I prefer Deeney. At least Troy is proficient at certain aspects of leadership. Mainly those around self promotion around national media, but all the same.
Just looks like a little lost boy. Not a hope he can lead, inspire, instill confidence. Just stops him scoring any runs while he carries the burden.
Get Cook back now for the series. When he retired he said he didn’t have the concentration levels he once had - but even that is preferable to what we have opening at the minute and his experience as a former captain would help Root too. Whilst it looked a popular move to being Roy in, he’d never played a test series before - much less a home Ashes series! He’d had a summer of belting a white ball about all summer and was then tasked to do a job at the top of the order and play at least semi-pragmatically. Recipe for disaster in hindsight but you can see why it was done. I’m sure somewhere in the series he will pop up with a flashy ‘KP style’ century - but the prospect is that the Ashes will be long lost by that point.
Denly & Burns being beaten every other ball it seems but grimly hanging on. Almost a 50 partnership now. Will they survive til lunch ??
Denly gone but unfortunately his reaching 30 means that Ed Smith's mate is probably guaranteed the rest of the series.
136/5 - busy collapsing. My 200 estimate looking about right. Buttler isn't a test quality batsman but neither are Roy, Denley or at present, Root.
I disagree about Buttler. I just think at present he’s thrust into too many situations by the openers where he doesn’t have a steady pair of hands at the other end - and he is being relied upon to be a calming batting influence when we are chasing our tails in terms of a respectable total. That’s not his game and he’s been regularly dumped upon from above by the upper order. He needs better standards set before he comes in and the bowlers to a bit more fatigued than he’s currently facing - at the moment he’s coming up against an attack with their tails consistently up because the supposedly more ‘dogged’ batsmen are failing in their task.
What you're saying is he's a great batsman to come in on a good wicket when we've got lots of runs on the board. If he's good enough he should be able to cope with coming in when the ball is 30 overs old and there are 90 runs on the board. he's not good enough but none of our batsmen are which is why we are rated so poorly as a test side at the moment. That and the insipid captaining.....
I still have absolutely no idea why a team that has a disjointed batting line-up with batsmen already batting too high up the order, still has a batsman (Bairstow) batting so far down the order when he has a good record batting at No.3 - coincidentally, the exact hole in the lineup that causes it to be disjointed. There’s just so many questions to ask about the leadership and selection process at the moment and the Ashes is just passing them all by. World Cup hangover indeed.
I’m not saying that. I’m saying it’s clear what his strengths are and his recent record (before this series) is decent enough. He’s also done jobs when the chips are down in previous matches - but he’s being asked to do it far too often in this series already. It’s just my opinion but Buttler’s batting is way down the list when looking for consistent shortcomings with the team at the moment. When England were so poor at the One-Day game but good at test level, it was mainly down to too many test players carrying over positions into the one day squad and trying to play ‘test’ style’ cricket. I fear in the (successful) adaptation to be better at the One-Day game, they have flipped the formula and now too many players are bringing their limited overs style into the test arena and expecting to be successful. In saying all that, I wouldn’t be against bring Eoin Morgan back into the test side. A good leader and captain and a more than passable test record compared to some. It’s clear to me than ‘tinkering’ with the squad won’t be enough and it needs something bold. If internal politics could be forgotten... Cook, Burns, Bairstow, Root, Stokes, Buttler, Morgan, Woakes, Anderson, Archer, Broad, Leach, Rashid, Curran, Stone That would be the squad I’d pick. I’d ease Roy in more gently after the Ashes and Cook could step aside again - but he should be utilised in the new backroom team post-Ashes. And Wood to be come in when fit. I fear he may have a touch of the ‘Simon Jones’ about him though at test level.
The thing is: where are the alternatives? It's not at all clear to me that there actually are many better players out there. (And yes, before you say it, @RookeryDad, I'm including James Hildreth!).
I think there are alternatives but they would be regarded as not long-term options and a return to the old guard. Bell, Cook, Morgan - all still more competent at Test level than some playing. If they could be persuaded Cook>Roy and Bell>Denly are obvious changes for the better for me. I’m talking more medium-term here though and not just this series as Bell is injured for the next 4/5 weeks at least. Some may say Cook is too old to return. He’s 34. Denly is 33.
I think we just don't have the batsmen to play effective test cricket anymore. Those that are tried all seem to fail and then many get recycled a year or so later, Jennings, Lyth, Stoneman, Malan, Westley, Vince, Compton, Hales, Pope....none of them able to score consistent runs. I'm sure the growth of 50 and 20 over games is partly the cause. Too many risky shots are played, too little stout defence. Who would we bring in if we "did something bold" and what are the chances they would also fail while those dropped would suddenly score runs in county cricket....?
I’m not sure it is. This series so far is unique in that the away team is in the ascendancy. That’s quite a rarity in test cricket at the moment. But when faced with the world’s best (Kohli, Smith) England’s attack seems to flounder whatever the destination.
True. I don't know. The strange thing is that the likes of Root, Bairstow, Stokes, Buttler have all had spells when they have really looked the part batting in test cricket.
Smith has an average of 62.96 and Kohli 53.76 so I would suggest that it is not just English bowlers who struggle!
Not sure Taylor should be doing any running with a dodgy ticker.... Someone did select Smith once upon a time of course...but not for long !
It shouldn’t be about what he wants - it should be about what’s best for the team. I’m sure Root wants to bat at 4. But if he’s bowing to Bairstow’s desire to stay where he is and WK, then it’s another shortcoming to his captaincy. Bairstow is too ****-sure of his ability. Kicking-off last year when he wasn’t immediately brought back in after missing a test through injury - his replacement Foakes top scored. Where did Bairstow come back in and play? No.3. Got a century too... His comments during the WC about the public wanting England to fail were ridiculous. Put his nose out of joint, take the gloves off him and put him to No.3. He excels when he feels hard done-by.
My point exactly. Root ideal boyfriend material. Tea with granny, the works. This isn’t the sole requirement for England cricket captain.
