England's Summer of Cricket 2022 as Joe Root Steps Down

First topic message reminder :

Duty281 wrote:What do we think of the future of ODI cricket as a whole, because its demise is once again being discussed?

Wasim Akram thinks ODI cricket should be put out of its misery; Mark Ramprakash says that Stokes' ODI retirement could be the beginning of the end for ODI cricket; but Ravi Shastri says there should be fewer T20Is.

My view is that ODI cricket should stay, and it's T20i cricket that should be abolished. T20 should remain franchise/domestic only. No need for a T20 World Cup when the IPL and such exists. If T20i cricket does stay, I think there should be no three format players, only two formats maximum. I'd be very disappointed if 50-over cricket died on an international basis.  

No format will die as long as they are generating revenues.
And much as I used to call them Meaningless-Masala-ODIs, these games as well as meaningless T20Is generate more revenue then tests.
Instead of 5 to 7 ODIs per series earlier...now limited over series comprise of 3+3.
Test Matches, "The Premium Form" of the game per purists ( including me) is still the commercially subsidized format of the game.
Now the defeats in ODIs/T20Is don't hurt as much, nor are wins remembered for long, only World Cups stay in memory.
But the international games generate high viewership rating & expensive advertisements (atleast on Indian TV)

As I wrote on the Ind-WI thread, the Indians have stopped complaining about too much cricket.
BCCI has found peace by putting out as many as 2 and a half to 3 squads now...call them Senior (or premium) and A and B squads for international games.
Ensuring prime stars get plenty of rest / rotation......and the pool of contracted players gets bigger and everyone gets full contracted fee, playing lesser games
Recently we have seen 2 Indian series running concurrently and twice VVSL has been India's national coach for a series when Dravid was with another Indian squad at the same time in another series.

If a marquee player Stokes was under BCCI management.....BCCI would have NEVER let him retire, would have done a sweet deal with him guaranteeing his workload across formats and asking him to appear for a very limited number of ODIs and T20Is and also letting him skip B grade test series.

No format will die since even these meaningless ODI&T20Is are indeed generating revenues, that are essential to subsidize tests and pump into FC, junior and women cricket development

One might actually say that the white ball squad peaked in 2019 and in fact the WC came just in time... OK they hadn't then had Archer for long so the bowling was right at its top - but as soon as Plunkett left the picture that part of their game started to decline (not sure his importance in the WC was ever fully recognised in the wider community - though the wise people on here were aware !)
Didn't mean they went into rapid decline : but they didn't get any better. The stars continued to do what they had - until injuries hobbled several of the bowlers ; but Morgan was clearly past his peak , just as Roy looks to be now. And what new blood has really arrived to boost them ? Livingstone can hit spectacularly but often falls short of delivering the serious innings required ; Malan is generally good in t20 but probably not going to replace Root in the longer version - from which Stokes has now gone. And if as Duty fears , Rashid is going to be less reliable ,  the fact that he remains irreplaceable is going to hurt...
Topley does look to be a serious gain in the bowling so that is something. But it is probably fair to say a lot currently depends on Buttler , Bairstow , Moeen - and Root in the 50 overs stuff.

The age factor is pertinent ; but I can't really agree , JD , that deliberately culling some to bring in youth would have been a good idea : same as the Tests , surely ? Play the best team rather than always planning for the future ?  I do think they could and should have used more of the less important games to trial alternates though - would have been happy to make room for Salt and Brooks over the last few weeks , for example. I do accept it is a juggling act.

Can they strike a blow in Australia ? Or reinvigorate for the 2023 WC ? Think the former will need everything to go right ... and the latter might require absent friends to return plus one or more new faces to force themselves in.

Have to wonder if they aren't just a bit too committed to the established faces - hence why Roy still seems to be a fixture ?

alfie wrote:

The age factor is pertinent ; but I can't really agree , JD , that deliberately culling some to bring in youth would have been a good idea : same as the Tests , surely ? Play the best team rather than always planning for the future ?  I do think they could and should have used some of the less important games to trial alternates though - would have been happy to make room for Salt and Brooks over the last few weeks , for example. I do accept it is a juggling act.

Can they strike a blow in Australia ? Or reinvigorate for the 2023 WC ? Think the former will need everything to go right ... and the latter might require absent friends to return plus one or more new faces to force themselves in.

Have to wonder if they aren't just a bit too committed to the established faces - hence why Roy still seems to be a fixture ?

