1st Test England v India

[Midlands Yellow 3,519]

0/1 England 1st over. 

[horsefly 4,054]

Jeez! Burns has probably got enough runs in the past to warrant further opportunities, but Sibley must surely have reached his use by date.

[king canary 6,865]

Sibley, on paper, should be just what we need- a grinder who digs in and isn't interested in playing big shots, happy to score slowly. However, even when he is in for 40/50 balls he often seems to have got there by pure dumb luck rather than any actual ability. 

[king canary 6,865]

Lovely to see Root looking like he's coming back into form. No idea how Bairstow is back in the team, he is just not a red ball player at this point. 

[king canary 6,865]

Dreadful, dreadful innings. I don't see a way for this team to compete when the batting is just so weak. 

Edited August 4, 2021 by king canary

[keelansgrandad 6,678]

About time they brought Hales back into the fold.

Sibley is alright at County level but the good bowlers find him out.

Like Sibley, Burns has the most bizarre set up and not fit for Test cricket.

I think Crawley has the makings and needs a bit more chance to bat when the score is 100 for 1 instead of 0 for 1.

[keelansgrandad 6,678]

About time they brought Hales back into the fold.

Sibley is alright at County level but the good bowlers find him out.

Like Sibley, Burns has the most bizarre set up and not fit for Test cricket.

I think Crawley has the makings and needs a bit more chance to bat when the score is 100 for 1 instead of 0 for 1.

[Aggy 724]

Said it during the earlier tests that the openers just aren’t good enough. There might not be many other options but just whack anyone in, can’t be any worse and might be better. 

Crawley we keep saying has potential but he needs to show it. 25 innings, 4 fifties, 1 hundred. Averaging 29. Take out his 267 vs Pakistan last year and he has 464 runs in 24 innings at an average of 19.

Basically reliant on Root and (when he’s back) Stokes scoring big to get close to being competitive. 

[Aggy 724]

1 hour ago, king canary said:

Lovely to see Root looking like he's coming back into form. No idea how Bairstow is back in the team, he is just not a red ball player at this point. 

And yet second highest scorer! Has to come a point we just whack Bairstow and Buttler in opening. Let them slog a bit. Get a quick 70 between them or get out for nothing and be no worse off than if we’d gone in with Burns and Sibley anyway.

[keelansgrandad 6,678]

3 hours ago, Aggy said:

And yet second highest scorer! Has to come a point we just whack Bairstow and Buttler in opening. Let them slog a bit. Get a quick 70 between them or get out for nothing and be no worse off than if we’d gone in with Burns and Sibley anyway.

I think our thought is still that the openers should wear down the opening bowlers rather than batting them out of the way.

Burns and Sibley prodding around just isn't the way to go.

One wonders why we can score 350 for 5 in 50 overs but can't make 200 in nearly 70. Of course the fields are different but its still bat on ball.

[Herman 8,969]

That was an exciting session for a short while.

[king canary 6,865]

On 04/08/2021 at 17:50, Aggy said:

And yet second highest scorer! Has to come a point we just whack Bairstow and Buttler in opening. Let them slog a bit. Get a quick 70 between them or get out for nothing and be no worse off than if we’d gone in with Burns and Sibley anyway.

I think thats a touch harsh on Burns who I think is OK  at this level but the issue is there doesn't seem to be much coming through the county game- every discussion seems to involve rolling things back and bringing back players who've been tried and failed.

[Feedthewolf 4,350]

5 hours ago, king canary said:

I think thats a touch harsh on Burns who I think is OK  at this level but the issue is there doesn't seem to be much coming through the county game- every discussion seems to involve rolling things back and bringing back players who've been tried and failed.

I still have very high hopes for Haseeb Hameed. He looked phenomenal when he was 18/19, but then his form totally fell off a cliff. He's back to something like his best now, and has got to be worth a chance ahead of Sibley.

I agree Sibley isn't great, but I strongly disagree that we should put Buttler and Bairstow at the top of the order. The job of the opening batsmen (or at least the anchor) is to occupy the crease and take the shine off the ball for the middle order to exploit. Look at what happened when we tried Roy opening... lots of expansive shots and dumb wickets given away, exposing Root et al to a shiny, swinging ball.

