*Official* India Tour of England 2018

[quincywagstaff]

This is just a theory but given how much of his success is based on mental strength I think he focuses so hard on the big series (eg. India 2017, Ashes 2017/18) and does so well, that when the next (less important) series rolls around (eg. BD 2017, SA 2018) he sort of phones it in.

Don't really agree; with regards to India/Bangladesh 2017, there was 5 months or so between series so you'd think he'd have the chance to be mentally refreshed. Actually, if anything Smith's record shows that he's generally a slow starter in the first Test after a prolonged break and he benefits from series back-to-back regardless of the level of opposition and quality.

With regards to his downturn in South Africa, I think that was driven by the off-field dramas that occurred constantly throughout the series which he let mentally get to him and resulted in the sorry end.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Bangladesh was only 2 Test matches tbf. Smith tends to go missing (relatively speaking) in series he plays after big series. This is just a theory but given how much of his success is based on mental strength I think he focuses so hard on the big series (eg. India 2017, Ashes 2017/18) and does so well, that when the next (less important) series rolls around (eg. BD 2017, SA 2018) he sort of phones it in.

If he really thought the SA series was less important he wouldn't have tried to cheat

 

[tooextracool]

Seems to get one great pitch in england every year and goes on a tear, and that justifies his inclusion for the winter tours. I wen't out to Oz for the ashes and he was abject, and I suspect that others in the queue(Leach, Bess etc) would have been just as good this test and maybe even more effective in Sri Lanka/windies.

Mo's returns in Australia have absolutely nothing to do with Sri Lanka or West Indies - it boggles my mind how one can draw a tangent between pitches that could not be any more divergent. In fact, his entire career represents a case study of how to mishandle a player and a complete failure to recognize where his actual talents lie. For one, it is important to first recognize that he is an all-rounder so comparing him to Leach is like comparing Stokes with Broad. During the Ashes series down under, his bowling abilities were significantly hampered by an injury to his index finger which never really had enough time to heal. Shockingly, despite making this clear to team management, he was still picked as the sole spin bowler for 4/5 tests. In my mind, Mo is not good enough to play in the side as a pure bat or bowler but only as an all-around player and he should have been left out of the side from the moment he picked up the injury and until it healed. Two, his weakness against the short ball has been exposed on numerous occasions at the international level, particularly down under, which is also why he has routinely done better against the older ball in test cricket coming in at 6 or 7 with the exception of the subcontinent where his wristy technique has actually been an asset against spin.

England need to learn how to use him properly. He is good enough bat to come in at number 7 in England and play as a primary spin bowler. In the subcontinent and WI, I would argue that he could bat as high as 5 because he is a better player of spin than JB but I would play Jack Leach as my primary spin bowler. In Australia/SA, I suspect that even 7 might be too high for him and I would certainly consider Adil Rashid or Jack Leach as a spin option instead.

 

[Slifer]

Let's see..

Smith's home average in 29 games: 77.25

Smith's away/neutral average in 35 games: 50.96 [/BSmi
Smith's total average in 64 games: 61.37

Now, is the effect of home advantage here pretty significant, or "demonstrably not much at all" ?? I will leave it to individual to decide.

And Smith averaging better away than Kohli and outperforming him in their last head to head on the "minefields " in India??

 

[TheJediBrah]

Don't really agree; with regards to India/Bangladesh 2017, there was 5 months or so between series so you'd think he'd have the chance to be mentally refreshed. Actually, if anything Smith's record shows that he's generally a slow starter in the first Test after a prolonged break and he benefits from series back-to-back regardless of the level of opposition and quality.

With regards to his downturn in South Africa, I think that was driven by the off-field dramas that occurred constantly throughout the series which he let mentally get to him and resulted in the sorry end.

Yeah it was just a theory. He was definitely fatigued after the Ashes though, he mentioned it himself as an issue and it was clear during the ODI series immediately post-Tests.

 

[Slifer]

Bangladesh was only 2 Test matches tbf. Smith tends to go missing (relatively speaking) in series he plays after big series. This is just a theory but given how much of his success is based on mental strength I think he focuses so hard on the big series (eg. India 2017, Ashes 2017/18) and does so well, that when the next (less important) series rolls around (eg. BD 2017, SA 2018) he sort of phones it in.

