England's tour of India - 2021

[ddrap14]

I do feel instead of identifying the top 2, it would do good to have top 4 qualify for a semi-final esque tournament.

Not a good idea, as a BBL fan can confirm. 7/8 times the best team in the league didn't even make the final over here

 

[Verified Enigma]

Not a good idea, as a BBL fan can confirm. 7/8 times the best team in the league didn't even make the final over here

qualifiers?

 

[asprin]

Not a good idea, as a BBL fan can confirm. 7/8 times the best team in the league didn't even make the final over here

Yeh, in case of limited overs format luck can play a bigger part and might end up causing an upset but in 5-day cricket that factor can be mitigated as we have seen teams come back after having bad day in the field.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

I honestly don't know if England is stronger than 2018 and I think the fallout of this series might be a few question marks over players that weren't there 2 matches ago. Our bowling won't be a problem in England but the batting is very fragile. In India the mindset seems to be 'if Joe Root can't score runs then none of us can.'

Burns has found himself dropped. I wouldn't be surprised if he came back in for the next match at the expense of Sibley or, more likely, Bairstow. Pope is averaging 23 since the start of last summer.

Root
Buttler
Stokes
Crawley
Woakes
Bess

are the only players averaging above 30 in that time frame and two of them can't get in the team. Things are so bad there's case an actual case for Jos Buttler being in as a specialist batsman.

I would say a line-up comprising of following players can actually be one of the teams of all-time for England if they are given enough opportunities to develop themselves with the culture of the team and get some good experience of playing in different conditions

Burns
Sibley
Crawley
Root
Pope
Stokes
Foakes
Woakes

Now this is a very good top 8 if they just find a particular template of how they need to play. All the above players can grind themselves out in tough conditions and can equally utilize their opportunities to score on bad deliveries. I would say only thing wrong with England is their approach. They just need to know the importance of spending more time at the crease. I think for India we are really struggling to find a suitable role for our players. And there are uncertainities surrounding this side. I think apart from Pujara, Kohli and Rahane none of our batsman are sure about their place in the team. Infact, I fear the fact the how will the team react to the low scores of Gill off late even when he has looked good in all the matches that he has played so far.

 

[wasteyouryouth]

I would say a line-up comprising of following players can actually be one of the teams of all-time for England if they are given enough opportunities to develop themselves with the culture of the team and get some good experience of playing in different conditions

Burns
Sibley
Crawley
Root
Pope
Stokes
Foakes
Woakes

Now this is a very good top 8 if they just find a particular template of how they need to play. All the above players can grind themselves out in tough conditions and can equally utilize their opportunities to score on bad deliveries. I would say only thing wrong with England is their approach. They just need to know the importance of spending more time at the crease. I think for India we are really struggling to find a suitable role for our players. And there are uncertainities surrounding this side. I think apart from Pujara, Kohli and Rahane none of our batsman are sure about their place in the team. Infact, I fear the fact the how will the team react to the low scores of Gill off late even when he has looked good in all the matches that he has played so far.

The problem with that line up is where's our spinner play when we simply HAVE TO play Archer, Broad and Anderson. Fine if it's big seaming pitch but even in England you often need a spinner. And I just don't think England will play Foakes ahead of Buttler unless he breaks Brian Lara's record in the next match and even then he'd be one bad match from being dropped.

Gill has looked like he's playing more cautiously and ultimately getting out cheaply. Rohit has been the best batsman in the series but I reckon he could have a Warner-esque drop off in England.

I think big equaliser will be: can Kohli regain his 2018 levels in England and can Bumrah, Ishant, Shami and whoever match the English bowlers. If they can then the series will probably follow a similar pattern to 2018. It's just going to come down to one session swinging a match.

 

[ddrap14]

Yeh, in case of limited overs format luck can play a bigger part and might end up causing an upset but in 5-day cricket that factor can be mitigated as we have seen teams come back after having bad day in the field.

Good point

qualifiers?

Yep, it happened several times that sides that just made finals would win (BBL02, BBL05, BBL08)... not complaining, we only have a title because of it

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

can Kohli regain his 2018 levels in England

I seriously doubt this. I believe he was on a different form altogether that time.

can Bumrah, Ishant, Shami and whoever match the English bowlers.

I have followed a decade of Indian Cricket in the Test format. And one thing I am sure about is, these guys Bumrah, Ishant and Shami would enjoy bowling on seaming wickets. The thing is whether our batsman can complement them is a big question. AFAIK the current situation in world is something like when we would tour SENA countries our bowling can give out tough competition to theirs but their spinners don't stand a chance to ours when they tour here.

Gill has looked like he's playing more cautiously and ultimately getting out cheaply.

This is what KL Rahul did during 2017-18 and he was ultimately axed and this is how things have been with our side off late. Mayank Agarwal who is supposedly our best opener(he is fastest Indian to 1,000 Test runs with a best of 243 and 2 double centuries to his name) is on the bench now just because he didn't perform well in his last 4-5 Tests.

 

[Aislabie]

I'm feeling kind of nostalgic about Saj Mahmood today

 

[Aislabie]

The problem with that line up is where's our spinner play when we simply HAVE TO play Archer, Broad and Anderson. Fine if it's big seaming pitch but even in England you often need a spinner. And I just don't think England will play Foakes ahead of Buttler unless he breaks Brian Lara's record in the next match and even then he'd be one bad match from being dropped.

