England summer thread - 2018

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

First topic message reminder :

First test squad is announced next week, and the rumour is Nick Gubbins will be selected to open, and this would be the prospective team...

Cook
Gubbins
Root
Malan
Stokes
Bairstow
Livingstone
Woakes/Wood
Broad
Leach
Anderson

With James Vince as 12th man

What do we reckon?

[robbo277]

So with Pakistan just 100 behind and 9 wickets to go, how much of a deficit should we be aiming for? Within 50? Surely a deficit of 100 would be too much without an established test spinner.

[Gooseberry]

Kp....Ed Smith and Bayliss have both long backed Butler as a test bat. They wanted him in before his remarkable performances in this year's IPL.
Many of us disagree with their theory and this decision even in light of his recent form and the struggles of other batsmen, but it's wrong to suggest the decision was solely down to his IPL form.
That said the candidates to take his other spot would have been pretty limited too. As its theres two other specialist bats who are not looking uo to test standard....ones behind them are hardly likley to be Kholis.
Butter is the sort of player who's at least confident and inspires that feeling in others, which is something England desperately need and seem to have bags of in the shorter formats. In theory he does bring more to the team than his batting (and fielding )
But ultimately he's not a proper test batsman and to me his selection shows just how much the quality of County cricket has eroded over the past decade. The two division system was a sticking plaster but we are bleeding through ithe and the test team is continuing to decline as genuinely good players are harder and harder to find.

[Duty281]

Really enjoying watching these two bat. Proper Test match stuff: defensive and watchful for the most part, but more than willing to crucify the bad delivery.

Very poor from England. Just can't get the lengths right, and there's absolutely no energy or positiveness in the field. Anderson very disappointing. Now it seems England are going to bowl it short with a leg slip.

Root is making a right horlicks of being captain. Might not even last the summer...

[Duty281]

Beauty from Mark Wood, and England have one. He deserves that after last night!

[robbo277]

Kp....Ed Smith and Bayliss have both long backed Butler as a test bat. They wanted him in before his remarkable performances in this year's IPL.
Many of us disagree with their theory and this decision even in light of his recent form and the struggles of other batsmen, but it's wrong to suggest the decision was solely down to his IPL form.
That said the candidates to take his other spot would have been pretty limited too. As its theres two other specialist bats who are not looking uo to test standard....ones behind them are hardly likley to be Kholis.
Butter is the sort of player who's at least confident and inspires that feeling in others, which is something England desperately need and seem to have bags of in the shorter formats. In theory he does bring more to the team than his batting (and fielding )
But ultimately he's not a proper test batsman and to me his selection shows just how much the quality of County cricket has eroded over the past decade. The two division system was a sticking plaster but we are bleeding through ithe and the test team is continuing to decline as genuinely good players are harder and harder to find.

Would strongly agree with this bit. Talk about the players selected can only be in the context of those players not selected, and there's no-one outside the squad who is a properly baffling omission.

If these are the best players we have (and they probably by-and-large are), and most of them have proved they can play internationally (either with past test performances or one day performances) then the issues are probably with the leadership and the direction.

Again, we have top 7 batsmen throwing away their wickets. Is it still the case that they don't get criticised because it's their "natural game", and the coaches trust that when they come off they'll score big? Because now we've gone too far that way and we need players who will play the bowlers, the conditions and the match situation. Not players who will have a quick look then start swinging regardless.

Direction and coaching must be two huge things for England. The batsmen don't play patiently and get themselves out. The bowlers also don't seem to have the patience to play like Pakistan did yesterday. By all accounts they put the ball in the right areas and waited for the rewards. Just read on the BBC text commentary that Mark Wood is now banging in bouncers with a short-leg in place, because not much else is happening.

[Duty281]

Big wicket as Anderson captures Azhar Ali LBW.

Pendulum shifting back to England...

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Dead plumb LBW from Anderson gets the big wicket of Azhar. England just about hanging on in there in terms of the match

[Duty281]

An even first session then, with England ending it on top. They'll be delighted to have removed the two overnight batsmen, especially Ali who looked like he was set to go long. Pakistan have kept the score ticking, though, and their swift running has been a highlight.

Overall, Pakistan are, of course, still ahead. If they successfully bat out today - which they're still on track to - they'll have a 100+ first innings lead.

