Cricket Season 2011

Salmon · Tennis legend

Cricket Season 2011

Salmon · Tennis legend

I am proud to say that I'm better than an international sportsman at something he does - I'd score 0 from 1 ball in ODI cricket, which is way better than what Ian Bell and Trott do. But only 13 or so cricket players exist in England, so one of the two will be replaced by dashing shotmaker Ravi Bopara. Plus you can't be an ODI cricketer unless you play for the Test team, so here comes Tremlett to replace the promising Dernbach...

Unfortunately Cook and Anderson have become permanent now and will screw up when it matters, I guess.

indiana · Tennis legend

I don't know what the hell Alastair Cook is back in the one day team, let alone captaining it

Quite apart from the fact that one can argue whether he is worth a place in the team, he did a huge amount of ultmately successful work to iron out what were becoming real technical flaws in his test batting such as following a ball outside off stump.

Now hey, having got your technique really sorted so that you are looking a really fine test batsman, we'll try and maybe screw it up a bit by putting you into the one day team. And yeah, we know you are not really suited for that anyway, but hey it's good practice for being a captain. Because we reckon you're the next test captain.

Sure can do without both Cook and Trott in the team ( some would probably argue that neither should be there ), and it's Cook I'd get rid of. Not that there's any chance of that happening now he's Mr Captain.

-- Edited by indiana on Monday 4th of July 2011 12:05:45 PM

Salmon · Tennis legend

What's even more frustrating is that for the first time since Gooch, England had a long term captain who was a good ODI player.

Jayawerdene, Ponting and Tendulkar aren't being forced to retire from ODIs even though they probably will not make the next WC but what do their countries know of ODI success!

My big worry is that Trott and Bell will lose their hard earned (especially in the case of Bell) Test form after these failures. On the other hand Strauss could really do with some time in the middle right now but the ECB has seen to it by only having T20s before a Test series.

Salmon · Tennis legend

And exactly why does Cook need a gun held to his temple to play like this?

Unfortunately I guess he'll go back to being useless soon enough. I've seen more false dawns in English ODI cricket than sunrises.

Josh · Challenger level

Yes it would be nice if we get bat like this when chasing 275, not just 175.

Salmon · Tennis legend

And while batting first, too!! This performance shows how much the batsmen are afraid of failure. They probably think that they'll get out early and lose the match. So they bat slowly and err... lose the match.

It would be nice if they would play like this and forget about the outcome. They did it once in my lifetime, for a fortnight, and have a world cup to show for it.

johnnylad · Tennis legend

Ah lads. Leave them.

Cook has had a brilliant series and your anti-Cook rhetoric is now on thin ice so you're changing the goalposts

Salmon · Tennis legend

Damn you, Cookie!! Matches like these make me wonder if there's some hope after all. It's just that Bell scores 40 from 80 balls in a match soon after something like this happens and I start cheering for their opponents soon after.

Lovely stuff from Kies here and should become permanent now. I think he was very unfairly treated and Flower lost all the respect he had earned (in my eyes) with his selection of Prior over Davies and him.

8/9 matches over and we're yet to see an even contest, heh!

Salmon · Tennis legend

johnnylad wrote:
Ah lads. Leave them.

Cook has had a brilliant series and your anti-Cook rhetoric is now on thin ice so you're changing the goalposts

One match doesn't change anything. He's lost enough matches and I wouldn't have him anywhere near the ODI team.

If he does well in the future, I'll change my opinion just like I did with Strauss. But for that he'll have to score like this in India, Australia etc. We'll see.

-- Edited by Salmon on Wednesday 6th of July 2011 08:04:46 PM

indiana · Tennis legend

Salmon wrote:
johnnylad wrote:
Ah lads. Leave them.

Cook has had a brilliant series and your anti-Cook rhetoric is now on thin ice so you're changing the goalposts

One match doesn't change anything. He's lost enough matches and I wouldn't have him anywhere near the ODI team.
If he does well in the future, I'll change my opinion just like I did with Strauss. But for that he'll have to score like this in India, Australia etc. We'll see.

-- Edited by Salmon on Wednesday 6th of July 2011 08:04:46 PM

Yep, actually bad news for England, in that it will no doubt leave the hierarchy less willing to make the radical changes in approach that are required for England to make any significant impression in the 50 over game in general, and particularly for when it really matters,

Apparently, ruddy good innings today by Cook by the way so well done, now retire from ODIs smile

-- Edited by indiana on Thursday 7th of July 2011 01:51:17 PM

johnnylad · Tennis legend

There's this fallacy that 50 over cricket is just extended Twenty20. They'll be fine - this was match 4 of a new "season" or "regime" and its 2-2 against one of the world's top sides.

It's readjusting to life after Strauss and Collingwood. Cook will be just fine as I have argued for a while.

The issue really is Trott and Bell. Unfortunately for Trott he has to go, let Bell bat at three and bring in a slogger/part time bolwer at 6. That is not a radical change in approach.

Salmon · Tennis legend

johnnylad wrote:

Unfortunately for Trott he has to go.

Good to see that you've changed your opinion.

English ODI cricket follows a cycle. Once in a while, the people with the powers decide that they've had enough and decide that it's time for a change. Then you frequently hear words like "fearless" and "new era" being bandied about in the media. And then they end up choosing the same XI with maybe a new player as a captain.

When they don't score fast enough, people on Sky ask "where are the ODI specialists?" and the selectors choose Bopara or Shah or whoever is making the most noise. And when they invariably fail, there's an outcry that if you're a Test player, you're good at everything, so they go back to Ian Bell.

The reality is that unless you're capable of destroying attacks, there's no place for you in ODI cricket. There's maybe room for one passenger at most, but you won't see even that in teams like India or Australia. There must be a reason why guys like Laxman and Katich didn't play ODI cricket, isn't it?

What's so special in England that they'll do something completely opposite from the norm but end up doing well? They've refused to see a truth that's been dancing in front of their eyes ever since Sri Lanka changed the way ODI cricket is played.

Salmon · Tennis legend

indiana wrote:
Now hey, having got your technique really sorted so that you are looking a really fine test batsman, we'll try and maybe screw it up a bit by putting you into the one day team.

And the sporting prediction of the year award goes to...

Bet Cook is really proud that he scored some runs in ODIs against Sri Lanka.

johnnylad · Tennis legend

Yeh because Sharma and Khan have been getting Cook out caught on the boundary off long hops. Oh no, prodigious early swing with a red ball...

What about Broady's hatrick? Pity Bhaji got such a massive inside edge but great times anyway