The summer of cricket thread 2014

[@mwooly63]

Englands inability to finish off the tail 

[Nemo]

Oh dear oh dear.

[@mwooly63]

Oh dear oh dear.

Indeed
Be a herculean effort to get any result other than a defeat in this game now

Even the weather wont save them

[Nemo]

Paul Farbrace suggests that 'the form of the senior players isn't a concern.' Which suggests he's either supporting India or treating fans like they're brain dead.

He also said we win and lose as a team and it's not about individuals. That's an interesting change of views since a certain individual was very much singled out...

[RedRag]

Couldn't agree more Nemo about THAT individual - I can't think we'd be "losing as a team" if KP had been in the side and performing as the likes of Cook, Prior and Bell.

Glass half full rather than half empty though...there have been several very promising performances from the new intake and let's wait and see how this series actually turns out (and indeed this match which isn't yet over ).

[DMR]

No quibbles with the new intake.

However, the sooner Cook and Prior are jettisoned the better, Broad needs 6 months to get fit and Stokes is overrated garbage.

[Nemo]

No I agree DMR the new guys have been good, Ballance especially.

Prior just looks shot, so many byes and he only seems to be able to move to one side. Buttler is not a good keeper but has a degree of X factor about him. Personally I'd bring in Chris Read to keep and be an emergency captain for 18 months but that won't happen. They may go to Root too early.

Stokes is being misused. He's a top order batsman with a bit of a golden arm bowling. Batting him below 2014 edition Prior is embarrassing.

Think my team for the next test would be Carberry, Robson, Ballance, Bell (just!), Root, Moeen, Read (captain and wkt), Jordan, Broad, Plunkett, Anderson although one of the new ball bowlers might be worth giving a break to. Onions would be a deserving recall.

My thoughts wouldn't change if we pulled off an unlikely chase tomorrow. I hope we do, I don't want us to fail and I think Cook is a good man in an impossible situation and that the true problem here is the cosy establishment at the heart of the ECB. The comments about Cook coming from the right sort of family were hideous.

[stfc1975]

No quibbles with the new intake.

However, the sooner Cook and Prior are jettisoned the better, Broad needs 6 months to get fit and Stokes is overrated garbage.

Quibbles? I like that word and am gonna use it more in conversation.

[JoeMezz]

No I agree DMR the new guys have been good, Ballance especially.

Prior just looks shot, so many byes and he only seems to be able to move to one side. Buttler is not a good keeper but has a degree of X factor about him. Personally I'd bring in Chris Read to keep and be an emergency captain for 18 months but that won't happen. They may go to Root too early.

Stokes is being misused. He's a top order batsman with a bit of a golden arm bowling. Batting him below 2014 edition Prior is embarrassing.

Think my team for the next test would be Carberry, Robson, Ballance, Bell (just!), Root, Moeen, Read (captain and wkt), Jordan, Broad, Plunkett, Anderson although one of the new ball bowlers might be worth giving a break to. Onions would be a deserving recall.

My thoughts wouldn't change if we pulled off an unlikely chase tomorrow. I hope we do, I don't want us to fail and I think Cook is a good man in an impossible situation and that the true problem here is the cosy establishment at the heart of the ECB. The comments about Cook coming from the right sort of family were hideous.

Interesting idea about Read, one that certainly hasn't crossed my mind.. Not saying that Cook doesn't deserve to be captain anymore but don't see a ready replacement within the current England team. Bell not playing much better than Cook, Prior awful (as referred to), Root too young, Broad possibly injured and maybe a bit too headstrong and Anderson just not imaginative enough - that's all the senior players..
As for tomorrow, expecting a bit of fight but India to bowl us out for around 220 ish. Can't see us winning a test series in a while, hope I'm wrong!

[Reg Smeeton]

Prior just looks shot, so many byes and he only seems to be able to move to one side. Buttler is not a good keeper but has a degree of X factor about him. Personally I'd bring in Chris Read to keep and be an emergency captain for 18 months but that won't happen. They may go to Root too early.

You could make an argument for James Foster, along similar lines....and he's a couple of years younger at 34. 

 I'd stick with Cook though for the series.....things were never going to change overnight and there have been a number of positives; Matty Prior though is struggling physically, so replacing him wouldn't be a surprise.

 If things don't improve, then pick a new skipper for the next series.

[kerry red]

I've had a friendly Erskine Henty on England at 11/4

[Summerof69]

Stokes is overrated garbage.

Certainly, he isn't better than Jordan on current form, who was very unlucky to be left out of the side.

[Summerof69]

Stokes is overrated garbage.

Now, a hat-trick of ducks in the last two tests...

[Nemo]

Depressing. Anderson now facing Jadeja, script writers enjoying themselves now

[Summerof69]

The batsmen are making Ishant Sharma look like Mitchell Johnson.

And I thought it was the Indians that didn't like the short stuff...