*Official* First Test (Edgbaston, Birmingham) 16–20 June

[Nintendo]

The posting on here has made this entire experience with the game 10x better, so thanks to everyone on here for that. Last time I felt goosebumps like this was when pant played that fall over pull shot to ice the 2021 win in AUS. This game was a win for the sport in general.

 

[Cricket CoachDB]

The posting on here has made this entire experience with the game 10x better, so thanks to everyone on here for that. Last time I felt goosebumps like this was when pant played that fall over pull shot to ice the 2021 win in AUS. This game was a win for the sport in general.

Well said, mate. It's been one for the ages alright-here's to the rest of the series being as close!

 

[OverratedSanity]

It's not like there's stuff from this game and others that you can't criticize stokes for on much more solid grounds, either.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series...nd-vs-england-2nd-test-1322356/full-scorecard is a great example. Enforcing a follow-on with a 260 run lead just after you've seen southee, who can barely bat nowadays, go out there and bat like peak viv richards should tell you the deck is flat as it gets, and that momentum is back in NZ's court after southee slapped it everywhere.

Lmao I actually forgot they declared there with Root not out too.

Blatant red inking for his average. Shameful.

 

[Kirkut]

Declaring in the first innings on pudding pitches doesn't move the game forward. It let's the opposition off the hook by not pounding home your scoreboard pressure. It also means you often end up having to bat more in the second innings to set a target. The declaration could never have provided any benefit to England. Stupidity is entertaining to watch, that doesn't mean we can't call it out for being stupid.

Really, the sort of form Root is in now he should be allowed to score like Jayawardene and Sangakara hitting fours for fun at SSC ground and making 600+.

 

[chunksafc]

Can I echo what others have said, glad I joined up as it's been a pleasure reading posts during a brilliant game of cricket.

Going to be a belting summer at this rate

 

[Molehill]

Declaring in the first innings on pudding pitches doesn't move the game forward. It let's the opposition off the hook by not pounding home your scoreboard pressure. It also means you often end up having to bat more in the second innings to set a target. The declaration could never have provided any benefit to England. Stupidity is entertaining to watch, that doesn't mean we can't call it out for being stupid.

Absolutely key point. There were easy runs to be had then which wouldn't have had to be scored later.

We can talk about dropped chances, but you can't control that. You can a declaration, especially when your best batsman is in the form of his life.

 

[Ashes81]

I don't think we should have declared when we did in the 1st innings but when the Aussies needed 50 odd or whatever with 2 wkts left, it looked the right decision as it freed up time in what was always likely to be a rain effected game.

Now you can agree or disagree with Stokes philosophy but the way I see it is he wants to play result orientated test cricket.

Now sometimes by doing so, we'll lose matches we could gave drawn. But he believes more often than not, we'll come out on the positive side of the result.

He believes that you need to play attacking, positive cricket because that's what brings the spectators in and is the sort of cricket fans want to see.

We could have bored our way to a draw here, but would people have enjoyed the match as much. Would people be talking about this match in 20 years time if we'd done that - no of course not.

Now you can disagree with Stokes but he sees this as the right way to play and this defeat won't change that one bit.

 

[Kirkut]

All the dodgy declarations that still get criticized years later were in the 3rd innings. No one has ever declared on the first day of the first test of a series and then lost. This is the first ever. Stokes is like a pre War captain free from the burden of tradition. Now, this declaration was irredeemably dumb and there are no two ways about it but you can't help but get behind Stokes's general captaincy unless you hate fun. Does anyone know what Boycott is thinking right now?

Roobish!!

 

[shortpitched713]

Second word Arrogant

You said nobody was saying it

Maybe don't take it so ****ing personal.

I feel for you, your team lost. But when things are going well, and it's about Us, Us, Us, and what we can do, not taking into account there's an opponent fighting back. Yeah, you have to take the cop for having stepped way out of line on what is basically a disrespectful declaration, when your side loses.

 

[Molehill]

I don't think we should have declared when we did in the 1st innings but when the Aussies needed 50 odd or whatever with 2 wkts left, it looked the right decision as it freed up time in what was always likely to be a rain effected game.

Now you can agree or disagree with Stokes philosophy but the way I see it is he wants to play result orientated test cricket.

Now sometimes by doing so, we'll lose matches we could gave drawn. But he believes more often than not, we'll come out on the positive side of the result.

He believes that you need to play attacking, positive cricket because that's what brings the spectators in and is the sort of cricket fans want to see.

We could have bored our way to a draw here, but would people have enjoyed the match as much. Would people be talking about this match in 20 years time if we'd done that - no of course not.

Now you can disagree with Stokes but he sees as the right way to play and this defeat won't change that one bit.

But we could've batted for another 10 overs in the first innings and it wouldn't have been boring. Stokes would just have declared in the 2nd innings when he thought he could set a target (which almost certainly would still have given the Aussies a sniff).