And Pakistan shouldn't aim to hit Bess out of the attack. Keep him on, as he's no threat! Just nudge him for a couple of singles every over.

[Gooseberry]

Disagree about hitting Bess, the only way Pakistan lose this test is chucking wickets away. They've batted with real patience and worked for their runs, proper test batting. There's not such demons in the pitch or a signs that it will deteriorate to the point where every ball is a danger. Just keep ticking over and make England take the risks.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Babar dropped on 10, looking costly, he scores quickly, and the game could be out of England's reach soon

[Duty281]

Good brisk partnership of 50 at just over 3.5 an over. It was a sharp chance missed by Cook, but the sort of chance that Pakistan were taking yesterday.

England just wasted a review.

[Duty281]

46/0 = perfect hour for Pakistan.

[Gooseberry]

This is a real demonstration in how to play a test innings by Pakistan. A little bit of acceleration as the ball ages and the bowlers tire without undue risk taking. Made easier of course because England dont have a test class spinner to turn to but you have to be impressed by the way theyve gone about it. Really Pakistan only have two proven quality test bats in this line up; of the wickets taken one was 22 year old opener on test debut with a first class average in the mid 30s.  
The new ball should give England a sniff of getting this back toward a manageable decifit, but by the tiume it comes around Broad and Anderson will be at the end of a long day with a heavy load.

[Duty281]

Another chance dropped. Another difficult one, but that's three spilled in total now, I believe.

Ah, it doesn't matter much. Good lifter from Stokes. Four down.

[guildfordbat]

I heard Nasser Hussain saying at lunch today that Pakistan were ahead as they had given ''a more disciplined performance''. From what I've watched on tv (more yesterday than today), a friend I chatted to last night who was at Lord's for the first day and the posts above, that seems spot on.

[Duty281]

So another two wicket session, then - Pakistan starting well and then England finishing the stronger.

Utterly stupid batting from Sarfraz.

Three of Pakistan's batsmen have made good starts, but failed to kick on to a big score; will be interesting to see if Babar can make the first century of the summer.

New ball upon resumption. England need quick wickets. Pakistan want another 100+ runs.

[robbo277]

England have got a bit of a bonus as they were trying to work to the new ball with firstly the Shafiq wicket and especially the Sarfaz wicket. They can't afford to waste the new ball now.

[Duty281]

Unfortunate for Babar as he had to retire hurt.

Runs still flowing, however, and (for now) the wickets aren't coming.

Lead up to 84.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Another drop, Bairstow bizarrely not diving and the ball goes to the right hand of first slip - had to be the keepers catch that, and England miss yet another chance

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

And now Cook drops Shadab next over, regulation catch - smattering of boos around Lords as they see the replay! That was a shameful drop

[Duty281]

Bairstow's missed one, now Cook has missed the easiest chance he'll get all summer. Ghastly stuff.

Lead at 124. Runs flowing. Pakistan probably looking at a 200+ lead.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

I make that 6 chances dropped by England now

[VTR]

Absolute awful again. Now eight matches in a row of nearly wall to wall rubbish. Bayliss needs to be taken a long way from the Test team. That would be a start. Stop picking Wood, the wicketless wonder. Packing the batting was a pathetic failure as well

[Duty281]

Another sharp chance missed. Lead about to surpass 150.

6 Pakistani batsmen have made 37 or more; contrast that to England's 2!

[Gooseberry]

Another sharp chance missed. Lead about to surpass 150.

6 Pakistani batsmen have made 37 or more; contrast that to England's 2!

Yeah all the talk of daddy hundreds and critising Root for "only" making 90s is put into perspective here. its not much use if your players struggle to make 30's. Pakistan arent blessed with many stars and have a tail as long as Englands, but as a team have really knuckled down and grafted out runs. Sure theres been some help by dodgy fielding but even with the easier chances taken youd given them a lead of 100.
As it is the leads going to be over 150 even with a mid order player retired.

[Duty281]

The final bit of bad news for England as Amir and Abbas survive to stumps. Maybe Babar will return tomorrow, and Pakistan will have a little dart and add another 20-30 to the total?

300 for the day and it's a formidable lead. I've properly appreciated the effort and enthusiasm Pakistan have put into this game - England? Less so.

