New Zealand Tour of England - 2021

[ddrap14]

Seriously give the lad a break he seems a newbie and probably made that post in reference to what we are witnessing in the ongoing series with NZ.

This guy's literal only purpose on this site is apparently to call Bumrah and Pant mediocre with every post he posts. Probably the worst troll I've ever seen

 

[Satan666]

Probably the worst troll I've ever seen

I feel very offended sir! This is probably the single most insulting post I’ve on this board.

 

[Aislabie]

Some proper amateur hour batting today. Great look for Mr Silverwood picking his 1st sides all by himself...

Bracey is a top order batsman. No. 3 position is perfect for him. Pope is also a keeper, but he is not a top order batsman. Bracey was playing so well before this series. He just needs to forget this series.

Sibley
Burns
Bracey
Root
Pope
Lawrence
Overton
Leach
Wood
Stone
Anderson

IMO, Poor batting line up selected by Root & Trescothick.

In response to this I refer back to the post I made a couple of days ago where I pointed out that the only top-order batsmen who have performed consistently at or above a replacement level for England have been Rory Burns and Joe Root.

Early signs are also promising for Dan Lawrence, and he should likely be persevered with - especially as Ben Foakes is injured at the moment, so Jos Buttler will probably return as keeper for the India series (because there's absolutely no way of justifying keeping Bracey on at the moment - he's been Blakeyesque)

If I were picking a squad for the India series, I'd consider:

Opening Batsmen
1. Rory Burns - one of the two guaranteed batting selections
2. Dom Sibley - performing below replacement level, but occupying the crease fairly well and hopefully enabling those below to perform better.
R. Haseeb Hameed - the next in line I guess

Top-Order Batsmen
3. Dawid Malan - he's been out of the side for longer than I thought, after doing worse than I thought, further down the order than I thought. I just don't know who else
4. Joe Root - the other guaranteed batting selection
R. Zak Crawley - in a pinch, he's not the worst player to have around as a replacement. Not really cutting it at the moment though

Middle-Order Batsmen
5. Ben Stokes - hopefully he's not injured still because England need him badly
6. Dan Lawrence* - has looked pretty good so far, and really stood up in a tough situation today
R. Ollie Pope* - hangs onto a place in this squad by the skin of his teeth. Total Ramprakash

Wicket-Keeper
Ben Foakes - injured, but keep him around in case he recovers
7. Jos Buttler - *would be my first pick for number six as a specialist batsman I think, but he's also the reserve keeper and thus he steps in for Foakes
R. Sam Billings - the reserve-reserve

Spin Bowler
8. Jack Leach - should be playing against New Zealand
R. Matt Parkinson - I prefer him to Dom Bess, and hope he doesn't turn into an Ian Salisbury

Seam Bowler
9. Stuart Broad - is very good at cricket, less good at Twitter
R. Ollie Robinson* - also very good at cricket, less good at Twitter

Swing Bowler
10. Jimmy Anderson - also very good at cricket, less good at Twitter
R. Chris Woakes - STOKES FOAKES WOAKES

Express Pace Bowler
11. Mark Wood - got to love a man who bowls at 150 kph with a Geordie accent
R. Ollie Stone - I like his bowling very much

 

[wasteyouryouth]

3. Dawid Malan - he's been out of the side for longer than I thought, after doing worse than I thought, further down the order than I thought. I just don't know who else

 

[Aislabie]

Jonny Bairstow

Range	Batting Statistics	VARP
Last 10 Tests	391 runs @ 21.72 (best 52)	41.11%
As Top-Order	421 runs @ 28.07 (1 century, best 110)	17.09%
Career	4,197 runs @ 34.12 (6 centuries, best 167*)	2.74%

It's not that Jonny Bairstow isn't just a Test number three, or that he's only just about a replacement-level Test batsman, it's that his Test batting has been in a tailspin for years. I'm glad I gave myself this reminder actually; it gets even worse too - the Test before the 10-Test window, he managed an eight-ball pair against Ireland, and the last time he scored more than 52 was his angry innings in Sri Lanka in 2018.

