England in Sri Lanka

[Skater]

Well played Matt Prior. I think he's hopeless, but he looked confident at the wicket today and played a good innings. It's just a shame our tail are such donkeys.

 

[King Pietersen]

Well played Matt Prior. I think he's hopeless, but he looked confident at the wicket today and played a good innings. It's just a shame our tail are such donkeys.

Contradicted yourself abit there Lee. Congratulating Prior and then saying he's hopeless, make your mind up.

England messed it up tbh, Bell's dropped catch off Sangakkara was a key moment, we just didnt bowl well enough in Sri Lanka's 2nd innings, Colly shouldnt have been at slip though, Bell was right to be there, hes a good catcher, but that drop was key. We need the openers to start hitting some runs aswell, Vaughan has looked pretty out of sorts so far in this series, as has Cook. I hate to say it, but Strauss would have been a good option. Wouldnt have dropped them 2 chances in slip, and would have been out to prove his worth to the team. I'm still confident we can at least draw this series though.

 

[ivanvdm15]

yeah England just needs to up their performance especially with a on form man like Sangakkara.

 

[Skater]

Contradicted yourself abit there Lee. Congratulating Prior and then saying he's hopeless, make your mind up.

England messed it up tbh, Bell's dropped catch off Sangakkara was a key moment, we just didnt bowl well enough in Sri Lanka's 2nd innings, Colly shouldnt have been at slip though, Bell was right to be there, hes a good catcher, but that drop was key. We need the openers to start hitting some runs aswell, Vaughan has looked pretty out of sorts so far in this series, as has Cook. I hate to say it, but Strauss would have been a good option. Wouldnt have dropped them 2 chances in slip, and would have been out to prove his worth to the team. I'm still confident we can at least draw this series though.

I'm not contradicting myself, Prior played well today, but I think he is rubbish and inconsistent.

 

[King Pietersen]

He still averages nearly 40 in test cricket, after 14 innings, thats far from inconsistent if you ask me. I think hes the best option we have for wicket-keeper, in test matches anyway. Mustard is a better ODI batsman imo.

 

[evertonfan]

Davies to me is the best of a good bunch of keepers that England have available. But would I drop Prior? No.

 

[Animator!]

I thought Prior especially played Murali very well. He's played him out of the hand and picked him superbly. Bell also played Murali very well off the pitch, which was slow enough to do so.

In all fairness I just think we missed out because a) One player is in exceptional form. B) One player wanted to prove one final point before bowing out. C) Panesar was a little underused. D) Our seamers were too samey and ineffective.

With Hoggard pretty much dead on to miss the next test now, Who do we bring in, Do we try to exploit bounce on a dead pitch with a misfiring Harmison, add a bit of batting to the tail with Broad, or play two spinners and better the tail and play Swann?

I'd say Swann.

 

[Leicester Fox]

Tom News greater than all of them put together and if he got the gloves consistently (thanks a lot Nicco ) he ould be the best cricketer ever. I completely unbiased view there. Ok maybe I'm over-rating him a liccle but he's one for the future averages 35 in FC, over 1000 runs and he's ony 22, only 1 century but he's bee out in the 90's a fair few times. Should be given a chance in the A side imo

Still Prior was very good and definitely shouldn't be dropped especially for New

 

[dikon]

Tom News greater than all of them put together and if he got the gloves consistently (thanks a lot Nicco ) he ould be the best cricketer ever. I completely unbiased view there. Ok maybe I'm over-rating him a liccle but he's one for the future averages 35 in FC, over 1000 runs and he's ony 22, only 1 century but he's bee out in the 90's a fair few times. Should be given a chance in the A side imo

Still Prior was very good and definitely shouldn't be dropped especially for New

Read is the best keeper in England no question.

 

[Animator!]

No, Read's really not. Not anymore. A couple of years ago, yes, easily, but not anymore. Foster for one is a much, much better Keeper.

 

[Leicester Fox]

Im not really saying he should be anywhere near the England setup yet, he doesn't get the gloves unless Nixons dropped but the future for English keepers isn't all bad!

 

[Skater]

Both Nixon and Read are playing in the ICL though.

 

[Leicester Fox]

If we play Broad and Swann in the next game we'll have a hell of a batting line-up, not only do they bolster the batting they also take a bit of pressure off the batsmen which could help them perform. Obviously they should only be selected if their good enough bowlers which I believe Broad definitely is and if we're playing 2 spinners then Swann has to play.

 

[Skater]

If only, if only, Murali could say 'I've broken the record, I retire now' before the second test. It would boost our chances hugely.

 

[King Sanga]

lol talk abot wishful thinking ....to be honest i think england will be stronger in the 2nd test. Tharanga will come in to replace the retired Sanath and he quite simply is not very good. I fully expect Sangakkara to score another century though, the man is on a role here, dont expect the likes of Anderson and Panesar to trouble him. Mahela looked good for his 50 as well and Chamara will be wanting to score big so as to prove his worth. Mubarak has to do something to justify his inclusion in the side over the much, much better Dilshan. Time will tell.

Imo England must play Harmison. He is inconsistent but if he has a good spell he'll pick up at least 3 wickets. The pitches dont favour him so much but today's seam display by the Lankans proves that there's something there for the taking. Take a chance.