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Post by shrewinjapan on Jun 23, 2014 20:23:27 GMT 1
Cook needs dropping. The team can't carry an opener in such terrible form, and his captaincy is weak.
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Post by lenny on Jun 23, 2014 20:29:19 GMT 1
Ben Stokes 7-67 today for Durham...
The question is, who do we bring in for Cook? Ideally it'd be someone who has a bit of experience as a partner to Robson with Ballance and Root also inexperienced. There isn't a great deal of inspiring choice in that regard, so maybe someone else fresh who's been in form - Lyth is probably the standout. Another option is promoting Root to open and shoving in someone like James Vince down at 5. Think I'd prefer Cook to resign/be stripped of the captaincy but carry on opening for a couple of tests, you don't go from as good as he was to as bad as he is for no reason. Stokes surely has to come back in now he's proven his fitness, probably for Jordan who I'm reliably informed is very talented but doesn't quite do it for me yet with the ball. Of course, the spinner question remains but the paucity of options means I'd probably stick with Ali who has impressed me so far.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2014 22:44:02 GMT 1
Cook is undroppable. No one else is in the frame either as captain or opener. We are now reaping the dividends of the premature sacking of Kev the "unmanageable" and Pete the bloke who could not manage him in the first place. To cap it all we have Paul in charge of the whole sh-bang who speaks without engaging his brain. In comparison, Hereford United were better controlled/managed.
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Post by shrewinjapan on Jun 23, 2014 23:17:20 GMT 1
If anyone has the time, I'd love to see a list of Cook's scores since January 2013.
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Post by lenny on Jun 23, 2014 23:29:30 GMT 1
I believe he's averaged 25 from his last 24 test innings, I think that is since his century v New Zealand last summer.
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Post by lenny on Jun 23, 2014 23:34:49 GMT 1
OK, 2013 onwards:
vs New Zealand: 10, 116 17, - 4, 43
32, 21 34, 130
vs Australia 13, 50 12, 8 62, 0 51, 22 25, 34
13, 65 3, 1 72, 0 27, 51 7, 7
vs Sri Lanka 17, 28 17, 16
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Post by shrewinjapan on Jun 24, 2014 0:03:55 GMT 1
That makes grim reading. The high number of scores in the teens and twenties show what a struggle he is having with his form/technique despite his determination and effort. Having a fragile top order in cricket is like having a fragile central defence in football - a recipe for a lot of defeats. It's compounded by scoreboard pressure, which is more likely these days with Swanny gone and Jimmy looking a shadow of his best.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2014 9:25:31 GMT 1
Good honest assessment by Jonathan Agnew on the BBC site today. On a wicket that should have favoured the home attack, the visiting bowlers taught us a thing or two!
Cook’s poor form at the top of the order is of real concern. Unless he can get some championship cricket in before the start of the first test how will he play himself back into form? As one the senior batsman, we desperately need him to rediscover his form and thus provide the stability at the top of the order.
It also shows how much we miss an inform Jonathan Trott at number 3 & a match winning spinner.
On a positive note Ben Stokes has certainly proved his fitness and should be back in the team come the 5 match series against India.
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Post by vanner on Jun 24, 2014 9:38:00 GMT 1
Stokes and Woakes responding well to not playing...
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Post by lenny on Jun 24, 2014 17:41:50 GMT 1
Ali adding to Ballance and Robson impressing in this series, even if this one goes. At this rate, we should name 6 more debutantes for the India series.
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Post by shrewinjapan on Jun 24, 2014 20:07:07 GMT 1
Absolutely gutted.
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Post by wimbledonshrew on Jun 24, 2014 20:34:15 GMT 1
Much more exciting than watching England play football.Very unselfish play by Ali.