As far as his batting in "minefields in India", I don't think you're really missing anything but the pitches where he made big runs weren't that bad, except for the first Test where he made a 2nd innings hundred on a dustbowl, and even then he was dropped like 4 times IIRC and benefited from a lot of luck

Lots of luck?? Well might as well discount Kohlis first test hundred in the ongoing series. Fact is, smith conquered Indian minefields (not my words) .

 

[OverratedSanity]

And Smith averaging better away than Kohli and outperforming him in their last head to head on the "minefields " in India??

You're not really listening to what he's saying. All he's saying is that Australia have had some of the flattest pitches in cricket history over the last few years, which is true. It helps Smith a little statistically. Doesn't mean he's a bad batsman away because he's still scored runs everywhere. It's like pointing out murali benefitted statistically by playing in SL. It should not be seen as an attack, just an acknowledgement that even though he's still without a doubt the best, his home conditions are more helpful than those of his rivals (Root/Kohli/Lane)

 

[Borges]

All aboard the Mooen bandwagon! (again)

No. One great game after a long sequence of dross is just not enough to convince me that he is not an ATVG.

 

[Chrish]

And Smith averaging better away than Kohli and outperforming him in their last head to head on the "minefields " in India??

I have already mentioned it somewhere above. Yes Kohli was outshone by vast margin in that series; but it's like saying Smith was outshone in last SA tour (not a direct comparison but still valid since they faced the same opposition). Kohli was better in SA series on much tougher tracks than what Smith encountered.

Playing just one series is different than playing multiple home games.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Moeen should never have been left out in England. This should have been obvious and many of us were saying it all summer.

Australian conditions =/= English conditions. It would be like Australia leaving Usman Khawaja out of the team for Home tests because he was terrible on a tour to Sri Lanka. Dumb.

 

[Borges]

Series lost and all that; but I still feel quite good about this tour. About the way the quicks have bowled, even without Bhuvi,

 

[Moonsorrow999]

Series lost and all that; but I still feel quite good about this tour. About the way the quicks have bowled, even without Bhuvi,

He’d have definitely improved the tail. Could have been the difference, but yeah the Indian quicks as a collective unit all played their part. Just a huge shame Ashwin was clearly injured because he bowled very well first test. Not sure who made the decision about him being fit for this one. That said, I’m not sure Jadeja would have suited this pitch particularly.

And for sure, Moeen shouldn’t have been left out in England. Horrendous record abroad, but yeah. Weird decision to bring in Rashid and even weirder decision not to play Mo, but that said he is a confidence player and he could have quite easily played first test and have been dropped by the third. Mo is like most of the other players in the England side, either red hot or total dross.

 

[Burgey]

What's Ashwin's injury this time?

 

[Shri]

hip

 

[cnerd123]

Did anyone else see Ben Stokes punching Adil Rashid?


The man's out of control

 

[Arachnodouche]

What's Ashwin's injury this time?

An over-inflated ego.

 

[R!TTER]

Moeen should never have been left out in England. This should have been obvious and many of us were saying it all summer.

Australian conditions =/= English conditions. It would be like Australia leaving Usman Khawaja out of the team for Home tests because he was terrible on a tour to Sri Lanka. Dumb.

Hey that's a great idea, how about you play Usman in UAE & then drop him, after the horror run he'll have there, for India's tour.

 

[Arachnodouche]

Series lost and all that; but I still feel quite good about this tour. About the way the quicks have bowled, even without Bhuvi,

You shouldn't. Unless we discover a few consistent batsmen from somewhere, Kohli's lot overseas is going to be the same as Tendulkar's in the first half of his career. The guy, and his bowlers, deserve far more than the insipid batting we've seen this series.

 

[R!TTER]

Moeen should never have been left out in England. This should have been obvious and many of us were saying it all summer.

Australian conditions =/= English conditions. It would be like Australia leaving Usman Khawaja out of the team for Home tests because he was terrible on a tour to Sri Lanka. Dumb.

Hey that's a great idea, how about you play Usman in UAE & then drop him, after the horror run he'll have there, for India's tour.

An over-inflated ego.

Probably deflated after this test, hopefully permanently.

 

[harsh.ag]

India's batting actually did worse than my worst fears. That's quite something.