General Cricket Thread ...

[sameerph]

How bad has Sri Lanka become post Mahela and Sangakara. Getting thrashed 0-3 at home against England !!!

The likes of Murali must be fuming to see their batsmen folding up against the likes of Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid.

England batting also does not look settled.i think their strength is having all rounders- Moeen, Stokesley, Curren, Woakes and they have 3 wicket keepers in playing 11- Buttler, Bairstow and Foakes.

[Omkara]

It's tough to consistently produce players from that small population. Need a robust system like that of the Aussies.

[ssp]

Couldn't agree more with Gautam Gambhir:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9B5IgePuXU

[sameerph]

New Zealand have quietly moved up to #3 position in the ICC test rankings. Partly also due to the fact teams like Australia and Srilanka have become quite weak now but New Zealand itself is very strong team now with batsmen like Williamson and Latham and bowlers like Boult and Southee.

[prasen9]

Australia has made quite a few changes in the Test team to face Sri Lanka. Given Sri Lanka's recent weakness, these players may feel lucky that they have been called in now instead of being called in to face the brutal Indian attack. (I can't believe I am even writing the last part of that sentence!)

Pucovski is called in. I am sorry I said "mental issues" in a previous post about him, whereas I should have been clear. He had a concussion and then the aftermath of that. I am glad he is doing fine now to be called in. He is a talent.

Going by run-scoring and form the openers should be Harris and Burns. But, if they want to build for the future, they can give Renshaw one more try. He averages 19 in the Shield this year. So, he may not make it.

Labuschagne is lucky. He gets to continue. Whereas Handscomb who did much better than almost anyone in the chances he got is out I would rather hand Pucovski a debut at #3/#4. Good that the Marshes are gone. So, the middle order may be Khawaja, Pucovski, Labuschagne, Head. I would try Siddle instead of Mitchell Starc. But, I know they won't.

[ssp]

Nice to see West Indies thrashing England in the 2nd test.

Alzarri Joseph lost his mother earlier in the morning and came out to bowl brilliantly. Amazing performance and great strength on such a sad day. Hope this guy has a fantastic career. I also like Jason Holder and Shimron Hetmyer. It would be great to see a West Indian resurgence.

[prasen9]

West Indies is showing that the English have no batsmen. Except Root. And maybe Bairstow. They are playing too many allrounders who are bits and pieces players. Their top batsmen by average are: Root, Ballance, Bairstow, Buttler, Stokes. Of these, they do not play Ballance. And Buttler is flaky. Maybe Ballance is not in form. They pretty much do not have any openers. Jennings is crap. Sam Robson was half decent. Why do they not give him a run?

[Sin Hombre]

It is so disheartening that we lost to this English team.

Of course, a lot of it was bad luck but still.

[rajitghosh]

Great to see West Indies doing well. Hope the regain their glory days. My greatest cricket watching experience was watching West Indies at their peak.

[ssp]

Jason Holder has been suspended for the final test due to slow over rate. That's a big loss to the Windies.

by Sin Hombre » Sun Feb 03, 2019 1:48 am

It is so disheartening that we lost to this English team.

Of course, a lot of it was bad luck but still.

Agree. Was so frustrating to get close to winning at least 2 of the matches. Inability to get the tailenders out cost us badly. Curran was the biggest pain, yet he looks so average in this test series.

[prasen9]

Today's teams are great at home and struggle abroad. Curran had some adrenaline going and on home ground. Our players got tired. So he hit some runs and got some wickets. Now he has to adjust. He is young. So, it is expected he will fail abroad on slower pitches.

[prasen9]

Seems like the Aussies have used the year off from Warner + Smith to identify some talent. Their batting may read: Warner, Khawaja, Smith, Head, Patterson, Mitchell Marsh/Maxwell, Paine. That looks much better than the ones that they have used recently. Backup opener: Joe Burns. MO Bat (especially in the subcontinent): Handscomb.

[sameerph]

Or play Burns to open and omit Mitchell Marsh/Maxwell who both look half baked all rounders at test level neither good enough as batsmen or as bowler.

[prasen9]

True. They are only useful when you need a fifth bowler maybe because of a flat pitch in hot weather, etc.

[ssp]

Incredible win by Sri Lanka over South Africa. Kushal Perriera played an unbelievable innings. Last wicket added 78 to sneak a sensational win.