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Post by vanner on Jun 24, 2014 23:06:44 GMT 1
Lots of positives in a disastrous defeat. Robson, Ali, Ballance and Root all got hundreds and Cook is gonna come good soon I can feel it! Jordan and Plunkett look good picks too so keep the faith (Y)
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Post by lenny on Jun 24, 2014 23:19:07 GMT 1
The new faces certainly produced over the course of the series. Just a shame Cook hasn't, or indeed most of the experienced players. Anderson looked at his best in parts, but doesn't seem quite fit enough to maintain his top level for the length of his spells these days. Prior started well but his next three innings weren't quite as positive. Broad had one or two of his devastating spells but aside from that was quiet, and Bell wasn't quite as rock solid as he can be although 2 50s isn't to be sniffed at.
From the newcomers, as I mentioned I'm not 100% sold on Jordan as a bowler but he is pretty handy with the bat and a decent slip. Don't think he's done any worse than Broad really. Most impressed with Plunkett and Ali - former gets good pace and variation and, crucially, takes wickets, and Ali's shown himself to be better than part time although not quite full time spinner as well as handy with the bat.
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Post by shrewinjapan on Jun 25, 2014 0:01:18 GMT 1
Lots of positives in a disastrous defeat. Robson, Ali, Ballance and Root all got hundreds and Cook is gonna come good soon I can feel it! Jordan and Plunkett look good picks too so keep the faith (Y) I don't think Cook is going to come good. The pressure will only get heavier with each failure and increase the likelihood of further failure, it's a vicious circle. His recent outburst (mild-mannered of course, this is choirboy Cook after all) about personal criticism from the likes of Warne shows how the stress seems to be getting to him. It also seems that the opposition teams have finally learned his technical deficiencies to exploit, and learned to avoid bowling to his strengths.
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Post by shrewinjapan on Jun 25, 2014 0:08:44 GMT 1
Anderson looked at his best in parts, but doesn't seem quite fit enough to maintain his top level for the length of his spells these days. Much as I love Jimmy, I have to say his bowling in Sri Lanka's second innings the other day was really poor - consistently too short and then losing his line when he did try to bowl a fuller length. As Aggers said, it's quite something when an England pace attack (with the exception of Plunkett) are shown how to bowl at Leeds, the home of seam bowling, by bowlers from a nation of spinners.
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Post by lenny on Jun 25, 2014 0:30:21 GMT 1
Anderson looked at his best in parts, but doesn't seem quite fit enough to maintain his top level for the length of his spells these days. Much as I love Jimmy, I have to say his bowling in Sri Lanka's second innings the other day was really poor - consistently too short and then losing his line when he did try to bowl a fuller length. As Aggers said, it's quite something when an England pace attack (with the exception of Plunkett) are shown how to bowl at Leeds, the home of seam bowling, by bowlers from a nation of spinners. That's the problem. There were times it was misbehaving and close to 90 from him, and some excellent wickets, but it's increasingly few and far between. The problem is replacing his experience as well as ability. Maybe Plunkett is the natural replacement (although he's 29 now). The big hope is for Finn to find form again. It does seem like he might be starting to display the shoots of recovery. I think the way forward with Anderson will be to use him sparingly. Only some tests, and only 6/7 over spells. He might bowl fewer overs, but sobeit - he just seems to struggle to maintain top form otherwise. We're so reliant on him to dismiss openers, stop the middle scoring and clean up the tail and it's taking its toll.
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Post by shrewinjapan on Jun 25, 2014 0:35:24 GMT 1
Yeah, reliant on a fading Anderson and an always inconsistent Broad, who can be utterly devastating one day and totally rubbish the next.
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Post by Worceshrew on Jun 25, 2014 4:26:07 GMT 1
Such a disappointing result, really isn't a series we should be losing. Some positives in there in Moeen,Ballance and Robson's performances especially, Prior's first good innings for a long time but something clearly isn't clicking at the moment, there's no consistency, for every good day we have you can guarantee an appalling collapse will follow. Can't see the selectors dropping Cook but he can't carry on in this vein for much longer. Surely a player of his quality will come good again soon. Batting line up will be bolstered with Stokes probably coming in for India for Plunkett or Jordan but I foresee it being pretty tough series the way we've been playing.
