*Official* 3rd Test at Edgbaston

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Ignoring the fact that the Big Boppy also scored a ton in that match, obvs.

 

[Swingpanzee]

Would love if Edgbaston turns out to be a green pitch. It'd be entertaining if it turns out to be a low-scoring contest.

IMO Lyth shouldn't be dropped, don't think he has much to offer but you can't really drop a man who scored a century against a good attack 3 matches ago. Ballance has just been shocking and should be dropped. Not sure if Bairstow as a replacement would be effective - if he plays with the same technique he had two years ago I wouldn't be worried about him. Maybe call Taylor (no idea what sort of form he is in though)

Buttler's gotta start performing as a bat too, he's had a poor series with some lazy dismissals and weak wafting and prodding at balls.

 

[Athlai]

England feeling the pain of carrying 3 spuds in the top order.

Lyth is a bit of a journeyman who deserves his time in the sun, so being a spud is hardly something we should hold against him.
Bell was seemingly bitten by a spud and has slowly transformed into one.
Ballance is

 

[Dan]

Batting records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPN Cricinfo

The Wheel is Forever

 

[Hooksey]

yeah I definitely think Ballance is the weakest batsman in the side but I don't think they can quite drop him yet.

They are the biggest liabilities you can have players you can't quite drop yet.

 

[Compton]

Lyth should be dropped.

He scored a century on an absolute road but other than that he's scored the square root of **** all. The Aussies took all of 5 minutes to work out his serious technical issue and will just pepper him on that line for the rest of the series.

 

[Howe_zat]

Lyth should be dropped.

He scored a century on an absolute road but other than that he's scored the square root of **** all. The Aussies took all of 5 minutes to work out his serious technical issue and will just pepper him on that line for the rest of the series.

If somebody had scored a ton on a complete road this time we'd be quids in.

The Ashes is played on flat wickets, has been for years

 

[Spikey]

whats Jason Gillespie even doing at Yorkshire anyway. all these spuds with piss poor techniques.

 

[Howe_zat]

whats Jason Gillespie even doing at Yorkshire anyway. all these spuds with piss poor techniques.

Maybe winning the championship has a lot to do with keeping hold of all your best players because they're not quite good enough for tests

#bringmemytinfoilhat

 

[Spikey]

no surprise that the south australian cant develop batting talent though

 

[Flem274*]

Root to #4. Don't want your best batsman in at three down, especially when it could be three for zip.

Ballance or Taylor in at #5, Bell to #3. The next three tests are Bell's very last chance.

Compton was pretty crap once removed from pitches where Rutherford and Fulton were big guns. Keep Lyth for now. If you have no openers, rather than go through ten in twenty tests like certain countries have in the past, pick one with some hope and accept the cameo or stodgy thirties while waiting for someone good to show up.

 

[AndyZaltzHair]

From Michael Vaughan's instagram ...

https://instagram.com/p/5T99iWG_kf/

damn that's huge

 

[adub]

no surprise that the south australian cant develop batting talent though

Has he been scouring NSW Country Cricket for talent, or is there an equivalent to Country NSW in terms of producing fc players who can't get a gig with their County in England that he's been mining?

 

[Top_Cat]

I'm definitely leaving Ballance at 3.

Where to bat Root will depend on where he wants to bat, personally. He's scoring freely, putting the opposition almost immediately on the back-foot when he does and it's working beautifully for him. Last thing England's batting needs now is for him to be thinking he has to reign it in. Be more inclined to bat Stokes at 3 than Root right now.

Bell's dismissal in the first dig was more worrisome, very reminiscent of Vaughan toward the end when he was supposedly the victim of a succession of unplayable balls that, really, a Test player should be able to keep out.

 

[Top_Cat]

Is Australia coach Darren Lehmann a laid-back genius or an optimistic fool? | Geoff Lemon | Sport | The Guardian

heh

 

[Prince EWS]

dem lemonz

 

[Bahnz]

Root to #4. Don't want your best batsman in at three down, especially when it could be three for zip.

Ballance or Taylor in at #5, Bell to #3. The next three tests are Bell's very last chance.

Compton was pretty crap once removed from pitches where Rutherford and Fulton were big guns. Keep Lyth for now. If you have no openers, rather than go through ten in twenty tests like certain countries have in the past, pick one with some hope and accept the cameo or stodgy thirties while waiting for someone good to show up.

Yeah but the period that you're referring to amounts to only 2 tests. Imagine if New Zealand had dropped Latham after his two poor tests v Sri Lanka at the start of this year.

 

[Uppercut]

I think the ideal order would be Bell 3 Root 4 Ballance 5. Ballance has the technique least suited to seeing off the new ball, but has previously seemed capable of cashing in if he's not facing the best of the bowling.

I wouldn't move Root while he's in such good form but switching Bell and Ballance might be worth a go, if neither player has any objection. It's a very minor change but even rearranging the deckchairs shifts the boat's centre of gravity very slightly.

 

[Julian87]

Bell and Ballance have to go. Bell is horribly out of confidence and Ballance is just plain dire.

Only question is who to bring in at 3....I suspect Bairstow would be next in line, but after that.....perhaps England go funky and pick Moeen at 3?

As an Australian I hope Moeen goes up the order. He looks an absolute world beater at 8. Some of his shot making is pleasing to watch. But he's about as loose as it gets.

 

[hendrix]

Taylor to 3.