[VTR]

England are giving Pakistan less of a game than Ireland did. A truly abject display so far. Think an innings defeat could be on the cards. Unless of course Buttler can play one of his great IPL innings to save the day. Oh hang on the boundaries are more than twenty metres from the wicket, and that's not an Indian medium pacer running in

[robbo277]

There's so much time left in the game, even with rain forecast for Sunday England have a long way to go to save this test match.

England trail by 166, so by the time they've snuffed out the last wickets and add on whatever Pakistan might make while they do that, England will take to around tea to wipe out the arrears. The real game will depend on whether they have players knuckling in and we get parity 2 or 3 down or whether we have a thrash at everything and get parity slightly earlier but 6 or 7 down.

If we could finish the day around 90 up and 4 down, we'd be in a decent position, so one good day could get us back in this test. But we're talking one (or two) quick wickets then a very good batting day going something like 260-4. This would leave us able to push on to set a total on Sunday or, if the rain comes down as predicted we would probably end up with a draw. If we end up 120 up and 7 down, even if Sunday gets rained out, Pakistan would fancy 3 wickets in the first session on Monday and then a chance to chase whatever total we have in 2 sessions.

I know we want to play "positive" cricket, but we need to put a high value on our wickets. There's so much time left in the game - even with the forecast on Sunday. We can't blast our way out of trouble, an extra 30/40 runs we could score tomorrow won't be worth sacrificing a few valuable wickets to get them.

It starts at the top, and we need to see two decent partnerships for 1st and 2nd wicket. If Malan is walking out with less than 100 on the board, I think Pakistan will smell blood and we'll struggle. If we can get into positive ground before Bairstow and Stokes come out, I think those players with a bit more freedom might be able to make things difficult for Pakistan, especially if they've toiled for 60 overs for scant reward.

[KP_fan]

--The first thing I noted yesterday in my observatios note, that this pak side has balance thru their 2 bowling allrounders & a batsman WK
Those two bowling all-rounders from Nos 7 & 8 added 100 runs

--Pak has found some hardworking stable test match batsmen after the retirement of Yonis & Misbah....Azhar & Asad are lynch-pins...Babar and Sohail outperformed expectations and are responsible for taking them well past the 100 lead that I thought was max possible.

From the pain it seems Babar broke his wrist and that means he's out for the rest of series
He should bat with painkillers, cushions and try & get them past 200..and put the game beyond Eng & then he won't need to bat in last inning

--As I noticed in NZ and now here, Mark wood is a wrong bowler for seaming pitches in spite of his 90mph pace...you could also say he bowls wrong length...i.e too short for seam friendly pitches.

Stokes showed how to use short one as a surprise one, interspersed with fuller and length balls
and his short ones were just short of length  made  to rise using extra shoulder & not dug in half way like Wood

Wood is more suited and was missed on Ind / Aus pitches

Anderson also could get a few to rise from just short of the length

--Bess ...we saw him bowl longer spell....and these days only 3 types types of spinners last in tests
ones who can spin both ways or one who have extra rip / flight...or those who are average spinners but can bat
He's  none of these categories.......He's an honest trier ( a polite euphemism lest someone gets offended   )

Moeen will be back against Ind I am sure, he's the best spinning-batting package Eng has

[Duty281]

The question is, essentially, can England bat 120 overs? That should give them a lead of 200, which should be enough to win.

But my answer to the question is a resounding 'no'. Three of the top six don't have a first-class average of 40. Buttler is a joke selection; hasn't played first-class cricket since September. Then you've got the very long tail. Add in the ability of the Pakistani seamers, lack of grit, and Root being out of form, and you'll see how very adrift England are from winning this one.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Babar Azam has a fractured wrist and will miss the rest of the tour and match - a glimmer of hope for England, one less wicket they have to take if they do manage to somehow muster a lead of 150-200

[JDizzle]

--Bess ...we saw him bowl longer spell....and these days only 3 types types of spinners last in tests
ones who can spin both ways or one who have extra rip / flight...or those who are average spinners but can bat
He's  none of these categories.......He's an honest trier ( a polite euphemism lest someone gets offended   )

Moeen will be back against Ind I am sure, he's the best spinning-batting package Eng has

At least 17 overs is a decent bowl to make some observations, rather than writing a 20 year old spinner off six balls into his Test career!

[sirfredperry]

Have been at Lord's for the first two days. England have been thoroughly outplayed - and by a young, inexperienced team. It's like a throwback to the bad old days of the 80s and 90s.
Usual mid-Test guff about how England are "still in the match and if we make 400, blah, blah, blah" - this time from Bairstow. Truth is, England are stuffed and it could be all over today (Saturday).

