The Cricket Society IV

Yasir Shah is a better bowler than Muhammed Amir

Yasir Shah is a better bowler than Muhammed Amir

I think this England performance - and result - is a massive feat considering the way they faltered at Lord's. It's pretty typical that a few star players carried them over the line (Cook, Root) but the best sides have always been reliant on one or two talismanic figures, to be honest.*

They rebounded exceptionally after the way they lost at Lord's, but were obviously boosted by the returns of Jimmy Anderson and Stokes.

If Stokes is injured, it seems to me the selectors have one of two options: Finn comes back in in the hope he plays himself into some form, or Rashid is deployed.

For what it's worth, while Moeen is struggling to impress still, it's worth remembering he boasts the third best strike rate of any English offspinner since the War. Only Swann and Jim Laker boast better figures.

I think there's an argument to suggest Cook's captaincy isn't a brilliant one, but as an England fan, I was more disappointed with his rigid decision making in terms of the bowlers, rather than the lack of a follow-on.

Having Broad and Anderson open the bowling, because they are the "senior" bowling partnership, rather than deploying Woakes and Stokes who are in such a rich vein of form, was pretty poor in my opinion.*

He chipped in today with 3 wickets, he may not be the best ever but he's the best we have at the moment. If his batting clicks and his bowling is a bit tighter, he could be a feared all-rounder.

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Good point. It would have surprised Pakistan if Woakes and/or Stokes had been one or both of the opening bowling partnership.

Woakes has made himself indispensable. You look at the seam attack, and he's just as vital as Anderson and Broad, if not more so, right now.

He is an inspiration to all county cricketers, because he worked tirelessly on the grass and in the nets to rectify his action, getting more elevation and focussing on movement rather than speed (something Plunkett would do well to remember!)

Hopefully Finn can come back at Edgbaston, take a few wickets, and give the selectors an even bigger headache.*

He chipped in today with 3 wickets, he may not be the best ever but he's the best we have at the moment. If his batting clicks and his bowling is a bit tighter, he could be a feared all-rounder.

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Woakes did focus on his speed tbf, plently of interviews where he says he got his speed up and lost other parts of his game. When he adjusted to his new speed he started being more successful.

Woakes and Stokes have both proved they can bowl well and take wickets with a slightly older ball. It's not just a case of finding your best two bowlers and giving them the new ball - your bowling attack has to be able to threaten for 80 overs. More than happy with Broad and Anderson opening and our 3rd and 4th seamers being as threatening as Woakes/Stokes.

Yeah that's what I'm saying. When he started to focus less on pace, he reaped benefits.

Poor SL. No win against Australia for over a decade...and that doesn't look like changing this series. Hazlewood and Lyon tore them a new one. Despite losing a couple of wickets in the first four overs, Australia look like they're sitting pretty.

I think people sometimes ask the wrong questions with teams like Sri Lanka and the West Indies. It's always why have Sri Lanka declined? Why aren't the West Indies still at previous levels? But for me, the real question is how the **** did they manage to get so good in the first place? I'm not sure their infrastructure ensures success for them. In England we often take for granted players making a great living from test match cricket, but that's not the case in the West Indies, I guess not in Sri Lanka either, which means they can't play their best players. Maybe this isn't a surprising decline and is just reverting to the norm? Easy to forget how **** Sri Lanka were a couple of decades ago.

It is worrying though. Teams playing good quality test cricket are currently Eng/Aus/Ind/SA/NZ/Pak. Of those, Pakistan can't play at home and don't look like doing so for the forseeable future, and there are increasing rumours in South African cricket about top players being unwilling to play tests. The current crop of New Zealand players are great but again it's easy to forget how **** they were in the not too distant past. I'd hate to see test cricket confined to the big 3.

The SLC is - for me - the worst governing body in cricket. Even eclipsing the WICB. They completely failed to capitalise on the momentum after winning the World T20 in 2014, and have time and time again proved themselves to be out of touch.

Wonderfully humble men like Mathews deserve better. SL's players are being hung out to dry. *

Is there a reason all your posts have stars on them?