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Post by littlebluefoot on Jun 25, 2014 6:30:29 GMT 1
Anderson showed the commitment and passion at the end of that game to show exactly how much results mean. To play for your country in any representative sport is an honour and something that our footballers take for granted and all they wonder is what new car they can buy next.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2014 8:11:15 GMT 1
Anderson named as England's player of the series.
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Post by shrewinjapan on Jun 25, 2014 9:04:57 GMT 1
Anderson named as England's player of the series. Just listened to the post-match interviews on the tms podcast. Anderson could barely speak he was so distraught and emotional, poor lad. His bowling may be a bit up and down these days, but not for want of heart or effort.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2014 10:50:15 GMT 1
Big question is: Are the senior players doing enough to support Cook?
Broad and Anderson bowled too short and didn’t exploit the conditions, disappointing given their level of test experience and especially at Headingley. They both also looked jaded at times, perhaps age is catching up on Jimmy and Broad is paying for a lack of overs under his belt since recovering from injury?
You also need your senior batsmen to lead from the front. Cook’s woes with the bat are reflected in his average of just 19.5 but Bell’s average of 34 for the 2 tests is just well average compared to what he is capable of.
Credit to the youngsters mind.
Ballance has done well at number 3 and that was a great rear-guard effort by Mooen Ali yesterday.
For the upcoming series against India, it will be a straight swap Stokes for Jordan although that will be harsh on Jordan as he’s not done much wrong. Hopefully his time will come again. Interesting that some are saying that Plunkett may also be the one to make way, not sure how he could be dropped given how well he has done since his return.
A weakness in England’s attack at the moment is the lack of a quality spinner or two. Over the course of the 2 tests Mooen Ali 3 for 181 off 52 overs, he is not the answer and he could take some real stick from the Indian batsmen if they decide to go after him.
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Post by shrewinjapan on Jul 10, 2014 23:05:52 GMT 1
So, another innings another failure from Cook. How many more failures do people think will be tolerated before he loses his place? We have basically started almost every innings with the score xx-1 for the past year or so.
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Post by lenny on Jul 10, 2014 23:10:26 GMT 1
I suspect he'll be given the rest of this series. Possibly if it's over before the final test, one way or another, he might be "rested" for that one. If he manages another 9 innings without a century or a sustained run of scores, his position will truly be on the line. Anyone else in his form wouldn't remain in the side, but his captaincy can only be a shield for so long.
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Post by littlebluefoot on Jul 11, 2014 6:53:11 GMT 1
So the Indian tail-enders put on more runs that our openers? It's like watching Shrewsbury play! One game they are fantastic and the next!
Hopefully we can get a decent score and go for the draw!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2014 7:34:47 GMT 1
So, another innings another failure from Cook. How many more failures do people think will be tolerated before he loses his place? We have basically started almost every innings with the score xx-1 for the past year or so. I think that he will be given the rest of the series. The England management and selectors have it appears well and truly nailed their colours to the mast on this one, Cook is their man to lead England although they will come under increased pressure if the series goes badly. As for the test match itself.... That was some display of batting by the Indian tail enders that's for sure but how England struggle to wrap up the tail is beyond me!!! I watched the verdict on Sky tv last night and it was interesting when they again talked about England's bowling attack and in particular the lack of a quality front line spinner to choose from. The forgotten man Kerrigan was however at Trent Bridge bowling in the nets at the lunch break, I wonder if he is line for a second chance, the Sky pundits were not so sure that he was good enough mind.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2014 15:33:16 GMT 1
Oh dear, the follow on looms!!!!
How p**s poor are England at the moment, beggars belief
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Post by shrewinjapan on Jul 11, 2014 15:46:01 GMT 1
It's horrible.
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Post by lenny on Jul 11, 2014 16:15:12 GMT 1
You mean nobody else expects Plunkett and Anderson to put on 120?
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