comment by Neo-Super European Champions (U9135)
posted 4 minutes ago
Swap Roy for Denly in the order for me. Even if Denly is still only getting his 20's opening he is contributing for me as the ball will be significantly older by the time the lower order come into bat which makes things easier for them.
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2 or 3 times already him and burns have somewhat steadied the ship as a partnership with him only getting 20 or 30 runs after Roy and Root give away their wicket.

i was happy when they choose to pick Roy then immediately baffled when they opened with him

comment by Phe'ndombele (U20037)
posted 11 minutes ago
Besides, arguably winning the 05 Ashes due to the McGrath injury was arguably less deserved and more hollow than this would be (hopefully). At least Smith was injured by a combination of good bowling and his own batting error, and as others have mentioned we're without our best bowler too. McGrath's was a freak injury and a complete lottery win for England, but you don't hear people calling that Ashes win undeserved.




good points
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Ashes 2005 win was well deserved and would go down as their best test series win ever

comment by Pakistan till I die (U10140)
posted 48 minutes ago
comment by Phe'ndombele (U20037)
posted 11 minutes ago
Besides, arguably winning the 05 Ashes due to the McGrath injury was arguably less deserved and more hollow than this would be (hopefully). At least Smith was injured by a combination of good bowling and his own batting error, and as others have mentioned we're without our best bowler too. McGrath's was a freak injury and a complete lottery win for England, but you don't hear people calling that Ashes win undeserved.




good points
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Ashes 2005 win was well deserved and would go down as their best test series win ever
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Exactly.

They won it inspite of the fact they had Ashley Giles in their team

comment by The Welsh Xavi (U15412)
posted 1 hour, 15 minutes ago
Interesting comments from Bayliss on Roy, reveals a lot about everything wrong with the England set up right now:

"Personally, I think Jason probably is suited to the middle order," Bayliss said as England arrived for training in Leeds ahead of the third Test starting on Thursday. "We've selected him at the top of the order because of his form in the one-day team, but it's obviously not quite the same as opening the batting in a white ball game.

"We think we've got the best seven batters in England available to us at the moment. Whether we can change the order round and make it any better, I'm not sure. But we'll certainly have a discussion about it. Just because they're not scoring runs doesn't mean it's not the right or wrong spot for them."

So he's basically admitted our selectors plan is just to pick the best batsman regardless of position and see what happens. What's the point of even having a coach if he gets no say?
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Yeah I read this yesterday. There's no real plan and that has shown for a while. Ramprakash admitted that the batsmen just go out and play and don't bat for the situation and he was the former batting coach.

At least we can draw comfort that the team isn't well coached and hopefully someone new coming in can change the whole mentality in this side and develop some of these players into top test players.

comment by Pakistan till I die (U10140)
posted 11 minutes ago
They won it inspite of the fact they had Ashley Giles in their team
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Gilo did okay in that series. He helped see us over the line in Trent Bridge when our batting line up collapsed chasing down the small target and also scored a crucial 50 on the final day at the Oval when KP scored that 158.

Bell was the passenger save for a couple of 50s at Old Trafford.

I think England will swap Denly and Roy's position for tomorrow's game.

Expecting Starc to come in for one of their bowlers, possibly the unlucky man Siddle.

England should win this one you'd think.

comment by TCM (U8959)
posted 18 minutes ago
comment by Pakistan till I die (U10140)
posted 11 minutes ago
They won it inspite of the fact they had Ashley Giles in their team
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Gilo did okay in that series. He helped see us over the line in Trent Bridge when our batting line up collapsed chasing down the small target and also scored a crucial 50 on the final day at the Oval when KP scored that 158.

Bell was the passenger save for a couple of 50s at Old Trafford.
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Bell was a perfect mix of Bairstow, Moeen and Vince.

Looked beautiful but often flattered to deceive - Vince

Used to score a ton and then get nothing but single figures for months on end, then another ton to save his place in the team for another few months - Bairstow

Also a phenomenal fielder - Bairstow too

Didn't score when the going got tough - Moeen.


...that said, Bell at least did score all those runs in 2013. And those three players dream of a Test average of 43.

comment by TCM (U8959)
posted 33 minutes ago
comment by Pakistan till I die (U10140)
posted 11 minutes ago
They won it inspite of the fact they had Ashley Giles in their team
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Gilo did okay in that series. He helped see us over the line in Trent Bridge when our batting line up collapsed chasing down the small target and also scored a crucial 50 on the final day at the Oval when KP scored that 158.

Bell was the passenger save for a couple of 50s at Old Trafford.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
What Giles did with the bowl?

comment by Amanda Hugginkiss (U11574)
posted 16 minutes ago
comment by TCM (U8959)
posted 18 minutes ago
comment by Pakistan till I die (U10140)
posted 11 minutes ago
They won it inspite of the fact they had Ashley Giles in their team
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Gilo did okay in that series. He helped see us over the line in Trent Bridge when our batting line up collapsed chasing down the small target and also scored a crucial 50 on the final day at the Oval when KP scored that 158.

