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[Cricket] England vs Australia, Ashes 4th test - Old Trafford



PILTDOWN MAN

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Sep 15, 2004
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Absolutely the knee jerk reaction unneeded.

It is affecting his batting, like many others before the best player in the team doesn't make the best captain.

He does appear devoid of a plan at times on the field.

Problem is there doesn't seem to be an obvious choice to replace him..
 


PILTDOWN MAN

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Smith was the difference. Almost impossible to get him out and our team of one day champions had no patience to offer resistance to an excellent test bowling side. I think it tells the true story of our ineptitude of our test side when the England innings of the series was by Stokes with an innings of great magnitude any fifty over winning innings would be proud of.

Video killed the radio star?

Bish bash killed the test star!

Thing is most of his innings was a one day effort. We have had very few test innings of late.
 


PILTDOWN MAN

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Agree with you on Root. He’s no good at it and it affects his batting so nobody wins out of him holding the captaincy.

Disagree with you on there being no obvious choice. I would say the choice couldn’t be any more obvious. There is only one English cricketer with the talent to guarantee a place in the side and the personality required to lead. Time to step up, Ben.

You need an aggressive but measured person at all times, I wonder if he can do that. Be good if he can.
 




big nuts

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Jan 15, 2011
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At least we went down fighting. Losing those 2 wickets last night was one too many.

Two flawed teams have actually played a cracking series. Our injuries to bowlers have been telling and Smith is just on a another level.

England need to rethink their strategy for the test team. Too many batsman in one day mode in the first test. Feels like they’ve finally got used to red ball cricket but this should have been done in county fixtures not Ashes cricket.
 


big nuts

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Jan 15, 2011
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Agree with you on Root. He’s no good at it and it affects his batting so nobody wins out of him holding the captaincy.

Disagree with you on there being no obvious choice. I would say the choice couldn’t be any more obvious. There is only one English cricketer with the talent to guarantee a place in the side and the personality required to lead. Time to step up, Ben.

Wouldn’t go down that route. Really hard for an all-rounder. Look at Botham & Flintoff.

I think it’s hard for any player to be made test captain when none have captained their county.

Not sure if Denly has but his 32 now and not nailed down for a place.
 


Deadly Danson

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Oct 22, 2003
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Agree with you on Root. He’s no good at it and it affects his batting so nobody wins out of him holding the captaincy.

Disagree with you on there being no obvious choice. I would say the choice couldn’t be any more obvious. There is only one English cricketer with the talent to guarantee a place in the side and the personality required to lead. Time to step up, Ben.

Absolutely not. Leave him well alone to concentrate on batting, bowling and generally being England's saviour. Let's not ruin our best player. Problem is I haven't got an alternative!!
 




Milano

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Aug 15, 2012
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Sussex but not by the sea
I’ll chuck it out there as ground bait........
Ben Brown. Captains his county red ball side, keeper, capable with the bat.
Bairstow and Buttler do not have the discipline for 4-5 day cricket.
 


Deadly Danson

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Oct 22, 2003
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Captaincy doesn’t have to ruin the best player providing the player is strong enough mentally and a natural leader. Some will thrive as captain. We just picked the wrong one in Root.

I just feel that the mental exhaustion he takes on both in his bowling and batting (look at that lengthy spell of bowling at Headingly) is too much to add to the captaincy. Problem is it's too much for Root and he (generally) only bats. I guess no one will know till we try it. Shame Buttler isn't producing the goods with the bat otherwise he'd be a decent option.
 


big nuts

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If only Morgan could bat a bit in red ball cricket. Proven winner and leadership/organisational skills.

Our batting is that poor, I wouldn’t be too adverse to a specialist captain being brought in. If Morgan’s body can cope for a year or two at test level whilst an understudy learns then it could be a good move. It’s not as though we’ve got test players averaging 40+ waiting in the wings. Is Morgan really any worse than Roy? Even if he was the runs saved from astute captaincy would over take Roy’s runs.
 






PILTDOWN MAN

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Absolutely not. Leave him well alone to concentrate on batting, bowling and generally being England's saviour. Let's not ruin our best player. Problem is I haven't got an alternative!!

Part of the problem is having central contracts and very little time for players to return to their clubs and actively play in the county game. I understand the reasoning behind the contracts but it's led to over playing test cricket.

The batsmen suffer much more as they are always in the firing line, ok if you're in nick but really hard if trying to find form. The counter argument is the county game is bust, tends to be played when the wickets are poor and fixtures are haphazard. You only have to look at some of the games where over a week of fixtures hardly anyone gets a score.

Many pros are only interested in the one day format because it gives them a chance of earning a proper living here and abroad. The standard of !st class cricket is poor, whether in division 1 or 2 (there's very little difference).
 


Sussex Nomad

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Aug 26, 2010
18,185
EP
And so the absolute ripping into our team continues, funny none of this was said after Headingly. Probably the same posters that say we are shit when we lose away to Man City.
 


Sussex Nomad

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Aug 26, 2010
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Their bowlers, Cummings and Hazlewood are better than any of ours as Anderson out. Their Batsman Smith may have been involved in sandpaper scandal but he`s done his time and is brilliant.

Well done you Aussies but we`ll hope to equal the series in the last test.

Who says he's 'done his time'? They should have been banned for life, but the Aussie commission made sure they were back for the Ashes.
 




PILTDOWN MAN

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Sep 15, 2004
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And so the absolute ripping into our team continues, funny none of this was said after Headingly. Probably the same posters that say we are shit when we lose away to Man City.

Not really, don't think anyone has ripped into the team but have given reasoned thoughts to the failings. It's more the situation than the players. The technique of some is questionable especially the lack of a good defensive technique, but we all know the reason behind that.

The captaincy is more about suitability and I for one have never seen Root as suitable. His game is suffering badly. Some thrive some don't. Overton and Leach showed better technique than many above them, could it be because they've only just come on the side?

Many more questions than answers and mainly needed to be asked of the ECB and the county game. So what do we do? Introduce a 100 ball game.
 


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