England in West Indies

[King Pietersen]

I've been praising Broad and saying he'll come good for ages, and I bet now that I've said it's time for him to be dropped he'll take 4 or 5 wickets in the innings. I still strongly believe that Broad's going to be leading this England attack in 3-4 years, alongside Anderson, but at the minute he needs to go back to Notts and work on his game, find some variation and some extra pace. He's never going to be particuarly effective just bowling line and length with no movement at 83-84 mph.

England desperately need a wicket, and I think bring KP in is a good mood, play on Gayles ego like Gayle did when KP was on 97. Pietersen does give it a tweak as well, and on a turning pitch that could be dangerous, just needs to bring the length back a little, he's bowled far too full so far. (That last ball, the one that went past Gayle's outside edge is where he wants to be bowling)

Edit: England now getting some reverse with Fred and Sidebottom, but still can't get a wicket. Would be fantastic if we could just knock one of these 2 over now, and get Marshall in for a couple of nervy overs. Won't happen though.

 

[sohum]

England are struggling here. Chanderpaul still to come, as well, so you can count at in at least another 50.

 

[King Pietersen]

We're honestly not really struggling, we've bowled well, bar Broad, but Sarwan and Gayle have just played good cricket. They've batted brilliantly, taking on the right balls and defending the more dangerous ones. We desperately need to pick up some quick wickets tommorow morning, pick up Sarwan and Gayle in the first hour and we'll be in a good position again. I'm just glad that West Indies only really have Chanderpaul to come, because if they still had Lara and Chanderpaul to come we'd be screwed. West Indies on top, but it's still pretty open.

 

[Leicester Fox]

Shocking day for England. Will be very surprised if they can get a result out of the test having played as badly as that. Monty shouldn't be playing now. Swann outbowled him in India and is just plain better. It is completely wrong that the selectos can pick players who are being outperformed.

West Indies played very well, had their luck with the referral but made it count. Gayle was pretty patient, impressive. They are a better side than made out though and our players were expecting an easy win which was never going to come. Showed the patience our players just don't have.

I wish I could be as laid back as the barmy army are, still singing at the end of the day. Although I probably would be if I was in Jamaica with 15 pints down my neck.

 

[WestIndian]

Well played boys, well played, this day surely belong to us, started by taking the last 5 England wickets for 82 runs, and at the end chasing 318 we are 160 for 1, with two of our key batsmen both having half centuries and still batting at the close. We still have work to do and lots of it, but today we did very well!

 

[King Pietersen]

You've got to remember that West Indies have a few traits that England have, and are prone to collapsing after losing settled batsmen quickly. It's far from over yet, and we've got to stay positive and know that we'll be right back in it if we get Sarwan and Gayle quickly.

Also Joe, how can you warrant Swann's inclusion after getting spanked in the Warm Up game against basically Club cricket opposition? Panesar hasn't bowled badly, and his pace was much better than it was in India. His pace was consistently around 58-60 mph, but that dropped to around 52-54mph today. He's just had 2 good players to bowl to, Benn has easily outbowled him though so far. Swann wouldn't have done a better job tbh.

 

[WestIndian]

You've got to remember that West Indies have a few traits that England have, and are prone to collapsing after losing settled batsmen quickly. It's far from over yet, and we've got to stay positive and know that we'll be right back in it if we get Sarwan and Gayle quickly.

Yes I agree with you, I have seen that far too many times to not know what is possible, but our players just need to be positive, and by the way you mention Chanderpaul, he is not the only one left, we got a new kid on the block and his name is Nash, he can hold his own.

 

[King Pietersen]

Hmm, I've not seen much of Nash, but a FC average of 30 doesn't really show him off to be a class player, he did well against New Zealand though to be fair to him. Have to wait and see, just hope Xavier Marshall doesn't have another cracker like he did against Australia. I'm still amazed that a player can get in the team without having scored a FC hundred and with a relatively poor record, he must have some serious potential though to still be in the team.

 

[Leicester Fox]

You've got to remember that West Indies have a few traits that England have, and are prone to collapsing after losing settled batsmen quickly. It's far from over yet, and we've got to stay positive and know that we'll be right back in it if we get Sarwan and Gayle quickly.

Also Joe, how can you warrant Swann's inclusion after getting spanked in the Warm Up game against basically Club cricket opposition? Panesar hasn't bowled badly, and his pace was much better than it was in India. His pace was consistently around 58-60 mph, but that dropped to around 52-54mph today. He's just had 2 good players to bowl to, Benn has easily outbowled him though so far. Swann wouldn't have done a better job tbh.

