Brilliant summer of cricket!!



What a f***ing bell end you are.

I'd say the best is yet to come: Durham promotion, but you are seemingly above such parochial matters.

Ashes was disappointing from an England perspective due to some really poor selections but a good series for the neutral and some good individual performances.


Absolutely essential we bring the right coach in.

I would separate short and long format jobs and treat them as completely separate set-ups.

Nearly all if not all of your posts during the World Cup and the Ashes were negative.

Thats not been a bellend it’s just merely stating a fact!
 
What a f***ing bell end you are.

I'd say the best is yet to come: Durham promotion, but you are seemingly above such parochial matters.

Ashes was disappointing from an England perspective due to some really poor selections but a good series for the neutral and some good individual performances.


Absolutely essential we bring the right coach in.

I would separate short and long format jobs and treat them as completely separate set-ups.

Tbf you've turned into a right miserable fucker over the past year or so on all subjects. You were very, very rarely seen on here when England were doing well during the world cup but popped up much more often when we struggled. Few other of that nature to who thrive on negativity
 
Been a brilliant summer full if lows and incredible highs. Last day of live cricket for me today. Feels emotional as always
Not sure things will be the same again either as things are changing in my life. Mostly for the better but possibly one thing for the worse around the start of next season
 
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Agree on most points but wouldn't have said Stokes' innings was the best of all-time. It's a worthy second to Lara's 153 against Australia in 98/99 IMO.

It's right up there, but Lara's was pretty chanceless against the best side in the world, and Stokes had a couple of huge slices of luck.
 
Haven't seen a ball bowled .. apart from some Ch 5 summary progs.

So can't comment really except to say .....
so often board goes way over the top both positively and negatively. Ali and Bairstow got the thick end of a lot of bile, unfairly. They are both very good Test quality players and have shown it in the past. A drop in form happens. IIRC Stokes had one post Bristol, now he doesn't. They will come back if they're allowed (and have the desire).

Don't allow this drawn series to obscure the fact that he team has the same problems at the end of the series as it did before, namely top order batsmen and too many choices for the middle order. On the other hand Burns looks like he's nailed down a place for a while and much respect to Denly, I don't know if he has enough quality but he seems to have a good Test match attitude. Much respect to him again.

As for the bowling, it seems like we're on the verge of a changing of the guard so I'll be looking at Curran and Overton and watching how they do and there's a change of someone to emerge from the Counties. Obviously Anderson, Broad are there atm for as long as they're able and willing. There's Archer and Wood, the latter with a fitness question mark.

For the spin options I'd be happy with Ali and Leach - I think both are better than they are given credit for on here, especially if Ali can bring a batting option - he's well capable of that.

But of course the main problems are outside the team and in cricket generally. I don't think there's any doubt our problems with filling top order batsmen roles are due to the fact it's a difficult specialisation combined with the County Championship setup and at the end of the day only the ECB and England Cricket can do something about that, or not. I have read murmurings the ECB will be changing its focus away from 50 over to supporting the Tests better so all is not lost.

Ha'way Durham!
 
I think it was probably the greatest cricket summer of my lifetime other than 2005.

2005 will probably never be topped, because as well as drama you had unimpeachable quality. There was a lot of that on display of course - Stokes, Smith, Archer, Hazelwood, Cummings and Broad were all at a very high level. However, you couldn't say the quality of test cricket was as high as that summer's vintage - to beat that Australian side, the greatest perhaps in history of cricket, at home, when I was 20, it was on terrestrial TV and we hadn't won the Ashes in my lifetime, practically - magical. It was the greatest series.

That's not to say the World Cup Final and the Headingly Test in particular did not, in terms of drama, probably surpass it - but just to observe that for me this was the second greatest summer. I'm lucky enough to have Sky, but I do feel the country misses out when its not on terrestrial too.
 
Haven't seen a ball bowled .. apart from some Ch 5 summary progs.

So can't comment really except to say .....
so often board goes way over the top both positively and negatively. Ali and Bairstow got the thick end of a lot of bile, unfairly. They are both very good Test quality players and have shown it in the past. A drop in form happens. IIRC Stokes had one post Bristol, now he doesn't. They will come back if they're allowed (and have the desire).

Don't allow this drawn series to obscure the fact that he team has the same problems at the end of the series as it did before, namely top order batsmen and too many choices for the middle order. On the other hand Burns looks like he's nailed down a place for a while and much respect to Denly, I don't know if he has enough quality but he seems to have a good Test match attitude. Much respect to him again.

