***Official*** England in Sri Lanka 2012

[TT Boy]

Hope Finn plays but they will probably go with Bresnan for the batting. Need it.

 

[four_or_six]

I'm still hoping for Bresnan and Finn, and Monty to go out too. Don't think it will happen though.

 

[Scaly piscine]

I'm still hoping for Bresnan and Finn, and Monty to go out too. Don't think it will happen though.

Yep.

We all know what Donkey brings because he plays the exact same way regardless, conditions and batsmen aren't in his favour so out he should go.

 

[Furball]

Broad out is a bit of a pisser.

If Bresnan is fit enough he should be the replacement.

 

[theegyptian]

lol at broad probably missing another ipl. talk about bad luck for him.

im no fan of panesar but he should probably still play. most of the sri lanka top order is right handed so need a sla and patel is still crap .dont know how you structure the team without broad though. wouldnt have played patel in first test and he was crap but may as well give him the second test so probably just straight swap broad for finn/bresnan.

 

[Scaly piscine]

lol at broad probably missing another ipl. talk about bad luck for him.

im no fan of panesar but he should probably still play. most of the sri lanka top order is right handed so need a sla and patel is still crap .dont know how you structure the team without broad though. wouldnt have played patel in first test and he was crap but may as well give him the second test so probably just straight swap broad for finn/bresnan.

Patel was more effective with the ball than Donkey. Panesar is not going to help force a victory against a side who bats against spin competently in Sri Lankan conditions. At best he'll block an end and get gifted a wicket somewhere, which is about all he managed in the first Test. And then you've still got his prank fielding, which undoes wickets and irritates everyone else. Plus his batting.

 

[TT Boy]

Patel was more effective with the ball than Donkey. Panesar is not going to help force a victory against a side who bats against spin competently in Sri Lankan conditions. At best he'll block an end and get gifted a wicket somewhere, which is about all he managed in the first Test. And then you've still got his prank fielding, which undoes wickets and irritates everyone else. Plus his batting.

And Monty was more effective with the bat.

 

[theegyptian]

Patel was more effective with the ball than Donkey. Panesar is not going to help force a victory against a side who bats against spin competently in Sri Lankan conditions. At best he'll block an end and get gifted a wicket somewhere, which is about all he managed in the first Test. And then you've still got his prank fielding, which undoes wickets and irritates everyone else. Plus his batting.

Panesar is no great bowler but he is lightyears in front of patel in terms of spin bowling. England need to win and going in with a 1 & 1/3 spinners is no way to go about that. and patel scored less runs than panesar in that test. (marginally beaten by tt to this point)

seamers aren't going to bowl a lot of overs in the heat and they're not going to take a load of wickets so even though swann seemed to regain some form in this last match putting englands hopes of victory in the hands of swann and patel isn't exactly my ideal plan of attack.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Panesar is no great bowler but he is lightyears in front of patel in terms of spin bowling. England need to win and going in with a 1 & 1/3 spinners is no way to go about that. and patel scored less runs than panesar in that test. (marginally beaten by tt to this point)

seamers aren't going to bowl a lot of overs in the heat and they're not going to take a load of wickets so even though swann seemed to regain some form in this last match putting englands hopes of victory in the hands of swann and patel isn't exactly my ideal plan of attack.

Against decent players of spin in these conditions Donkey isn't light years in front of Patel. Donkey is a very skilled bowler with all the brain of a squashed hedgehog. You can't just pop up at every Test match, every session and every over and bowl the exact same way. He's a horses for courses pick because of it. He's of use away to Pakistan, West Indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Apart from that he's not nearly worth the baggage he brings, particularly given the seamers we've left out.

I would back a seamer to take more wickets than Fatel or Donkey in the next Test. Anderson took a 5-fer in the first innings, there were also several missed chances off the seamers and Broad was injured.

 

[DingDong]

Against decent players of spin in these conditions Donkey isn't light years in front of Patel. Donkey is a very skilled bowler with all the brain of a squashed hedgehog. You can't just pop up at every Test match, every session and every over and bowl the exact same way. He's a horses for courses pick because of it. He's of use away to Pakistan, West Indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Apart from that he's not nearly worth the baggage he brings, particularly given the seamers we've left out.

I would back a seamer to take more wickets than Fatel or Donkey in the next Test. Anderson took a 5-fer in the first innings, there were also several missed chances off the seamers and Broad was injured.

classy poster isn't he?

 

[Howe_zat]

BRESSIE TIME

z

 

[Lostman]

BRESSIE TIME

z

As a SL fan I am more worried about Finn than Bresnan.

 

[sachin200]

classy poster isn't he?

and english too

 

[Cricketismylife]

Quite disappointed by English commentator and media reaction to SL. They havent really given them much credit and talk as if this was England's match to lose, and go on about the missed English chances only.

What about the SL chances? Samaraweera when looking solid was run out backing up, 2 further wickets were thrown away by run outs. The Sri Lankan batsman themselves didnt play to potential, and I believe if they had been on their game they could have got a much bigger total.

As for Herath, no one is saying he's world class, but the way people talk about him it sounds like he should never get wickets. Obviously he shouldnt be skittling a side, but if Panesar had skittled Sri Lanka, commentators would have gone about what a fine bowler Panesar is despite the fact that like Herath, he has no mystery. Same applies to Swann, who although is the best bowler of the 3 also has no mystery.

Also I think the Sky commentators need to do more homework on overseas players. They have a very good knowledge and ability to convey the nuances of test cricket, but they dont seem to know much about players unless they have performed against England many times. This gives the impression to the viewers that a team like SL only has 2-3 decent players, simply because the knowledge of the other 7-8 players isnt high, and therefore they arent considered as threats to England. The fact is Herath before this test had a bowling average in SL in the high 20s, so clearly he is some sort of threat, especially against a side that plays spin so badly.

