soulhalshall
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Post by soulhalshall on Dec 26, 2021 3:07:04 GMT
BT Sport now have their own commentators it seems, including David Gower, although they don't appear to have the sound and pictures quite matched up, that the sound is very slightly ahead of where it should be. Anyway, familiar content even if the line up has changed.
Our mentality is so badly off. All the talk about leaving and playing smart and we throw wickets away. Hameed and Crawley failed but maybe we can't expect much. Root/Malan, Root/Stokes, Stokes/Bairstow had all begun to build and be patient and then Root and Stokes especially threw their wickets away. Maybe they weren't rotating the strike enough for their own liking but they were making the Australians think more and then they play these loose shots.
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Post by jonmacartney on Dec 26, 2021 21:20:15 GMT
Indeed. Despite all the rhetoric, press repeat!
I'm pretty fed up. It all seems patently obvious but the dominance of white ball dollars has effectively disempowered the red ball game at the highest level. I enjoy the white ball stuff but nothing compares to the nuance and engagement of the long format for me.
I can't see things changing, which is what depresses me. We have singularly failed to put the Aussies under any meaningful pressure for the whole series - and I think they would be susceptible to pressure - as the Indians showed last year.
No chance playing catch up in Australia. But I'll still tune in tonight. No doubt by the morning we'll have senior players rolled out telling us all we need to do is bat big in the 2nd innings to make up the 250 run disadvantage, disingenuously suggesting that somehow the fact we haven't made any runs to date is somehow irrelevant.
Ho Hum.
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imp566
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Post by imp566 on Dec 26, 2021 22:08:58 GMT
Indeed. Despite all the rhetoric, press repeat! I'm pretty fed up. It all seems patently obvious but the dominance of white ball dollars has effectively disempowered the red ball game at the highest level. I enjoy the white ball stuff but nothing compares to the nuance and engagement of the long format for me. I can't see things changing, which is what depresses me. We have singularly failed to put the Aussies under any meaningful pressure for the whole series - and I think they would be susceptible to pressure - as the Indians showed last year. No chance playing catch up in Australia. But I'll still tune in tonight. No doubt by the morning we'll have senior players rolled out telling us all we need to do is bat big in the 2nd innings to make up the 250 run disadvantage, disingenuously suggesting that somehow the fact we haven't made any runs to date is somehow irrelevant. Ho Hum. So agree with your thoughts.
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Post by jonmacartney on Dec 27, 2021 9:06:10 GMT
Thanks Imp - seems a shame the powers that be don't share our views!
We bowled well - poor sods, working their socks off only to see the batsmen do what they do - albeit the Aussie bowling (and atmosphere) was intense.
If Root gets out early tonight / tomorrow I'm fearing an innings defeat - to a team scoring 267! Is that possible? Surely we'll avoid that? Surely.......
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imp566
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Post by imp566 on Dec 27, 2021 14:15:20 GMT
Look on the bright side. We have 4 front line batsmen left, plus some tail enders who can wield the willow. 50 each from the batsmen and another 20-30 from the tail could set a challenging target.
Who am I kidding?
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soulhalshall
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Post by soulhalshall on Dec 27, 2021 15:29:15 GMT
The way Stokes has played this series, I can't see him digging in. Can't see him as captain material either. Remember how we moaned about the slow run accumulation of players like Cook and Trott. How we could do with that now. We longed at times for Cook to move faster, be more daring (though maybe some of the flak came because he wasn't a daring captain) but it's a be careful what you wish for situation isn't it; for various reasons we now have a middle order who are excellent in ODIs, fearless stroke players who are unsuited to the demands of the Test match. Labuschagne has showed that it's not a completely dying art.
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imp566
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Post by imp566 on Dec 28, 2021 21:58:53 GMT
There we go, all over, the fat lady is singing.
If any good is to come out of this series, it should be a root and branch audit and review of the way cricket is run in our country. We are paying the price for prioritising the white ball game. The Counties are worried about income diminishing, which is true. The 4 day game, which is the breeding ground for test match players, is not commercially attractive. No one attends most of those games. Consequently, it has been split into divisions, with less games being played and used as a bookend to the season, offering no opportunity to players with the potential to play in the Test Match team the opportunity to practice the art, when they may be needed to bolster the squad playing in that summer's matches.
Our test team is packed with players who shine in the white ball game and try to take the Eoin Morgan mentality of hit the ball as high and as far as they can to the much more demanding test arena. I am full of praise for the way the one day team has progressed under Morgan, but it has to be recognised that a good one day batsman doesn't equate to being a good (or even average) test player.
The time has come to return to focusing on developing players who can play a test match innings which lasts more than 10 overs. Sadly, I think the money men would rather count the pennies that the Hundred and 20/20 competitions offer. Test cricket seems to be the allowable sacrifice I'm afraid.
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soulhalshall
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Post by soulhalshall on Dec 31, 2021 1:05:02 GMT
Not sure what's next or if the ECB can be trusted to make the best decisions for all forms of the game. Despite the miserable performance, I have sort of enjoyed watching the series. I haven't watched so many balls of a Test series for years and this has reinforced my appreciation of the format, particularly the mental/tactical battle.
I don't know who the next captain or coach should be. I'd be tempted to ask Moeen (34) or Morgan (35) to come in to captain for a couple of years, though they'd not necessarily be interested.
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soulhalshall
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Post by soulhalshall on Jan 6, 2022 3:13:18 GMT
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Post by jonmacartney on Jan 16, 2022 19:10:43 GMT
And so, after a brief flicker of an opening partnership, it all ends in depressingly familiar fashion. I suppose at least Root did get an absolute beast of a delivery.
So, do we believe the radical review of the red ball game will happen? And if so, will anything change? Obviously the fact that the head honchos are more or less the same as when the last one was undertaken and they creatively decided that the best approach was to further sideline the four day game and introduce a new whiz-bang ("don't call them overs as that's confusing, but we'll still have clear as mud field position names - silly mid-off or backward point anyone?" decimal game a whole 20 balls shorter than the previous whiz-bang version, inspires my absolute confidence!
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soulhalshall
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Post by soulhalshall on Jan 17, 2022 17:22:02 GMT
Not sure what to think really or what the answers are. I would get rid of Giles and Silverwood to begin with, and Jon Lewis and Graham Thorpe (unfortunately, as I was a great fan of his during his playing career) should be under threat as well.
Ex-players can't seem to decide exactly what the problems are. Something to do with county cricket, something with availability, something to do with players picked early for the England set-up going backwards.
I enjoyed the spectacle in general if not our performance.
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