As for the bowling, it seems like we're on the verge of a changing of the guard so I'll be looking at Curran and Overton and watching how they do and there's a change of someone to emerge from the Counties. Obviously Anderson, Broad are there atm for as long as they're able and willing. There's Archer and Wood, the latter with a fitness question mark.

For the spin options I'd be happy with Ali and Leach - I think both are better than they are given credit for on here, especially if Ali can bring a batting option - he's well capable of that.

But of course the main problems are outside the team and in cricket generally. I don't think there's any doubt our problems with filling top order batsmen roles are due to the fact it's a difficult specialisation combined with the County Championship setup and at the end of the day only the ECB and England Cricket can do something about that, or not. I have read murmurings the ECB will be changing its focus away from 50 over to supporting the Tests better so all is not lost.

Ha'way Durham!

Very good post, for someone who hasn't seen a ball you pretty much nailed it!
Agree on most points but wouldn't have said Stokes' innings was the best of all-time. It's a worthy second to Lara's 153 against Australia in 98/99 IMO.

It's right up there, but Lara's was pretty chanceless against the best side in the world, and Stokes had a couple of huge slices of luck.

Its better for me, more riding on it, just unbelievable, especially when he was 3 from 70 balls
 
Agree on most points but wouldn't have said Stokes' innings was the best of all-time. It's a worthy second to Lara's 153 against Australia in 98/99 IMO.

It's right up there, but Lara's was pretty chanceless against the best side in the world, and Stokes had a couple of huge slices of luck.
You are joking? He kept it alive with some slow batting to start with, formed an outstanding partnership with butler and then for the last wicket with 78 still needed he smashed Australia all over the ground while doing an unbelievable job of limiting the exposure of Leach on strike.

Truly outstanding innings.
 
Just been reading all the cricket pieces in all the papers, makes you realise how special a summer and ashes series that was.

Its a shame Jimmy got injured as he would defs have won IMO, which would have capped off a great summer, but maybe it might not have been close, and that Stokes innings was so so special, I just feel everything that led to that happening was worth it.

Will remember this series when I am on me death bed more than a 4 or 3-1 with Jimmy all over them
 
Brilliant summer of cricket. I have got to admit Iam getting to the stage where I have got a bit if cricket fatigue and iam a cricket badger.
I think the next few summers might feel a bit dull while this summer is still fresh in the memory.

It won’t ever live up to this summer again, a once in a lifetime. Two glorious days for me that I will take it the grave.

I paid way over the odds for a ticket to CLS for the NZ game but it was worth every penny. Then to be at the Headingley Test at the start of ‘that’ innings on the Saturday.

The greatest summer of cricket I’ve ever experienced.
 
You are joking? He kept it alive with some slow batting to start with, formed an outstanding partnership with butler and then for the last wicket with 78 still needed he smashed Australia all over the ground while doing an unbelievable job of limiting the exposure of Leach on strike.

Truly outstanding innings.

Like I said, it's the second best for me. Lara took them from 248/8 to chasing down 311 against Warne, McGrath, Gillespie and MacGill at their peak and barely gave a chance. His number's 9-11 were Perry, Ambrose & Walsh - even Leach has a higher test best than them all.

It's a close call granted, and Stokes was probably a more spectacular innings, but for me Lara's was perfect.
 
Like I said, it's the second best for me. Lara took them from 248/8 to chasing down 311 against Warne, McGrath, Gillespie and MacGill at their peak and barely gave a chance. His number's 9-11 were Perry, Ambrose & Walsh - even Leach has a higher test best than them all.

It's a close call granted, and Stokes was probably a more spectacular innings, but for me Lara's was perfect.

Yeah I think you make very point.

I think it’s fair to say both were brilliant.
It won’t ever live up to this summer again, a once in a lifetime. Two glorious days for me that I will take it the grave.

I paid way over the odds for a ticket to CLS for the NZ game but it was worth every penny. Then to be at the Headingley Test at the start of ‘that’ innings on the Saturday.

The greatest summer of cricket I’ve ever experienced.

You will never see a closer World Cup final that’s for sure and very diffcult to match the Headingly test for pure excitement.

To have two matches like in the space of 6 weeks will never happen again!
 
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I think this summer has made me fall deeper in love with the game than I'd ever thought possible - I've always said football - particularly Palace - I'd my passion, and probably what defines me. But cricket is just on another level.
This summer... The topsy turvy nature of it, the crowds, the way the country totally got behind the game, seeing Lords, Lords FFS absolutey bouncing and going mental, that photo from Sunday...
It's a sport unlike any other. And I'll always be so grateful to that side of '05 that opened my eyes to this wonderful sport.
 

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