

I've no idea where I got the Chelsea link but must have made the assumption based on the Surrey connection. Although I should have gone with United if I was going to randomly guess based on your county.

I won't mock you too much over last night, seems to be a huge backlash from the fans which is understandable. From what I saw though, it's a pretty freak result and not like when they battered us 5-1 home and away but could have won by 10 or more in both games.

Anyone seen the documentary The Edge that came out this summer about the 09-14 England team? Found it on YouTube earlier and it's a great insight into the side and the strain they were all under that eventually led to the downfall.

Quite a few players and Flower admitted they should have done things differently which probably would have kept the side going for longer than it did.

comment by TCM (U8959)
posted 36 minutes ago
Oops

I've no idea where I got the Chelsea link but must have made the assumption based on the Surrey connection. Although I should have gone with United if I was going to randomly guess based on your county.

I won't mock you too much over last night, seems to be a huge backlash from the fans which is understandable. From what I saw though, it's a pretty freak result and not like when they battered us 5-1 home and away but could have won by 10 or more in both games.
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Worrying times at Spurs to be honest, there's clearly a lot of unsettled players and potentially an unsettled manager too - lots of issues with no clear solution, and performances on the pitch have been suffering for basically the whole of 2019, apart from the freak Champions League run.

I don't think sacking Pochettino would solve anything beyond the short-term bounce new managers often experience. However I get the sense the manager might walk as soon as a better offer comes along anyway. He doesn't seem happy at all.

For me, pretty much all the issues stem back to the board not investing in the playing squad properly. Going 18 months without signing a player was ludicrously amateurish and it's left the development and evolution of the squad absolutely miles behind the curve. The whole setup has become stagnant and I think a lot of the players and the manager want out.

Point being, last night's result was the culmination of a very bad run of form dating back to the start of the calendar year, and this season's performances have been largely dreadful. It just so happens that last night was the first time Spurs have been properly put to the sword rather than getting away with playing badly. And the daft thing is, for the first half hour it was one of Spurs' best performances this season

Without knowing too much of what goes on day in day out, that's a pretty good assessment. When teams go through these sorts of long difficult spells, there are deep rooted issues from top to bottom and everyone has to be held accountable but the manager is always the easiest problem to solve if a change is needed.

I can't see you guys pulling the trigger but there is the potential that you'll allow him to go if another club come in for him. Would that be the right thing to do? Possibly not if the fans are still split on whether they want him to stay or go and from what I can see, many of you are still backing him.

Anyway, back to the cricket

I notice India are 352/2 against South Africa after putting on an opening stand of 317. That must be more than all of the opening stands managed in the entire Ashes Series

In fact, I've just sadly counted and in 20 opening stands, 251 runs were scored.

comment by TCM (U8959)
posted 40 minutes ago
Anyway, back to the cricket

I notice India are 352/2 against South Africa after putting on an opening stand of 317. That must be more than all of the opening stands managed in the entire Ashes Series

In fact, I've just sadly counted and in 20 opening stands, 251 runs were scored.
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That is pretty shameful, isn't it... and as you've mentioned before, really shows how well Burns batted in the circumstances. His series average must've been, what, 3 times higher than the next best opener in the series?