19th Match - England v West Indies

[91Jmay]

Morgan a back spasm apparently which is a bit of a relief. Can be managed so he might not be out long/at all.

 

[Howe_zat]

If Root tons up here do they keep him opening if Roy's out?

If Vince comes in for Roy he'll open considering Vince has only ever opened in ODIs. Root can bat where he wants

 

[mr_mister]

I tend to agree, it's getting a bit of a farce now and he isn't batting well enough at the moment. I also think Carlos is a hack and is only in the side for so long because he's mates with the captain.

Yeah, Russell's bowling seems decent but hel break down if he bowls more than 5 overs a game. And his batting might come off once or twice this tournament but I'm not confident when he goes out there. Braithwaite can only take wickets caught on the fence

 

[Beamer]

These are really not the conditions for short bowling and we have stocked our bowling with nothing else at all! .

This performance and team selection has definitely lacked brain to go with the brawn.

 

[DravidFan]

England is motoring along serenely, I have no dog in this fight though I always support the underdogs other than when India is involved. This is a poor show by the Windies.

 

[Beamer]

Yeah, Russell's bowling seems decent but hel break down if he bowls more than 5 overs a game. And his batting might come off once or twice this tournament but I'm not confident when he goes out there. Braithwaite can only take wickets caught on the fence

I wouldn't have had Carlos in the team at all. He is very luck to be there ahead of Keemo Paul who is an excellent young bowler/slogger. He's not even on the reserve list as Raymon Reifer somehow usurped him. Bizarre selection.

 

[BSM]

At this rate the winner is going to be decided by who runs out of players first

 

[Beamer]

Our campaign that started so promisingly is unraveling somewhat.

 

[Howe_zat]

Looks like Russell dipping out might be the only thing that keeps Brathwaite in the team.

Would definitely replace him with a batsman. Who is the Windies reserve bat? They need more middle order substance, everyone after Hope is batting a spot too high.

 

[91Jmay]

Andre Russell injured again. Wow, totally shocking https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/news-blog/nfl-players-who-use-steroids-have-m-2009-02-20/

 

[BSM]

Immense satisfaction when batsmen are on the exact same score Bairstow and Root on 37 (36)

Enjoy it while it lasts.

 

[DravidFan]

I don't want Cottrell to get wickets just so I don't have to watch the annoying salute.

 

[Beamer]

Looks like Russell dipping out might be the only thing that keeps Brathwaite in the team.

Would definitely replace him with a batsman. Who is the Windies reserve bat? They need more middle order substance, everyone after Hope is batting a spot too high.

Darren Bravo is the reserve batsman. I just think we've put all our eggs in the tall fast bowler basket. Today that was completely nullified when we lost the toss. Any strategy that can be undone by the toss of a coin is inherently a bad one IMHO. We definitely have some thinking to do but there is only so much that can be done as we have selected a squad without any variation at all. The next match is against Bangladesh who we have really struggled to get runs against recently.

 

[91Jmay]

Darren Bravo is the reserve batsman. I just think we've put all our eggs in the tall fast bowler basket. Today that was completely nullified when we lost the toss. Any strategy that can be undone by the toss of a coin is inherently a bad one IMHO. We definitely have some thinking to do but there is only so much that can be done as we have selected a squad without any variation at all. The next match is against Bangladesh who we have really struggled to get runs against recently.

If the pitch has some bounce in it they will struggle massively with a barrage though. Fizz + the spinner could do some serious damage however, that should be a good game two decent sides with contrasting strengths.

 

[Howe_zat]

Bravo is pretty sub ideal but he'd contribute more than all these sloggers IMO. Put him at four and give the side a bit of backbone.

Dropping the spinner is basically always criminal in my book, I'm with you there, but I don't think the toss mattered much here. Woakes got a bit of new ball nibble but he usually does that anyway, and then England were bowling 15 overs of spin.

 

[mr_mister]

I remember Bravo being touted as the next Lara. Such a promising start to his career too. Now he is a reserve batsman

 

[mr_mister]

..check the front foot

 

[Beamer]

If the pitch has some bounce in it they will struggle massively with a barrage though. Fizz + the spinner could do some serious damage however, that should be a good game two decent sides with contrasting strengths.

I think this attack can cause some damage against most of the teams from the sub-continent but I don't feel it will get us a semi-final spot, especially with the rain spreading some points around. Even against Australia, they blew away the top order and then the lack of variety and a couple of dropped catches meant they recovered. The batting is lacking a little bit of game-time for the likes of Pooran and Hetmeyer to help them make smart decision at key moments and the bowling lacks a decent spinner to help with those key breakthroughs when the tall bowlers aren't getting it done or are tiring.

It feels like we're close to being a formidable ODI side but aren't there in time for this competition. Whereas England have held this side together for a long time and it feels like they have both the decision making and the variety to win this.

 

[91Jmay]

Such a dumb shot, literally no need to do anything like that. Bairstow gets himself out when set as much as any batsmen going around in this format, throws away so many big scores.

 

[Arachnodouche]

This format is punishing for the lesser teams. Very hard to sustain excellence over nine games of 50 over cricket if you're a slap-dash, YOLO type of team.