Rest of the World

First topic message reminder :

I figure a thread for cricket stuff from around the world that doesn't warrant a series-thread is useful

It should perhaps be noted that Morgan captains the ODI side. However with 3 hundreds and 5 fifties in 2018 the high average you mention he does warrant his place. 

The five batsmen selected were the five leading run scorers last year. Agreed that Stokes inclusion looks odd, the ICC blurb states that his average was good (while noting he played less than half England's matches) and while his wicket tally was meh, his rpo conceded was (they say) good. I guess there was a paucity of alternatives?

Adil Rashid perhaps the unluckiest of the England players not to be in the ODI team. As teh 3rd highest wicket taker fo rthe year he finds two other spinners ahead of him with better RPO and averages. While deserving of his place, it should be noted that Rashid Khan was generally playing against much weaker teams.

I am not clear about the criteria
If it is statistical...then why is Ashwin & Jadeja not in the test-11...picked buckets of wicket as did Probably anderson too

If it's on potential plus performance plus game changing X factor plus conditions....then too there are many oddities

With ODIs it seems to be based primarily on runs and wickets. Tests is slightly different with a huge disparity in the number of games played.

For the test bowlers Rabada, Lyon and Bumrah (52, 49, 49) were all in the top four wicket takers. Dilruwan Perera took the second most wickets - but almost exclusively at home, he was poor away from home. Mohammed Abbas played fewest games of teh leading wicket takers and with 38 wickets was someway down the list. However his average of under 14 and strike rate of a wicket every 36 balls was excellent.

Ashwin with 38 is in joint 11th place with Abbas and Yasir Shah. With 25 wickets Jadeja is way down the list. Pat Cummins was perhaps the unluckiest bowler to be excluded.


In terms of batsmen - only Kohli and Kusal Mendis scored over 1,000 runs (with Root 3rd). The three Kiwis played half the tests of Kohli and Root, so no wonder they scored less. Latham gets in based on two innings where he scored huge amidst otherwise largely dross, but all three averaged from 60-73.

Whoops good pick up LT!

Yep we cant look at raw statistics alone of course, and the impact of certain performances can always be a key. As of course the quality of opposition, something that stands any England player in high regard for last season with their games played largely against well ranked sides and just one non test playing nation. Also they played 2 out of 3 games away from home last season (if you count Edinburgh as away).

Despite that I still struggle to see how Stokes gets in a world ODI side for 2018 performances. He had a poor year, and even when having a decent batting average his runs came slowly (slower than the rates Dhonis been slaughtered for).
Im not sure he was "the best all rounder in the world" last year either. He bowled pretty well (averaging 27 but only taking 22 wickets) but his batting average was lower (26), theres plenty of players with better all round stats than that including Woakes who averaged 44 with the bat and 28 with the ball (albeit in less tests, largely at home).

Anderson was consistently taking wickets for most of the year but only had one game where he was the true stand out performer (Lords vs India , 9 wickets), and he was by no means the best bowler in that series. His tour to Sri Lanka was awful, 1 wicket for 105 runs.

Team balance obviously plays a part too. You can look at Rashid as unlucky to miss out on the ODI list, but theres been a number of very successful spinners in 2018. maybe thats how Stokes gets in too (but really?).  On that basis though the South African lad Makram would have a good shout as a test opener, especially given the ridiculously seam friendly conditions he had to play in.

Back to the previous couple of days musings ....
SA chasing down a lowly 200 and pence are busy getting themselves in a pickle trying to finish the game in 40 overs . Amla no doubt still smarting from the stinging criticism her received on here was first to chuck his wicket away after a couple of boundaries. Now 5 down they should still make the runs but with a long tail its not a given.

both Pak and SA took wickets with the new ball and then lost potency...it an interesting series
ODIs where 250 to 280 are competitive totals are interesting.....because there is something for bowlers

Travis Head and Cummins named co-Vice Captains

Firstly> whats this co Vice captain Business ?

Secondly > Head?....with all of 6 tests and 32 batting average names Vice captain........
what worng with naming only Cummins as VC?

Thirdly > Why Not Nathan Lyon?
Why not Lyon as Captain as he is assured of a place...

It does make a little more sense of SAs cautious approach in the last match, although still they clearly could have taken more risks later on. SA does tend to be a bowlers paradise in all formats, but Im not sure how well that will serve them in preparation for English world cup pitches which are likely to be much more batsmen friendly.


