Why on earth is Crawley still in the Test side??

England chasing 608. Out for 0, second over.

 

I agree, think he's had more than his fair share of chances!

 

England aren’t chasing 608, they’re trying to bat out a day plus a session for a predictable draw.

At least, they should be.

 

You're splitting hairs. That was my whole point! Seventh duck of the match - the most ever by England

 

Bethell got to be in the team

 

Can’t be instead of Crawley.

 

In modern cricket you need to be able to bat to number 9 with two quicks. We don't have that. You could drop Crawley and bring Lees, Sibley or Burns back in. Wouldn't matter a jot.

Batting wins more games than bowling because scoreboard pressure gets batsmen out.

 

He’s surely had enough chances now

 

He bats quick. He'll keep his place.

 

He'll be big mates with Rob Key through Kent CC. Funnily enough they share the same batting average for England (30). Key didn't last half as long.

 

Dom Sibley ought to be considered.

 

Saw a stat about Crawley on the BBC test match feed saying of his 102 innings he has made 42 single digit scores.

 

I said it about Headingley where I thought he was v lucky - the level of support for him has been great, I understand what they say they want him to do and not play a traditional opener role but f.ck me, I'd quite like an opener to get more than 30 on average.

 

Who would you replace him with? That’s the issue.

Josh Bohannon wouldn’t be a bad shout, but he plays 3. Think he’s been due a call up by now. There was Ali Orr a year ago who looked a good bet to be considered but his form isn’t great this year.

We’ve already seen Hameed, Lees etc. Jennings.

 

Shocking test match by us. Made an averwge bowling attack look like world beaters. Pope and crawley need dropping and i wouldnt pick any of the 4 bowlers for next test. All 4 arent gd enough internationally.

 

The same Jacob Bethell who hasn’t got a century in any format of professional cricket?

Who averages less than thirty with the bat and more than seventy with the ball in first class cricket?

There’s a lot of hype around him but we don’t need yet another maverick in the middle order who’ll whack it when it’s flat but be a walking wicket if it does anything at all.

 

Hameed and Sibley didn’t get the run of games Crawley has - and both average over seventy this summer opening the batting in division one of the championship.

They probably won’t pick Sibley as he’s more Boycott than Gilchrist strike rate wise - Hameed is striking at over Sixty though.

Both deserve another go for me. I’d possibly go with Hameed. He won’t do any worse than Crawley on a wicket that does anything.

Though there is another argument to go with Sibley as he’s not far off Crawley’s height. Part of his appeal is the change in length as well as line required of bowlers when batting with Duckett, that would be maintained with Sibley.

Neither Hameed nor Sibley would have been caught for zero at backward point from an expansive drive in this innings - I say that with a degree of certainty.

With Crawley opening and Pope at three we will be not a lot for two in a lot of test matches.

Bethell doesn’t improve that in my view. He’s a young kid with a huge future but I can’t see how you can give a run of games to him at three with his overall record in all forms and his first class record as it is. You can’t throw him in for half this series and expect him to get runs in Australia this winter.

This test team is hugely frustrating. We have a captain making maverick decisions (which are questionable at times) who seems to have lost it with the bat and who isn’t going to be fit enough to bowl forty overs a game for five games in a series. We have serious question marks over two of the top three of the batting lineup, and the bowling attack looks absolutely toothless. Sam Cook isn’t going to be the answer for Australia you wouldn’t think, Tongue and Carse may enjoy the bounce there (though the pitches are allegedly not what they were) but are they good enough?

History would suggest Archer and Wood will not be fit for five games (and we haven’t seen Archer do anything with a red ball for the best part of five years), Gus Atkinson isn’t special, Woakes’ away record is poor, Potts hasn’t looked to be a regular wicket taker, Josh Hull has been injured and isn’t really ready either - and don’t get me started on the continued selection of a spin bowler who can’t get in his county team, can’t field, can’t bat, averaging a tick under forty and at less than a wicket every ten overs bowled.

Apart for the dodgy batting and bowling, question marks over the tactics and the captains decisions, we look ok. Ashes in the bag.

 

And now Stokes has decided it’s twenty years ago and he’ll play with his bat tucked behind his pad on the stroke of lunch…

Well played Skip… for crying out loud

 

Crawley has scored 5 centuries in 50-odd matches. Yet he still gets the nod. Bizarre.

 

He has the lowest test average of any test opener with over 2,500 runs.
Have I got that right ?