The Ashes 21/22

[Duquesne Whistle]

Maybe Mark Wood should open 

 

 

Bairstow proving he has some bollocks again. If we aren't going to play Foakes, he'd still be a better option than Buttler.

Edited 7 January 2022 by Duquesne Whistle

[Aus Fox]

Well after a pathetic start, we’ve finally shown some fight and batted out a whole day. Finally a centurion in the test series too.

See what tomorrow brings.

[Manini]

Good lad Jonny. 

[Lako42]

Someone put Butler in the bin please.

[FoxyLeon]

Interesting that the narrative is that England have 'Shown fight' in this innings....

When the reality is that a huge slice of luck and poor catching has led to England avoiding another embarrassingly low total.

 

Stokes obviously showed 'Bravery' because of the injury, but still, he should have been out at least twice way before he got close to his half century.  

[surrifox]

I’ve watched a fair bit of English cricket and I challenge anyone to remember a worse bunch of opening bats than we’ve picked for this series . In all honesty I’ve seen players representing Scotland Ireland with more idea 

[Tommy Fresh]

7 minutes ago, surrifox said:

I’ve watched a fair bit of English cricket and I challenge anyone to remember a worse bunch of opening bats than we’ve picked for this series . In all honesty I’ve seen players representing Scotland Ireland with more idea 

Burns is an odd one solely because his performances at county level justify him getting called up, but hard to see how much longer they can persist with him at test level. Not going to talk about Hameed and Crawley again as I've said enough about them 😂the fact they are around this test side says all you need to know about the ECB

Edited 7 January 2022 by Tommy Fresh

[UniFox21]

1 hour ago, Lako42 said:

Someone put Butler in the bin please.

Guy needs a step back, should bring in Foakes either for the last test or the next test series

[Voll Blau]

4 minutes ago, UniFox21 said:

Guy needs a step back, should bring in Foakes either for the last test or the next test series

The Galaxy Brains at the ECB flew him home before Christmas. Mind you, if I was him I'd have told them to shove it anyway if they'd asked me to miss Christmas with my family to bring drinks out for this lot.

 

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/england-lions-in-australia-2021-22-england-opt-against-keeping-squad-members-on-1293341

[StanSP]

Where did that Bairstow ton come from?! 

[Tommy Fresh]

1-7 and the squad options for these postions needs a complete reset for the tour of the West Indies. No Burns, Crawley, Hameed, Buttler or Malan, possibly no Lawrence either despite him not playing on this tour. I'd go Robson, Libby, Yates, Bohannon, Root, Stokes, Livingstone, Foakes, Pope, Bairstow as our top 7 options. As winning isn't on the ECBs priority list anyway what have we got to lose 😂

Edited 7 January 2022 by Tommy Fresh

[RowlattsFox]

Bairstow is always capable of throwing in a great innings every now and again and people ask why he isn't always in the team. But then gets back in and goes shit for a bit. I feel sorry for the way he gets messed around though. 

 

 

[StanSP]

Wow 

 

 

 

[Voll Blau]

39 minutes ago, StanSP said:

Where did that Bairstow ton come from?! 

Wouldn't want to speculate, but someone commenting (can't remember who) noted the date this game began was the anniversary of his dad's suicide. He's a charged up character as it is but there seemed to be even more emotion than usual in his celebration.

[Finnegan]

16 minutes ago, StanSP said:

Wow 

 

 

 

 

What the fvck 

[CrawlingFox]

The only obvious improvement I can see is Foakes. He's a top class keeper and a very good red ball bat too.

 

Sibley and Burns remain the best openers in county cricket (bar Cook) until Libby, Haines or Yates is able back up recent good seasons.

 

Lawrence and Pope are the best young bats.

 

A fit Archer would help but we may not get that again.

[Tommy Fresh]

3 minutes ago, CrawlingFox said:

The only obvious improvement I can see is Foakes. He's a top class keeper and a very good red ball bat too.

 

Sibley and Burns remain the best openers in county cricket (bar Cook) until Libby, Haines or Yates is able back up recent good seasons.

 

Lawrence and Pope are the best young bats.

 

A fit Archer would help but we may not get that again.

Issue with Libby is his age, if you're waiting for him to have a couple more good seasons he's going to be in to his 30's don't see the harm in giving him a go this year. Hopefully Sibley not going with the Lions to work on his game means he can start transferring his county game in to test cricket, so wouldn't be against giving him another go over Crawley or Hameed. 

