The problem is the pressure we apply on new players. They have to be amazing from day 1 because the rest are so poor. I don’t understand how Bairstow and Stokes keep getting selected, and Buttler before that. Pope isn’t a bad player and he’d likely do well if surrounded by proper test players. If Root fails, England fail.
I can't see Broad, Anderson and Pattison enjoying Southee and Boult steaming in tomorrow morning. Can't see us even leveling.
Several of our players are flat track chancers. Sadly Jonny is one of them, just like his new captain and Buttler before him.
telly on and off all day, so not seen all but some poor wickets given away, yjb's was awful, why does anything wide of off stump need to be smashed with no foot movement? i mean half way into 2nd innings on day 1 and he needs to play that shot? lees showing middle & leg on purpose? wtf! crawley? got big headed thinking it was a breeze
Pope was amazing at the start of his test career, but he hit a difficult spell like all new batters do. Sadly the England setup can’t get players through these spells, and the answer always seems to be to stand further across the stumps. I’ve seen fielders nearer the stumps than where Lees took his stance against the round the wicket bowling today. Bizarre tactic.
Class team - their bowlers are in a different league to our batting. Change the captain as much as they like but at the end of the day, England are still one out, all out because the ECB's mismanagement of the game has resulted in two generations of players who don't have sound technique, nor the mental fortitude to construct Test match scores. Brook should've played, end of. They picked the form bowler and he did the business, so totally baffling why they wouldn't pick the even more in-form Brook over proven failures and players who haven't played for months.
nowt changes i guess, we want to build a squad capable of competing up towards the next ashes, no disrespect to any other test team, but any ashes and india away is the target to win in we won't throw too many inexperienced international players in because we need the old skool for back up in case they fail! absolutely crazy tactics get your best inform players in regardless, if theyfail, tough, we're feckin used to it now with the older pros anyway! just give the new guys a chance even if a few fails
More pressure on Brooks now. He's being looked at as the Messiah. If he fails he'll be no better than Vince, Hales, Pope, Denly etc. Brooks had a free hit which has gone because of the 5 hite that took to the field today. Brooks the silver bullet.
I'd have swapped World Cup win for an Ashes win all day long. Dreamt of opening batting for England all my life. I'd love a crack at these bowlers that don't bowl at stumps. It's easier than club cricket because Sunday cricketers are more honest and bowl wicket to wicket. You miss they hit. At international level they bowl and nick off to sixth stump lines for £95 a pop. No thank you. I'd rather have a Barnsley season ticket.
world cup 1 day or like today playing against the world test "cup" winners there's a massive difference
lees yjb stokes all got out to very poor shots or stance in lees case, stokes played hard going forward to southee who isn't in anderson's league like boult but are very very good world class bowlers, nothing will be said about stokes, but the press will hound yjb because they can