Sri Lanka in England 2011

[Themer]

I thought Finn was going to replace Anderson. Unless you guys are talking about a replacement for Broad.

Cricketicon suggested that Shahzad or Onions should have been picked, hence the discussion.

 

[cricket_icon]

looks like its going to be finn tommorrow. i do like finn as a bowler but what is happening with dernbach? is he in the squad? and i still believe onions or shahzad instead of dernbach but finn is fine. good attack by england. SLs attack is atrocious. they dont look like they could ball out my sunday league team let alone cook, strauss, trott, bell and co. sad times really.

 

[lewissaffin]

looks like its going to be finn tommorrow. i do like finn as a bowler but what is happening with dernbach? is he in the squad? and i still believe onions or shahzad instead of dernbach but finn is fine. good attack by england. SLs attack is atrocious. they dont look like they could ball out my sunday league team let alone cook, strauss, trott, bell and co. sad times really.

He'll most likely be carrying drinks.

Finn is the correct choice.

 

[War]

I don't think it says that much about Div 2 in particular because I know how slow Damien Wright is and he has a pile of wickets in Div 1.

In fact, I'd be pretty confident that if you tallied up the stats of the top half dozen or so stock medium pacers across both divisions, it'd be better than the tally for the pacemen chosen for England and the Lions so far this season.

It can be very much a fact of the county game, but also first class cricket in general, that these veterans who simply make few errors do all the more damage. However, combined with the lack of success from many of the "good" bowlers, it makes for an interesting paradox. Perhaps it could be said that just too many errors are being made.

Well yea Divison 1 isn't perfect is either, even though it has less joke players playing.

Plus Damien Wright @ his peak early this decade when he had stints @ glamorgan, sussex etc certainly bowled @ livelier pace than he is in his current recent stints @ Somerset last year & Worcestershire this year. I remember championing him being part of AUS 2007 world-cup squad ha.

But overall he is just as bad as Vaas. Which is foreign pro way passed his peak, who their national sides would not pick doing exceedingly well in the highest division of English FC cricket.

That happens all the time sadly. Couple years ago Ottis Gibson @ age 38 was leading wicket taking in Division 1. Mushtaq Ahmed owned Division 1 for years, but the few times PAK called him for tests this decade, he looked way short of international standard. S Africa rejects Hall & Boje still doing well, so its a disturbing trend that been going on for a while.

Your point that maybe since those veteran pros past their peaks tend to do well because they make less mistakes, makes sense yea & is good enough to help a teak win a championship/domestic titlt. But is that what you want your premier FC competition to do?. Surely you want it be a breeding ground preparing players for test. That what Australia's domestic cricket was in the 90s & most of the 2000s, thus players made a smooth transition into tests, since the gap in quality with AUS FC cricket & test was very close if not the same for much of AUS dominant years.

 

[Owzat]

Was never having a go at Murali.

I know/didn't say you were, just reminded me of his record against the whipping boys, but then the aussies and lankans have very different views on playing those sides and frequency

 

[angryangy]

Well yea Divison 1 isn't perfect is either, even though it has less joke players playing.

Plus Damien Wright @ his peak early this decade when he had stints @ glamorgan, sussex etc certainly bowled @ livelier pace than he is in his current recent stints @ Somerset last year & Worcestershire this year. I remember championing him being part of AUS 2007 world-cup squad ha.

But overall he is just as bad as Vaas. Which is foreign pro way passed his peak, who their national sides would not pick doing exceedingly well in the highest division of English FC cricket.

That happens all the time sadly. Couple years ago Ottis Gibson @ age 38 was leading wicket taking in Division 1. Mushtaq Ahmed owned Division 1 for years, but the few times PAK called him for tests this decade, he looked way short of international standard. S Africa rejects Hall & Boje still doing well, so its a disturbing trend that been going on for a while.

Your point that maybe since those veteran pros past their peaks tend to do well because they make less mistakes, makes sense yea & is good enough to help a teak win a championship/domestic titlt. But is that what you want your premier FC competition to do?. Surely you want it be a breeding ground preparing players for test. That what Australia's domestic cricket was in the 90s & most of the 2000s, thus players made a smooth transition into tests, since the gap in quality with AUS FC cricket & test was very close if not the same for much of AUS dominant years.

I think maybe it's just good if it works. If a young bowler is quick but goes for runs and gets no wickets, what good is he? The quickest bowler in the country can't just be an automatic selection. It's more likely the quickest bowler that knows where each ball is going will ends up being a key player at any level he plays. It's worth having that back-of-the-mind pressure on those players who have talent to become more consistent, to remind them that they're not the be-all and end-all of bowling and that even a 75 mph trundler can get those mugs out, so hurry up and get on with it!

 

[Aditya]

Time for a prediction, England to be 286/6 at stumps on day 1. Pietersen to smash a century.

 

[lewissaffin]

When Trott or Cook finally fails in an innings, I'm going to be a bit depressed

 

[Iridium]

When Trott or Cook finally fails in an innings, I'm going to be a bit depressed

Trott has just failed. Out lbw to Suranga Lakmal

Referral though....

 

[Aussie Team]

Pietersen gone either, Wow what a start by SL.

 

[Owzat]

Pietersen to smash a century.

Or get out for his sixth single figure score in his last 11 innings including two ducks.

What to do with KP? String him up by his KPs (nuts)

 

[Haarithan]

A topsy-turvy day as Nick Knight suggested at the end of day's play . Amazing character shown by the England middle order batsmen there , never gave up despite getting lucky at times regarding the inside edges . Unfortunate for Cook to miss out on a hundred , and mind you , Cook was far from BORING today . Prior just seems to be very consistent and reliable when it comes to test cricket , imo he's the second best WKB at present next to Sangakkara in the longer format of the game . And gotta thank the selectors for the faith shown in Morgan , I really don't believe Bopara would have excelled in such pressure cooker situations as today.

 

[Sureshot]

I don't know, you could also say that he got a massive double century only what, 6 tests back?

I agree with what Athers (I think) said, his head is just full of too much theory about left-arm spin and his form. He just needs to go out there, watch the red thing and score some runs. I still expect him to get big runs this summer. I suppose the good thing in all of this, is I no longer fear an England side without KP.

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Impressive last session, helped by a lacklustre Sri Lankan attack. 342-6, push on beyond 400. 450+ and I'm really happy with the total.

After 22-3, I'm happy with the day's play and I think we just edge it due to the psychological impact of having a side 3 down for nothing, then taking another 320 runs to get 3 wickets...

Good to see Cook, Prior, Bell and Morgan all in the runs. Bell looked a bit iffy at times, but he batted at the harder end and played a big role in getting the innings back on track. Why on earth they bowl wide to Prior, I don't know.

 

[barmyarmy]

450 by lunch and then get stuck into them in the afternoon.
Cook must be disappointed after seeing the shot he got out to.

 

[Params7]

Cook must be disappointed after seeing the shot he got out to.

Yeah, he got to 50 with that pull that got him out. Was looking to get his 100 in style but it backfired.