It’s a valid point - and one I was banging the drum for when YJB was in line for a recall to the Tests in Aus, and now Burns in for Crawley. The one difference I would say is the relative strengths of the two teams. The Test side can’t really afford to carry someone whilst they find their feet - they needed instant runs to help Root out! Whereas the ODI side was so good (particularly batting wise) they could have invested in one or two younger players and remained super competitive.

The other difference being you having a very defined end goal in ODIs which is to win the WC. Whereas you don’t have this in Tests yet, you have to win every game to try and win the the WTC. From reading some of Nathan Leamon’s stuff, they massively value experience. They think ODI WC winning teams always have stacks of caps - doesn’t make sense to me, they have loads of caps because they are good, they aren’t good because they have loads of caps. But if that is their view, they kind of needed to make that call in 2019 (a la Plunkett) if they didn’t think someone would make 2023. And it is very much hindsight from me! As I wasn’t calling for it then and why I agree with you and think Roy is locked in (unless he completely falls off a cliff) till this year’s T20 WC.

The other thing that has hurt them is the proliferation of WCs. First it was keep this white ball group together till the 2020 T20 WC, which became the 2021 T20 WC due to Covid. And now there is another one this year, followed by the ODI WC in 2023! No time to breath!

Happy 40th to James Anderson today.

Since the 1st January 2014, Anderson has taken 317 wickets at an average of 21.8, with 17 five-wicket hauls. Phenomenal player.

Looks like England are heading for another defeat. Roy with another painful innings of 17 off 18 (no boundaries) before being dismissed.

90-run thrashing in the end. Concludes a disappointing limited-overs summer for England:

Lost the T20 and ODI series to India, both by 2-1; Drew the ODI series to SA 1-1; Lost the T20 series to SA 2-1. Did beat the Dutch 3-0, but that was barely a contest.

Three tests to round off the international summer, starting on the 17th August.

Rubbish again, Roy and Livingstone in particular are a waste of their places at the moment

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

VTR wrote:Was terrible from Roy, used almost 4 overs to score a whole 20 runs. Put pressure on others to take risks which may have contributed to their dismissals. Clear man of the match for South Africa!

Exactly - his role is the "dasher" type at  the start of the innings, but with him struggling it's seemed like Buttler has tried to take it on...and done ok at it, but he's much better in the "anchor" type role of the opening pair - of course Buttler isn't your traditional strike rate of 120 "anchor", more of a modern one who does it at 140/150 cos he's a freak of a white ball bat...but he has been better for England and Rajasthan when he's been able to get an over or two to get his eye in, not having to worry about quick runs as that's the role of his opening partner.

And in the past, when Roy has been out of nick at least he's been quick about hitting a boundary or two and getting out - not what he's doing now, chewing up deliveries!

I am once again asking England to stop going with the bowler heavy strategy when they have rubbish bowlers

If so many bowlers are still injured for the World T20 I'd guess England will try to go back towards batting very deep.

1.Buttler 2.Roy/Salt 3.Malan 4.Bairstow 5.Stokes 6.Livingstone 7.Moeen 8.Surran 9.Woakes/Jordan/Willey 10.Rashid 11.Topley

Death bowling would be a huge concern but realistically it will be anyway if Jof is out. We might as well bat right down if the bowling wont be a strong suit.

It's a different story if Jof and one of Wood or Stone are fit in Aussie conditions. Ideally I'd like Jof plus one from those three. Then I'd be happier with the bowler heavy approach. That injury fortune feels unlikely though sadly.

A big boost for England is that our batting line-up should largely like the conditions in Australia. Malan especially prefers pace but Buttler is fantastic against it, Livingstone strikes very well against pace, Roy (if still there...) starts well against it and if not Salt has a great SR in the BBL.

Hypothetically if Roy is dropped and Bairstow were to move back to opening could Root get a look in? I've long mused on here that Root could be a brilliant T20 player with more opportunity.

You couldn't play Malan and Root at 3 and 4 in the same T20 side imo - if Roy was to be dropped, I think their best option for Australia might be moving Bairstow to open, and then Brook in at 4 (his slot for Yorks/franchises). I think he's probably a better player than Salt

Of course the right move would be to accept it is Will Jacks szn - but they seem to be trying to ignore that right now

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/cricket/england-south-africa-tests-jamie-overton-injury-b1015973.html

I see Jamie Overton has now joined the massed ranks of injured England players. Out for six weeks which includes the test series v South Africa.

