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| bishbash | Post subject: Taking the positives....
 Posted: 13:40 on 6th Feb 2012 |
Joined: 12:03 on 4th Jul 2011 Posts: 349 |
Put the first test down to alien conditions and a long lay off from Test cricket, we were not well prepared. We then lost the next 2 matches by just seventy odd runs having lost the toss. Our bowlers performed admirably throughout with Monty making a very good return to the test arena. A real shame we didn't knock off the runs in Abu Dhabi, that second innings was the most disappointing performance since Adelaide 2006 for me. Realistically of course we were whitewashed and we were by and large clueless against Ajmal and Rehman. Onwards and Upwards though, I just hope they've learned something from a very disappointing tour. I'm no cricket technician, but surely there must be some sort of plan the clever well paid coaches can come up with to deal with Ajmal and Rehman, or indeed spin bowling generally on slow turners. |
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| syd1967 | Post subject: Re: Taking the positives....
Posted: 01:01 on 7th Feb 2012 |
Joined: 23:46 on 5th Jan 2012 Posts: 37 |
In a way... especially given the poor crowds at the venues and the general low key feeling about the whole series.. might be best to think of it as a friendly ...the kind the england football team play... when it is really about trying out new players and learning more than the results... I am pretty sure we will do better in sri lanka as a result of this tour than we would have done otherwise ... which has to be a positive. Wish I could afford to go to sri lanka to watch... perhaps I should bet on pakistan to beat england in the ODIs to fund it pakistan were 6/4 when I looked earlier which I does seem very generous as some might think we have no hope of avoiding defeat in the ODIs!!! |
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| bishbash | Post subject: Re: Taking the positives....
Posted: 09:40 on 7th Feb 2012 |
Joined: 12:03 on 4th Jul 2011 Posts: 349 |
If Pakistan are 6/4 that is madness with Afridi to join them. 4/6 would still be a fair price imo. Wouldn't be punting on them in dead rubbers though, in fact don't think I'd be backing them full stop, still don't trust them. Thought they might've been up to something yesterday with two shocking drops. |
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| UmPyre | Post subject: Re: Taking the positives....
Posted: 11:39 on 8th Feb 2012 |
Joined: 22:49 on 13th Jan 2012 Posts: 18 |
The only positive I can take from the tour is that Monty is back. I'm afraid I'm having to agree with Sir Geoffrey of Boycott as far as Eoin Morgan is concerned - He doesn't seem to be Test quality yet. At the very least, he should be dropped for Sri Lanka. Bresnan's coming back, and he's more than good enough to bat at 7. More Prior up to six, and viola, we have a five-man bowling attack without sacrificing our batting lineup. Elsewhere, Strauss has to stay due to captaincy, Trott is a given for his consistency, and Cook is just on the verge of getting his form back, IMO. Which just leaves Bell and Pietersen... I think they should get one more test each, otherwise they get dropped for one of the new lads (Bairstow/Buttler/etc). I'd quite like to see KP do really well in the Galle test, not just for the side's sake, but because that's the one I'm going to be at... |
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| GMH2 | Post subject: Re: Taking the positives....
Posted: 12:25 on 8th Feb 2012 |
Joined: 10:48 on 22nd Aug 2011 Posts: 73 |
UmPyre Wrote: The only positive I can take from the tour is that Monty is back. I'm afraid I'm having to agree with Sir Geoffrey of Boycott as far as Eoin Morgan is concerned - He doesn't seem to be Test quality yet. At the very least, he should be dropped for Sri Lanka. Bresnan's coming back, and he's more than good enough to bat at 7. More Prior up to six, and viola, we have a five-man bowling attack without sacrificing our batting lineup. Elsewhere, Strauss has to stay due to captaincy, Trott is a given for his consistency, and Cook is just on the verge of getting his form back, IMO. Which just leaves Bell and Pietersen... I think they should get one more test each, otherwise they get dropped for one of the new lads (Bairstow/Buttler/etc). I'd quite like to see KP do really well in the Galle test, not just for the side's sake, but because that's the one I'm going to be at... I agree with all of the above, with one exception - There is no way that I would consider dropping Bell. He is a world class batter who has run into bad form. He is also our best player of spin when batting well. KP - not sure to be honest. He is what he is and clearly is not going to change. Can't see the point of dropping him and then bringing him back. |
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| whiteensign | Post subject: Re: Taking the positives....