Bell was the passenger save for a couple of 50s at Old Trafford.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Bell was a perfect mix of Bairstow, Moeen and Vince.

Looked beautiful but often flattered to deceive - Vince

Used to score a ton and then get nothing but single figures for months on end, then another ton to save his place in the team for another few months - Bairstow

Also a phenomenal fielder - Bairstow too

Didn't score when the going got tough - Moeen.


...that said, Bell at least did score all those runs in 2013. And those three players dream of a Test average of 43.
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Bell did well Down under in 2010 as well.He played some classics,omit his early and late part of career, he would be averaging 50

comment by Pakistan till I die (U10140)
posted 7 minutes ago
comment by TCM (U8959)
posted 33 minutes ago
comment by Pakistan till I die (U10140)
posted 11 minutes ago
They won it inspite of the fact they had Ashley Giles in their team
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Gilo did okay in that series. He helped see us over the line in Trent Bridge when our batting line up collapsed chasing down the small target and also scored a crucial 50 on the final day at the Oval when KP scored that 158.

Bell was the passenger save for a couple of 50s at Old Trafford.
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What Giles did with the bowl?
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He didn't do as much as the 4 seamers did but he still picked up the odd key wicket. He had a woeful game at Lords but showed good character for the rest of the series.

And on Bell, I think he had a very good career but he didn't have a very good series. Gary Pratt made more of an impact in that series, and what an impact

It says a lot about the current team that Bell was the guy who, at the time, I was always criticising (seems I always need one )

And he ended up with an average higher than any of our current top 7 bar Root.

God that team was good

Ollie Pope must get back in the team soon surely now he's no longer injured. Just scored 220 not out, taking his FC average to 59.

Could bat 4 if Roy fails again?

Not sure I'm game for bringing Pope back into the fold, especially into the top 4. Pope has shown an ability to score big but this is usually done down the order and coming in when the ball is older. He came out at 5 after Stoneman and Borthwick had put on a big partnership and he scores his runs down the order. Generally at 4 for England you're going to be batting within the first 10 overs as he was when he came in last year.

Pope added to the squad as cover for Roy.

Yeah just seen that. Interesting call but why not have someone who's just scored a double hundred on standby

He should be coming into the team at 6, for sure. If he were to play you'd hope it would be in place of Buttler if he gets dropped, not for Roy in the top 4.

I definitely think Pope can play in the top 4 in future, he's only 21 after all.

Pope could be a future number 4 and Alec Stewart seems keen on helping England out so would probably be willing to move him up the order. Seems to have it in him to go big once he's in but he's one of many batsmen who's eyes light up when they get a hint of width.

Suggestions for our batting woes just baffle me sometimes. We all want to see proper batsmen in the top order but I've just seen a suggestion for Bess to bat at 3 as he looks composed and can bowl a bit. The guy is a spinner who has a few nice shots in his arsenal, he's not a test match 3!

massive toss tomorrow who ever wins it needs to bat first..and bat well (hoping its England)

comment by TCM (U8959)
posted 7 hours, 10 minutes ago
Pope could be a future number 4 and Alec Stewart seems keen on helping England out so would probably be willing to move him up the order. Seems to have it in him to go big once he's in but he's one of many batsmen who's eyes light up when they get a hint of width.

Suggestions for our batting woes just baffle me sometimes. We all want to see proper batsmen in the top order but I've just seen a suggestion for Bess to bat at 3 as he looks composed and can bowl a bit. The guy is a spinner who has a few nice shots in his arsenal, he's not a test match 3!


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Same thought process that sees people suggest Curran, Woakes, Bairstow etc as top 3 bats. I honestly think it's a sign of a lack of wider cricketing perspective, perhaps people relatively new to the sport who see one good innings and view it as a sign of long-term ability.

At least with someone like Stokes you can see he has the mentality and technique to apply himself at the top of the order, and he does like it when the ball comes onto the bat quickly, but even then I don't think 3 would be a natural position for him. The other suggestions up there though... I mean, there's a reason they score freely when they're lower middle order with no pressure and an old ball to face. Whole different ball game.

Got my hopes up about Rob Yates from Warks now. I'll be keeping a close eye on him.

Very big toss today. Going to be great weather. Need to bat first. Both teams are so brittle batting under pressure, even though first innings scores haven't been great the team who has batted first have dominated the test in the end.

I have changed my mind on England batting first. Its very overcast here. You just wouldn't fancy Englands batting early doors. Obviously if the Aussies win the toss and insert theres nothing much you can do. But England s batting leads a lot to be desired.

Think the headingley pitch has changed over the years - got to bat first. Agree with overcast conditions but have to ride out first session and then put on 350+.....

The people commenting on the BBC cricket articles really don't like Root do they? Some even suggesting he should be dropped

You'd think the one guy in our team averaging above 40 would be treasured.