I think our batting is still the weaker point - don’t forget England were down their best bowler for almost the entire match. A rip snorter to Smith early in his innings could still end in a batting collapse as the bowlers won’t bail them out every match like the first innings.
With such a tight schedule I reckon there is a plan for rotating the bowlers, so I can see a change for the next test, but the bowler to miss will be extremely unlucky.
I think our batting is still the weaker point - don’t forget England were down their best bowler for almost the entire match. A rip snorter to Smith early in his innings could still end in a batting collapse as the bowlers won’t bail them out every match like the first innings.
With such a tight schedule I reckon there is a plan for rotating the bowlers, so I can see a change for the next test, but the bowler to miss will be extremely unlucky.
Anderson would have been hard to play on that wicket , so we I got lucky there.
For sure , very reliant on Smudge.
Top 3 need to improve , Head actually is starting to look ok'ish.
I actually think England's batting is in a worse state , heavily reliant on Root , not sure they have much else coming through though to make too many changes , surely Buttler can't continue playing as a specialist bat and Bairstow's last 12 months have been horrendous.
Looked like they monitored Patto's overs yesterday , 2nd & 3rd Test are back to back so there will be rotation for sure.
Very happy to be 1 nil up , lot of work still to be done.
This is interesting - is there a reason to think he lacks the stamina?
Looks like he bowls about 210 deliveries per first class match, which is more than Anderson, and his average is better. Anderson has obviously played a lot of matches against better opposition/probably in better batting conditions, but I don’t see much in the stats to suggest concern re Archer’s endurance.
Maybe he kills it in his first couple of spells, then continues to bowl, but much less effectively?
This is interesting - is there a reason to think he lacks the stamina?
Looks like he bowls about 210 deliveries per first class match, which is more than Anderson, and his average is better. Anderson has obviously played a lot of matches against better opposition/probably in better batting conditions, but I don’t see much in the stats to suggest concern re Archer’s endurance.
Maybe he kills it in his first couple of spells, then continues to bowl, but much less effectively?
Regardless of nationality, players performing poorly across the board is never a good advertisement for the game. Sure it’s great to smash the poms, but it’s better when the games are closer and exciting to watch.
If we get a juicy wicket at lords, I will be quite upset if we don’t bowl first. Cummins and Pattinson on that slope are going to cause serious problems.
Regardless of nationality, players performing poorly across the board is never a good advertisement for the game. Sure it’s great to smash the poms, but it’s better when the games are closer and exciting to watch.
If we get a juicy wicket at lords, I will be quite upset if we don’t bowl first. Cummins and Pattinson on that slope are going to cause serious problems.
Don’t know about you, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching us win by 250 runs in the first test. Given our lack of success in England for quite some time, I will sit there with a hard on if we repeat that result for the next 4 tests.
Don’t know about you, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching us win by 250 runs in the first test. Given our lack of success in England for quite some time, I will sit there with a hard on if we repeat that result for the next 4 tests.
Of course I enjoyed it, but the winning aspect is the added bonus to quality cricket being played. Despite some good bowling for each team, there was quite a bit of ordinary batting amongst both teams which is likely to be a recurring theme this series.
Characters and competition in the game is what puts bums on seats and keeps the game alive. Take away the competition, you're solely reliant on characters, and given the PC nature of interviews in cricket these days they are far and few between.