Gill has looked like he's playing more cautiously and ultimately getting out cheaply. Rohit has been the best batsman in the series but I reckon he could have a Warner-esque drop off in England.

I think big equaliser will be: can Kohli regain his 2018 levels in England and can Bumrah, Ishant, Shami and whoever match the English bowlers. If they can then the series will probably follow a similar pattern to 2018. It's just going to come down to one session swinging a match.

Okay so I definitely have some thoughts. I was going to put a big long analysis of each player but I can't be bothered.

1. Dominic Sibley
2. Rory Burns or replacement
3. Zak Crawley
4. Joe Root
5. Ben Stokes
6. Dan Lawrence
7. Ben Foakes
8. Fast bowler rotation*
9. Jack Leach
10. Stuart Broad
11. Jimmy Anderson

The fast bowler rotation would be Mark Wood, Ollie Stone and Jofra Archer, in that order. Archer would be my third-choice out of those three for the Test side.
Ollie Pope needs time away from Test cricket - he looks completely scrambled.
There's an argument for picking Dom Bess so he can bat at eight; bit negative though.
If you don't want to play Broad and Anderson every week, then Woakes or Curran can come in.
Rory Burns' potential replacements would be Dent, Azad, Bracey and Lammonby.

 

[wasteyouryouth]

Okay so I definitely have some thoughts. I was going to put a big long analysis of each player but I can't be bothered.

1. Dominic Sibley
2. Rory Burns or replacement
3. Zak Crawley
4. Joe Root
5. Ben Stokes
6. Dan Lawrence
7. Ben Foakes
8. Fast bowler rotation*
9. Jack Leach
10. Stuart Broad
11. Jimmy Anderson

The fast bowler rotation would be Mark Wood, Ollie Stone and Jofra Archer, in that order. Archer would be my third-choice out of those three for the Test side.
Ollie Pope needs time away from Test cricket - he looks completely scrambled.
There's an argument for picking Dom Bess so he can bat at eight; bit negative though.
If you don't want to play Broad and Anderson every week, then Woakes or Curran can come in.
Rory Burns' potential replacements would be Dent, Azad, Bracey and Lammonby.

I don't think England really know what is their best XI. I don't know honestly know what I'd pick, mainly cause I want to fit Chris Woakes in every XI as our specialist number 7.


I think their Ideal/Dream XI (if all these players were playing to what England consider their best) would be:

1 Burns
2 Crawley
3 Bairstow
4 Root
5 Stokes
6 Pope
7 Buttler
8 Moeen/Sam Curran depending on situation
9 Archer
10 Broad
11 Anderson

 

[Aislabie]

1 Burns
2 Crawley
3 Bairstow
4 Root
5 Stokes
6 Pope
7 Buttler
8 Moeen/Sam Curran depending on situation
9 Archer
10 Broad
11 Anderson

 

[Aislabie]

Also, if I can take us on a brief diversion, mid-to-late 2000s England had what I reckon has to be one of the best Test cricket teams never assembled (mostly due to injury, but also the odd bit of selectoral weirdness)

1. Alastair Cook
2. Andrew Strauss
3. Michael Vaughan (injury: knee)
4. Kevin Pietersen
5. Paul Collingwood
6. Andrew Flintoff (injury: everything)
7. James Foster (selectors: preferred Jones)
8. Graeme Swann (selectors: preferred Panesar)
9. Ryan Sidebottom
10. Simon Jones (injury: both legs)
11. Jimmy Anderson

That side would have been so stacked.

I bring it up because if the selectors keep going at Bairstow, Moeen and others, they risk never building another one of these great sides.

 

[wasteyouryouth]

Like I said. This is the Dream XI. English selection policy seems to be the Field of Dreams method. If you pick them they will be great (if you wait long enough).

It's the same mentality that keeps David Willey from getting picked for the T20 team. They know what he can do; bowl well in the powerplay and take wickets (with 2 T20 centuries to his name on top of that) but he's crap at the death. But... despite all the positives... Sam Curran might be better if we keep picking him.

I also found a flaw in that team. They'd want Ollie Pope at 3 and Bairstow at 6 or 7 but Pope can't bat at 3 so they have to put Bairstow there.

 

[Aislabie]

Like I said. This is the Dream XI. English selection policy seems to be the Field of Dreams method. If you pick them they will be great (if you wait long enough).

It's the same mentality that keeps David Willey from getting picked for the T20 team. They know what he can do; bowl well in the powerplay and take wickets (with 2 T20 centuries to his name on top of that) but he's crap at the death. But... despite all the positives... Sam Curran might be better if we keep picking him.

I also found a flaw in that team. They'd want Ollie Pope at 3 and Bairstow at 6 or 7 but Pope can't bat at 3 so they have to put Bairstow there.

Honestly, David Willey would be a great option as an all-format player. I know they keep wanting Sam Curran to be a Thing, but he's not going to be a Thing. He's basically just a slightly better Mitch McCleneghan (with the bat at least)

 

[wasteyouryouth]

Honestly, David Willey would be a great option as an all-format player. I know they keep wanting Sam Curran to be a Thing, but he's not going to be a Thing. He's basically just a slightly better Mitch McCleneghan (with the bat at least)

I remember watching the IPL last year when Curran was opening the batting and thinking, just like England, what CSK need here is David Willey. Instead, they've got Sam Curran doing his best Neil Carter impression.