England - the winter tours thread

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Thu 13 Sep 2018, 8:55 am

First topic message reminder :

After the perfect ending to the summer, with Alastair Cook riding into the sunset with a hundred and James Anderson breaking Glenn McGrath's record to wrap up a 4-1 series win over the #1 side in the world...England head into a brave new world (in a mere 3 weeks time!) post Cook

Tour of Sri Lanka (Oct-Nov)
5 ODI's played between 10th October and 23rd October
1 T20i played on 27th October
3 Test matches played between 6th November and 23rd November

Tour of West Indies (Jan-Mar)
3 Test matches played between 23rd January and 9th February
5 ODI's played between 20th February and 2nd March
3 T20i's played between 5th March and 10th March

As ever there are many rumblings in the media on potential selections ahead of the Sri Lanka tour...

Rory Burns seems set to take Cook's spot
Will Jennings keep his place? Or will a Vince/Denly or complete wildcard be picked to open with him?
Which spinners do England take along with Moeen/Rashid?
Do Anderson/Broad get rested?
What pace options will be taken?

All questions that will be debated and answered in the coming weeks...so I start with a little competition between us selectors on v2...

Name your test squad for the series in Sri Lanka. Whoever gets the nearest to the actual squad, gets a pair of Ed Smith approved sunglasses Cool

by **LondonTiger** Mon 08 Oct 2018, 2:07 pm

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Lots of rain about in Sri Lanka at the moment (it is rainy season after all...) - so looks like this series is going to be disrupted quite badly.

But with the first game scheduled for Wednesday, what are our XIs? Mine is below;

Roy
Bairstow
Hales
Root
Morgan
Buttler
Stokes
Moeen
Woakes
Rashid
Stone

For me, I would much rather play Hales as an extra batsman, than say Wood as an extra bowler because I think that will have much more of an impact on the game. Root, especially in sub continent conditions, can do a fine job as a 6th bowling option if needed (and showed this in Australia last winter too). Would like to see Stone given the new ball and a run in the side

Good job it is a day night game as current forecast for Dambulla on Wednesday is rain up to mid-afternoon. For a shortened game your lineup appeals, for a full length ODI I do worry about Stokes breaking down early. Some suggestions that the lack of decent death bowling may see Tom Curran play.

by Gooseberry Mon 08 Oct 2018, 2:23 pm

Anything that keeps Wood out of the side! If its a straight choice Stone certainly derserves the spot.
The line up form the first game though may suggest that Hales is considered surplus, quite some player to have in reserve. I do agree though with the above, in this context it would make more sense to either play the extra batsman or maybe Dawson (little indication they are even considering that) if they dont want to have Root as the only option bowling.

by wisden Tue 09 Oct 2018, 9:58 am

I think Stone will get a go, he and Plunkett will eventtually be competing for the same spot, sadly i expect Wood to just fade away back into county cricket

by **LondonTiger** Wed 10 Oct 2018, 7:56 am

https://i.servimg.com/u/f11/17/04/38/57/screen10.jpg

Weather forecast not good at all.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Wed 10 Oct 2018, 8:50 am

Reports are it's sunny at the moment, but the boundaries might have to be brought in a little as the outer outfield is very boggy after 3/4 days pretty solid rain. Can't imagine this is going to be a 400 plays 380 type of game!

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Wed 10 Oct 2018, 9:13 am

Olly Stone being presented with his cap so he plays - the report is that Dawson plays instead of Wood, so it's a three seam, three spin attack with the XI being;

Roy
Bairstow
Root
Morgan
Stokes
Buttler
Ali
Woakes
Dawson
Rashid
Stone

by Duty281 Wed 10 Oct 2018, 9:31 am

The best ODI team in the world. England expects. Expects a 5-0 to warm the autumnal chill.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Wed 10 Oct 2018, 9:38 am

Sorry I should have said, that's Norfolk's Olly Stone angel

by **LondonTiger** Wed 10 Oct 2018, 9:39 am

Chandimal inserts England. Suggestions of a lot of moisture in the pitch.

by **LondonTiger** Wed 10 Oct 2018, 9:40 am

Sri Lanka 1 Upul Tharanga, 2 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 3 Kusal Perera, 4 Dinesh Chandimal (capt), 5 Dhananjaya de Silva, 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Thisara Perera, 8 Akila Dananjaya, 9 Lakshan Sandakan, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Nuwan Pradeep