Also confused by the Australia VCs. On the surface it suggests that they are really backing Head long term, which seems a touch odd given they'd previously talked about wanting to get batsmen in with a good track record of scoring centuries. He has 7 in FC and none from his 6 tests. Even his limited overs record is nothing spectacular. Once Smith and Warner are back theres not going to be many spots available for specialist bats, its suggests a real lack of ambition and admission of poor resources if they are pinning their long term hopes on Head.
Its worth noting though that hes captained South Australia for several years, despite his age, and has a good reputation. Paine is massively inexperienced as both a test player and a captain, he got the job with just 4 test caps have come 7 years previously! So maybe Heads his role is in the side is specialist (co vice) captain, and that they named two because Cummins is bound to get inured.

The lack of senior leaders has to be a problem for Aus. I agree that Lyon is pretty much the only player guaranteed a spot beyond this next series.

Aus are a mess.

India win by 90 runs against NZ this morning

Sarfraz banned for 4 matches for racially charged remarks. Malik is interim captain.  SA wiped out for 164 despite good performances from Faf and Amla 57 and 59 respectively. Nice to see Malik changing up the bowling rather than the formulaic conservative Sarfraz bowling changes. Shinwari picked up 4 wickets including three in one over.

India is heading for a 3-0 against NZ after having won 2-1 in Aus and this inspite of missing Pandya and resting Bumrah in 5 of those 6 games

India has the optimal combination figured....now they have to ensure everyone stays fit and in form for the world cup
key is to preserve the main seamers from excessive IPL workload

Some interesting scorecards in matches earlier today.

England Lions finally secure a win in India, but only just. 70no from Duckett sees them get past India As 121 with just 1 wicket to spare.

Meanwhile the senior team (missing Kohli and Dhoni) are blown away in NZ for 92.

Pretty weird Lions squad really isnt it, two keepers as always of course!

Quite a wake up call for India in the seniors game, even if it is their B team playing.

India finish the NZ series clinically with 4-1....not with the best 11.....about 2 & sometimes 3 top guys missing all the time due to injury / rest / suspension

The 1 defeat came when Captain won 3 games, declared we are in auto mode and went on a holiday tweeting pictures with star wife.....and rest of the team also went in holiday mode to be bundled for 90 odd....

Takeaways from the series
1) Rayadu to be locked in at No. 4 and Jadhav at 6
2) Jadhav is a great finisher and handy 5 over bwler
3) Pandya lends HUGE balance with his striking ability at no.7 and a 3rd seamer worth a spot almost as a pure bowler
a genuine ODI allrounder
4) Shami is very good......and needs to be in the 11
5) India must play both wrist spinners......and they are both match winners and can turn the games around in the otherwise dead/ stalemate middle overs
but that would mean leaving one of Shami, Bhuvi or Bumrah....most likely Bhuvi
6) as the next in Line Shubhman Gil is under cooked and Shreyas Iyer should not have been short circuited

Maliks interim captaincy not going well. Although the bowling is more aggressive and the batting as well, his passive style of captaincy and his poor bowling changes have twice cost Pakistan the match and they have lost their first t20 series since the last world cup. Imad wasim bowled a tidy 1 for 9 in his four overs and still South Africa managed to get 188 including a last over 29 runs of Shinwari who went for 35 in his first 3 so shouldn't have been bowling at the death. Thst said Pakistan should have won today. Babar smacking a luscious 90 off 58 including hitting the bowler for 3 fours in a row 3 times. His partner started off well but didn't push on and Babar was left with both having to anchor the innings and force the action which caused him to hole out to midwicket. This led to a series of panicky shots and pakistan eventually ended up losing by 7 runs.

On the other side Simpala a 20 year old fast bowler showed serious intelligence in his debut, conceding only 20 odd runs off his 4 overs when babar was battering all other bowlers to all parts. One to watch for the future.

Tim Seifert plays in such a similar manner to Brendon McCullum that it's almost disconcerting. He's a lot of fun to watch to watch bat.

This has flown under the radar a lot ..Saker has "resigned" as Australia bowling coach. Hes obviously been very successful for them and knows as much about English conditions as anyone else they'd be able to get on board. Very unsettling for them ahead of the world cup and Ashes tour.