Given form and skillset, if Roy isn't scoring any runs, then YJB has to go back to the top of the T20 order. Would take the pressure off Buttler, who as has been pointed out is not always the fastest starter but can certainly make up for it if he stays past the first couple of overs.
Malan or Root at 3 is fine,

Brook / Jacks / Salt with the opportunity to establish themselves at 4, Stokes at 5 with Moeen and Livingstone interchangable at 6/7 depending on what is needed - I reckon Mo can score more runs but Livingstone quicker if there's only a handful of deliveries left.

Stokes, Livingstone and Mo would probably need to contribute 5 or 6 overs between them.

Rashid obviously stays in the team, Topley looks a good option, so it's really then picking numbers 8 and 9 as guys you'd expect to bowl 4 overs each most games and contribute some long ball hitting. WHile it would be good to have some real pace available, Jof and Wood are hugely unreliable, so we'll probably end up with Jordan and Willey.

England Test squad announced

Lees
Crawley
Pope
Root
Bairstow
Stokes
Brook
Foakes
Leach
Anderson
Broad
Potts
Robinson
COverton

Brook and Overton look like bench-warmers, final decision between Potts and Robinson I'd expect

Going to be close deciding between Potts and Robinson. If Robinson is fit I reckon he's the best pace bowler that England have. That's a massive if though!

Crawley

Well I hope their faith in Crawley is repaid soon...I fear like 99% of all England fans though that is daft selection - both for the team in the immediate future of this series, but also for Crawley's long term prospects at the international level...
I get they want to give players an extra game or two, but at what point does that go too far?

Glad to see Robinson is fit enough to be back in the squad - presumably it is a call between him and Potts...but who knows, do they go in sans a spinner? Or do one of Broad/Anderson get a little rotation action?

Probably will see both Potts and Robinson during the series. Wouldn't be surprised if England go in with no spinner. Main concern is the seam attack has no variety and, if South Africa get through the new ball phase, England will be found wanting from overs 30-80 as before. Of course, this isn't England's fault as all the ones who add a bit of pace - Archer, Wood, Stone, Mahmood and even J Overton - are injured.

Crawley is a disappointment but not a surprise. He plays the game in the right way as per McCullum and Stokes' wishes.

No idea how the series will go. Both teams are probably pretty confident, and both teams have good pace bowling with brittle batting orders. England need to show a little more in the first three innings, as they can't keep pulling out astonishing fourth innings chases...can they?

Robinson is due to play for the Lions next week in a 4 day game vs SA. Think if that goes well then he will play in the T1.

I guess Crawley is retained because he randomly made 40 odd in the last Test. What some former players must think of the chances he is getting based on the very occasional half decent innings I have no idea

I still think Anderson, even with the 2nd innings trend, is England's best all-round bowler.

Robinson is abundantly talented though if he can get fit. By that I mean both conditioning and injury wise. Having had those fitness issues over the winter when I saw him bowling early in the season he frankly looked overweight. Given the support with S&C and diet that the players get these days that's just a lack of professionalism. His high release point, brilliant wrist that controls the wobble seam so beautifully and accuracy should make him a perfect bowler for where seam bowling is moving at present.

It's going to be a battle of two poor batting line-ups against two good seam attacks. The Proteas have more pace and far better spin options for when the current Dukes balls goes soft though. Jansen being so tell with the left-arm option will be very useful in those circumstances too.

Rabada - A truly brilliant bowler
Nortje - Express pace
Jansen - About 10 feet tall and left-arm
Olivier - Very good seam bowler suited to English conditions
Maharaj - Very good SLA with decent record in England
Harmer - Very good offie who likes bowling in England

The SA bowling options complement each other very well for horses for courses selection.

I look forward, though somewhat pessimistically, to seeing how England's batting approach fares against an attack that should field a far better spinner than NZ could.

That is a fantastic South African bowling attack, plus Ngidi and the talented Simpala into the mix as well. I really like what I've seen of Jansen so far, and Harmer should go very well in conditions that he's experienced in.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/62397327

Bairstow's pulled out of The Hundred to focus on the tests. Love you, Jonny.

The Lions playing South Africa today in a four-day game. Teams are allowed to use more than 11 players, it seems, so it's not a FC match.

The Lions 12 is Sibley, Jennings, Lawrence, Brook, Duckett, Billings, Jacks, C Overton, Patterson-White, Robinson, Cook, Conners. Good to see some players have been pulled out of the Hundred nonsense for this.

