Test Cricket 2020

[Darkbloom]

I hope that at some point the selectors will realise that wicketkeeping is actually very important. They seem to think it's a utility role that almost anyone can do if they're willing. They have a stupid bias in favour of batsmen but a good 'keeper can change a game with a sharp catch or a stumping, and the best ones are able to galvanise the fielding side and take some pressure off the captain. Not to mention keeping down the number of byes.

[antongould]

I'm sure that's true. Nice middle-class Alastair Cook gets a knighthood, blokey Northerner Michael Vaughan hasn't so far. I'd argue Vaughan's achievements are superior: he was a much better captain and surely would have scored more runs if he'd stayed as an opener, where he was best suited.

Good point well made IMVVHO

[DracoM]

Vaughan's sharper analysis?

And how about Sir Michael Atherton?

[eighthobstruction]

I hope that at some point the selectors will realise that wicketkeeping is actually very important. They seem to think it's a utility role that almost anyone can do if they're willing. They have a stupid bias in favour of batsmen but a good 'keeper can change a game with a sharp catch or a stumping, and the best ones are able to galvanise the fielding side and take some pressure off the captain. Not to mention keeping down the number of byes.

...yep spot on

[Darkbloom]

Vaughan's sharper analysis?

And how about Sir Michael Atherton?

Atherton didn't win The Ashes and they weren't particularly successful under his captaincy, although he could only play the hand he was dealt, with fairly mediocre teams.
His batting, also, doesn't put him up with the best, but his adhesive qualities made his wicket particularly important for the opposition. I'd put Gooch ahead of him, personally.

I forgot about Sir Andrew Strauss. The man responsible for ending KP's career. Vaughan was a superb man-manager who was able to get the best out of difficult people like KP, Flintoff, and Harmison. It just illustrates that there's a type who are considered knighthood-worthy, and it isn't always to do with their achievements.

[eighthobstruction]

....thank goodness for Alison, Alistair and tuffers, now Carlos to jolly us along till a start happens....

[Belgrove]

Another emphatic demonstration for maintaining five day Test matches. All results were possible at the start of the last day, just like at Southampton. But another blistering innings by Stokes, and a crucial spell by Broad put a win for the W Indies out of the equation by lunch. So another well contested and hugely entertaining match with all square for the final encounter. Leach to replace Bess, and I would still like to see Foakes in place of Buttler, but don’t hold out much hope for that change. Will Archer have a spell on the naughty step? I suspect they will use Anderson, Broad and Wood; and of course superman Stokes (provided he’s fit) to ginger things up when progress stalls.

[DracoM]

Yes, for me Foakes should be in. We need a serious first rate keeper.
BUT
barely mentioned in TMS or on sky - and I hope Silverwood DOES have a quiet word - was Joe Root's appalling failure to appeal against the not-out decision to a ball bowled by Chris Woakes.

Batsman in question went on to score 50+ , is a demonstrably more than decent bat, and if he'd stayed in, in my view that could have been a critical turning point. Replay showed very clearly he had gloved it. Why Root did not appeal I found mystifying:

For me Woakes is one of the real, but quiet self-effacing rocks on which this team is based - with both bat and ball, a real gent too, BUT so little noticed or much commented on by commentators.

Yes, 'might have beens' are not fun or serious or eye-catching or owt else, but.......decision-making at Root level, DOES matter

[Belgrove]

Stuart Broad has joined the elite band of bowlers to get 500 wickets at Test level, a remarkable achievement. Good to see him successful with the bat in this match too. He should get man of the series.

His partnership with Trott against Pakistan in the infamous Test at Lord’s in 2010 is one of the finest day’s cricket I’ve witnessed, along with his 8 wicket haul against Australia on the first morning at Trent Bridge in 2015.

[DracoM]

Broad gets headlines.
BUT
Who took FIVE wickets in the WIndies 2nd innings?
Who keeps on being ignored, or condescendingly dismissed in summaries to a mere mention?
Was it Archer, Anderson, Bess?
No.

[antongould]

Broad gets headlines.
BUT
Who took FIVE wickets in the WIndies 2nd innings?
Who keeps on being ignored, or condescendingly dismissed in summaries to a mere mention?
Was it Archer, Anderson, Bess?
No.

Good point well made ........

[Belgrove]

Who keeps on being ignored, or condescendingly dismissed in summaries to a mere mention?

Certainly not in the summaries I heard. Woakes will take over as senior bowler once Anderson and Broad have hung up their boots.

[DracoM]

Aha! So are you on the inside of the councils of war?

[Darkbloom]

Certainly not in the summaries I heard. Woakes will take over as senior bowler once Anderson and Broad have hung up their boots.

I hope not. He's only really effective at home on pitches offering a bit of help. In Australia and elsewhere he goes round the park, that's why the selectors are looking at bringing in genuine pace. I see him as a good third seamer who needs to score more runs if he's going to claim all-rounder status. The Broad/Anderson combo will be irreplaceable.

[Belgrove]

Three more Test matches to look forward to. There is always a frisson with Pakistan. One never knows which team will turn up. At their best they are fiercely competitive and have players of classical finesse. Looking forward to seeing Naseem Shah bowling, who looks to be seriously fast and may give England’s openers their sternest test of the summer.

I’m not one who usually sings the praises of the ECB, but they have done a good job in getting Test cricket played this summer, and huge credit is due to the visitors for coming and playing in such unusual and challenging touring conditions. One hopes that the international cricketing establishment (i.e. Indian big business) will remember and look favourably upon the commitment that the W Indies and Pakistan have shown.