England 1 Jason Roy, 2 Jonny Bairstow, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Liam Dawson, 11 Olly Stone

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Wed 10 Oct 2018, 9:46 am

Oh no I forgot we'd have to endure Russell Arnold on commentary

by **LondonTiger** Wed 10 Oct 2018, 9:58 am

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Oh no I forgot we'd have to endure Russell Arnold on commentary

Usually I try to listen to the TMS commentary while at work, but with this being on TalkSport I will have to rely purely on checking the score every so often.

by **LondonTiger** Wed 10 Oct 2018, 10:31 am

Decent start from England sees Sri Lanka bring on spin after 6 overs. Will get harder for the openers now.

Edit: Though Bairstow takes advantage of the lack of outfielders in the powerplay

by guildfordbat Wed 10 Oct 2018, 10:38 am

LondonTiger wrote:Decent start from England sees Sri Lanka bring on spin after 6 overs. Will get harder for the openers now.

Hussain was saying Sri Lanka should have started with spin against Roy. I agree with that - he's shown himself vulnerable to that in white ball cricket more frequently than he would like.

by **LondonTiger** Wed 10 Oct 2018, 10:40 am

Bairstow gifts his wicket, so will have to wait a touch longer for the 1,000 ODI runs in a year

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Wed 10 Oct 2018, 10:51 am

Spin and some seam movement off the pitch early on - you'd have to assume in Sri Lanka it'll only spin more as the game goes on, albeit under lights later the seam movement might not be around

by guildfordbat Wed 10 Oct 2018, 10:56 am

LondonTiger wrote:Bairstow gifts his wicket, so will have to wait a touch longer for the 1,000 ODI runs in a year

As does Roy - against the spinner!

Meanwhile, rain clouds look ominous.

by wisden Wed 10 Oct 2018, 11:03 am

England tearing along. 83-2 after 13!

Time for Thisara Perera i think...keeper up to the stumps...cutters keep batsman in the crease

by **LondonTiger** Wed 10 Oct 2018, 11:20 am

Rain arrives during the drinks break.

by VTR Wed 10 Oct 2018, 12:11 pm

Malinga is playing? Sri Lanka must really be short of players

by Duty281 Wed 10 Oct 2018, 1:51 pm

Looks like the first ODI will be a wash-out. At least, England will hope it's a wash-out, because if play were to resume and be played to a conclusion, the Sri Lankans would have a tremendous advantage under D/L/S.

by wisden Wed 10 Oct 2018, 2:30 pm

Apparently we could get some play in an hour's time

by guildfordbat Wed 10 Oct 2018, 4:07 pm

Duty281 wrote:The best ODI team in the world. England expects. Expects a 5-0 to warm the autumnal chill.

A summer's day here but not there as the game is finally washed out.

A shame for all and particularly Olly's man Stone.

by Duty281 Wed 10 Oct 2018, 7:03 pm

I note that Saturday's ODI (earlier start-time) has a reserve day in place, so it's highly unlikely it'll be 0-0 after 2!

by **Dolphin Ziggler** Wed 10 Oct 2018, 10:30 pm

When’s their rainiest season? We should arrange a tour for then...

by VTR Sat 13 Oct 2018, 8:44 am

Quite poor that England are being dismantled by the twenty stone version of Malinga. Still probably just about a competitive score, but 300 was easily on

by Duty281 Sat 13 Oct 2018, 9:05 am

It's a big enough score.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Sat 13 Oct 2018, 9:14 am

Disappointed not to get 300+ but still a very competitive score that - handy little partnership between Stone and Rashid (Stone looks like he can hold a bat!)

Good test for England here - defending a slightly under par total

by guildfordbat Sat 13 Oct 2018, 9:33 am

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Disappointed not to get 300+ but still a very competitive score that - handy little partnership between Stone and Rashid (Stone looks like he can hold a bat!)

Good test for England here - defending a slightly under par total

I didn't see the England innings (just brief highlights a few minutes ago) but my immediate reaction on seeing the scorecard was that the 10th wicket partnership was handy and could be important. Sri Lanka now needing 280 as opposed to mid 250s.

