cricket 2025 (1 Viewer)

tisza

Well-Known Member
if we're honest India should have won that match as well.
Yep. Seeing again England can't bowl on flat wickets. But this cricket is brainless. You've got to get through 15 -20 overs of the new ball then it's a batsman's game. Then you can bazball to your heart's content.
But the bowling is so poor. That first session day one was decent and they didn't capitalise on it . But as soon as Tongue and Stokes came on they just fed them runs and that set the tone for this Test.
Having 6 ducks on a batting wicket was pathetic.
Feels like the Pakistan series when Pakistan adapted and England wouldn't.
Pitches/conditions stay like these and can see India winning the other Tests and it's nowhere as good an India side as they've been over recent years. These pitches are more sub-continent than English except they aren't breaking up as quickly - so India don't even need a spinner.
Think we're really seeing the effects now of sacrificing red ball cricket for white ball in the English domestic calendar and the ECB's prioritising white ball over red. (Pounds over performance)
 

chiefdave

Well-Known Member
Absolutely chucking it down, rain might save the day.
Think we're really seeing the effects now of sacrificing red ball cricket for white ball in the English domestic calendar and the ECB's prioritising white ball over red. (Pounds over performance)
This, been pointed out before we're not preparing players for test cricket. They're showing the games in April and September which are completely different conditions and players are being selected to match those conditions.

Add in the ridiculous decision to use to Kookaburra ball because of the obsession with everything revolving around the ashes and we're creating our own problem.

The final nail in the coffin is that as soon as you get close to the team you're not playing domestic cricket anymore so you end up with players spending a year or two carrying drinks then wonder why they don't hit the ground running when finally selected.

This is all only going to get worse if they finalise selling the Hundred teams and IPL franchises have an ownership stake in the English summer.
 

tisza

Well-Known Member
The final nail in the coffin is that as soon as you get close to the team you're not playing domestic cricket anymore so you end up with players spending a year or two carrying drinks then wonder why they don't hit the ground running when finally selected.

This is all only going to get worse if they finalise selling the Hundred teams and IPL franchises have an ownership stake in the English summer.
If they throw Archer back in next Test and he'd have bowled less than 20 overs of red ball this year.
ECB got themselves in a mess and it's pounds over performance through financial necessity. Sky hasn't helped as they've done the same by "forcing" ECB to pursue the Hundred.
 

chiefdave

Well-Known Member
Sky hasn't helped as they've done the same by "forcing" ECB to pursue the Hundred.
I don't like doing it but I think I'm going to have to defend Sky here. They weren't the ones pushing for The Hundred.

In fact one of the stated reasons for needing a new competition was the need for free to air cricket. Although nobody at the ECB had the brains to ask Sky if they could just show some Blast games on the BBC. Sky have never been protectionist of cricket rights, they're more time fillers than something driving huge numbers of subscribers like the Premier League does.

When the BBC & Sky signed the contract they thought they were getting a T20 competition, it was a while after it had been announced that there was a new franchise competition that someone decided we needed to start playing a different format to the rest of the world.

It's just idiotic management at the ECB still annoyed that they fucked up their chance at big the big T20 completion and let the IPL take all the glory. Nobody stopped to think that if you're blocking out 6 weeks of the season where no country cricket of any sort can be played you'll have a knock on effect on the schedule.

The Hundred is a house of cards, cheap or free tickets and pushing the non-cricket parts (come and see this singer, fireworks etc). It's the Wasps business plan and we all know how that went. Of course by selling out to IPL franchises they've now created a situation where it will not be allowed to fail where in reality they shouldn't have look at the first few years and realised its not working.
 

chiefdave

Well-Known Member
They're talking about bringing Atkinson, who hasn't played in months, and Archer, who hasn't played in years, in for Lords.

What could possibly go wrong. Watch them both break down on the first day and us be absolutely fucked.
 

tisza

Well-Known Member
Shambolic. Given that's two tests India have dominated, it was more them losing the first than England winning.

Going to need to buck our ideas up fast.
Need to look at the record since beginning of last year.
11 wins 9 losses. But 6 of those wins are at home to W Indies, Sri Lanka & Zimbabwe. About 6 of those losses were pretty much thrashings.
We can't bowl good teams out cheaply and have often relied on individual batsmen.
Bazball can look great but without good bowling it is just masking deficiencies - looks desperate at times. Not convinced this is a particularly potent Indian attack just better disciplined than England's.
 

tisza

Well-Known Member
They're talking about bringing Atkinson, who hasn't played in months, and Archer, who hasn't played in years, in for Lords.

What could possibly go wrong. Watch them both break down on the first day and us be absolutely fucked.
Not convinced Stokes & Carse well fully fit for the duration of this match either.
Looks like Lords will be hot & dry as well. Normally a good ground for Woakes but he's often looked at average so far without any weather/pitch help
 

DT-R

Well-Known Member
It was nice though, after an utterly embarrassing display with 7 ducks and 4 single figure scores and a HUGE battering off what is a very average test side currently, that the team still could giggle and laugh between themselves on the balcony at Bashir reverse sweeping. Absolute embarrassment. Crawley and Pope need to be axed and as far as the bowling goes, India just give us a masterclass in how to bowl on a flat wicket.
As exciting as "bazball" can be at times, its also utterly fucking ridiculous. With rain, we had 7 wickets spare to see out just over half a day and couldn't even mange that! Pathetic.

Sent from my SM-S711B using Tapatalk
 

tisza

Well-Known Member
It was nice though, after an utterly embarrassing display with 7 ducks and 4 single figure scores and a HUGE battering off what is a very average test side currently, that the team still could giggle and laugh between themselves on the balcony at Bashir reverse sweeping. Absolute embarrassment. Crawley and Pope need to be axed and as far as the bowling goes, India just give us a masterclass in how to bowl on a flat wicket.
As exciting as "bazball" can be at times, its also utterly fucking ridiculous. With rain, we had 7 wickets spare to see out just over half a day and couldn't even mange that! Pathetic.

Sent from my SM-S711B using Tapatalk
Sometimes it seems like certain players are using "Bazball" as an out for playing stupidly. "It's what the coach & captain want".
Should still be an obvious distinction with "Bazball" that good balls still need treating properly but maximize on the mediocre stuff.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top