*Official* Second Test at Lords

[Richard]

Surely this is his last game this series

Nah, he'll knock over Hussey or someone for 70-odd then grab a couple of tail-end wickets which will mean he finishes with 3-100 and people will find some way of claiming he played a crucial part in something or other. We've known for a fair while that getting Broad out of this team is going to prove very difficult.

 

[zaremba]

But the bowler's more likely to know how best to bowl.

Not necessarily. A captain ought to be a good judge of the game generally, and if he's a batsman he ought to be able to carry out a critical assessment of an opposition batsman's weaknesses. In some cases, more so than the bowler. I cannot believe that (say) Phil Tufnell was better equipped to assess a batsman's weaknesses than (say) Graham Gooch.

Moreover the point is that bowling consistently short is likely to be a deliberate strategy, of the sort that is worked out before the game by the coach and the captain (along, obviously, with the bowlers). And this is not equivalent to telling a batsman what shot to play. Apart from anything else, the batsman's role is reactive and his shot-selection is done in half an instant, whereas the bowler ought to premeditate every ball - a task much better suited to strategic / tactical decisions in which the captain can have a legitimate input. Eg: "let's pepper this bastard, Harold."

 

[91Jmay]

Nearly died there. Australian batsmen not as set as it would seem.

Doesn't particualry seem that they are all that well set to be honest. They've both played false shots in the last 2 overs.

 

[wpdavid]

Surely this is his (Broad's) last game this series

You'd have thought. Even seasoned Harmybashers like myself would have to admit he looks the better bet at present. And it's not as if it would affect the batting much either.

 

[duffer]

Nearly died there. Australian batsmen not as set as it would seem.

Yeah, heart in mouth stuff

 

[Demolition Man]

ROFL trying to bounce a west aussie out.... good luck with that plan.

EDIT: hussey smashes the bouncer for four, wow *shock*

 

[Richard]

CMJ - "He (Broad) is a fine bowler."

Well he thinks Strauss is the best thing to happen to England captaincy since Archie MacLaren - he can't exactly say "WTF is he still bowling him?"

 

[Pizzorno]

Typical Broad. Hurries a batsmen up with a surprise bouncer but then proceeds in overdoing it and giving away runs.

 

[Redbacks]

Well actually he couldn't have, unfortunately, because that happened 18 months after said Prior-Tendulkar alleged-sledge.

maybe if we could borrow the time machine the majority of people in England must have used given their complete lack of acknowledgement of the last Ashes series occurring

 

[Richard]

I cannot believe that (say) Phil Tufnell was better equipped to assess a batsman's weaknesses than (say) Graham Gooch.

Well Gooch cost England a Test by bowling Tufnell on when he should've brought back Malcolm in 1990/91.

Which is just my way of saying that this is probably a discussion best for another time. Sun is out and it doesn't seem there'll be another stoppage quite yet, so we're best-served with one-liners.

 

[pasag]

Can't believe Broad played ahead of Onions in the last game.

 

[Richard]

ROFL trying to bounce a west aussie out.... good luck with that plan.

Yup, can never fathom why anyone tries that. Makes about as much sense as trying to fly to the sun.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Why the **** did Broad bowl ahead of Onions? And why has he had so many overs?

 

[wfdu_ben91]

You would have thought after the last match that it would've been Broad's last Test for awhile, but the general consensus was that it was that his only had 1 poor match. Clearly when you are averaging 40 in Test Cricket, it takes a little more then 1 bad game to acchieve such a poor average. Clearly his success against the West Indies was just a matter of facing lesser batsman and so many English supporters overlooked this.

 

[zaremba]

Well Gooch cost England a Test by bowling Tufnell on when he should've brought back Malcolm in 1990/91.

Which is just my way of saying that this is probably a discussion best for another time. Sun is out and it doesn't seem there'll be another stoppage quite yet, so we're best-served with one-liners.

Fair enough. Took you 3 lines to say it though

 

[Richard]

Can't believe Broad played ahead of Onions in the last game.

The last game? Even all of us not-inconsiderable number who thought Broad's chances of Ashes success were negligable were resigned to the fact that he had an irrefutable case to play the opening couple of games.

If he continues to bowl this crap and continues to get the treatment (not a nailed-on certainty at all) then we might just get rid of him after this game, but he had to play the opening couple after performing reasonably well in West Indies and in the home series.

 

[Pizzorno]

Clearly his success against the West Indies was just a matter of facing lesser batsman and so many English supporters overlooked this.

There are very few England supporters who actually want Broad in the team so I don't know where you've got that from.

 

[wpdavid]

Swann's first ball not a full toss shock

 

[Demolition Man]

Hussey starting to strike it well, nice little partnership now.

 

[zaremba]

You would have thought after the last match that it would've been Broad's last Test for awhile, but the general consensus was that it was that his only had 1 poor match. Clearly when you are averaging 40 in Test Cricket, it takes a little more then 1 bad game to acchieve such a poor average. Clearly his success against the West Indies was just a matter of facing lesser batsman and so many English supporters overlooked this.

I don't think that was "the general consensus at all". All England fans have had pretty massive reservations about Broad's bowling, even though they've seen it improve a bit in recent months.

Edit: what Pizzorno said.