[guildfordbat]

Have been at Lord's for the first two days. England have been thoroughly outplayed - and by a young, inexperienced team. It's like a throwback to the bad old days of the 80s and 90s.
  Usual mid-Test guff about how England are "still in the match and if we make 400, blah, blah, blah" - this time from Bairstow. Truth is, England are stuffed and it could be all over today (Saturday).

I hadn't actually thought about this Test being over today but atm it is a possibility. If we replicate our first innings, it certainly will be.

[Duty281]

Pakistan have added a few, and England have lost both openers before lunch.

Could be done by tonight.

[robbo277]

Not the ideal first session for England, but decent since lunch. Listening on TMS now, it sounds like Root is looking good but Malan is getting bogged down a bit and isn't finding the singles.

At drinks:
Root 60 off 107
Malan 12 off 48
England 91-2

Still 88 behind. And as I type, Malan is gone. 91-3.

Even if we got to parity 3 down now, we'd still need another couple of partnerships to give ourselves a defendable score. So much rests on Root and Bairstow now.

[robbo277]

Bairstow bowled as I press send. 91-4. Would take something miraculous here.

[Nathaniel Jacobs]

Disappointing effort around in this match

[eirebilly]

England are not in a great position but they can still turn this around.

[eirebilly]

Well they cannot turn it around now...

[Nathaniel Jacobs]

Young Joe's conversion rate really leaves a lot to be desired. 13 centuries and 40 fifties.

You see the like of Kohli and Smith whom get hundre after hundred

[robbo277]

60 overs gone. 166-6 and 13 short of making Pakistan bat again, and about 50% of the total we need to have a half-decent score to bowl against. It's really not looking good. Buttler and Bess have put on over 50 together, but can they put on another 100? There's not that much behind them.

[TRUSSMAN66]

If England were to win this game it would certainly make a lot of money for some people looking at the odds against at the last break....

[eirebilly]

Fair dues to Buttler and Bess here, they are showing some good fight.

[robbo277]

Fair dues to Buttler and Bess here, they are showing some good fight.

They are, it's a shame it took until the 16th wicket until we put together a worthwhile partnership (60 was the best partnership before this). You feel if Pakistan open an end, especially with the new ball, they could go 9/10/11 quite quickly and they'd be chasing (at the moment) 60-odd. These two still have work to do if England are going to get anything out of this; build the lead, continue to tire and demoralise the bowlers and see off the new ball. But whatever the result for England, the two of them can be proud of this partnership.

[eirebilly]

100% they can be proud robbo. I have been very impressed with the composure of these two.

Scary thing is, they might see out the day but will face the new ball straight away tomorrow with a fresh Pakistan attack.

[CaledonianCraig]

Well done to Bess and Buttler. England get through to close on 235 for 6. Both with half centuries and a partnership of 124. England lead by 56 but you'd still make Pakistan warm favourites to win the test. As for England well Stoneman you'd feel is on the brink of the axe and Malan needs a big score and fast. The batting line-up is just not cutting it.

[robbo277]

100% they can be proud robbo. I have been very impressed with the composure of these two.

Scary thing is, they might see out the day but will face the new ball straight away tomorrow with a fresh Pakistan attack.

Yep, it's not going to be easy and then all the work they did today could still leave us defending not much more than 60. If these two are there after an hour though, Pakistan will start getting twitchy, and it will also help Broad and co out no end.

[Duty281]

Great fightback from Buttler and Bess. Given England a slither of a chance and, at the very least, some pride. Feels like a very similar test to the Ireland-Pakistan one.

You’d expect the new ball to defeat the English lower order tomorrow, but if the hosts can just add 100 runs, it gets interesting.

[robbo277]

Great fightback from Buttler and Bess. Given England a slither of a chance and, at the very least, some pride. Feels like a very similar test to the Ireland-Pakistan one.

You’d expect the new ball to defeat the English lower order tomorrow, but if the hosts can just add 100 runs, it gets interesting.

Let's say we do - Pakistan chasing 150. Who do you make favourites? The pitch isn't turning loads and we have a 20 year old off-spinner on debut. Will Bess step up again? Do we have the pace attack to blast Pakistan out on this pitch?

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