SA currently 45/0. The main surprise being that Robinson has managed to bowl an opening spell without having to leave the field.

Duty281 wrote:The Lions playing South Africa today in a four-day game. Teams are allowed to use more than 11 players, it seems, so it's not a FC match.

The Lions 12 is Sibley, Jennings, Lawrence, Brook, Duckett, Billings, Jacks, C Overton, Patterson-White, Robinson, Cook, Conners. Good to see some players have been pulled out of the Hundred nonsense for this.

SA currently 45/0. The main surprise being that Robinson has managed to bowl an opening spell without having to leave the field.

Well that's a good start

Robinson got through 19 overs and took 2/56, so that sends a good message ahead of the South Africa tests. Pick of the bowlers was C Overton with 4/48. No wickets for Cook or Conners.

SA 282/6 at stumps, after being 129/5. Seems the Lions are keeping to the same tradition as the senior side! Zondo top scoring with 86* and Van der Dussen supporting him with 75.

South Africa ended up making 433. A true English bowling performance, as SA were 315/8 and 369/9 before getting over the 400 barrier. Something similar we'll probably see in the tests!

Conners an innings to forget - 0/90 off 17 overs. Overton 5/74 and Robinson a disappointing 2/76 as he faded away once again as the innings wore on.

Jennings and Sibley have forged a 50 partnership in ten overs, as they aim to emulate Bazball. Jennings hopefully in with a chance of making the tour to Pakistan.

Sibley not far off a run a ball! Think this is possibly a late bid to replace Roy for the T20 World Cup

Some vintage BazBall all round from the Lions! Finish the day on 279/3 off 55.

Lawrence with a run a ball 97 at 3 - interesting it was him, not Duckett there… just a note to Pope maybe. And then Brook 64* and Duckett 31*. Both with a chance to really make a statement.

Canterbury has been a road this year and there is a long time till the new ball. Brook in particular will want to go big.

Would say on the SA tail wagging, it wasn’t a true “tail” as they aren’t playing a XI only in this game, so some of the bowlers didn’t bat and you had Jansen, who I think may have batted as high as 7 (?) in their last series, coming in at 10!

I wonder how much we can read into the scores in this "not first-class" match on what appears to be a flat sort of pitch ? Everyone seems to be getting set even if they don't all go on that far : but certainly Lawrence and Brook seem to have made the most of their opportunities.

I do think Lawrence has some grounds for envy of the rather more generous treatment from the selectors enjoyed by Crawley and Pope in recent times . I acknowledge their obvious talent makes the investment in them understandable : but Lawrence hasn't (yet) had the same level of faith shown in him. He wasn't exactly rubbish in West Indies - and if he failed in that last Test he was one of many : to be axed straight away might be seen as slightly harsh. I think it is clear Pope will be given plenty of time to justify his number three slot but if Lawrence can score runs consistently at three at First class level he will put some pressure on. Perhaps he should ask Westley if he wouldn't mind letting him bat ahead of him for Essex ?

Overton seems to have outdone Robinson with the ball so far. Yet you'd imagine he is still behind him in the pace bowler's pecking order : he may be doing yet more drink carrying in the SA series. I would not expect either to start in the first match in any case ; but the quickly following second game might give an opportunity for one or other of them.

alfie wrote:I wonder how much we can read into the scores in this "not first-class" match on what appears to be a flat sort of pitch ? Everyone seems to be getting set even if they don't all go on that far : but certainly Lawrence and Brook seem to have made the most of their opportunities.

I do think Lawrence has some grounds for envy of the rather more generous treatment from the selectors enjoyed by Crawley and Pope in recent times . I acknowledge their obvious talent makes the investment in them understandable : but Lawrence hasn't (yet) had the same level of faith shown in him. He wasn't exactly rubbish in West Indies - and if he failed in that last Test he was one of many : to be axed straight away might be seen as slightly harsh. I think it is clear Pope will be given plenty of time to justify his number three slot but if Lawrence can score runs consistently at three at First class level he will put some pressure on. Perhaps he should ask Westley if he wouldn't mind letting him bat ahead of him for Essex ?

Overton seems to have outdone Robinson with the ball so far. Yet you'd imagine he is still behind him in the pace bowler's pecking order : he may be doing yet more drink carrying in the SA series.  I would not expect either to start in the first match in any case ; but the quickly following second game might give an opportunity for one or other of them.

