Cricket-Match-Special ... A forum for discussion

From Lord's, the home of cricket.

England host the two match series following a scanty, but mixed twelve months of Test cricket, losing, drawing and winning a series apiece, but with limited over failure adding a distinctive minor chord to the typical blue notes of English international cricket.

Big changes could be waiting in the weeks before the series gets under way. At least one alteration to the team that played in the West Indies appears to be inevitable, with England set to bring Jonathan Trott's long goodbye to the Test arena to a final stop. Adam Lyth will replace him. Other repercussions of the disappointing winter are less obvious, but coach Peter Moores and skipper Alastair Cook might be inclined, on logging on in the morning, to internet search 'England cricket coach and captain', before accessing their familiar data folders. Jason Gillespie and Joe Root, of the Yorkshire mafia, await changes with the most interest.

What seems most likely is that Andrew Strauss will take on a role of overall control, often insisted upon by the watching nation at such times of crisis. Will Strauss provide that combination of big brain, big heart and Machiavellian genius that the nation seeks?

New Zealand arrive on a huge high, following a home World Cup campaign which enraptured their nation. And the Test team is strong, having beaten England's conquerors, Sri Lanka, 2-0 at home, following a stirring and extraordinary drawn series in UAE against Pakistan. New Zealand haven't lost a Test series since they were defeated by England two years ago, before another Ashes summer. Their strong pace attack and varied batting will be a good tester for England, but, lest we forget, the Kiwis haven't beaten England in a series since 1999. And many key players will fly into to HQ from the IPL without any acclimatisation.

Welcome to the popular New Zealand tourists:

Corey Anderson
Trent Boult
Doug Bracewell
Mark Craig
Martin Guptill
Matt Henry
Tom Latham
Brendon McCullum
Luke Ronchi
Hamish Rutherford
Tim Southee
Ross Taylor
Neil Wagner
BJ Watling
Kane Williamson

Some Lord's stats. These are the averages of players to have scored over 500 runs there. The list headed by two Aussies, Warren Bardsley and Allan Border, followed by two from West Indies in Garfield Sobers and Shiv Chanderpaul. All left handers. And then... Joe Root, followed by Don Bradman! Well done Joe. Then highest placed Asian batter, Dilip Vengsarkar, famous for three tons there in the eighties. Then Trotty.

It's a venue where England captains have done well in recent years, with Vaughan, Gooch, Strauss and Hussain averaging over 50, and Stewart 45. Cook is down at 40 (3 tons in 32 innings), but maybe Root's 84.4 will be more relevant come the 21st of May.

Gooch and Vaughan have the most tons at HQ with six, then Strauss and KP on five, and Bell and Lamb on four.

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine ... pe=batting

These are the SRs of bowlers to have taken 20 wickets at Lord's. Typically, McGrath leads the way, then as often happens on SRs, Finn makes an unexpected entry high up the list. After daylight though. English bowlers dominate this list (20 wickets is a lot to take away from home at one ground I guess). But Malcolm Marshall and Richard Hadlee are prominent.

As happens amazingly often Broad and Anderson are right next to each other.

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine ... pe=bowling

Arthur Crabtree wrote:Some Lord's stats. These are the averages of players to have scored over 500 runs there. The list headed by two Aussies, Warren Bardsley and Allan Border, followed by two from West Indies in Garfield Sobers and Shiv Chanderpaul. All left handers. And then... Joe Root, followed by Don Bradman! Well done Joe. Then highest placed Asian batter, Dilip Vengsarkar, famous for three tons there in the eighties. Then Trotty.

It's a venue where England captains have done well in recent years, with Vaughan, Gooch, Strauss and Hussain averaging over 50, and Stewart 45. Cook is down at 40 (3 tons in 32 innings), but maybe Root's 84.4 will be more relevant come the 21st of May.

Gooch and Vaughan have the most tons at HQ with six, then Strauss and KP on five, and Bell and Lamb on four.

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine ... pe=batting

KP and Bell both average 53+ and are in the top 20 on that list and amongst the highest run scorers. I always enjoyed watching them bat together when on song - won't happen now. In many ways they were the perfect foil for one another and didn't appear to have any issues either. Hopefully Lyth will come in which will also strengthen the slip cordon between Cook and Jordan with Bell playing anywhere in the ring. I'd like to see Taylor at 6 and Buttler at 7. I'm not sure about Stokes and no idea where we find a spinner unless we go back to one of your favourites Arthur, or they finally give Rashid a go.

