Ashes 2023

I hope they sought out their batting too. Since Bairstow and him danced down the wicket at Lords and Edgbaston respectively they've been 5hite.

 

Bairstow and Root are top international players so they’ll play through their bad form.
We know exactly what they can both do so rock on to Old Trafford

 

Root yes, but Bairstow am not so sure. He's always been hot and cold with his form in test matches, as opposed to ODIs where he's proven himself to be truly world class. Add to that the question marks on his fitness for being a keeper / batter after so long out, it still feels like a gamble to give him the gloves.

 

Unchanged squad for fourth test, unbelievable really!

 

Bairstow gets monk-on if he's not keeping. I'd bring Foakes in, drop Hasbeen Ali and tell Root he's going to be bowling the spin.

 

Any other ground I'd agree - but we need proper spin at Old Trafford.

 

Sucks when the North is much better at producing players for international Cricket.

 

Didn’t do him any harm last year, or for the vast majority of his white ball career. If he gets the hump because he wants to keep wicket he needs to be told to stop being a child.

 

I think he's got the beard because he's carrying too much timber.

 

Dont agree with that for one minute re Bairstow. He's just happy to play in my view. I remember a time when he should have been picked but overlooked even when he performed well. I'd still play Bairstow even if Foakes was brought in. Stokes will side with him.
I do think Bairstow was rushed in given the amount of red ball cricket he'd played after his injury. But that's another story.

 

I agree about that period. If you're referring to when he was one of the best batsman in the County Championship before he made his debut. Should have made his Test debut 18 months earlier when he was red hot.

 

This is a good point. Fair call on the Crawley/Pope stats, but I wanted to mention a really good book I read called Crickonomics - goes into some history of the game and phenomena and tried to explain.

The first chapter talks about why an opening batsman is much more likely to be a public schoolboy (referencing these two playing each other at 15 in some public school derby), and a bowler to be a working class lad from up north.

Quick summary: money and facilities. They're at school with kept pitches, nets and free time to practice their driving, in Burnley the best you get is probably a village green, so you're way more likely to develop as a bowler. Strauss, Cook, Vaughan, Trott, Trescothick, these two, even Root went to public school (on a cricketing scholarship).

Other good stuff in it, Kerry Packer, how NZ revamped their entire infrastructure 25 years ago to become the side they are now, how T20 is likely to win v Test, interesting stuff.

 

He was allus in and out of the side as well. When others were selected afore him. Able to open batting as well at one period.

 

I was an opening batsman and I think it's temperament. You have to be patient. I didn't like getting out and only really played at the bad balls. That's why I didn't really achieve anything. 46 overs wasn't enough. Top score of 21.

 

At the start of the summer, I was thinking that Bairstow should come back in as a specialist batter. With Pope or Root opening the batting instead of Crawley.

But with the opening pair doing ok, and Stokes now also being a specialist batter, it looks difficult to get Bairstow in unless he's keeping. Don't think they'd want to only have three seamers, and can't only have Root as a spinner at Old Trafford.

 

Bairstow had a good year ( in tests ) in 2016 when he scored well over 1,000 runs.
However, his best year was last year when he again got over a thousand runs but in less matches.
He got displaced from keeping wicket by Buttler before they realised he wasn’t a test class batsman and gave Jonny the gloves again.
In his younger days he was earmarked mainly as a wicket keeper who could bat like his father.

 

Do you think he's beefed up too much. I remember his debut and he was more lanky then?

 

Definitely since his leg break but other folk don’t seem to agree

 

Top score of 21. Were they allus short.