comment by chooshanguru (U21387)
posted 10 hours, 56 minutes ago
If I say why england loose this game than people will say things that are nasty and evil to India
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The game just gone or the up and coming game?

Moeen Ali has been added to the squad.

https://www.ecb.co.uk/england/men/news/2211675/moeen-ali-called-up-to-the-england-mens-test-squad

I'm just reading that Moeen has been called up so he is a certainty to come in for the 2nd test. Presumably it will be for Lawrence and he will bat at 6-7 with Buttler in the other position with 4 seamers after. I think Wood will come in for Curran too but we'll see.

Although thinking about it, I wouldn't be surprised if Bairstow got promoted to 3 with Lawrence/Pope at 5. I wouldn't be against that given how poor Crawley has been and how few options we have at the moment.

Had a feeling Moeen would return...

Could prove useful with the ball, usually does v India.

Will probably struggle with the bat I feel

Oh FFS. The selectors' myopia when it comes to Bairstow, Moeen and Vince...

I am actually surprised Vince wasn't considered as a replacement for Crawley

comment by Amanda Hugginkiss (U11574)
posted 19 hours, 10 minutes ago
In fact... jeez, I just looked up Crawley's 2021 batting stats and they're even worse than I'd realised. His scores for the year:

9
8
5
13
53
0
9
5
2
2
0
17
27
6

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And yet the media keep banging the drum about dropping Sibley and keeping Crawley because Crawley "looks good".

I like Crawley and think he could become a very good player, but it's actually been annoying me how much protection he's getting from the media when he's done virtually nothing outside that 267.

Yeah - he's batted 26 Test innings, and he's only passed 25 seven times. That's awful. And one of those was the 27 in the last Test. His figures are absolutely horrible.

To the media's credit, they don't seem to be jumping on Burns for a change. But yeah, Crawley shows all the signs of being the latest in a long line of England youngsters who gets far more chances than he's earned despite clearly not (yet) being up to scratch.

Yeah Aggers is pushing for Sibley to be dropped because he's got a bad technique over Crawley who plays nice and straight. If he had years of good scores behind him then you could give him time but he doesn't seem willing to change. For all of Sibley's faults, at least he hangs around or tries to. That's why Hameed for Crawley would be my change for the rest of this series.

A straight bat means nothing if the player's head isn't straight too.

I just made that up but I reckon I could probably attribute it to Boycott and people would believe me

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comment by T.J (U15973)
posted 3 hours, 25 minutes ago
Had a feeling Moeen would return...

Could prove useful with the ball, usually does v India.

Will probably struggle with the bat I feel
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But surely Lords isn't a spinning wicket is it...?

Yeah we're well stocked in the middle order with better players than Crawley. Surely Graham Thorpe should be working with him to adjust his game in the first 15-20 overs that he's at the crease. He's got all the shots if he wants to start playing his more natural aggressive game but he's got to give himself a chance.

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If Jason Roy wasn't so cavalier, he'd be an option...sadly he comes in with too much pressure baggage though, which is a shame

What about Livingstone...or is he too white ball for test cricket

play your tests at Chichawatni and your batting woes will be solved

Assuming Hameed does come in for Crawley then I actually wouldn't mind trying Sibley at 3 instead.

Burns and Hameed are the more natural stroke makers, and if an early wicket does fall then we'd know Sibley can come in and settle things down as we know he's never going to come out swinging.

Could be like how India use Pujara.

I think I'd have Jimmy bat at 3 over Crawley at this stage, not Broady but defo Jimmy playing some solid defence.

Vince is definitely not the answer, which is a shame as he is brilliant to watch when he's in full flow. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Sibley and Crawley both get dropped for the next test with Hameed to open with Burns and Bairstow be given a promotion to 3.

comment by The Welsh Xavi (U15412)
posted 5 minutes ago
Assuming Hameed does come in for Crawley then I actually wouldn't mind trying Sibley at 3 instead.

Burns and Hameed are the more natural stroke makers, and if an early wicket does fall then we'd know Sibley can come in and settle things down as we know he's never going to come out swinging.

Could be like how India use Pujara.
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I was actually thinking about this and if we were to persist with Crawley then I'd consider swapping him and Sibley over.

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Yeah his strike rate is slow but I meant he has more shots than Sibley and probably won't get bogged down as often.

I probably shouldn't be using natural stroke maker for any of the those 3 though to be honest

comment by Emile Death Rowe (TCM) (U8959)
posted 1 hour, 3 minutes ago
I think I'd have Jimmy bat at 3 over Crawley at this stage, not Broady but defo Jimmy playing some solid defence.

Vince is definitely not the answer, which is a shame as he is brilliant to watch when he's in full flow. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Sibley and Crawley both get dropped for the next test with Hameed to open with Burns and Bairstow be given a promotion to 3.
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Leachy at 3. You know it makes sense

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Bring Cook out of retirement