(I know it's ironic but I'm not missing a chance to shill my own stats)

 

[ddrap14]

I feel very offended sir! This is probably the single most insulting post I’ve on this board.

View attachment 251391

No not you sorry, the guy who only is here to say bad things about Pant

Seam Bowler
9. Stuart Broad - is very good at cricket, less good at Twitter
R. Ollie Robinson* - also very good at cricket, less good at Twitter

Swing Bowler
10. Jimmy Anderson - also very good at cricket, less good at Twitter

I see a theme

 

[wasteyouryouth]

@Aislabie
Ed Smith is gone. He was a curse on Jonny Bairstow's career. He can flourish now. If I was going to pick him, it'd be at 6 or 7 where he averages 37 and almost 39.

--

My Top 7

Burns
Sibbo
Lawrence
Root
Stokes
Bairstow
Buttler

or (if we want a number 7 who averages 70 in that position)

Burns
Sibbo
Lawrence
Root
Stokes
Buttler
Woakes

I can see Moeen coming back in at 8. Purely because he can bat. Then a mixture of Anderson, Broad, Wood, Archer and Curran with Woakes carrying drinks all summer.

 

[Aislabie]

Names

I see the logic. But Bairstow isn't the answer - Buttler is

My first-choice England XI is:
1. Rory Burns
2. Dominic Sibley
3. A 2010 cardboard cutout of Jonathan Trott. Or Malan or something
4. Joe Root
5. Ben Stokes
6. Jos Buttler
7. Ben Foakes
8. Mark Wood
9. Jack Leach
10. Stuart Broad
11. Jimmy Anderson
R. Zak Crawley I guess
R. Dan Lawrence
R. Chris Woakes
R. Ollie Robinson
R. Ollie Stone
R. Matt Parkinson

 

[ddrap14]

R. Zak Crawley I guess

Maybe people like Jake Libby, Tom Abell or Kiran Carlson should come into contention for this? All young AFAIK not an expert here and all are doing really well in the CC

 

[Bevab]

Billings shouldn't be a reserve keeper though, does he even keep for Kent?

 

[Aislabie]

Billings shouldn't be a reserve keeper though, does he even keep for Kent?

Does Bfacey keep for Gloucs?

 

[wasteyouryouth]

I see the logic. But Bairstow isn't the answer - Buttler is

My first-choice England XI is:
1. Rory Burns
2. Dominic Sibley
3. A 2010 cardboard cutout of Jonathan Trott. Or Malan or something
4. Joe Root
5. Ben Stokes
6. Jos Buttler
7. Ben Foakes
8. Mark Wood
9. Jack Leach
10. Stuart Broad
11. Jimmy Anderson
R. Zak Crawley I guess
R. Dan Lawrence
R. Chris Woakes
R. Ollie Robinson
R. Ollie Stone
R. Matt Parkinson

I do think Malan is worth considering, with a view that he did quite well in Australia.

It will be interesting to see how Buttler goes this season. I think his improvement was down to the test cricket bubble; he wasn't changing formats and batting positions. The focus seemed to help. This summer: he's playing the Blast now, then there's a one day series v Sri Lanka. The next two rounds of the county championship clash with the Pakistan limited overs series. The Hundred starts two days after that, and I expect the ECB will want the biggest names to at least play a couple of games, considering most of the overseas stars are dropping out. Then the test series starts.

I thought Foakes was brilliant with the gloves in India but I don't know if he was impressive enough for England to stick with him and Buttler in the same team. The fact that Pope and Crawley are both struggling and Bracey has looked out of his depth could mean there are 3 openings in the top seven - well, one, when you considering Stokes and Buttler will return. But, I always assumed he would keep for these two matches and barring a spectacular performance with the bat would end up carrying the drinks when the IPL players were back in consideration.

 

[Mijurkat]

Billings shouldn't be a reserve keeper though, does he even keep for Kent?

Does Bfacey keep for Gloucs?

Yes. Both of them playing as an occasional keeper for their county.

 

[wasteyouryouth]

Dammit. Was out walking and missed the Mark Wood cameo.

 

[Dutch]

Am utterly out of the loop but why is James Bracey keeping wicket?