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

just don't do it twice in a 3 match series

perhaps it's time for a white ball reset.... maybe screw the test team in it's pursuit

Much better. Well bowled Topley and Willey.

Good work with the bat from Willey too.

pulled that one out of the fire. I wonder if they burned their fingers?

Excellent figures from Topley

and good work from Mo for shoring up the batting and preventing another horrific collapse

This one really surprised me - I thought England would struggle to defend 246 with the bowlers they have available. There was enough in the pitch , as we saw when England batted ; but even with Topley and Willey bowling well up front I had feared the other bowlers would get hammered. Seems India - just like England - can lose their heads a bit when a couple of early wickets go down. Topley's figures might be a bit freakish ; but he has just about written his name on the team sheet for the t20 WC in Australia...and this display will have him eyeing the 50 over version as well.

Main differences from the other day were that England did manage to get to 40 before losing one opener and 70 for the other - even though the Indian bowling was just as testing. Goes to show some days all the edges get touched and other days they don't. That and some more sensible "consolidation" from Livingstone , and Moeen in particular , allowing Willey to boost the total to something acceptable .

A good win for England which should lift morale ; not so good for the under-pressure Kohli who has a lot of Indian fans calling for his head.

Wonder how bowler-friendly the pitch for Sunday will be be ?

I've lost touch with England's first choice white ball pace bowling options. Wood and Archer are so frequently injured that they hardly ever feature. Woakes has been out for a while. Willey seemed to have been definitively discarded. Is either Curran a first choice?

I don't think England really know either , AC ! They keep throwing new caps around and trying out players - either in the "main" teams or Lions - and apart from Topley you wouldn't say anyone has really done anything exceptional yet. I did like the look of Gleeson in the recent t20 so I hope he has a go in the 50 over stuff soon.
Both Currans are still under a sort of "gentle recovery" schedule , I think ? Not allowed to bowl much or play too many days at a time...think sam in particular remains very much on the radar.

Not holding out much hope of seeing Wood or Archer this year so hopefully they can develop one or two of these fellows quickly...

The last I heard up here, Wood is very close to fitness. There is speculation about whether he'll be allowed to turn out for Durham to build match fitness, but I doubt he'll be allowed to, personally. I have no doubt he'll be allowed to play in the 'guaranteed until 2028' hundred

Arthur Crabtree wrote:I've lost touch with England's first choice white ball pace bowling options. Wood and Archer are so frequently injured that they hardly ever feature. Woakes has been out for a while. Willey seemed to have been definitively discarded. Is either Curran a first choice?

Red ball bowlers - 1 Anderson, 2 Broad, 3 Stokes, 4 Potts, 5 Robinson, 6 Wood, 7 Archer, 8 Woakes, 9 S Curran, 10 Stone, 11 Mahmood, 12 C Overton, 13 J Overton, 14 Fisher

White ball bowlers - 1 Woakes, 2 Stokes, 3 Archer, 4 Wood, 5 S Curran, 6 Willey, 7 Jordan, 8 Topley, 9 Carse, 10, Gleeson, 11 Potts. 12 Mahmood, 13 C Overton,14 Mills, 15 T Curran, 16 Payne, 17 Garton, 18 L Wood, 19, Cook, 20 Howell

Selectors Red Key, McCullum, Stokes
White Key, Mott, Buttler
Haven't got a national selector yet maybe because Key likes this part of the job.

Going to the WC I see Archer, Wood, Woakes, Topley, Gleeson, Jordan

I'll be astonished if Archer and Wood are both fit for the t20. But perhaps I'm just a pessimist. DFM suggesting Wood isn't far away so maybe...as for Archer he hasn't played at all for ages so even if he does get fit to bowl is he going to have time/opportunities to get up to speed ? Only a couple of months to spare so he needs to return soon. If one of them makes it I'd count that as a win...

Getting a bit concerned about Woakes too...been a while since we've heard anything.

Interesting to see Potts called up for some white ball stuff.

I don't think Archer will make any sort of appearance this year, from what I've read, which is why I think they'll wrap Wood up in cotton wool between now and October

Potts has been the first name on the Durham white ball bowling team sheet for the last couple of years, with a record good enough to see him quickly snapped up by the northern battery chargers last year at a time when only Durham fans knew who he was. This is his first year as a senior red ball bowler, which is why his rise to test prominence after just a handful of FC matches was so unexpected

Slipstream wrote:
Red ball bowlers...

... Jordan

Thanks!

Captain's innings required from Jos and time for Livingtone to earn his corn

Awful start

At least a few for Mr. Roy. He's been due.