Sport Winter Cricket Thread

[Foley]

Well done Joe Root and a decent knock by Pope.
It looks a dead cert draw though.

 

[Sarge]

Sickness bug has decimated England on the first day of the first test v SA...England win the toss and have chosen to bowl first

If the bug has taken out key players, it gives squad cover players a chance to show what they can (or cant) do at test level....cmon England

 

[Sarge]

Jimmy Anderson back with a bang....wicket with the first ball of the first test in SA

 

[Sarge]

SA 2 wickets down ....Curran with the second

 

[SteMerritt]

79-3 at lunch. I'm never comfortable winning the toss and bowling unless it's for weather conditions, the pitch won't improve during the game, so a gamble. Job done so far though.

 

[Gary Baldi]

England 167-6 and fair to say Bairstow needs a lot of work on his technique if he wants to play tests again. Garden gate, number 8!

Some poor shots played today around some excellent bowling from Philander in particular. At the moment, it feels like an opportunity wasted by England.

 

[SteMerritt]

181 all out... Shocking. Went for a run at 140-3 then come back to this? What the hell happened?

 

[Foley]

England 167-6 and fair to say Bairstow needs a lot of work on his technique if he wants to play tests again. Garden gate, number 8!

He is not the only one to be fair.
The usual first test abroad. Out for a low score and playing catch up for the rest of the series.

 

[Gary Baldi]

He is not the only one to be fair.
The usual first test abroad. Out for a low score and playing catch up for the rest of the series.

Agree. It's the same old poor start, but against a poor team too which makes it doubly worse in all honesty

 

[Scotchegg]

A very decent start, and only the 3rd 50 opening partnership in the last 11 tests. Get through this session without losing more than one wicket, and start sensibly tomorrow and we should get a result. However, losing 6 wickets for 12 runs is always on the cards with England!!

 

[Foley]

Fair play to Burns and Sibley.
A much easier pitch and sensible batting . 70 without loss.
As Scotchegg suggests it could all go horribly wrong, but there is always some hope.

 

[SteMerritt]

Batters dug in well today, we are in with a little sniff of this if we can start well tomorrow, and if Root and Butler are well enough to bat.

 

[Foley]

Yes we have a chance.
The best chance is for Burns to get a big 100. We need a good start tomorrow

 

[Foley]

Well whilst Burns was in England looked reasonably comfortable.
A change in bowler and Burns is out to a poor pull shot and suddenly England look like getting out time and time again.
Root needs to play himself in rather than looking like throwing his wicket away.

 

[Foley]

Well yet another first Test defeat.
England have batted pretty sensibly in the second innings.
As usual the awful first innings score has done for them.
Pope for Bairstow us the only change I would expect in the second Test.

 

[Gary Baldi]

Absolute from the collective batting unit - time for Bairstow to go. The dear old thing makes Roy look a test match cricketer at the moment. Can't help but feel it's need a collective refresh in the lower middle order as it is, is not working.

 

[Sarge]

Absolute from the collective batting unit - time for Bairstow to go. The dear old thing makes Roy look a test match cricketer at the moment. Can't help but feel it's need a collective refresh in the lower middle order as it is, is not working.

chucked away the last 5 wickets in that test.... short forms of crickett are all so well n 'good' , but as Test matches are the creme de la creme of cricket, cricket in its purest form, England selectors really are hit and miss... more miss than hit , when it comes to putting out an England test team

 

[Gary Baldi]

chucked away the last 5 wickets in that test.... short forms of crickett are all so well n 'good' , but as Test matches are the creme de la creme of cricket, cricket in its purest form, England selectors really are hit and miss... more miss than hit , when it comes to putting out an England test team

I turned over to the Old Firm derby and went back at half time thinking, bet England have lost and they have. Utter shower

 

[Oufcrealist]

I didn't want to comment until we had inevitably lost!!
Bad call to put them in. Du Plessis more or less said he couldn't believe his luck. Let them off the hook with some poor bowling in the middle of their innings. Mostly poor 'chuck your wicket away' batting from us 1st innings. Some poor bowling again mid 2nd innings. We overdid the short stuff particularly Archer who must learn what his role as a strike bowler is. And then the now expected collapse from the mid/lower order.
The selectors just don't learn. Test cricket is so simple. You pick five specialist batsmen. A genuine allrounder. Your best wicket keeper/batsman and four bowlers.
I have said before, Bairstow and Buttler should be confined to one day cricket they are flat track bullies and don't have the technique to play a patient steady innings on a pitch that does a bit. Why pick Crawley for the tour and then play Bairstow, a replacement instead? And Foakes is by far our best wicketkeeper and he can bat a bit.
Root should be relieved of the captaincy and should stop playing one day cricket. He is by far our best Test batsman but the pressure and the increasing tendancy to play and get out to one day shots is becoming more frequent. The bowling isn't too bad but they must concentrate on getting wickets, not trying to mame the batsmen when the wickets don't come.
On to the 2nd test.

 

[Foley]

I didn't want to comment until we had inevitably lost!!
Bad call to put them in. Du Plessis more or less said he couldn't believe his luck. Let them off the hook with some poor bowling in the middle of their innings. Mostly poor 'chuck your wicket away' batting from us 1st innings. Some poor bowling again mid 2nd innings. We overdid the short stuff particularly Archer who must learn what his role as a strike bowler is. And then the now expected collapse from the mid/lower order.
The selectors just don't learn. Test cricket is so simple. You pick five specialist batsmen. A genuine allrounder. Your best wicket keeper/batsman and four bowlers.
I have said before, Bairstow and Buttler should be confined to one day cricket they are flat track bullies and don't have the technique to play a patient steady innings on a pitch that does a bit. Why pick Crawley for the tour and then play Bairstow, a replacement instead? And Foakes is by far our best wicketkeeper and he can bat a bit.
Root should be relieved of the captaincy and should stop playing one day cricket. He is by far our best Test batsman but the pressure and the increasing tendancy to play and get out to one day shots is becoming more frequent. The bowling isn't too bad but they must concentrate on getting wickets, not trying to mame the batsmen when the wickets don't come.
On to the 2nd test.

Some pretty controversial comments there.
We are in a different world. No way can we stop Root playing one day cricket . The same player who has just won the World Cup?