Old Trafford bring it on . a little bit more of the 2nd innings effort won't go a miss. My only fear looks who back #@!$
Important now not rest on their laurel's. It was a great win but it won't mean jack if they don't win at Old Trafford or The Oval or both and regain the ashes. Some big decisions have to be made in the selection. Do you keep Roy and drop him down the order at the expense of Buttler? Do you move Denly up to open with Burns? Who do you bring into the middle order for Buttler if he is to make way? Anderson is rumoured to be fit again does he come back in for Woakes?
I'd sack Roy off altogether from the red ball team. He just doesn't seem to be able to get in the "test" mindset and dig in. I don't know who to replace him with though, as I can't see a single, natural test opener who could be relied upon to settle in for a spell against the new ball to protect the teams best batsmen. I've said it earlier in this thread, but the ECB need to be diverting a huge chunk of the TV bounty they get to the counties/local clubs to develop some specialist opening batsmen, concentrating on the unique abilities needed, rather than T20-esque slogging that they all want to learn.
Anderson in for Woakes and Roy dropping down order are 2 no brainers but leave the rest of winning side
I value the opinions of ex-players. This adds great credence to the excellent stat's Stokes already has. Here's Botham's view... (you seriously can't believe your lone opinion outweighs all this primary and secondary source evidence).
Seriously now.... what;s wrong with you? Why do you feel a need to have to validate your view and that mine is incorrect and has to be changed? What's that all about. I've no issue with your view. You're entitled to it. You're allowed it. I don't need to change it. I just don't agree with it. Someone's opinion is an opinion. It's subjective. Ian Botham isn't a person I tend to listen to for his known bias and bluster. He has always liked fellow smokers and mavericks who are sloggers like he was. He had undoubted talent in his day, he was a brilliant bowler and now and then, like Stokes and Flintoff, his slogging came off. But he's not a very astute commentator or journalist. He's not an Atherton, Pringle or Benaud in his day. Again, just a personal preference which i'm again entitled to. But frankly, I don't need an ex player to help me understand the game or do my thinking for me. I can watch and form views over the long term. I've said before, and for the last time, Stokes rode his luck and on 999 days out of 1000 he wouldn't have gotten close to doing what he did. Fair play that he did on that day. But history tells me with the vast majority of test innings I've seen that in times of need, Ben Stokes isn't someone I'd pin much hope on. I know this because i've watched him a lot. I've seen him fend at wide balls he didn't need to play, hook balls he didn't need to hook, sweep across the line of spinners that weren't turning it and fend at mid waist balls he could have left. He's delivered this time. 1 innings out of 101. and I truly hope he makes it 2, 3, 10, 20. Does that one innings patch over his frailties of character, technique and temperament? No. Does it make his bowling more threatening, no. I have my view, and if you trot out subjective opinions from Boris Johnson, the shah of Persia and hold a séance to ask what Ritchie Benaud thought... my view will still be my view. So just let me be. You hold your perfectly entitled view, I'll hold my perfectly entitled view.
You're more than entitled to your view and i respect that. The point is is that your view cannot be backed up by anything. The positive view can be backed up by everything. It's like a "David Irving" view, it's plain daft.
I agree that he may be “rested” but for a number six/seven to average 34 is exceptional when you consider he often runs out of partners and therefore has to force the pace. Against the Aussies, he is lacking though
So in one breath, my view is respected, then you call it daft? Maybe I have a different interpretation, but that doesn't express respect. If people want to judge him on one innings where he should have been out multiple times, so be it. In which case, should be just ignore him on the first innings? Because that's what youre suggesting. If he has one innings where he does pretty well and rides his luck on a flat pitch in perfect batting conditions and we have to judge him on that, well why don't we judge him on all his other innings where he's gifted his wicket away and he's lost his rag and been mentally weak. Think of the Marlon Samuels salute which got under his skin. But anyway, you can think what you want and I won't consider it daft. Indeed, I can understand why people get carried away with one innings and create a hero. It's what happens. Just as if he fails in a few innings and loses us the Ashes, he'll probably be demonised. My view is my view and it won't change irrespective of what you post. The only way it will change is if Stokes can dismiss top orders against outstanding batting line ups and he starts to average much more with the bat.
I've mentioned it before when Broad and Archer are keeping it tight bringing Stokes into the bowling attack with his aggression is what Root has gone with. However, when brought into the attack the erratic deliveries usually bring about increasing the run rate.
Some massive hypocrites knocking about these boards nowadays. When one person finds themselves having arguments with numerous other people, how long (or how many arguments) does it take before they start looking inward for the problem?
This may be a woeful Aussie batting lineup (excepting the freak) but it is a powerful and quality bowling attack, much much better than the last time they were in England. Lyon passed Lillee's wicket taking record on Sunday, he is a talented, experienced and resourceful spinner (a **** on the field mind'st thee). Cummins, Hazlewood and Pattinson are all fast accurate bowlers, they don't have a great deal of swing in their action but they can stick it in the right areas time after time and get seam movement. Cummins averages 21.48 better than a ton of bowlers that you'd class a quality - Donald, Trueman, Hadlee, Mcgrath, Murali, Imran Khan, Waqar and Wasim. Stokes was batting against their bowling attack, not their batters.
To be fair though, that is the case with most "4th" seamers, unless the team in question picks 4 specialists and has a long tail(I'm thinking the great West Indies teams). With stokes, your sacrificing extra runs with the ball in exchange for(hopefully) more runs than with the bat.
