*Official* Second Test at Lord's - Aug 12-16 2021

[Manee]

What?

Flat pitch, England building a partnership.

 

[wpdavid]

If he (Hameed) fails again I reckon we might see a recall for Malan or Vince as I don't think it'd be fair to move Pope to #3 and Bairstow there is a Bumrah/Siraj castling waiting to happen.

Completely agree, not least as Malan and Vince had their moments in Australia last time. Regarding Pope, I watched the Surrey vs Derbyshire game the other day and couldn't believe how bad he looked. Bare in mind how easily Ryan Patel could help himself to a hundred against a seriously moderate attack, but Pope was jumping around like the proverbial cat on a hot tin roof and ended up returning a catch to a leg spinner whose name escapes me but looked not much above club standard. I just think that Pope needs to be playing a lot of county cricket before we even consider bringing him back into the test team.

 

[Jack1]

Politely disagree. I think that your number 3 needs to have the ability to play a more attacking game, which Sibley clearly doesn't. Even Denly had more scoring options than Sibley. I'm not against having an opener at number 3, and we've successfully done it in the past from time to time, but not Sibbers. If Hameed's rabbit in headlights impersonation was indeed down to extreme nervousness, then we're wasting our time. Obviously not fair to write him off after one innings though.

According to Cricinfo Hameed's average as a first-class opener is 36.02 - "but coming into this game he had made a solitary half-century in 17 innings at No.3, and at a wince-inducing average of 17.07". Sibley averages 20.38 in 20 innings (11* tests) in 2021 (all at 2).

 

[wpdavid]

According to Cricinfo Hameed's average as a first-class opener is 36.02 - "but coming into this game he had made a solitary half-century in 17 innings at No.3, and at a wince-inducing average of 17.07". Sibley averages 20.38 in 20 innings (11* tests) in 2021 (all at 2).

Which means that eventually they'll need to choose which of them should be opening alongside Burns and not play either of them at number 3. That may end up being Hameed, but not until he's shown rather more than we saw yesterday. It would take a huge leap of faith to replace Sibley with someone who can't lay any bat on a straight delivery. But as I said before, I think that Sibley at 3 would be nonsense.

 

[Uppercut]

Even with all the CW love and his ATG numbers, Jadeja is still better with both bat and ball than I was expecting. He’d be a perfectly good frontline spinner.

 

[Shri]

t Pope was jumping around like the proverbial cat on a hot tin roof and ended up returning a catch to a leg spinner whose name escapes me but looked not much above club standard.

did he have that horrible crouching stance still

 

[wpdavid]

did he have that horrible crouching stance still

Yes he did.

 

[Uppercut]

Which means that eventually they'll need to choose which of them should be opening alongside Burns and not play either of them at number 3. That may end up being Hameed, but not until he's shown rather more than we saw yesterday. It would take a huge leap of faith to replace Sibley with someone who can't lay any bat on a straight delivery. But as I said before, I think that Sibley at 3 would be nonsense.

Sibley isn’t contributing nothing. The ball swung a lot early on in this innings, then stopped. That’s not always how it goes in England but when it does a 100-ball 20 is… well, it’s not impressive, but it’s something.

At 3 it’s nothing.

 

[wpdavid]

Interesting time for the batsmen. Clearly it's not easy out there, but they may want to up the rate a bit before the second new ball arrives in 12 overs time.

 

[Shri]

cork thrown at rahul
savages
dirty ***** should be kicked off the ground

 

[grecian]

Just looked at that Derbyshire side that wpdavid mentioned, umm yeah, if you can't score against that a bit of a problem.

I genuinely think Burns and Sibley do a job, a really boring assembly-line monotonous job possibly in recycling, but I can't see an alternative.

 

[grecian]

cork thrown at rahul
savages
dirty ****s should be kicked off the ground

Yeah Dominic isn't a small man.

 

[wpdavid]

Yeah Dominic isn't a small man.

I suppose that throwing corks from wine bottles is a Lord's thing.

 

[wpdavid]

Well played YJB. Now treble it please.

 

[Uppercut]

England’s deep batting will really come into play if there are a lot of runs on the board when they come in.

Forecast for Monday has cleared so this one’s well set up.

 

[tooextracool]

Sibley isn’t contributing nothing. The ball swung a lot early on in this innings, then stopped. That’s not always how it goes in England but when it does a 100-ball 20 is… well, it’s not impressive, but it’s something.

At 3 it’s nothing.

The problem with Sibley is not just his lack of runs, it's compounded by his atrocious contribution as a slip fielder. If we're going to be choosing players based on fine margins, it's also important to consider what else is said player bringing to the table.

 

[Uppercut]

The problem with Sibley is not just his lack of runs, it's compounded by his atrocious contribution as a slip fielder. If we're going to be choosing players based on fine margins, it's also important to consider what else is said player bringing to the table.

I mean they can always just field him somewhere else.

 

[wpdavid]

The problem with Sibley is not just his lack of runs, it's compounded by his atrocious contribution as a slip fielder. If we're going to be choosing players based on fine margins, it's also important to consider what else is said player bringing to the table.

Yes, I agree with that, and it's also a problem with Hameed actually. That being said, was Sibley in the slips for much of India's innings?

 

[grecian]

England’s deep batting will really come into play if there are a lot of runs on the board when they come in.

Forecast for Monday has cleared so this one’s well set up.

Yes I would have been fearful of Buttler, Ali and the like coming in under pressure, but it could be ideal if they're in a good position, against tired bowlers, quick runs.

edit: still awhile to go before we're in a good position, trying to avoid the jinx...

 

[tooextracool]

I mean they can always just field him somewhere else.

They could hide him but it certainly doesn't help his case in terms of providing any extra value to this team. Its hard to think of a better option amongst Vince, Malan, Ballance, Hameed, Crawley or anyone else who is currently being considered as a top 3 option. Just something to gnaw on - someone like Adam Lyth who is in exquisite form and has a reputation as a fine slipper might well be a better option at the top than the others particularly if none are really able to hold their place in the side exclusively based on runs.