There some hints that fall out form the ball tampering allegations, and a need to be squeaky clean in regard to the dark arts may have played a part. Theres been rumours of tension between him and Langer and "discussions about his role" for some time.

As we know from his time with England Saker is skilled in helping fast bowlers get movement from the ball, not adverse to encouraging the pushing the edge of the laws with mints and jelly beans.

Even Lyon is bemoaning his loss and stating that Saker had been of great value to him recently.

Just when things where starting to look more positive for Australia this could be a real blow for them and upset the functional part of the team.

What is going on ? Just turned on SA v Sri Lanka and SA are 116/5 ...

Have Sri Lanka's lions grown some fangs ? Need to watch this and see...

Yep, excellent start from Sri Lanka in spite of umpiring errors. South Africa have actually recovered from 17/3!

South Africa bowled out for 235. Good start from Sri Lanka with 49/1. This two test series has life!

Dont get too excited, looks like Sri Lanka will struggle to make 200. South African pitches are a touch bowler friendly!

Yes, rolled out for 191. Now South Africa are 75/2 building a match-winning lead. Doesn't look like it'll be a close finish. Shame.

Despite an Englandesque collapse by the South Africa lower order, and a decent start from Sri Lanka, I can't see SL getting past 200 chasing their just over 300 target to win

VTR wrote:Despite an Englandesque collapse by the South Africa lower order, and a decent start from Sri Lanka, I can't see SL getting past 200 chasing their just over 300 target to win

Sri Lanka making a real decent fist of this. They are now 198 for 5 and need 106 more runs to win. This partnership between the last two recognised batsmen is now eyeing up a century stand. Perera 70 not out and de Silva 41 not out.

de Silva trapped lbw and given out on review. Sri Lanka now 206 for 6. They need 98 runs to win. South Africa need 4 wickets.

And Lakmal gets caught at first slip on the next ball off Maharaj. But no hat-trick for him.

It looks all done and dusted now as a bouncer finds out debutant all-rounder Embuldeniya for 4. Srir Lanka 215 for 8 and still 89 runs short.

The last rites being administered as Rahjita is trapped lbw and Sri Lanka now 226 for 9.

Credit to Kusal Perera who gets his century. Sri Lanka 240 for 9.

Exceptional commentary on the SA-SL game. 'Kusal Perera's second Test century - and it has to rank right up there.' Probably in his top two best 100s IMO.

SL have fought a hell of a lot harder than I expected though - fair play.

Yes there has been a fair bit of grit shown in this run chase. Sri Lanka now 253 for 9 and need a highly improbable 51 to win. This last wicket stand now worth 27.

New ball taken. Sri Lanka 270 for 9 and need 34 to win. But Steyn has six balls at the No 11. I wouldn't bet against Steyn wrapping this up.

SL doing far better than I thought they could! This is turning into a classic

Wow what drama. Second ball edged to slip but not quite carried. Sri Lankas try to run a quick single and a shy at far stumps miss and there are five overthrows.

Perera smacks Steyn for a 6 and the 50 partnership is up. Sri Lanka 23 runs away from an impossible and still improbable win.

A top edge six from Perera and Sri Lanka need 14 to win.

Boy....are we seeing history in the making ........will  Lanka sink SA

And Steyn will have another six balls at No 11 Fernando.

Fernando ducks to avoid the first two balls. And scurries through for a single on the third ball.

Perera pulls Steyn for another 6. Sri Lanka need 7 to win.

A single scurried off the last ball of the over and Sri Lanka need 6 runs to win.

What a win!!!

A quickly run two runs by Perera. And he hits a boundary. Wow. Sri Lanka have beaten South Africa. EPIC WIN.

What a win for Sri Lanka. One of the greatest innings of all time to get there

Wow. What a finish, what an innings! Truly ridiculous.

wow the crown for the greatest chase in history should sit on the head of Lakans now

Take a bow Kusal Perera. That was one of the best innings I have seen given the circumstances.

That will be remembered as one of the great test innings, an unbeaten 78 run partnership to win is amazing and one of the best farming of the strike you'll ever see.

Really great to see the joyous Sri Lankan faces. They haven't had anything of note to celebrate for a while and boy did they enjoy that. Well done to them.

One of, if not the best innings I’ve seen in test cricket - utterly ridiculous from Perera, what a win for Sri Lanka!