England players and selection discussion thread

[Burgey]

ICC rankings: England drop to lowest Test rating for 27 years | The Cricketer

ICC rankings: England drop to lowest Test rating for 27 years | The Cricketer, cricket news

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lol

The funniest thing about those rankings is Aus being ranked one tbh.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

TBF to England (something no one should ever be, but anyway) Archer being injured for the tour out here was a massive blow to them. Wood was moderately effective out here and he's about 2/3 the bowler Archer is. If they'd had Archer, Wood and one of Broad and Anderson in the attack out there, they'd have done a lot better and probably lost 3-0 instead of 4-0.

Olly Stone as well. With Archer, Stone, and Wood they would've had 3 genuine quicks to rest and rotate if needed.

 

[Burgey]

Yeah I'd forgotten about Stone. Good point.

Anyway, **** 'em. lol it's great watching them wallow haplessly in the endless sea of mediocrity which so befits them.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

The funniest thing about those rankings is Aus being ranked one tbh.

Justified at the moment though. Destroyed the Poms as expected then impressive win away in Pakistan, while India stumbled to a series loss in SA, and NZ had their worst home summer in years with drawn series against Bangladesh! and SA.

 

[Xix2565]

TBF to England (something no one should ever be, but anyway) Archer being injured for the tour out here was a massive blow to them. Wood was moderately effective out here and he's about 2/3 the bowler Archer is. If they'd had Archer, Wood and one of Broad and Anderson in the attack out there, they'd have done a lot better and probably lost 3-0 instead of 4-0.

I mean that's the ideal scenario that I was basically asking for in response to questioning Broad and Anderson. England have been unlucky with injuries but haven't also helped themselves with regards to their talents be it faster bowlers like Archer/Stone or spinners like Leach/Parkinson. Obviously pacers are very likely to have injuries that can cause them to be off the field for a long time but that's should've spurred ECB on more and forced them to actually consider other options.

 

[Burgey]

Sure but genuinely fast bowlers of test quality are not easy to find. Anderson and Broad would still be the first two bowlers picked for a home series, wouldn't they? It's when they need a different MO that their places come into question.

 

[TheJediBrah]

The funniest thing about those rankings is Aus being ranked one tbh.

Deserve it more than anyone else tbqh

 

[Burgey]

No they don't. They lost at home to India ffs. It's an embarrassment. Don't deserve to be number one until they redress that.

 

[honestbharani]

No they don't. They lost at home to India ffs. It's an embarrassment. Don't deserve to be number one until they redress that.

By losing to us away?

 

[Xix2565]

Sure but genuinely fast bowlers of test quality are not easy to find. Anderson and Broad would still be the first two bowlers picked for a home series, wouldn't they? It's when they need a different MO that their places come into question.

That's what I was questioning (and defending said questioning by ECB and some cricket fans) all the way here:

I don't get it, if England can't consistently take 20 wickets away from home without a lot of help then surely the bowling actually is a problem? It was absolutely a question to ask considering how Anderson and Broad function away from home. Them coming back at home doesn't change this.

It's not easy to find talent but it is an indictment of the ECB that they haven't managed to find talent despite having had a good template before.

 

[Burgey]

That's what I was questioning (and defending said questioning by ECB and some cricket fans) all the way here:

It's not easy to find talent but it is an indictment of the ECB that they haven't managed to find talent despite having had a good template before.

Sorry, I usually don't read your posts in any detailed way tbh. You have to earn that right.

 

[Xix2565]

Sorry, I usually don't read your posts in any detailed way tbh. You have to earn that right.

No worries.

It's not like we disagreed anyway on the important matters.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

This could be a record breaking summer. As bad as we’ve been in the past there hasn’t been many opportunities to lose Tests to three different countries in one home summer.

 

[jayjay]

This could be a record breaking summer. As bad as we’ve been in the past there hasn’t been many opportunities to lose Tests to three different countries in one home summer.

I think England beat a SA side in all sorts of disarray.

India and NZ are a different story. I still think England probably beat both...could be the surprise of the summer

 

[wpdavid]

This could be a record breaking summer. As bad as we’ve been in the past there hasn’t been many opportunities to lose Tests to three different countries in one home summer.

I'm struggling to remember when we ever played tests against 3 different countries in one home summer. I think there was only one other opponent when SL and Ireland played their one-off tests.

 

[jayjay]

I'm struggling to remember when we ever played tests against 3 different countries in one home summer. I think there was only one other opponent when SL and Ireland played their one-off tests.

It's usually just 2 teams every test summer...could be have to go back a long way before there were 3 test teams in one summer.

 

[Gremlin]

So the general noises about following the latest round of interviews is that Root will bat at 4, Stokes at 6, Bairstow unlikely to be considered for the 1st test and Broad / Anderson likely to be considered. Is that about right?

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

So the general noises about following the latest round of interviews is that Root will bat at 4, Stokes at 6, Bairstow unlikely to be considered for the 1st test and Broad / Anderson likely to be considered. Is that about right?

Yep, seems to be. I'm not thrilled by either Root or Stokes moving down a place to be honest. Bairstow was playing well at 6 and I don't see holding Root back until we're ~zilch for 2 is better than sending him in at ~zilch for 1.

 

[Blenkinsop]

So that just leaves question marks over the numbers 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8 and 9 spots then?

 

[Gremlin]

Woakes unlikely to be fit for the 1st test, guessing Lawrence in a similar position. So assuming they stick with the same openers and keeper from the WI tour that leaves 3, 5, 8 and 9 to fill. Robinson making a case for 8 I'd guess, Leach is the incumbent spinner although Parkinson is having a great start to the season, so who bats 3 and 5? Bohannon / Malan and Pope / Brook? could be anybody!