Btw, who was the guy in the studio with Knight and Foster?

by guildfordbat Sat 13 Oct 2018, 9:43 am

Olly - liked that first over from yer man. Pace and lift for sure.

by guildfordbat Sat 13 Oct 2018, 9:44 am

And it gets better for yer man! clap

by Gooseberry Sat 13 Oct 2018, 9:50 am

Good start with the ball for Stone. England have put themselves back in a more comfortable position

by Duty281 Sat 13 Oct 2018, 9:52 am

20/3. Game over.

by guildfordbat Sat 13 Oct 2018, 10:08 am

I agree with Hussain that the most likely challenge for Stone will be staying fit. Subject to that important caveat, he looks the business. Very impressed.

by Duty281 Sat 13 Oct 2018, 10:12 am

England need to get two spinners on and pelt through to the 20 over mark, as it looks like some rain is on the way.

by Gooseberry Sat 13 Oct 2018, 10:38 am

The spinners are getting creamed sadly! But I assume England are pretty safe on D/L currently with Sri lanka now 5 down and scoring at less than 5 an over

by Gooseberry Sat 13 Oct 2018, 10:54 am

Looking very strong now. 20 over passed and Moeens got control back after being smacked about a bit. Sri Lanka dont have anything like Englands batting depth but theres always the danger of a rapid 50 turning a low scoring game, but if the rain doies come in SL are way behind DL currently

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Sat 13 Oct 2018, 11:27 am

guildfordbat wrote:Olly - liked that first over from yer man. Pace and lift for sure.

#fromNorfolk

by Gooseberry Sat 13 Oct 2018, 11:31 am

Stat of the day ... England have bowled 10,000 consecutive ODI deliveries without a no ball.

Looks to be rained off just when Sri Lanka had engineered a sniff of being back in the game.

Good to see Malinga back functioning

by alfie Sat 13 Oct 2018, 11:39 am

Ha. Got home from the cricket club* in time to see Sri Lanka lose their fifth...indeed looks game over even before the rain.
Saw some Stone highlights and he looks a lively one !

Woakes clearly had a great first spell. Even if they get back on I see no way back for the home team so England should be happy with this.

Glad to see Morgan in runs too...

* personal cricket/ health notes on another thread should anyone be interested.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Mon 15 Oct 2018, 6:13 pm

Dawson out of the rest of the tour with a side strain, Joe Denly called up to the ODI squad in his place.

Imagine one of the Currans comes into the XI, I would go with Sam personally but they may plump for Tom.

Albeit looks like they're going to do well to get a full one day game in through the whole series - whoever decided touring during monsoon season was a good idea needs a head examination...

by Gooseberry Mon 15 Oct 2018, 8:32 pm

It was always a bit odd that Denly who had been good all season in limited overs and mediocre in first class only got in the test squad. But I guess that also shows the difference between the batting resources already established in the two squads

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Wed 17 Oct 2018, 9:57 am

Rain. Again.

by Duty281 Wed 17 Oct 2018, 10:46 am

One nil, we're gonna win one nil, we're gonna win one nil...

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Wed 17 Oct 2018, 3:17 pm

We might get cricket - 21 overs a side!

by Duty281 Wed 17 Oct 2018, 3:58 pm

Sri Lanka absolutely thrashing it about - 38/0 off three overs.

by guildfordbat Wed 17 Oct 2018, 4:03 pm

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:We might get cricket - 21 overs a side!

For what is just about a t20 game, I would have been tempted to bring in Hales. Maybe for Root.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Wed 17 Oct 2018, 4:10 pm

guildfordbat wrote:
Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:We might get cricket - 21 overs a side!

For what is just about a t20 game, I would have been tempted to bring in Hales. Maybe for Root.

I might have brought him for Dawson, and packed the batting to chase down anything.

Interesting to see what they do with Buttler as Nasser says - surely he won't come in at 6

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Wed 17 Oct 2018, 4:44 pm

England fighting back well here - 94-4 off 12.3, with Rashid picking up three wickets - a beautiful googly, a horrific full toss and a wonderful deep catch from Roy

by guildfordbat Wed 17 Oct 2018, 4:46 pm

Yeah, just started watching in time to see Roy's catch - excellent running and diving take.

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