Jack Leach out of the Ashes

[Adders]

Nobody likes to see injuries but Leach was a massive weak link for England anyway and team will probably be better without him

Head, etc would probably have smashed him just as they did in Australia

I do sometimes wonder if you actually watch any cricket? Or if you do it's clearly only in Australia.....like that time you said Woakes in this series would be cannon fodder or some such crap. These are just simply nonsense opinions.

 

[Burgey]

The elephant in the room is Stokes playing as a batsman alone in a side with a four man attack. I rate the bloke very highly (obviously not as a human, who does?) but if he isn't bowling then on merit he probably shouldn't be in the side for his batting alone. Given he's captain though, he's obviously going to play and someone else in the middle order who's putting up better numbers will need to miss out.

Having said that, I am of the view Stokes is capable of having a consistently good series with the bat, but if he were up against other blokes as a batsman alone he should probably miss out.

It's all pretty difficult for England in terms of trying to juggle it around because they'd have banked on Leach bowling long spells at various points. More grist to the mill for Australia though. They'll go really hard at whoever England use as their spin option now.

 

[social]

I do sometimes wonder if you actually watch any cricket? Or if you do it's clearly only in Australia.....like that time you said Woakes in this series would be cannon fodder or some such crap. These are just simply nonsense opinions.

You obviously didn’t watch the last Ashes

 

[Adders]

You obviously didn’t watch the last Ashes

Lol. Let's play a game.......spot the difference.

 

[Son Of Coco]

This is a real blow - he's far and away our best spinner.

I don't know what it is with The Ashes but we always seem to have so many injuries.

Intense fear of the opposition creates stress. Stress tightens muscles. Tight muscles = injuries.

We are very intimidating. I'd be surprised if anyone in the England set up believes they can win an hour of a match, let alone a whole test.

 

[Daemon]

This doesn’t need a thread. Feel for Leach but Joe Root statistically the better spinner anyways.

 

[social]

Lol. Let's play a game.......spot the difference.

England’s bowling attack had more depth in the last Ashes because Stokes was relatively healthy

Leach would have been one of 4 frontline bowlers in this series and couldn’t be hidden

If you think that Australia wasn’t going to adopt similar tactics against him then I have an iceberg to sell you

 

[grecian]

This doesn’t need a thread. Feel for Leach but Joe Root statistically the better spinner anyways.

What actual statistics are these?

 

[grecian]

The elephant in the room is Stokes playing as a batsman alone in a side with a four man attack. I rate the bloke very highly (obviously not as a human, who does?) but if he isn't bowling then on merit he probably shouldn't be in the side for his batting alone. Given he's captain though, he's obviously going to play and someone else in the middle order who's putting up better numbers will need to miss out.

Having said that, I am of the view Stokes is capable of having a consistently good series with the bat, but if he were up against other blokes as a batsman alone he should probably miss out.

It's all pretty difficult for England in terms of trying to juggle it around because they'd have banked on Leach bowling long spells at various points. More grist to the mill for Australia though. They'll go really hard at whoever England use as their spin option now.

I actually agree whole-heartedly with this, as Pothas has said think we'd be hugely stronger and better balanced if Moeen replaced stokes.

 

[Prince EWS]

I actually agree whole-heartedly with this, as Pothas has said think we'd be hugely stronger and better balanced if Moeen replaced stokes.

Yeah Moeen would be ideal but it's possible even Dawson or Jacks replacing Stokes would improve the team at this point.

It's no shame for a world-class allrounder not to play if he's not fit to bowl.

 

[social]

Or have Mo replace Leach

Batting will be massively improved and they don’t lose much from bowling

Same can be said for Woakes but bowling will be improved

 

[Zinzan]

Has something changed with Moeen? Last I heard (3-4 months back) McCullum had been in his ear about a possible Test comeback & while Moeen was flattered, he made it crystal clear he wasn't interested.

 

[Prince EWS]

Has something changed with Moeen? Last I heard (3-4 months back) McCullum had been in his ear about a possible Test comeback & while Moeen was flattered, he made it crystal clear he wasn't interested.

I think we all realise it's unlikely, but the calculus does change a bit when it's an opportunity to just play a home Ashes as opposed to a longer-term commitment to the full Test circuit so it's probably worth calling him anyway.

 

[Burgey]

There's a bit of an Issue for Moeen in that Lyon essentially owns him with the bat and for whatever reason he seems to have always under performed in general against Aus relative to his otherwise obvious ability. If he were to come back it might be that the new approach would suit him, but he genuinely has 2019 Warner-level issues when it comes to playing against Aus for whatever reason.

 

[Pothas]

I actually agree whole-heartedly with this, as Pothas has said think we'd be hugely stronger and better balanced if Moeen replaced stokes.

Obviously we wouldn't put it past Stokes having a great series with the bat but is he actually fit enough for that right now.

 

[Molehill]

There's a bit of an Issue for Moeen in that Lyon essentially owns him with the bat and for whatever reason he seems to have always under performed in general against Aus relative to his otherwise obvious ability. If he were to come back it might be that the new approach would suit him, but he genuinely has 2019 Warner-level issues when it comes to playing against Aus for whatever reason.

He wouldn't really be in for his batting though. He'll be coming in at number 8 with England 420-6 off 70 odd overs. Lyon will be a shrivelled mess by then hiding on the boundary.

Anyway, Leach is a massive loss. Can only assume @social hasn't watched any Stokes' era Leach and realised what a key component he is to the England team. I don't see anyone else capable of providing that same role. I'd roll out some green seamers and get Woakes in. 3 Day matches with no spin requirement. England win simply because they score their runs faster in a bowler's paradise.

 

[GIMH]

Maybe as a compromise Stokes can bowl offies

 

[Burgey]

Yeah it wouldn't be anywhere near as big a loss if Stokes could bowl his normal quota. You could plug in a bog average finger spinning all rounder at the other end for 10-12 per day and hope for the best if that was the case, because Stokes bowled 95 overs in the 2019 series. That's a lot to make up with one less bowler on the park, especially if they opt to run without a spinner.

This is the problem with all rounders, they might not always do a great deal in either discipline at any given time, but you come to rely on them to a disproportionate amount in terms of rest and rotation of bowlers. Already the case for Aus with Green.

I reckon any chance of Anderson and Broad playing together game one went out the window when Leach was ruled out. They probably would have rested
(D R O P P E D
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one of them anyway, but this would make it a certainty, wouldn't it?
Anderson, Robinson, Wood ANOther most likely now? Or is Broad more likely than Anderson given the latter and Robinson are both coming off niggles? It's a genuinely tough call, I'd imagine.

 

[Prince EWS]

Maybe as a compromise Stokes can bowl offies

Ollie Robinson to bowl offies!

 

[Ashes81]

The balance of our team is based around Stokes bowling his usual number of overs.

That seems very unlikely. To cover this, Leach has been crucial, so that we can play a 4 man attack, with any Stokes overs being a bonus.

Now there is an argument that the Aussies may have been able to hit Leach out of the attack, causing our remaining 3 seamers to carry a big workload.

But our bowling line up is being decimated by injuries. Our first choice line up would have included Archer (or Wood) a fully fit Stokes and Leach with 2 of Jimmy, Broad and Anderson.

So the heart has been ripped out of our attack.

Unless Stokes can bowl a fair number of overs, we'll have to go with 4 seamers and use Root as required.

I think we'll go Jimmy, Broad, Robinson and Wood.

These injuries have really shifted the balance towards Australia.