They are slowly easing him back into cricket, trying to control his workload. Barring injury, he will be back playing tests next July
Too lateā¦theyāre all down in Warrnambool. Just about every club has one or two.
Iām deducting one from Harbajanās net results for that shocker he was paid in his hat-trick against us. Two putrid decisions in the hat-trick and from memory, you could count is as 3. IIRC Gilly was hit or it pitched outside legā¦and he hit it, then Warne given at short legā¦
1 Like
After Matthew Hayden et al during the Australian summer, this Atherton + Bishop commentary is an absolute treat.
1 Like
Hope Anderson gets spanked and gets bounced the ā ā ā ā out of. Hate the ā ā ā ā . What 41-year old puts blonde streaks in his hair? Absolute bellend.
1 Like
I like the vintage looking black keeping gloves this lad is using.
Also, Stuart Broad is good at commentating.
Shot! Absolutely beautiful.
.
.
.
Atkinson wicket with second ball in test cricket. Hitting 140km/h+ with a very easy looking action. Brathwaite chops on and itās 1/34 off 10.2.
.
.
Absolute corker from Woakes. On field call of out. Heās missed it. Overturned but batting is starting to look more difficult now.
England have been having this debate since the early 90s when they flip-flopped between Jack Russell, a seriously good keeper but a dour and limited batter, and Alec Stewart. And they never seem to get it right. Even as recently as the last English summer they picked Bairstow to keep in the Ashes, against all logic, and it probably cost them the series.
I watched a lot of the India v England series and Foakes kept wicket impeccably. Three catches he took standing up in one of the Tests were incredible; Adam Gilchrist said afterward that those chances would have hit him in the shins. His batting wasnāt anything to write home about, 200 runs at 20, with seven scores between 13 and 47. He will rue not converting some of those starts. His overall batting record is modest, but the fact that almost a third of his Tests (8 of 25) have been played in India has to be taken into account. He has made two Test centuries: on debut in Sri Lanka in 2018 and two years ago against a strong SA attack in what was the highest score by an England batter in the series.
Maybe it will be different this time. Jamie Smith might very well be a better batter than Foakes, but heād certainly want to be. As someone mentioned, he doesnāt keep for Surrey at County levelā¦because Ben Foakes is their first choice. I think that gives a pretty clear indication of their respective abilities. Iāve watched Foakes a lot, Iām a big fan because I really like seeing proper keepers ply their trade. It must be a bitter pill to swallow when being the best in the world isnāt good enough.
Finally I thought it was a little funny of Stokes to say selection changes were made with a view to the next Ashes, and then he opens the bowling with Chris Woakes, a 35yo with an utterly appalling record outside England and who has admitted himself that he probably wonāt play any away Tests in future.
5 Likes
Atkinson!!!
3 wickets in 4 balls!!
Nice catch, that went like a rocket off the bat!
Atkinson - 3 wickets for none in one over, then 16 runs in the next, now 2 wickets in an over.
Crazy
Haydos! Heās all sorts of commentating sh!tness. And yet, I loved him as a player.
Australian bowler Mitchell Starc has voiced his frustration after being dropped for last monthās T20 World Cup match against Afghanistan in the West Indies.
When asked about his recent omission on the Willow Talk, Starc muttered: āTwo World Cups in a row."
He might have made a difference with his fieldingā¦
We were so bad in that game.
Ben Stokesā last 10 Test scores: 6, 47, 11, 41, 15, 3, 4, 0, 2 and 4.
3 Likes
But itās ok cause Bazball and all
1 Like
Since the start of the away series against Pakistan in late 2022 heās averaging 30.7 from 30 innings with only four scores above 50. In the same period (17 Tests, including this one against the WI) heās taken 14 wickets, with his bowling loads greatly reduced because of his dodgy knee. Very modest output in recent times, and his team only won half of the completed matches in that period.
Only seen the score, and while England should do it pretty easy from here, surely there is some annoyance that nobody has kicked on? A few really good starts squandered.
Whereās the āBazballā
Not one of the pommy batsmen has a strike rate at or above 100 (score currently 8/342).
Surely this is a national disgrace!!!
1 Like
Well done smith, 50 on debut