Panesar got 0 wickets in 15 overs. Not good enough. Swann deserved a place in the side ahead of him. Swann might have got spanked in the warm up but so what? Who cares. Some players don't like warms ups. Maybe he felt like trying a few different things. If he gets spanked in the test match, fine. It's about time we picked the players who perform the best and not the ones with the best reputation. You can't say Swann wouldn't have done a better job either.

 

[Skater]

First Class averages mean little really in a Test. Sometimes you find that players thrive on pressure and are more suited to international cricket than first class cricket. Nash might be one of them (despite being labelled a 'journeyman' by The Wisden Cricketer).

The timing of the next wicket is crucial. 3.01pm tomorrow would be good.

 

[aussie1st]

3 key wickets will get England back in this but it's no easy task getting Sarwan or Chanderpaul and if Gayle gets back in again tomorrow he too will be hard to get out.

 

[RoboRocks]

This isn't good enough really. Sidebottom didn't get batsmen playing enough when the new ball was swinging, Broad was disappointing and well Monty's been terrible. Benn has bowled better than him and has shown more nous and experience despite playing less tests. If Monty fails to perform here then I would perhaps drop him for the second test.

Considering we may need too spinners he might get away with it.

 

[Dare]

Well played boys, well played, this day surely belong to us, started by taking the last 5 England wickets for 82 runs, and at the end chasing 318 we are 160 for 1, with two of our key batsmen both having half centuries and still batting at the close. We still have work to do and lots of it, but today we did very well!

Props to both of them, I hope that they both make centuries tomorrow and keep going. It would put us in a great position and with Chanders and Nash to come could put us in a solid position.

Hmm, I've not seen much of Nash, but a FC average of 30 doesn't really show him off to be a class player, he did well against New Zealand though to be fair to him. Have to wait and see, just hope Xavier Marshall doesn't have another cracker like he did against Australia. I'm still amazed that a player can get in the team without having scored a FC hundred and with a relatively poor record, he must have some serious potential though to still be in the team.

Nash seems like a solid player from what I have seen of him. He did good in NZ and was unlucky to get a hundred, unlike some of the recent batsman we had coming in at #5,#6 he can hold up one end in case of a collapse and that can be of big help to the big 3.
As for Marshall the only reason he is in the 1st test is because Richards got injured. If Richards is fit for the 2nd test I expect Marshall to be out. Marshall was always a talent, he was one of the top players in all the age groups in the Caribbean but he had problems with his temper and off field issues.

Once Bravo gets back the top order will look good, still not sure who will open with Gayle.

Gayle
Opener
Sarwan
Chanders
Nash
Bravo

 

[WestIndian]

Once Bravo gets back the top order will look good, still not sure who will open with Gayle.

Gayle
Opener
Sarwan
Chanders
Nash
Bravo

Well really we have two guys out, Bravo and Samuels, so there are no shortage of players for our middle order. As for someone to partner Gayle, well I hope Simmons did not unpack his bags, because Smith, I don't see him carrying on if he fails AGAIN, this in my mind is his final series or maybe even match to prove himself, not to me but to the selectors, for me he could have remained out.
The X-man still has a future in West Indies cricket, face it Richards is 32 and Jamaican, I believe that is why he was picked because the match is being played in his country, Marshall on the other hand is just 22, if he has positive vibes around him he will mature, the fact is he has shown that he can play at this level.
So if both of our guys can play it safe, but positive and get hundreds, then that will set a platform for the guys to follow, it would be nice if they could get to lunch tomorrow with the same 1 wicket down, and they have the ability to so do!!!

 

[Dare]

Well really we have two guys out, Bravo and Samuels, so there are no shortage of players for our middle order. As for someone to partner Gayle, well I hope Simmons did not unpack his bags, because Smith, I don't see him carrying on if he fails AGAIN, this in my mind is his final series or maybe even match to prove himself, not to me but to the selectors, for me he could have remained out.
The X-man still has a future in West Indies cricket, face it Richards is 32 and Jamaican, I believe that is why he was picked because the match is being played in his country, Marshall on the other hand is just 22, if he has positive vibes around him he will mature, the fact is he has shown that he can play at this level.
So if both of our guys can play it safe, but positive and get hundreds, then that will set a platform for the guys to follow, it would be nice if they could get to lunch tomorrow with the same 1 wicket down, and they have the ability to so do!!!

na Richards is from Barbados.

As for Marshall he has a bright future but he should be left to play some 1st class cricket and get some runs under his belt. There is not way that he should be in the squad ahead of someone like Simmons. Simmons has a better average in domestic cricket and could be a much better option at #4 than Marshall.
I like Marshall he is probably the best fielder in the team and has a good future ahead of him if he stays on track. Also this is his home ground so he might just come out and surprise us and get a good score.