A three man pace attack, a top flight spinner and 7 batters (inc w/k) is how England enjoyed success under Strauss and it would not be much of a surprise if he was to try and replicate it - well good luck with that!

My guess is that if everything off the field remains intact, they will just swap Lyth for Trott for this match. I'm also guessing that if Strauss comes in, he won't change the team plans in the short term.

I said yesterday I thought Cook and Moores might lose their posts. I now recognise that was crazy talk.

Will Finn be considered, given his previous record? I think we need a wicket taking third seamer, whoever that will be.

Lyth for Trott looks a certainty.

Looks like Moores is going to keep his job.

Can't see Finn being picked. He's lost his pace, and hasn't started the season well.

Gingerfinch wrote:Will Finn be considered, given his previous record? I think we need a wicket taking third seamer, whoever that will be.

Lyth for Trott looks a certainty.

Jeez.... I hope not. He looked a complete rabble in the World Cup and hasn't exactly started the season well. He needs an uninterrupted season of FC cricket (no ODI selection either) if England are serious about him rediscovering himself as a bowler and having an international future.

I think England really need to take a firm decision with regards to the specialist spinner. Do they genuinely see Moeen as the best spinner in the country or is he being picked just to keep running away from the issue. I'm pretty sure no one picked him anticipating him to take 20 wickets vs India last summer. He was picked because of his form with the bat. It was a way to get a "notional spinner" in the side whilst strengthening the batting and to avoid picking a specialist spinner. Now after his success vs India, people have started to look up to him as a genuine spinner and many believe he is actually the best spinner in the country. Do the management also perceive it that way? If not, did they really think they could get away without a specialist spinner in the conditions in the Caribbean? If they think he is the best spinner in the country, he has to be used that way. As a genuine, frontline spinner. Give him 20-22 overs a day. Let him develop. Root was preferred to him yesterday and quite often at Grenada too. Which suggests that they perhaps don't see him as a frontline spinner. In which case, they have to pick the one who they think is the best specialist spinner available in the country. Even if he is not a very good one, you've gotta make the best of what you have. With the way the pitches are in county cricket right now, particularly with the amount of cricket played in April and May, spinners won't have a lot of bowling to do and won't hone their craft properly. Test pitches seem to be a lot more spin friendly these days. I think they need to invest in and develop someone at Test level. Time for a long term perspective. If they think Moeen is that man, then use him like a specialist spinner! Or invest in someone like Riley (Strauss was pimping him last summer IIRC).

Trott has announced his retirement from international cricket..

shankycricket wrote:Trott has announced his retirement from international cricket..

A sad way to end.

Hats off to a English great

shankycricket wrote:Trott has announced his retirement from international cricket..

For the best.

A great servant for England during the period when they became the #1 team and won 3 Ashes series in a row, probably the most consistently good England team for many a decade. It was such a shame his career ended in the way it did in the West Indies, it should never have been allowed to go that far. England are now forced to look to the future, sometimes (and more often than should be the case) they need to be forced to do as much.

Good luck Adam Lyth. Although being England they'll probably recall Pietersen and get him to open.

Arthur Crabtree wrote:Can't see Finn being picked. He's lost his pace, and hasn't started the season well.

he is nothing if he isnt bowling 140kph+

he doesnt swing the ball and pitches almost never seam these days so he is toothless most of the time

Lyth for Trott is pretty certain.

The spinner is going to cause headaches for England for a long time. To be honest it's hard to see Moeen and Stokes in the same side. Moeen is the better bat, and offers a spin option, whereas Stokes is still pretty raw and is in many ways too similar to Anderson and Broad. But Stokes has a lot of talent, raw though it is, and deserves to be persevered with. And he clearly needs to bat higher than 8.

I'd give Rashid a crack.

The third specialist seamer is still a question mark. Jordan did not impress in the Caribbean. Finn has had it. Again. Time for Plunkett to come back? Or maybe a punt on a new face. A left armer like Footitt or Gurney, perhaps?