English Cricket Thread

[Durhamfootman]

I'm still happy.

after this match Durham lose Stokes and Potts. Siddle returns home, Carse is banned and Bedingham seems to have picked up an injury. Losing Robinson as well would have left Durham dreadfully short

[Durhamfootman]

although there is now no more CC cricket for about 7 weeks

[sussexpob]

Going to be a new look to the bowling , especially after Jimmy's farewell game. Hope it works better than the "reset without Broad and Anderson" project that stalled in West Indies two years ago !

The bowler selections considering form and fitness are a bit of a leap into the dark, and how much can we really rely on Stokes to bowl nowadays? In fairness to the selectors though, the bowling stocks have been absolutely decimated this year, so many options are injured. Still, after Rob Key came out and told us pace was the only skill that mattered, I did chuckle that they dropped Mark Wood for a medium-fast bowler....

[sussexpob]

Remember back in November when we argued about Wood's longest contract ever. Worth a status update on that....

Dropped from the test team after averaging 80 in his last series and taking less than a wicket an innings.

Dropped from the T20 team after going at over 11 an over in a historically low scoring world cup against the test sides + 0 wickets.

Arguable if he gets picked for the ODI again after a year he averaged 50 a wicket and went at +6 runs an over.... his worst year in the format in his career.

What was the quote again....?? "Hardest player for England to replace"

Who would have thought giving a 35 year old career sick note who relies solely on pace to take wickets the longest contract ever might not work out in his mid to late 30s.

[Durhamfootman]

What was the quote again....?? "Hardest player for England to replace"

that was Dobell and he was talking purely about bowlers who can bowl 95mph

But, yes..... I'll bet Woody couldn't believe his luck when they offered him that contract extension

[Durhamfootman]

From what I've seen of him this season, I don't think you need to worry about Stokes' fitness to bowl. He looks great, he's moving freely, he's been bowling long hostile spells with no noticeable drop in pace or aggression. Now any player can get injured at any time, but he looks ready for a full bowling role in the upcoming test series, to me. If I was to be hypercritical, I'd say that he's bowled a few balls down the leg side, but other than that, looks great

[sussexpob]

I confess I am really surprised that Stokes is bowling so much. Hopefully he can stay fit and the toll doesnt get it.

[Durhamfootman]

Looks great. Looks a bit leaner too and he's bowling well

England will be able to select a fully balanced side this summer, because Stokes will be able to bowl his full quota

[Slipstream]

Dad has said https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/art ... 2v0e955l97

I would say that bowling at 75mph and having back spasms at various times hasn't helped. Pennington is 6'5, faster than Robinson and bowls long spells. Working with Kevin Shine and Moores has helped.

[andy]

Would like to think Pennington will make his debut in the 3rd test otherwise its pointless him being there, be better off bowling, no matter what the format is

[Slipstream]

Would like to think Pennington will make his debut in the 3rd test otherwise its pointless him being there, be better off bowling, no matter what the format is

Have a feeing it will be no change for the 3rd Test. They will want to see how Atkinson does as an opening bowler. Will also want Wood to frighten the batsmen again.

Pennington will have to wait for Sri Lanka Tests although I noticed him on the field at various times.

[andy]

Unchanged for the 3rd test think they've missed an opportunity here but I guess they want to be ruthless and win 3-0

[Slipstream]

Unchanged for the 3rd test think they've missed an opportunity here but I guess they want to be ruthless and win 3-0

Just this moment seen that. Think Motie will be back for the WI. Wonder who will win the toss....

[andy]

Motie is the better bowler however Sinclair averages 38 with the bat in f/c cricket there's a case to be made for him playing as a batsman in this windies side

[sussexpob]

I would say that bowling at 75mph and having back spasms at various times hasn't helped. Pennington is 6'5, faster than Robinson and bowls long spells. Working with Kevin Shine and Moores has helped.

Robinson has the 5th best average of pacer bowlers to take as many wickets as him in English test history, the best average recorded in 65 years of English test players, and sits between Imran Khan and Dale Steyn on the all time averages list, very very high up on the all time list. These averages have been produced despite him only playing tests against the top 4 ranked sides and against no average padders, with 65% of his games against the two best ranked batting sides.

I guess Rob Key will tell you he's too slow for project Australia and we need a battery of 90mph bowlers.... then again, he's ranked with one of the best post-war averages for anyone taking 10 wickets away in OZ, and played his games at a time where Aussie home bats went about 12 runs over the historical average. So factoring in relative performance to average per era, he's up there as one of, if not the, best bowler to have played in OZ in nearly 100 years.

But yeah.... I am sure Pennington is likely to do all of that and more. Because finding guys averaging 22 against top teams over a few years is something really easy to do.

I guess playing someone who averages 10 runs per wicket more than him based on fitness is entirely justifiable... because Mark Wood is obviously always fit. Its not like he already missed 50% of test this year and only bowls 4 over spells now.