 

Agree on Pope and I I think he's done enough for Surrey to justify being persisted with for England, not convinced by Lawrence but as with Burns' constant selection his record for Essex kind of shows why he they xan justify his selection. However I'd look at Bohannon ahead of him, especially if he has another big season this year.

 

[RowlattsFox]

The problem for the West Indies series no-one else has played any cricket, those with Lions have played a bit but enough? I'd be tempted to give Sibley another go but maybe they wait until the British summer and see how he starts the season. I think they stick with Burns (in the squad) for another series and make the change in the summer. Its not a high level but you can argue we've looked our 'best' with Burns and Sibley compared to what has followed. 

 

I'd imagine they will rest Stokes. Probably Broad and Anderson too for the summer. Buttler definitely needs a break. 

 

Burns

Sibley 

Malan (not sure the point but not much other options)

Root

Pope

Crawley (I think he's got potential lower down the order) 

Bairstow/Foakes

Woakes

Robinson

Wood

Leach 

 

You always look a bowler short when Stokes doesn't play. 

 

 

[Tommy Fresh]

1 hour ago, RowlattsFox said:

The problem for the West Indies series no-one else has played any cricket, those with Lions have played a bit but enough? I'd be tempted to give Sibley another go but maybe they wait until the British summer and see how he starts the season. I think they stick with Burns (in the squad) for another series and make the change in the summer. Its not a high level but you can argue we've looked our 'best' with Burns and Sibley compared to what has followed. 

 

I'd imagine they will rest Stokes. Probably Broad and Anderson too for the summer. Buttler definitely needs a break. 

 

Burns

Sibley 

Malan (not sure the point but not much other options)

Root

Pope

Crawley (I think he's got potential lower down the order) 

Bairstow/Foakes

Woakes

Robinson

Wood

Leach 

 

You always look a bowler short when Stokes doesn't play. 

 

 

You could argue the batsman in this series haven't played a lot of cricket 😂

[purpleronnie]

Aussie fans classy as always.

 

[AKCJ]

4 hours ago, StanSP said:

Wow 

 

 

 

What??? That doesn't just nick it either. Fully clatters into the stumps.

[Bert]

4 hours ago, Voll Blau said:

Wouldn't want to speculate, but someone commenting (can't remember who) noted the date this game began was the anniversary of his dad's suicide. He's a charged up character as it is but there seemed to be even more emotion than usual in his celebration.

Plus when him and Stokes were coming in after a session an Aussie shouted “Bairstow lose some weight”. That would’ve fuelled him on. 

[Voll Blau]

3 minutes ago, Bert said:

Plus when him and Stokes were coming in after a session an Aussie shouted “Bairstow lose some weight”. That would’ve fuelled him on. 

Yeah, saw there had been some incident. Hope he can smash a few more tonight and put us in something like a respectable position.

 

Him and Broad batting together could be fun.

[Duquesne Whistle]

"That, for me, is how I'd like to look back in 20 years when I'm sat over a pint," he said. "They are the moments when you stood up, fronted up for the other 10 blokes in the dressing room.

"That's when you have to delve deep. They are the times you look at yourself and say 'what am I about, where do I come from, what is the bit in the tank that keeps me coming back?'"

 

 

I can't help but feel Jonny Bairstow is always fighting against himself. The last part of that quote feels like a rather sad read to me. I'm lucky, I am in my 50's and have both my parents still alive. I can't begin to understand what it would feel like to lose a parent young. 

I can't really decide if remembering your parents as young, vital human beings but losing them young is better or worse than having them for a long time but sadly watching them deteriorate (rapidly, if they live long enough). Anyway, back on topic, Bairstow always seems a bit haunted by his fathers death and seems a pretty sensitive bloke. I'm really pleased he found satisfaction in his innings today. I genuinely hope this is the start of a late, second blooming in test cricket for him. That would be a great story.

[Duquesne Whistle]

9 hours ago, Lako42 said:

Someone put Butler in the bin please.

It should have happened some time ago.

 

I'm genuinely gutted by this. When Buttler first came into the test team, I had visions of us finally having a player like Adam Gilchrist. A once in several generations cricketer who could come in at 6 or 7, with his team 138 for 5, and, regardless of the quality of the attack, would blast an 150 ball double century like some otherworldly cricketing God. I still believe he had the talent to do it, it just didn't work out, but maybe I'm just kidding myself. Either way, it should be over now, for good.