*Official* 2nd Test at Lord's

[Compton]

Chris Jordan is a horrible bowler. That's not necessarily relevant here, but he's awful.

 

[Furball]

Brett Lee has just been seen on Sky saying Watson will be a huge loss to Australia as he's a match winner.

I want some of what he's smoking.

 

[King Pietersen]

BBC Sport - Ashes 2015: Moeen Ali a doubt for England in second Test at Lord's

Moeen a doubt for the 2nd Test with a side injury.

 

[Furball]

Yeah apparently he hasn't bowled yet in the nets.

 

[Spikey]

Brett Lee has just been seen on Sky saying Watson will be a huge loss to Australia as he's a match winner.

I want some of what he's smoking.

****

this means lee could be on for the 2nd test. goddamnit

 

[TheJediBrah]

I think England's attack now vs England's attack in the West Indies with Chris Jordan, or prior to that with someone like Woakes, proves the point.

The improvement isn't simply that Wood is a better bowler than Jordan or Woakes (he is, for the record) but that Wood's legitimate pace and style of bowling is distinctly different from Anderson and Broad. Before Wood's inclusion England's problem wasn't simply that their attack wasn't good enough, but more that it wasn't diverse enough.

I honestly think that's complete bull****

It gets easier for the batsmen to play when you can get into a rhythm against bowlers with the same pace/line/length/swing.

but then that kinda makes sense

Still, I'd much rather face a varied attack of tall left-armers, short-right armers, round-arms, swing, seam bowlers etc that bowl some loose balls than face 4 right-arm medium fast quicks that are all pretty much the same but swing it both ways and never bowl a bad ball.

 

[vic_orthdox]

not really

If 2 bowlers both bowl well it will work, if they don't then it won't. How similar they are in style is almost irrelevant.

Granted it could be more pronounced when 2 fast & loose bowlers both bowl badly as it can look really, really bad as far as runs conceded goes.

Shaun Tait never worked in test cricket because he bowled ****

No, because those guys can bowl well but because of their extra pace, they still go for runs and they don't help build pressure.

 

[Riggins]

Still, I'd much rather face a varied attack of tall left-armers, short-right armers, round-arms, swing, seam bowlers etc that bowl some loose balls than face 4 right-arm medium fast quicks that are all pretty much the same but swing it both ways and never bowl a bad ball.

Easier to face guys bowling some loose balls than guys bowling only good balls? Could be big news if true.

 

[LegionOfBrad]

Aggers saying unless something changes Moeen is expected to play.

 

[Johnners]

CA Twitter suggesting it'll be Voges at 1st slip. Has he ever done this for WA?

 

[91Jmay]

Rashid wouldn't be a massive step down from Ali but I would like to keep same team.

 

[Prince EWS]

CA Twitter suggesting it'll be Voges at 1st slip. Has he ever done this for WA?

Voges has a really good pair of hands but he usually fields at second, I think.

 

[Gob]

Dont have high hopes for this even with the recharged team. A win for Aus would set up a great series but the gut feeling is that England would go 2 zip up. Hope Clarke wont hesitate to put a third man and deep point in if Engurland starts to score quickly.

 

[weldone]

Hope Clarke wont hesitate to put a third man and deep point in if Engurland starts to score quickly.

Yes with 3 Mitchells in the team, Clarke needs to be defensive with field settings when a partnership blossoms.

 

[theegyptian]

England set to risk Moeen Ali in second Ashes Test after injury to Adil Rashid | Sport | The Guardian

Thought it was weird and a massive risk to play Ali with a sidestrain but sounds like Rashid pulled out as well with a hand injury after hearing he was going to debut.

Says it all about English spin at the moment. Having to pick a half fit bowler in Ali. Ansari should make the trip across London tonight and debut tomorrow imo.

Otherwise there really is no one else. Kerrigan and Riley have both been not selected for their counties in recent weeks. Tredwell hardly bowls. Hilarious that they're basically left with having to gamble massively on Moeen.

 

[Furball]

Unless the pitch is a raging turner, we can afford a gamble because we also have a 4 pronged seam attack. Joe Root can also bowl a few filler spin overs as well.

 

[Prince EWS]

I really don't think playing him half-fit is a good idea at all; we've seen what half-fit Moeen looks like and it's not pretty. Tredwell not being selected for his county didn't stop them picking him in the West Indies, and Briggs and Kerrigan are both having decentish seasons despite not being picked all the time if they want to go with someone younger/in form.

I can just see this backfiring with him losing confidence and the 'oh he's a part-timer' brigade getting on his back if he has an off game. From a series perspective I think they should just suck up the one game he's going to be out and try to have him back properly for the third Test.

 

[theegyptian]

Unless the pitch is a raging turner, we can afford a gamble because we also have a 4 pronged seam attack. Joe Root can also bowl a few filler spin overs as well.

Yes I'm guessing they're just gonna play Ali almost as a bat. Says a lot about the spin bowling that they don't even bother to call anyone up to cover for their 0 fit spin bowlers when normally they love calling up a million replacements when there is even a hint of an injury. Hey maybe Ansari gets called up tonight after play is finished for the evening at the oval.

 

[Howe_zat]

I really don't think playing him half-fit is a good idea at all; we've seen what half-fit Moeen looks like and it's not pretty. Tredwell not being selected for his county didn't stop them picking him in the West Indies, and Briggs and Kerrigan are both having decentish seasons despite not being picked all the time if they want to go with someone younger/in form.

I can just see this backfiring with him losing confidence and the 'oh he's a part-timer' brigade getting on his back if he has an off game. From a series perspective I think they should just suck up the one game he's going to be out and try to have him back properly for the third Test.

Or maybe he'll be fine? This is all hearsay

 

[flibbertyjibber]

No idea if this is mind games or just a load of old tosh but it isn't often than spinners play a major role in tests at HQ so it might not matter anyway.