 

[Kenneth Viljoen]

That’s not how England play this era

can people not see and accept that ?

they are all in to create a last inning game, chasing and bowling

it was chances missed not another 30 mins batting that lost the game

I’m trying to make this simple but it’s pointless now

see you at lords

It was a bad decision that contributed to England's loss , just like all the reasons you mentioned aswell ..

One way to truly know if a decision is bad is to ask the Aussie fans what they thought of the declaration, if majority are saying that England let Australia off the hook then that is damning because a declaration shouldn't give the other side that feeling, it's like when Frank Lampard was manager for Chelsea and all the other rival fans were like keep him he's doing a fantastic job ..

 

[SteveNZ]

The posting on here has made this entire experience with the game 10x better, so thanks to everyone on here for that. Last time I felt goosebumps like this was when pant played that fall over pull shot to ice the 2021 win in AUS. This game was a win for the sport in general.

Bloody oath.

Exhibit 4736367 as to why Test cricket is the ****ing greatest - this thread.

 

[CartyDurham]

Maybe don't take it so ****ing personal.

I feel for you, your team lost. But when things are going well, and it's about Us, Us, Us, and what we can do, not taking into account there's an opponent fighting back. Yeah, you have to take the cop for having stepped way out of line on what is basically a disrespectful declaration, when your side loses.

It’s cricket and life in general is way more important . I’m not taking it personal

I just keep being bombarded with the same basic post , but I’ve give the opinion of why Stokes does what he does

he declared. it’s nothing and didn’t lose the game. This is how England want to play and they have a plus record up to date, using this method

that’s my point which I’ve said about 20 times but no doubt it will be overlooked to bang on about a declaration

 

[CartyDurham]

.

now I went away took a paracetamol to ease my head and I’m off now to watch Emmerdale on the telly

 

[shortpitched713]

It’s cricket and life in general is way more important . I’m not taking it personal

I just keep being bombarded with the same basic post , but I’ve give the opinion of why Stokes does what he does

he declared. it’s nothing and didn’t lose the game. This is how England want to play and they have a plus record up to date, using this method

that’s my point which I’ve said about 20 times but no doubt it will be overlooked to bang on about a declaration

It's not the declaration itself. It's who they did it against, that's arrogant.

Against Bangladesh, same exact score in a rain affected match, it's probably very smart. But here, nah.

 

[Socerer 01]

It’s cricket and life in general is way more important . I’m not taking it personal

I just keep being bombarded with the same basic post , but I’ve give the opinion of why Stokes does what he does

he declared. it’s nothing and didn’t lose the game. This is how England want to play and they have a plus record up to date, using this method

that’s my point which I’ve said about 20 times but no doubt it will be overlooked to bang on about a declaration

it hasn’t been overlooked, people acknowledge your point and have also disagreed with your point that the declaration did not have an effect. people also aware that Stokes does things this way, doesn’t mean they won’t criticize it because dumb things do get criticized

if anything you droning on the same point and being so defensive about it while no one else does is the disrespectful part here but i digress

 

[CartyDurham]

It's not the declaration itself. It's who they did it against, that's arrogant.

Against Bangladesh, same exact score in a rain affected match, it's probably very smart. But here, nah.

I agree. It failed . What about all the catches after the declaration and the no ball, then Khawaja two innings and the ninth wicket stand ?

that’s what the game was about not a declaration

stokes will declare again , it’s how he think England can win. For decades England have looked to not lose, then hope for a win, and end up thrashed. Now we go the opposite

it’s nothing whatsoever to do with arrogance

 

[AndyZaltzHair]

I dont know why you would want to make things complicated. This England team is competitive enough to play simple conventional cricket and win or draw against Australia. You cant possibly bazball while bowling, so its only the batting and declaration thing. I dont believe England can’t play normally and rack up those good scores needed. Depending on situation and within gameplay you can always gear up a notch higher if required. At the moment if your intention is to just go out there and bazball no matter what then its a ****ed up strategy which needs serious reviewing. Whoever is saying England came closer to win this test just because of bazballing is not right because of many factors. One of them is that had England played normally and stacked up 500+ which was doable in this pitch, there would have been scorecard pressure on Australia. If you say its a trade then again I would say to review the pros and cons of this strategy. And on top of all, its not something sustainable for long period. Its a gamble.

 

[Ashes81]

But we could've batted for another 10 overs in the first innings and it wouldn't have been boring. Stokes would just have declared in the 2nd innings when he thought he could set a target (which almost certainly would still have given the Aussies a sniff).

I don't disagree with you. As I've said, I wouldn't have declared but Stokes obviously felt it was the best way to try and win the test.

 

[CartyDurham]

it hasn’t been overlooked, people acknowledge your point and have also disagreed with your point that the declaration did not have an effect. people also aware that Stokes does things this way, doesn’t mean they won’t criticize it because dumb things do get criticized

if anything you droning on the same point and being so defensive about it while no one else does is the disrespectful part here but i digress

Are others not droning on re the declaration as if that was the only thing that happened ?

the game was test match cricket at its best. Slavering in about a declaration is pointless after all the things that happened after it

there you go. thats fair and easy