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A lad it’s hard to dislike
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- Thread starter chunkyshanhawk53
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A lad it’s hard to dislike
Great talent, still underated by a lot of people
The problem he faces was proved on here and on social media, he had just took the most wickets in the worlds in the previous 12 months, yet people were demanding he be dropped because he wasnt scoring runs at number 8.
Loooking forward to him playing test cricket again, I reckon if we hadn't had so many good allrounders, he would have had a higher batting average, for example no Stokes or Bairstow etc, he might have batted 6 as the all rounder and settled. He has suffered, like both JBs have too, of constantly shifting roles.
The problem he faces was proved on here and on social media, he had just took the most wickets in the worlds in the previous 12 months, yet people were demanding he be dropped because he wasnt scoring runs at number 8.
Loooking forward to him playing test cricket again, I reckon if we hadn't had so many good allrounders, he would have had a higher batting average, for example no Stokes or Bairstow etc, he might have batted 6 as the all rounder and settled. He has suffered, like both JBs have too, of constantly shifting roles.
Not having a settled place hasn't helped their cause but I think all 3 are lacking true test level batting. If, as hinted, the truncated season results in 2 entirely separate red and white ball teams playing concurrently then all 3 can only be white ball options.
Don't agree at all with that.
Which you're fully entitled to. Career test batting averages of both Butler and Ali are below 30 whilst Bairstow has been likewise for the past 2 years. Just can't persist with those sort of returns imo.
I think you have sort of proved my point from my first post.
Ali is mostly picked as our frontline number 1 spinner, yet you suggest his batting returns mean he shouldn't be persisted with.
Buttler averages 32
Inarguably our best spinner but not a test batsman of late.
With an average of less than 20 in the past 2 years.
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Yeah but I think your posts sum up the confusion over his role, like his runs shouldnt come into it, not having ago at you btw, this is something reflected by most pundits and selectors too
I also think the wicketkeeper thing gets confused, its very rare they average 40 plus like, only the very best ever do from 7, which is where a keeper should bat 100 times out of 100 times
Totally agree, as you say all 3 are all-rounders and should be judged as such although ironically Moeen was originally picked as a batsman who occasionally bowled. Problem I have is that I don't regard the other two as top wicketkeepers. Foakes is by some way the best in that department imo.
Bri
Striker
I am a big admirer of Moeen and a critic of the criticism, which I thought was misplaced. The problem came when the criticism clearly started of affect him and when that happens it may well be better to give him a rest for a while. But I'll be extremely disappointed not to see him play for England again - I know he's good enough.
The Breen Machine
Striker
The thing with Moeen is that when he's off form, he's terrible, he rarely seems to have an in between. He's either brilliant or appalling and he has such a key role with the ball that these bad performances stand out more.
Personally think he's a lovely batsman to watch, but liable to the odd brain-fart and most of his dismissals look soft. My view is that a fit and firing Moeen is always an asset, but he has some work to do to return to the side ahead of Bess and Leach at present.
Personally think he's a lovely batsman to watch, but liable to the odd brain-fart and most of his dismissals look soft. My view is that a fit and firing Moeen is always an asset, but he has some work to do to return to the side ahead of Bess and Leach at present.
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