Me, I couldn't give a toss if we're scoring at under two an over in the first session as long as we get to lunch without too much damage done. It's a five-day game, and due to the rise and rise of limited-overs cricket, players like Sibley and Hameed are becoming rarer and rarer. We need at least one player who's determined to play Atherton-esque vigils; there are runs everywhere else you look in the order.

Slow down, chill out, take your time. If you get out to an absolute jaffer in the first few overs, that's life. Opening the batting should be a selfless and patient role. Rant over.

Edited August 6, 2021 by Feedthewolf

[Midlands Yellow 3,519]

Sibley starting to punish the Indian attack (27 already off 116 balls) Chris Tavare reckons he could be near the 50s by the close of play. 

[keelansgrandad 6,678]

40 minutes ago, Midlands Yellow said:

Sibley starting to punish the Indian attack (27 already off 116 balls) Chris Tavare reckons he could be near the 50s by the close of play. 

Root makes it look easy, Sibley makes it look, er, um, ah . . .

[Bill 1,788]

1 hour ago, Midlands Yellow said:

Sibley starting to punish the Indian attack (27 already off 116 balls) Chris Tavare reckons he could be near the 50s by the close of play. 

he managed another run (28)

currently a lead of 76 with 7 more to bat

need to see out the day

[How I Wrote Elastic Man 1,130]

Need a couple of early wickets in the morning 

[king canary 6,865]

Bailed out by the rain in the end.

We were lucky Root is in form or that would have been a massacre. 

Main positive was that Robinson looks at home. Really no idea how we sort the top order batting though. 

[Aggy 724]

3 hours ago, king canary said:

Really no idea how we sort the top order batting though. 

Fill it with bowlers so we’ve got more chance of getting the opposition out for however many Root gets.

[keelansgrandad 6,678]

Hameed, Bairstow, Malan, Root, Pope, Butler, Curran, Robinson, Leach, Broad, Anderson

[king canary 6,865]

24 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said:

Hameed, Bairstow, Malan, Root, Pope, Butler, Curran, Robinson, Leach, Broad, Anderson

Interesting line up but goes back to my point that all we seem to have as options are going to be people who've failed in the past. 

[How I Wrote Elastic Man 1,130]

For those of you who enjoy a good collapse 

As long as it isn't England

[Van wink 2,994]

Lords a picture this afternoon 

[Van wink 2,994]

Just wondering when the collapse will begin

[horsefly 4,054]

42 minutes ago, Van wink said:

Just wondering when the collapse will begin

Well done!!!

[Van wink 2,994]

Almost inevitable 

[Herman 8,969]

I started getting into cricket around the late 90s. This team reminds me of that era. 

[keelansgrandad 6,678]

1 hour ago, Van wink said:

Just wondering when the collapse will begin

1 hour ago, Van wink said:

Just wondering when the collapse will begin

Sibley pokes and prods about for an hour and when he gets a ball to punish he hits it straight to a fielder. He is not a Test Match opener.

And the next one was just a straight one. Joe Root might as well sit by the boundary rope at the start of an England Innings. If at 4th he is in early every time.

Why have two openers who poke and prod. Get Hales in. At least he is aggressive.

 

[keelansgrandad 6,678]

Burns stance is more like a batter at Baseball than Cricket.

Have you seen the ticket prices at Lords? Ridiculous.

Edited August 13, 2021 by keelansgrandad

[Aggy 724]

18 hours ago, keelansgrandad said:

Sibley pokes and prods about for an hour and when he gets a ball to punish he hits it straight to a fielder. He is not a Test Match opener.

And the next one was just a straight one. Joe Root might as well sit by the boundary rope at the start of an England Innings. If at 4th he is in early every time.

Why have two openers who poke and prod. Get Hales in. At least he is aggressive.

 

I’d be interested to know what percentage of shots Sibley plays and misses. If he was poking and prodding, looking solid and comfortable, ticking things over I wouldn’t mind. But he’s just out of his depth. Reminds me of once when a side I was playing roped in a South African pro who ended up with figures of something ridiculous like 7-8 (they forced him to keep wicket when we played them in the return at their place to make a game of it). 

Burns I don’t rate either as above, but once he’s in he at least has a couple of shots. If he could rotate the strike better earlier on, and had someone down the other end who could do likewise, then he might be an alright option. The two of them together is woeful though.