Tbf Lawrence's first class stats aren't much to write home about - which may explain the lesser opportunity afforded to him vs Pope. He's also had a bit of a stinking county champ this year too, only averaging 26 in 12 knocks and a total of 318 runs - so those Lions runs yesterday were much needed to keep himself in the frame I think!

Yes That's fair enough. I wouldn't say he's been treated unfairly, exactly  : an injury early on in the season too , I think ; so understandable he was leapfrogged by Pope and Brook.  Just that : Pope (who was worse than awful in Australia) was not only brought back on the strength of good early form for Surrey but also more or less "anointed" by Key as the man for the number three position...and Crawley seems to be set for a whole home summer in the opener's slot regardless of form : while Lawrence still hasn't had what you'd call a solid run of Tests to prove himself. (He may of course have been fortunate he didn't get put into the firing line in Australia though as it might have set him back further !)

I do think Lawrence is a chance for the Pakistan tour ; though some CC runs to end the season would be helpful. If the pitches spin he might be useful both batting and as an extra bowler.

The Lions have done Maharaj's first test selection hopes some Harmer here

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:The Lions have done Maharaj's first test selection hopes some Harmer here

22 overs, 1 for 169 is better than I'd achieve...I still remember going for 20 in the last over I bowled in a proper game (became a wicket keeper afterwards) - had a dot ball that was a dropped caught and bowled in there as well
Middle order scoring 97, 140, 145 and 92. Oh, and Overton is currently on 16 off 6 deliveries (now 26 off 9)

So England Lions 672 all out. Interestingly the most successful SA bowler was Aiden Markram, who took 6 wickets with what would be kindly described as occasional off-breaks - 31 Tests have seen him bowl 41 overs and take 2 wickets.

Doesn't exactly sell the qualities of the SA bowlers playing in this game.

Lions won by an innings in the end, Conners sweeping up the tail and Robinson dismantling the top order. Good stuff.

Duty281 wrote:Lions won by an innings in the end, Conners sweeping up the tail and Robinson dismantling the top order. Good stuff.

Looks from the overs that Craig Overton had to go off injured when bowling - good to see Robinson back and firing, honestly if he’s 100% I think he should come straight into the XI

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Lions won by an innings in the end, Conners sweeping up the tail and Robinson dismantling the top order. Good stuff.

Looks from the overs that Craig Overton had to go off injured when bowling - good to see Robinson back and firing, honestly if he’s 100% I think he should come straight into the XI

Must have a case : but who are you leaving out , Olly ?

alfie wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Lions won by an innings in the end, Conners sweeping up the tail and Robinson dismantling the top order. Good stuff.

Looks from the overs that Craig Overton had to go off injured when bowling - good to see Robinson back and firing, honestly if he’s 100% I think he should come straight into the XI

Must have a case : but who are you leaving out , Olly ?

This may come across quite harsh considering the series he had against NZ, it would be Potts - Robinson is simply a better bowler in my opinion, and while Potts was good in that series, he's hardly a fixture of the XI for me at this point.
I would suspect one of Broad/Anderson/Robinson will likely need a rest/game rotated out during the series, so not like Potts won't get a go at some point.

I'd still favour Potts over Robinson for the first test. No guarantee that Robinson won't break down again and leave England in difficulty. Though I suspect we'll see Robinson at some point in the series even if he doesn't play the first.

Bad news for SA with Olivier ruled out of the test series. They have the depth to cover him but he's certainly a loss.

In typical cricket fashion, and despite England having drought-like conditions over the past month, it appears the Lord's test will be starting with rain forecast on the opening day.

I tend to side with Duty on this. I do rate Robinson ; but I think he is more of an alternative to Anderson or Broad than Potts - as I think the young man is best suited to doing the hard work in the middle/late overs of a long innings than either of the older bowlers , and I don't see Robinson as filling that role, given his endurance issues. He can be deadly with the new ball - but I think Anderson and Broad have that for the start of the series.
Suspect Jimmy at least will need a rest during the series and Robinson would come in then ; but fancy an unchanged attack for Lord's.

SA not having much luck with injuries : Olivier indeed a big loss. Not that England haven't had enough bad luck with injured fast bowlers !