To England fans, as tempting as it sounds to drop Panesar, I dont think it should happen since the next pitch may suit his speed of bowling more than Swann. I expect Randiv to do some damage in the next test.

 

[CWB304]

Quite disappointed by English commentator and media reaction to SL. They havent really given them much credit and talk as if this was England's match to lose, and go on about the missed English chances only.

What about the SL chances? Samaraweera when looking solid was run out backing up, 2 further wickets were thrown away by run outs. The Sri Lankan batsman themselves didnt play to potential, and I believe if they had been on their game they could have got a much bigger total.

As for Herath, no one is saying he's world class, but the way people talk about him it sounds like he should never get wickets. Obviously he shouldnt be skittling a side, but if Panesar had skittled Sri Lanka, commentators would have gone about what a fine bowler Panesar is despite the fact that like Herath, he has no mystery. Same applies to Swann, who although is the best bowler of the 3 also has no mystery.

Also I think the Sky commentators need to do more homework on overseas players. They have a very good knowledge and ability to convey the nuances of test cricket, but they dont seem to know much about players unless they have performed against England many times. This gives the impression to the viewers that a team like SL only has 2-3 decent players, simply because the knowledge of the other 7-8 players isnt high, and therefore they arent considered as threats to England. The fact is Herath before this test had a bowling average in SL in the high 20s, so clearly he is some sort of threat, especially against a side that plays spin so badly.

To England fans, as tempting as it sounds to drop Panesar, I dont think it should happen since the next pitch may suit his speed of bowling more than Swann. I expect Randiv to do some damage in the next test.

Great post as usual.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Quite disappointed by English commentator and media reaction to SL. They havent really given them much credit and talk as if this was England's match to lose, and go on about the missed English chances only.

What about the SL chances? Samaraweera when looking solid was run out backing up, 2 further wickets were thrown away by run outs. The Sri Lankan batsman themselves didnt play to potential, and I believe if they had been on their game they could have got a much bigger total.

As for Herath, no one is saying he's world class, but the way people talk about him it sounds like he should never get wickets. Obviously he shouldnt be skittling a side, but if Panesar had skittled Sri Lanka, commentators would have gone about what a fine bowler Panesar is despite the fact that like Herath, he has no mystery. Same applies to Swann, who although is the best bowler of the 3 also has no mystery.

It's rare a team plays to their absolute potential. Sri Lanka had more than enough bonuses with Donkey, other dropped catches, Donkey, no-ball 'wickets', Broad's injury, tailenders hanging around and Donkey.

If the commentators had gone on about Donkey being a fine bowler they'd have been wrong. He's the most one-dimensional bowler in cricket. His lack of selection has protected his average, because decent sides were building strategies in place to nullify him even further. It has happened to most spinners in Test cricket over the past 15 years, particularly finger spinners. Almost all of them do better (average-wise) in their first 2-3 years than the next 2-3.

 

[Cricketismylife]

If the commentators had gone on about Donkey being a fine bowler they'd have been wrong. He's the most one-dimensional bowler in cricket. His lack of selection has protected his average, because decent sides were building strategies in place to nullify him even further. It has happened to most spinners in Test cricket over the past 15 years, particularly finger spinners. Almost all of them do better (average-wise) in their first 2-3 years than the next 2-3.

Agree with this part. Jayawardene ended the first part of Panesar's career in 2007, and showed him up to be so one-dimensional. The thing I find confusing is that it was implied that he has improved since his comeback. I haven't seen anything different from him whether it be bowling, batting or fielding. But he's still much better than the likes of Giles and previous English spinners in the last 20 years excluding Swann, although that's probably not the hardest thing to be.

 

[Viscount Tom]

He spins the ball more than Giles but really doesn't manage to do much else. At least with Gilo you felt he was a solid fielder and bat to boot and had a sharp enough mind to compensate for his lack of spinning ability.

Your also missing out Tuffers...Ledge

 

[grecian]

Agree with this part. Jayawardene ended the first part of Panesar's career in 2007, and showed him up to be so one-dimensional. The thing I find confusing is that it was implied that he has improved since his comeback. I haven't seen anything different from him whether it be bowling, batting or fielding. But he's still much better than the likes of Giles and previous English spinners in the last 20 years excluding Swann, although that's probably not the hardest thing to be.

Very hard to judge though isn't it, the fact is that spinners are starting to pick up lbws that they never would before, which also means batsmen (except english ones of course) have had to play with the bat more, bringing into play catches around the wicket.

BTW I'm not a fan of Gilo or Tufnell, or Croft, but it has to be said spinners in between under-cover pitches, and the new, and correct, way of umpiring, did rather draw the short straw.

Embers, with his perfect arm-ball would have averaged at least 8 less IMHO.

 

[Cricketismylife]

Very hard to judge though isn't it, the fact is that spinners are starting to pick up lbws that they never would before, which also means batsmen (except english ones of course) have had to play with the bat more, bringing into play catches around the wicket.

BTW I'm not a fan of Gilo or Tufnell, or Croft, but it has to be said spinners in between under-cover pitches, and the new, and correct, way of umpiring, did rather draw the short straw.

Embers, with his perfect arm-ball would have averaged at least 8 less IMHO.

True. Even before DRS, umpires were giving out more lbws in 2006 than they were in say 1996. Still I think at least Panesar is capable of winning a test match on the 5th day with a large target to defend. I mean I feel he's more of a matchwinner than someone like Vettori who gets complimented on his bowling but never seems to be able to run through a lineup. With Giles or Croft I never felt they could do that either; Tufnell is a slightly different case, he had more talent than Giles or Croft but he had too many attitude problems and was equally incompetent with the bat and in the field as Panesar.