Posted: 18:41 on 8th Feb 2012 |
Joined: 22:13 on 23rd Apr 2008 Posts: 1227 Location: Redditch/Sydney |
UmPyre Wrote: The only positive I can take from the tour is that Monty is back. I'm afraid I'm having to agree with Sir Geoffrey of Boycott as far as Eoin Morgan is concerned - He doesn't seem to be Test quality yet. At the very least, he should be dropped for Sri Lanka. Bresnan's coming back, and he's more than good enough to bat at 7. More Prior up to six, and viola, we have a five-man bowling attack without sacrificing our batting lineup. Elsewhere, Strauss has to stay due to captaincy, Trott is a given for his consistency, and Cook is just on the verge of getting his form back, IMO. I agree with all that!!! UmPyre Wrote: Which just leaves Bell and Pietersen... I think they should get one more test each, otherwise they get dropped for one of the new lads (Bairstow/Buttler/etc). I'd quite like to see KP do really well in the Galle test, not just for the side's sake, but because that's the one I'm going to be at... I can't believe what i'm reading here, it's not even the middle of February 2012, have we already forgotten about 2011, Ian Bell 8 test matches, 11 innings, 3 not outs, 950 runs at an average of 118.75 One bad 3 test series and he should be given 1 more test  come on  |
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| Hector | Post subject: Re: Taking the positives....
Posted: 20:11 on 8th Feb 2012 |
Joined: 19:34 on 29th May 2008 Posts: 1214 Location: Somerset |
UmPyre Wrote: The only positive I can take from the tour is that Monty is back. I'm afraid I'm having to agree with Sir Geoffrey of Boycott as far as Eoin Morgan is concerned - He doesn't seem to be Test quality yet. At the very least, he should be dropped for Sri Lanka. Bresnan's coming back, and he's more than good enough to bat at 7. More Prior up to six, and viola, we have a five-man bowling attack without sacrificing our batting lineup. Elsewhere, Strauss has to stay due to captaincy, Trott is a given for his consistency, and Cook is just on the verge of getting his form back, IMO. Which just leaves Bell and Pietersen... I think they should get one more test each, otherwise they get dropped for one of the new lads (Bairstow/Buttler/etc). I'd quite like to see KP do really well in the Galle test, not just for the side's sake, but because that's the one I'm going to be at... Thought Broad and Monty both bowled well, but it's difficult to find many pluses in the batting when 3 of your top 6 averaged 8, 11 & 13 for the series. I think Morgan definately has to go, but it would be a bit hash on Bell to drop him after one appalling series (although it does re-open all the questions about whether he has the bottle to compete when the going gets tough). It will be interesting to see who plays in Sri Lanka. If Bresnan is going to play then it's either 5 bowlers or one spinner. Would be difficult to drop Monty after the way he played. There are lots of promising young players on the fringe of the one day squad, but not too many for tests. I guess Taylor would be in with a shout of a spot if they play 1 spinner (and keep 6 batsman). Best comment from last week was when they interviewed Ravi Bopara after the 3rd test had finished. He said he couldn't understand why he hadn't got a game. |
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| addtamx | Post subject: Re: Taking the positives....
Posted: 21:24 on 8th Feb 2012 |
Joined: 21:02 on 9th May 2008 Posts: 779 Location: Australia |
UmPyre Wrote: . Bresnan's coming back, and he's more than good enough to bat at 7. More Prior up to six, and viola, we have a five-man bowling attack without sacrificing our batting lineup. I've long been an advocate for us to use Bresnan at 7 to give us our 5 bowlers again, but I don't think that's the right move for our up coming tours. With our ever apparent weakness to quality spin bowling we can't sacrifice the batting line up, we need 6 specialists + Prior IMO. As for positives from the series, I'd say the entire bowling unit did their job and can hold their heads up. Morgan needs to go but I'm really not keen on Ravi taking the spot. Any chance of Taylor joining the squad for Sri Lanka??? Don't know much about him but someone pointed out his FC stats to me the other day........very bloody impressive!!! |
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| samcrewe | Post subject: Re: Taking the positives....
Posted: 03:08 on 9th Feb 2012 |
Joined: 20:35 on 23rd Apr 2008 Posts: 611 |
addtamx Wrote: UmPyre Wrote: . Bresnan's coming back, and he's more than good enough to bat at 7. More Prior up to six, and viola, we have a five-man bowling attack without sacrificing our batting lineup. I've long been an advocate for us to use Bresnan at 7 to give us our 5 bowlers again, but I don't think that's the right move for our up coming tours. With our ever apparent weakness to quality spin bowling we can't sacrifice the batting line up, we need 6 specialists + Prior IMO. As for positives from the series, I'd say the entire bowling unit did their job and can hold their heads up. Morgan needs to go but I'm really not keen on Ravi taking the spot. Any chance of Taylor joining the squad for Sri Lanka??? Don't know much about him but someone pointed out his FC stats to me the other day........very bloody impressive!!! I'd agree with that to some degree. I think we need to remember that what the English batsmen just experienced in the UAE is unlikely to be the same in SL or India. I don't want to sound complacent, but their spinners are nowhere near as dangerous as Ajmal and Rehman. However, yes I think Morgan should be replaced with a specialist batsman. I don't think our pace bowlers could have done any better than they did on those pitches and adding another pace bowler into the fray will not necessarily yield any better returns. Why don't we bring in one of the Lions players who have just played in SL. A few of them looked like they did well. I don't follow CC, but Hales looked like he did well over there. Would he be the type of batsmen we could bring in to replace Morgan? Otherwise Root & Butler seemed to get in amougst the runs too. |
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