Criticism over the top?

Where are you going to find these amazing openers and number 3, equally gifted in attack and defence? There are promising young players in CC but nobody breaking the door down for selection. We have talented batsmen at 4 and 5, and perhaps Lawrence/Pope at six and Buttler at seven, but they aren't able to show their ability as they are still exposed regularly to the new ball. On the occasions we have made 400+ it's because they've been protected by the openers 'taking the leather off the ball'.

If we wanted to chase that declaration (which would have been a fools errand with the team we selected) we could have opened with middle order batsmen.


Who do you play instead?



Geoff Marsh 33.19
Mark Taylor 43.50

They batted through the day at Nottingham in 1989.

These are career S/Rs, I'd expect them to be lower in England.
Dunno. And I’d probably stick with him for the moment for that reason

he needs a method however, he needs a second shot!
 


Dunno. And I’d probably stick with him for the moment for that reason

he needs a method however, he needs a second shot!

Indeed but I certainly wouldn't be making it a deal breaker for selection. I am reminded of the SA tour in 2016 where Bayliss slagged Compton off for scoring too slowly in a match winning innings at Durban, and the rest of the tour he was getting out playing all sorts of daft shots he was uncomfortable with
 
Indeed but I certainly wouldn't be making it a deal breaker for selection. I am reminded of the SA tour in 2016 where Bayliss slagged Compton off for scoring too slowly in a match winning innings at Durban, and the rest of the tour he was getting out playing all sorts of daft shots he was uncomfortable with
My biggest issue isnt necessarily just the pace. It’s the fact that he has so few options, if he’s not in form he’s going to get bogged down. When playing well it’s fine
 
The same batsmen give or take 1 or 2 played for Bayliss. Why are previous performances irrelevant? I think the biggest upturn came with Sibley operating as a proper opener as he protects Root from the new ball. If he doesn't stay in we struggle. They need another grinder at three.

thats not true like, the young batsman didnt
 
thats not true like, the young batsman didnt
Sibley, Lawrence and Crawley are Silverwood players. Bracey obviously, but he's a one off and wouldn't have played but for Foakes injury. The rest played under the previous coach and some the one or two before. There's been a notable upturn in our test batting since Bayliss left, but it's still awful compared to other top test teams and past England teams. The worst thing you could do is wheel out the comical Ali act "nothing to see here" act.

To do list for Thorpe:
Sibley: practice against spin and off side shot practice.
Root: practice against the new ball.
Book Crawley and Pope sessions with sport psychologist, decision making under pressure.
Lawrence: how to marshall the tail, offside practice with Sibley.

It shouldn't be insurmountable for a good coaching team to address these problems. They're capable of keeping our seamers at the top of their game but not the batsmen or spinners.
 
Ive always liked Sam Hain, but unsure if he can make the step up. 5 x 50s this year but has never kicked on to make a big score. More surprised he has never been in and around the 1 day squad
 
Sibley, Lawrence and Crawley are Silverwood players. Bracey obviously, but he's a one off and wouldn't have played but for Foakes injury. The rest played under the previous coach and some the one or two before. There's been a notable upturn in our test batting since Bayliss left, but it's still awful compared to other top test teams and past England teams. The worst thing you could do is wheel out the comical Ali act "nothing to see here" act.

To do list for Thorpe:
Sibley: practice against spin and off side shot practice.
Root: practice against the new ball.
Book Crawley and Pope sessions with sport psychologist, decision making under pressure.
Lawrence: how to marshall the tail, offside practice with Sibley.

It shouldn't be insurmountable for a good coaching team to address these problems. They're capable of keeping our seamers at the top of their game but not the batsmen or spinners.

I’m not saying there is nothing to see here but you were on about things that happened likr 5-10 years ago

I wouldn’t say that either, Oz rely on 2 star batsman for example

a key point I think people miss, NZ are an excellent team but they play so so little test cricket, I don’t think they’ve had a 4 match series at home for like 30 years

they really can focus on a few games

we have 15 tests this year just against India and Oz, it’s harder

I wouldn’t fancy NZ batsman holding out for example with that schedule and after those Indian pitches

I’m not saying to justify us having some great batting lineup, we clearly don’t, I think we all agree. I just not gonna go too over the top yet.
 
Where are you going to find these amazing openers and number 3, equally gifted in attack and defence? There are promising young players in CC but nobody breaking the door down for selection. We have talented batsmen at 4 and 5, and perhaps Lawrence/Pope at six and Buttler at seven, but they aren't able to show their ability as they are still exposed regularly to the new ball. On the occasions we have made 400+ it's because they've been protected by the openers 'taking the leather off the ball'.

If we wanted to chase that declaration (which would have been a fools errand with the team we selected) we could have opened with middle order batsmen.


Who do you play instead?



Geoff Marsh 33.19
Mark Taylor 43.50

They batted through the day at Nottingham in 1989.

These are career S/Rs, I'd expect them to be lower in England.
I agree they not there and very difficult to find.

But if our only ambition is to find grinders then personally don’t think that the way to go.

Like I said there is a balance there to be had.

To me cricket, all cricket including test cricket is about players adapting to the ‘game situation’

Sometimes the game situation dictates that you ‘ Grind’ sometimes the game situation dictates you move it along.

Bad wickets, good wickets, playing for draw in a fourth innings, looking to score quick to win a game.

And international cricketers should be able to adapt to what the game situation dictates and picking one dimensional cricketers is not the way to go imo and we should be looking to develop players who can adapt and not just grind!
 
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Step up to test level is a big step so it takes time to adapt. It takes time for a 1D cricketer so for that reason I'd persist with Sibley but rest not discard Crawley and replace with Hameed or Libby
Burns
Sibley
Hameed/Libby
Root
Pope
Stokes
Buttler
is a decent batting line up.
Bowling: 4 from
Leech/Rashid
Robinson
Overton
Wood
Anderson/Broad
 

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