Test cricket returns this week, albeit of the Covid kind. Not sure if the Ageas Bowl or Old Trafford will be populating their stands with cut-out/inflatable spectators or canned crowd noises, but at least we have two series to enjoy even if we can’t be there. Joe Root is on paternity leave and so Ben Stokes is standing in as Captain. If he is successful it raises the interesting dilemma for Ed Smith of whether to retain Stokes in that role on Root’s return to the side. I’m not convinced by Root as a captain, all too frequently becoming becalmed, allowing a situation to drift; but on paper at least, his performance is only bettered by Vaughn and Strauss among recent England captains. It will also be interesting to see two sides captained by all-rounders. Jason Holder has done a decent job rejuvenating W Indies’ fortunes of late. I suspect that Stokes will opt for a pace attack on Wednesday, coupling Archer with Wood rather than Broad. No place in the squad for Ali or Bairstow either. This season may be the last we see Anderson in the Test side. And I gather Geoff Boycott has been dropped from TMS, so it’s all change… .
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Originally posted by Belgrove View Post
....on the button several times Belgrove....lets hope all bowlers are fully fit [many break downs, and stalled bowling attack during Aussie tests 2019}....bye bye Geoff, the time had come....now I won't have to email TMS and jeer at you any more....even though bowl just forward of a length on off stump is a very good advise....Will the Rhubarb Triangle of Wakefield now go into recession (certainly a phrase cemented in Cricket folklawe)
bong ching -
Yes, yes, all that, BUT will weather be co-operative?
Yes and for me, bye bye to Geoff has not come a moment too soon - and I'on't same side of t'Pennines as he is.Comment
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Originally posted by Belgrove View Post Very much looking forward to this and to actually getting back to playing some cricket !!
I am no great fan of Root's captaincy - apart from anything else it has clearly impacted negatively on his batting which is far more important to England. Even though this is only likely to be a short - term move to cover Root's paternity leave, it will be interesting to see how Stokes gets on with things, particularly if the match situation goes against England - will he go with his natural attacking instincts or play it safe ? Personally, I have been no great admirer of Ed Smith as Chairman of Selectors throughout his tenure to date - I certainly wouldn't have picked Denly and continuing to prefer Butler as WK over Foakes in particular ( and even Bairstow ) is frankly ridiculous. Broad may be left out initially if Wood is fit to partner Anderson and Archer, but squad rotation particularly amongst the bowlers will be needed given the highly compressed schedule over the next few weeks / months.
Even as a Yorkie, I'm glad to see TMS moving on from GB ...... perhaps they could do the same with MV as well
Anyway it will be great to have cricket back ( even in its Covid incarnation ) as a very welcome antidote to tedious F1 and miserable fussball which ( again due to Covid ) continues to pollute our summer
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And really, nobody should be spitting on the ball in any case.
Is it really better than good old fashioned sweat ?
As a matter of interest, do any top level bowlers still use the “ easy but obvious “ technique of bringing the bowling arm straight down rather than across the body to impart inswing? It was the only way I could get the ball to swing in.
And whatever did happen to slow- medium bowling ? . But I suspect that spin Bowlers have just got quicker over time.
Anyway, enjoy the series , hope its a good one.I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.
I am not a number, I am a free man.Comment
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.... and how did you get your reverse swing ts ...... ????Originally posted by teamsaint View PostAnd really, nobody should be spitting on the ball in any case.
Is it really better than good old fashioned sweat ?
As a matter of interest, do any top level bowlers still use the “ easy but obvious “ technique of bringing the bowling arm straight down rather than across the body to impart inswing? It was the only way I could get the ball to swing in.
And whatever did happen to slow- medium bowling ? . But I suspect that spin Bowlers have just got quicker over time.
Anyway, enjoy the series , hope its a good one.
Really looking forward to having cricket back ...... yes the injury problems of fast bowlers seem never ending .... O my Trueman and my Statham of long ago .....Comment
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Oh in my later playing days AG, when reverse swing had been invented, the kids in the team used to try it,but we didn’t have the right balls..... we wiser , older heads just stayed with the tried and tested techniques taken wholesale from the Alec Bedser handbook.( My bible during the summer months).Originally posted by antongould View Post
He managed ok without reverse swing.......
( Just checked, I still have my copy, which originated in Ealing public libraries ( Greenford District). Last taken out in August 1952. )Last edited by teamsaint; 07-07-20, 09:41.I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.
I am not a number, I am a free man.Comment
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As / was a bowler don't you know about Murray Mints ts ?Originally posted by teamsaint View PostAnd really, nobody should be spitting on the ball in any case.
Is it really better than good old fashioned sweat ?
As a matter of interest, do any top level bowlers still use the “ easy but obvious “ technique of bringing the bowling arm straight down rather than across the body to impart inswing? It was the only way I could get the ball to swing in.
And whatever did happen to slow- medium bowling ? . But I suspect that spin Bowlers have just got quicker over time.
Anyway, enjoy the series , hope its a good one.
As a batter rather than a bowler I am not familiar with these dark arts of course and in any case no good anymore in the Covid - world.
The bowlers I play with are always banging on about the importance of wrist position for swing bowling and of course the seam position, relative state of both sides of the ball, who is the designated polisher, overhead conditions etc etc etc
Its always interesting to compare Anderson and Broad - JA has always had the superb and more dangerous natural outswinger to the right hander and learned the inswinger, whereas these days SB booms it into the right hander but struggles to move it the other way. At another place, I did play with a really good medium-fast outswing bowler who got shed loads of wickets and was a joy to watch, as it is with Anderson when he is on song and free of the Grumps !!
I seem to remember Anil Kumble was a fine slow-medium inswing bowler, masquerading as a leg spinner ... and a certain G. Boycott used to bowl slow booming inswingers with his cap and sweater on !!Comment
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Ah, yes.......Murray Mints.............what an old trick that was!!
I was a fanatic cricket umpire and got used to that....... smell on bowlers' pantings, sweetly redolent on the summer air, as they whizzed past!Comment
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Originally posted by DracoM View Post
Better watch out for those pesky bowlers Umpire .... they are sure to have more tricks up their sleeves .... perhaps literally !!
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Great to have Test Cricket highlights back on the BBC, even if there weren't too many England batting highlights today.
Good to hear Booker T & the MG's ' Soul Limbo ' again.
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Absolutely agree, he had gone past the stage of even being a Boycott caricature ... in Freddie Trueman territory.Originally posted by DracoM View Post
Loved every minute of TMS yesterday, blessedly low on COVID content, some genuinely good-natured commentary (Alison Mitchell and Tuffers spark each other off entertainingly) - admirable support for an English team being casually taken apart by an efficient West Indies attack.
Best result we can hope for is a draw - how I hope I’ll be forced to eat those lazy forecast words.
Do we have a spinner who can actually turn the ball on a drying pitch?Comment
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It's rather comforting to read a headline that begins 'England Collapse' - it proves that things are returning to normal.
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Kumble was a leg-spinner who mostly bowled googlies, as I recall, and got a lot of wickets with his extra bounce. Unless you're very tall you tend to get whacked around if you're medium pace, particularly outside England where you don't get much lateral movement. The only medium-pacer of recent times I can think of who has been notably successful is Philander of SA. I think the days of more unusual, fastish, spinners like Underwood and Barnes are long gone because they don't have uncovered pitches to exploit.Originally posted by AmpH View PostComment
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