**Official** Sri Lanka in England / Scotland - 2011

[Himannv]

From the looks of things Mendis has shown promise with the bat, but I'm yet to see anything worth praise from his bowling.

I think he's alright as a spin option but probably not as a front line bowler. With Dilshan and Mathews (when fully fit) to bowl as well, its not a priority that he bowls out his 10. Doesn't put too much pace on the ball for it to be easy to hit I reckon and gets a fair amount of turn. Needs to work on bowling the right length at the moment I feel. The googly is easy to spot so he should probably bowl it less often and use it as a surprise delivery.

Fairly steady for a number 7 batsman but there is room for improvement. Dont feel he picks gaps as well as a top order batsman would so he could improve on that. Considering the position he bats, needs to be able to clear the ropes a bit more consistently.

Still on the whole a fair amount of positives although the player to really make a name for himself in this series is clearly Chandimal.

 

[Spark]

Hmm, you may well have a point there.

And this may sound a bit controversial (or be flat-out wrong) but I do think this is a technical thing. I've always thought his technique, whilst very textbook-correct, is a little mechanical. He sort of "goes through the motions" of his technique to some extent and thus finds it hard to control the little intricacies of it with his wrists etc. to manipulate the ball it the way a middle order ODI bat needs to do.

 

[Howe_zat]

I'm not so sure about that. In Tests he's been very good at threading the ball through the outfield for his boundaries, which suggests very good control over his wrists and his shot placement. It's very orthodox, so he doesn't/can't really work a ball wherever he feels like Trott and Morgan tend to do, but that need not be a barrier in ODIs - look at Jayawardene. I'm with you on the weighting thing though.

 

[Prince EWS]

I'm not so sure about that. In Tests he's been very good at threading the ball through the outfield for his boundaries, which suggests very good control over his wrists and his shot placement. It's very orthodox, so he doesn't/can't really work a ball wherever he feels like Trott and Morgan tend to do, but that need not be a barrier in ODIs - look at Jayawardene. I'm with you on the weighting thing though.

Jayawardene has had a lot of the same problems Bell has in ODIs though, particularly earlier in his career.

 

[Himannv]

And this may sound a bit controversial (or be flat-out wrong) but I do think this is a technical thing. I've always thought his technique, whilst very textbook-correct, is a little mechanical. He sort of "goes through the motions" of his technique to some extent and thus finds it hard to control the little intricacies of it with his wrists etc. to manipulate the ball it the way a middle order ODI bat needs to do.

Agree with this somewhat.

While its more than acceptable in test matches, his technique does not seem suitable for ODI's specially since he comes lower down the order.

Also I think he plays the ball on merit always. Defends the good one and scores off the bad one basically. In ODIs I think he needs to work the good ball around a bit and try and place it into gaps as well. Needs to be slightly unorthodox with his wrists for that sort of thing and I dont think he does that.

I think he'd do alright at 3 but coming in at 5 or 6 where you need to be scoring pretty much every ball is probably a stretch for him.

 

[Himannv]

Jayawardene has had a lot of the same problems Bell has in ODIs though, particularly earlier in his career.

I think he has issues against pace with this regard but I dont think he has any trouble when it comes to playing spin. He seems fairly comfortable maneuvering the ball around to any part of the ground when a spinner is bowling.

 

[Spark]

I'm not so sure about that. In Tests he's been very good at threading the ball through the outfield for his boundaries, which suggests very good control over his wrists and his shot placement. It's very orthodox, so he doesn't/can't really work a ball wherever he feels like Trott and Morgan tend to do, but that need not be a barrier in ODIs - look at Jayawardene. I'm with you on the weighting thing though.

I think that's because his technique is so good that he can control exactly how he plays individual shots and place them etc.

What I'm more talking about is a more subtle thing, where he tinkers with his technique using his wrists etc., ie. doesn't go through fully with a shot, to do that "weighting" thing.

 

[Howe_zat]

Yeah, I see what you're saying.

 

[Spark]

Basically what I'm saying is that because his technique is slightly mechanical, and a "process" for him, he finds it very difficult to not fully execute a shot once he's committed to it. A more "natural" (I hope this word isn't misinterpreted) player who doesn't rely so much on the "process" of technique like a Hussey doesn't suffer from that problem.

A similar player, actually, could be Shane Watson, who has a similarly - or even moreso - mechanical technique and I think would find the sort of hit-and-run, manipulate the ball into gaps for twos etc very difficult. The difference there though is that I think Watson has been much more successful in incorporating "work the strike" shots like the chop to third man and nudging on the legside into his technique. And then there's the blatantly obvious fact that he doesn't need to work the strike as much because he just whacks boundaries instead.

My opinion, obviously.

 

[vcs]

Basically what I'm saying is that because his technique is slightly mechanical, and a "process" for him, he finds it very difficult to not fully execute a shot once he's committed to it. A more "natural" (I hope this word isn't misinterpreted) player who doesn't rely so much on the "process" of technique like a Hussey doesn't suffer from that problem.

A similar player, actually, could be Shane Watson, who has a similarly - or even moreso - mechanical technique and I think would find the sort of hit-and-run, manipulate the ball into gaps for twos etc very difficult. The difference there though is that I think Watson has been much more successful in incorporating "work the strike" shots like the chop to third man and nudging on the legside into his technique. And then there's the blatantly obvious fact that he doesn't need to work the strike as much because he just whacks boundaries instead.

My opinion, obviously.

When I read your earlier posts, Shane Watson was the first other example that came to mind.

 

[NasserFan207]

Agree with this somewhat.

While its more than acceptable in test matches, his technique does not seem suitable for ODI's specially since he comes lower down the order.

Also I think he plays the ball on merit always. Defends the good one and scores off the bad one basically. In ODIs I think he needs to work the good ball around a bit and try and place it into gaps as well. Needs to be slightly unorthodox with his wrists for that sort of thing and I dont think he does that.

I think he'd do alright at 3 but coming in at 5 or 6 where you need to be scoring pretty much every ball is probably a stretch for him.

In regards to Bell there, would it not make more sense for him to be an opening bat or no3? I know its already been tried in ODIs but it really does seem logical.

 

[Himannv]

In regards to Bell there, would it not make more sense for him to be an opening bat or no3? I know its already been tried in ODIs but it really does seem logical.

Yes I think an opening slot or more likely a number three slot will suit him. Seems like England prefer Trott to come in at 3 and seems like Cook and Kieswetter are a fair choice as openers.

If Cook can bat more aggressively (he's shown some flashes of doing that), then something like this might work out:

Cook
Kieswetter
Trott
Bell
Morgan
Pietersen

Leaves you with aggressive openers, consolidators and partnership builders in the middle with Morgan and Pietersen to play to the situation and score runs at the end using the batting powerplay. Worth a try I reckon.

 

[Howe_zat]

Anyone else been following the tri-series? Stirling rocking it against the Scots.

 

[IrishOpener]

111* from 93 balls with over 20 overs to go :O...

 

[Uppercut]

He's out now though .

Can be watched here ftr.

 

[IrishOpener]

Typical I cursed him , good chance for Cusack to get a 100*...

 

[Prince EWS]

He's out now though .

Can be watched here ftr.

Oh FFS. I knew about that site and didn't think it check it for today's game. So pissed off at myself.

 

[IrishOpener]

Can't believe we will lose to Scotland, Cusack and Poynter couldn't catch a cold today, it's a bad day for Irish cricket, shocking really ...

 

[Furball]

And the natural order in Europe is restored

 

[MW1304]

Who is this Berrington guy? What a legend.