England - Sri Lanka 2nd Test

[keaton]

I think the top 7 at the moment pretty much pick themselves and should be retained for the rest of the summer. With the bowlers it should be Broad, Swann and Anderson and AN other, Tremlett at the moment, Onions and Bresnan when they're fitter and depending on fitness of bowlers and time between tests

 

[Pavilionaire]

Finn one wicket away from a Michelle. Gutsy way to come back after a rough couple of days.

 

[Cantona's Flying Dropkick]

472/9

 

[Pavilionaire]

I think the top 7 at the moment pretty much pick themselves and should be retained for the rest of the summer. With the bowlers it should be Broad, Swann and Anderson and AN other, Tremlett at the moment, Onions and Bresnan when they're fitter and depending on fitness of bowlers and time between tests

What, so despite taking 50 wickets in 12 tests @ 26 apiece you'd put Finn 3rd reserve at best?

 

[keaton]

What, so despite taking 50 wickets in 12 tests @ 26 apiece you'd put Finn 3rd reserve at best?

I meant to put him in there with Onions and Bresnan, but yes I'd have them above him. He may end up with 5 wickets today, but he's on his home picth and I don' think he's bowled particularly well

 

[brightonmark1234]

479 all out and not a nice time to come in to bat now

 

[Pavilionaire]

I can imagine that would be a tricky conversation:

"Sit down Steve. Now I know you've only just turned 22, you've worked your way up thru the England Under-19s, the England Lions, you've taken 50 wickets in your first 12 tests, won every series you've played in - including the Ashes Down Under - but it's simply not good enough so we're sending you back to your county. Thanks for keeping Onions' seat warm and all that."

 

[Simster]

Can't say I thought we'd have any sort of lead when SL were 394/3...

 

[keaton]

I can imagine that would be a tricky conversation:

"Sit down Steve. Now I know you've only just turned 22, you've worked your way up thru the England Under-19s, the England Lions, you've taken 50 wickets in your first 12 tests, won every series you've played in - including the Ashes Down Under - but it's simply not good enough so we're sending you back to your county. Thanks for keeping Onions' seat warm and all that."

Well Bresnan, Anderson, Broad and Tremlett all played in the Ashes, and Onions was one of our best bowlers in the 2009 series. We've won every test series for over two years apart from South Africa away. We've got lots of very good bowlers at the moment. For me, Finn is one of the least (very) good, he's batting and fielding's probably the weakest and his figures are quite generous on him at the moment due to him having two series against Bangladesh and a home series against a limited Pakistan

 

[keaton]

Can't say I thought we'd have any sort of lead when SL were 394/3...

Still 54 (or 52 if they've not taken them off yet) left today as well, weather permitting.

 

[sten_super]

I meant to put him in there with Onions and Bresnan, but yes I'd have them above him. He may end up with 5 wickets today, but he's on his home picth and I don' think he's bowled particularly well

Blimey, harsh taskmaster or what! No-one has bowled particularly well (with the possible exception of Swann).

For reference, Broad's first 47 wickets (chosen for ease of calculation - that's the first three series he played, and covers 17 matches, 27 innings) came at 37.25, at an economy rate of about 3.18. Finn's first 46 (because his cricinfo stats don't yet include this Test) came at 26.23 with an economy rate of 3.96. Broad currently has (again excluding the current match) 103 wickets at 35.17 at an economy of 3.13. I don't really see how one can be an automatic selection with the other 3rd reserve...

 

[Badger]

0/1 cracking start

 

[Cantona's Flying Dropkick]

18/1 - tea

 

[Pavilionaire]

Well Bresnan, Anderson, Broad and Tremlett all played in the Ashes, and Onions was one of our best bowlers in the 2009 series. We've won every test series for over two years apart from South Africa away. We've got lots of very good bowlers at the moment. For me, Finn is one of the least (very) good, he's batting and fielding's probably the weakest and his figures are quite generous on him at the moment due to him having two series against Bangladesh and a home series against a limited Pakistan

Forget Finn's batting and fielding - I seem to recall Bob Willis was shite on both counts but took well over 300 wickets.

Dropping people at the wrong time can destroy confidence; you have to back your good young players. It wasn't so long ago many people were calling for Cook to be dropped, they also said Prior's keeping wasn't test standard. The selectors have showed guts in successfully identifying quality youngsters and backing them, which is why Finn needs to be in the 12 for the rest of this series.

 

[Taybha]

the lights are on but theres nobody home , how daft is this, both teams agree to play under lights the floodlights come on and bobs your'e uncle the umpires take the players off for bad light , so what does this mean ? day night cricket should be banned as deemed to dangerous ? cant work this out for love nor money frankly , absolute joke , i expect the oh but we use a white ball at night , so hello use a fuckin white one now kinel

 

[Horsham Gull]

this is daft

 

[Cantona's Flying Dropkick]

117/2

 

[Pavilionaire]

Pietersen 9 balls but he's off the mark. A man under pressure.

 

[Pavilionaire]

Clearly after the last test we'd want the game out of sight and at least 30 overs against this lot.

Would Sri Lanka chase, say, 295 off 45 overs. Would England give them the chance? England were 9/1 to win a short while ago, now down to 7/1. This match is not dead.

 

[HAILSHAM SEAGULL]

Is KP in as the night watchman?