I know there's a Test match starting in a couple of days, but looking back to T20 and ODI selection, The Hundred is certainly throwing a few curves in - Roy's form continues to be abject, and stands in great contrast to his Oval teammate Will Jacks, who had an 80 and 100 (in a team chasing 138) in his last two games. Saw some of this on the TV and very impressed with Jacks, who looks like he makes his runs mostly with proper shots, just well placed and struck with real power; nothing looked particularly high risk, but just well executed. In a way, a bit like Malan but with more power.

dummy_half wrote:I know there's a Test match starting in a couple of days, but looking back to T20 and ODI selection, The Hundred is certainly throwing a few curves in - Roy's form continues to be abject, and stands in great contrast to his Oval teammate Will Jacks, who had an 80 and 100 (in a team chasing 138) in his last two games. Saw some of this on the TV and very impressed with Jacks, who looks like he makes his runs mostly with proper shots, just well placed and struck with real power; nothing looked particularly high risk, but just well executed. In a way, a bit like Malan but with more power.

Welcome aboard the Will Jacks bandwagon Dummy - we've a lovely spread on. It is looking particularly tough for Roy to keep his slot with this slump continuing, and the likes of Jacks/Smeed continuing to massively impress! Jacks also can bowl an over or two of offspin, albeit not sure how that would go at international level...

Re: Olivier injury, while obviously not ideal to lose a player, I don't think he would've started for SA anyways? Thinking from 7-11 they would be Jansen, Maharaj, Rabada, Nortje, Ngidi anyways? Guess you could have had Olivier in for Ngidi, but not a *huge* blow I don't think losing him.

Also, Duty, what odds can we get on Rassie Van Der Dussen top run scorer this series? Or top SA scorer? I am ready to watch him score scratchy runs galore against us again

Haven't seen any odds on that, to be honest, it seems bookmakers are reluctant to offer on those markets these days. Van der Dussen is 5/1 to be top-scorer in the first innings of the first test with Betfair, and about 16/1 to be MOTM. Agree that he's perfectly placed to score some runs and emulate Daryl Mitchell.

I have no real clue how the series is going to go either, it's such an open series because England are so unpredictable. In all four tests so far this summer England have been behind in the game after three innings, but have pulled out amazing chases to have a 4-0 record. 3-0 to England wouldn't surprise me. 3-0 to South Africa wouldn't surprise me. Fun times.

England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Alex Lees, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Ben Stokes (capt.), 7 Ben Foakes, 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Jack Leach, 10 Matthew Potts, 11 James Anderson.

England's team confirmed as this. Potts favoured over Robinson, Foakes back in to replace Billings. Crawley's on his last chance part 24, or something. Maybe they're hoping he'll replicate Bairstow? Anderson is now 40, just 43 wickets off 700 and 51 wickets behind Warne, and if he takes a wicket in this test he will be the first Englishman to take a test wicket in his forties since...Graham Gooch in 1994.

South Africa (probable): 1 Dean Elgar, 2 Sarel Erwee, 3 Keegan Petersen, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Rassie van der Dussen, 6 Kyle Verreynne, 7 Keshav Maharaj, 8 Marco Jansen, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Anrich Nortje.

SA's team not confirmed, but Cricinfo reckon it'll be that. Rabada is an injury doubt, so may not make it in. Maharaj instead of Harmer wouldn't be what I go for.

Tough game to call. Both teams have long tails, strong seam bowling attacks and brittle batting orders. Root and Bairstow are in fantastic form and if they maintain that England should have the advantage. Forecast for day one doesn't look great.

With home advantage, Root being by a distance the best batter on either team and YJB in form I'd say it's narrowly England's advantage. Predicting a series between two teams with such fragile batting line-ups is largely a guessing game though.

Such a shame if Rabada is missing. Of course it would help England's chances but I love watching Rabada bowl. Genuine express pace with the skill of a world class fast-medium seamer. He's a magnificent bowler. Added to Olivier it would be a huge blow.

I'm expecting a seaming pitch. With Maharaj and Harmer to pick from combined with England's playing of spin it would be lunacy offer up something likely to go the distance and give turn.

QUIZ 


Came across this earlier today and liked it. Have a go. 

Jimmy Anderson is set to become the 53rd Englishman to play a Test in his 40s. Name the most recent 10 to do so. Clue - they cover the period from the early 1970s to the early 2000s.

Graham Gooch

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Graham Gooch

Yep, that's one. You've even met the most recent one with me!

guildfordbat wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Graham Gooch

Yep, that's one. You've even met the most recent one with me!

Must be Stewart with that clue, and early 2000s!