England test tour of Pakistan December 2022

[slow deck]

I live in Aus, and whilst i go for Pak it seems they've made many improvements in last 12 months in test cricket:
Captaincy, coach, tactics (3rd test vs Pak declaration for eg.), batting lineup, record overseas, bowling lineup (Lyon's improved, Green adds flexibility, Head a decent option too), team environment also seems calmer and more positive under Cummins and new coach

The only thing that seems worse is Warner

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

Butler's going to be called back soon anyway. He fits their current philosophy too much to just be a white ball specialist.

Might be when Bairstow comes back he slots in as keeper so that Brooks can keep his spot.

But yeah, don't like the decision for this Test. Foakes' keeping vs Pope's keeping adds a lot more value than Jacks' bowling vs Root's bowling. Foakes the better bat as well.

 

[Ashes81]

It's a really tough call on Foakes but the truth is that he's always going to be vulnerable to getting dropped for a better batsman who can also keep.

This time it's Pope but in the future it could easily be YJB or Buttler.

Going forward it's hard to see much of a future for Foakes when the attacking option would be to pick one of the better batsmen options rather than a specialist keeper.

Good to see Woody back after yet another injury. We must wrap him up in cotton wool next year for the Ashes

 

[Kirkut]

Stokes innings at Headingley wasn’t “Bazball” but it did show the Australian bowling and fielding could get a bit ragged under pressure,

But for that you will have to hope that every Ashes test ends up like Headingley/Gabba nail-biters, I'll be very impressed if England go to lunch at 160/1 on the day 1 of an Ashes test match.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

But for that you will have to hope that every Ashes test ends up like Headingley/Gabba nail-biters, I'll be very impressed if England go to lunch at 160/1 on the day 1 of an Ashes test match.

The point has nothing to do with nail-biters. The point is they lost control under pressure. If they’re being hit off their length and conceding runs quickly the same thing could happen, with strong emphasis on the “could”.

 

[Shady Slim]

It's a really tough call on Foakes but the truth is that he's always going to be vulnerable to getting dropped for a better batsman who can also keep.

This time it's Pope but in the future it could easily be YJB or Buttler.

Going forward it's hard to see much of a future for Foakes when the attacking option would be to pick one of the better batsmen options rather than a specialist keeper.

Good to see Woody back after yet another injury. We must wrap him up in cotton wool next year for the Ashes

ollie pope can't keep though??

 

[Gremlin]

Not happy about Pope keeping the gloves either, I think YJB is now a shoe in for the keeper once he recovers from injury. Sad for Foakes, I actually think he could have performed really well here with both bat and gloves.

 

[Prince EWS]

Stokes did really go out of his way to say it'd have absolutely no implications for future tests:

“The communication to Ben was that the real positive for him to take out of this selection is that it’s just for this Test match,” said Stokes.

“Foakesy still is the number one gloveman in England and I’ll still keep saying it that he’s the best keeper in the world. It must sound a bit silly to not be picking him, but you’ve got to look at the conditions we face out here. Pakistan is a very hard place to come and bowl."

"It's obviously very tough on Foakesy to miss out on this game," Stokes told BBC Sport.

"Pakistan is very hard place to come and win, especially in the longer format. Understanding that makes decisions like this, as hard they are, a little bit easier.

"One thing we did say to him was not to take it as any future marking on himself in this team. It's for this Test match at the moment.

"We had to take the decision on what we thought was the best way of creating 20 chances on this pitch."

 

[Howe_zat]

I quite like the Wood selection tbh.

 

[BoyBrumby]

We had to take the decision on what we thought was the best way of creating 20 chances on this pitch.

Trouble with Ben's logic is, with a sub par keeper, England are likely to need to create far more than 20 chances.

That said I do think Foakes's keeping is a bit overrated.

 

[Prince EWS]

I quite like the Wood selection tbh.

Yeah Wood coming in makes sense but even though Jacks bowled much better in the first Test than I was expecting I think England's bowling attack would actually be improved more by having a reliable keeper than having Jacks as a 6th/7th bowler... and the batting will probably be improved more by not having to make the #3 keep for half the game than the difference between Jacks and Foakes as well (if there is one in Jacks's favour at all?)

 

[BoyBrumby]

Yeah Wood coming in makes sense but even though Jacks bowled much better in the first Test than I was expecting I actually think England's bowling attack would actually be improved more by having a reliable keeper than having Jacks as a 6th/7th bowler... and the batting will probably be improved more by not having to make the #3 keep for half the game than the difference between Jacks and Foakes as well (if there is one in Jacks's favour at all?)

Without checking I'm pretty sure Foakes has a higher FC average.

Jacks previously thought of as a white ball chap, really.

 

[Starfighter]

Jacks previously thought of as a white ball chap, really.

Can't say I've got much of an impression of Jacks. When he played for Hobart he was never in long enough to notice.

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

Without checking I'm pretty sure Foakes has a higher FC average.

Jacks previously thought of as a white ball chap, really.

Aye. Foakes bats above him in the CC for Surrey too.

 

[Starfighter]

Looks yuck

 

[Prince EWS]

Looks yuck

View attachment 33919

why this pitch

 

[Xuhaib]

Are these curators getting salary on time from the PCB as these pitches can only be made by those working under some kind of protest.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

According to the BBC there'll be fog in the morning as well as bad light in the evening. 60 overs a day.

 

[Ashes81]

The keeper situation going forward for England will be interesting.

It's hard to see Foakes keeping the gloves long term and Pope is surely just a short term fix.

That leaves YJB and Buttler. If we go for Johnny then we can play Brook but who bats at 7 - Johnny presumably which given his form last summer seems too low.

Buttler seems the obvious choice although he averages 31, the same at test level as Foakes He's so talented but never quite got the balance between attack and defence right at test level.

You'd hope that under McCullum and Stokes, Buttler would improve his record. He's also a 1st class leader in the dressing room and that can't be under estimated.

But then who misses out - Brook presumably which would be harsh.

The other wild card option would be Duckett who can keep - I'm not sure if he's test level and his place on the side is far from assured so it would be a long shot.

I think they'll go down the Buttler route and we'll have some real competition for the middle order spots.

 

[Tom Flint]

Surely Pope batting 3 and keeping is unstainable long term, especially since he's **** at the latter and still proving himself in the former. Seems insane unless Foakes is still sick.

Bazball is all about taking risks