The Ashes 2021/22

[TerryAlderman]

How has Rory Burns played so many Tests?

His test batting average is 32. Draw your own conclusions from that.....I know that I have.

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

How has Rory Burns played so many Tests?

I'd like to know this too, he doesn't seem like a international level player to me at all... He made his debut in 2017 or 19 ashes right? Even then I was unimpressed

 

[Aislabie]

How has Rory Burns played so many Tests?

Because the alternatives have done even worse than he has.

At the start of this season, he was one of only three current English batters (along with Root and Stokes) who had a consistently positive VARP - I suspect that may no longer be the case, but look at the alternatives: Dom Sibley had an even worse season, Haseeb Hameed was averaging under 10 in first-class cricket a couple of years ago, and Zak Crawley doesn't even average 32 in first-class cricket let alone Test cricket.

 

[CerealKiller]

Because the alternatives have done even worse than he has.

At the start of this season, he was one of only three current English batters (along with Root and Stokes) who had a consistently positive VARP - I suspect that may no longer be the case, but look at the alternatives: Dom Sibley had an even worse season, Haseeb Hameed was averaging under 10 in first-class cricket a couple of years ago, and Zak Crawley doesn't even average 32 in first-class cricket let alone Test cricket.

Not a good show for the County Championship.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

*Cough* THE HUNDRED *Cough*

 

[TerryAlderman]

3 tons and 11 fifties in 53 test innings....dunno if that's good or average.

 

[Aislabie]

Not a good show for the County Championship.

Oh not at all - the County Championship is inhrrently broken

 

[Crassus]

Not a good show for the County Championship.

It's been moved from peak summer to April/May and September mainly to make way for the blast and the Hundred.

Problem with that is that the conditions at those times of year in England can often be nigh on impossible to bat in, especially facing a dukes. So all the teams have medium/fasts coming in and swinging it round corners at 78mph and absolutely no spinners at all. So it's hardly surprising that when our county batsmen get exposed to hard bouncy pitches against 88/89/90mph bowling they're going to struggle. It's also the reason why we don't produce a great deal of real quick too.

It's exactly the same with spinners. They just don't get to play enough at county level as they're virtually redundant unless it's peak summer. So our batsmen do t face them enough. Again it's no surprise that we get smashed out in India on rank turners is it?

 

[wasteyouryouth]

F*cks sake

 

[CerealKiller]

There you go.

 

[Aislabie]

Proper scheduling of the County Championship would have two divisions of nine, playing eight four-day games each.

Finish that with playoffs if you want - top four from Div 1 and top two from Div 2 can play the Bob Willis.

As a result of doing that, the games can be fit between May and August (September with playoffs), and every game can be treated with full intensity like a Test match.

To raise standards further I'd also suggest the substitution rule I keep shouting about - then you can bring in an extra spinner on Day Three or similar and get the best of both worlds

 

[blockerdave]

Oh look, the new Ian Bell folding like a deck chair in a pressure situation just like the old Ian Bell.

Ollie Pope is easily the worst England Batsman since Aftab Habib

 

[wasteyouryouth]

 

[wasteyouryouth]

Oh look, the new Ian Bell folding like a deck chair in a pressure situation just like the old Ian Bell.

Ollie Pope is easily the worst England Batsman since Aftab Habib

Ian Bell had five centuries after the same number of tests.

 

[Aislabie]

Oh look, the new Ian Bell folding like a deck chair in a pressure situation just like the old Ian Bell.

Ollie Pope is easily the worst England Batsman since Aftab Habib

The old Ian Bell would run rings around five of this top seven