England's Winter

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204 - that’ll do. Brilliant showcase of England’s formidable batting depth that will make them leading contenders at the upcoming World T20 events. South Africa took regular wickets, but England kept blasting away.

My top 7 for T20s would be - Buttler, Roy, Bairstow, Banton/Malan, Morgan, Stokes, Moeen.

Archer and Rashid have got two bowling spots locked down. Interesting battle between the Currans, Wood, Jordan, Brown, Mahmood, Parkinson and possibly Gregory for the final two spots.

DLS screws South Africa.

Duty281 wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Don't follow women's cricket, but it's ludicrous to hear that the ICC haven't installed a reserve day for the women's World T20 event at the semi-final stage, and that both Australia and England are facing an exit because of it. Makes a mockery of the competition.

Especially when you’re playing it in March in Australia - agree completely, absurd

According to the BBC there'll also be no reserve day until the final for the men's T20 World Cup competition later this year. Foolish!

Lets be honest though...the reason England didnt progress was because they lost. The semi final was always a " second chance" game for sides who had failed in the group stages, and as per Indias moaning in the mens 50 over cup can be argued as unfair on the teams who had bothered to win the group stage.

The lack of reserve days is one of logistics and ensuring teams ( and the media circus) get adequate travel rest and prep time for the final without prolonging the tournament in an overcrowded schedule.

Think England would be more justly upset if they went out to a controversial ruling on a grey rules point in a super over.

I think there’s less rainfall in an Aussie march than there is an English May. And more rain seems to fall in Tasmania.

Even the Big Bash final went ahead during the heaviest time of rainfall and actual flood periods

Yeah it has been freak conditions even if it is in the relatively rainy season. Its saved the lions taking a beating at least

England batting on day one of a warm up game against a Sri Lanka XI - interestingly all wickets fallen to seam so far

Root made 78, Crawley 42, you’ll be shocked to hear Denly made 32 and got out.

Buttler currently unbeaten with a half century

Good day with the ball for Parkinson and Bess - both staking a claim for the 1st test

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Good day with the ball for Parkinson and Bess - both staking a claim for the 1st test

That England dont have any other option than to pick them without their first choice 3 spinners available made the case. .
Denly and Root bowling a lot of overs show thebrrality of what Englands "attack" is likely to amount to.

M

Welcome runs for Crawley in the second innings. Guess what ...Denly made a start and got out. 
Jennings batting down the order again suggests hes seen as the spare man in the squad. 

From what I can gather it looks like Foakes kept wicket which will cheer many on here, but  he was top scorer in the first innings. 

Curran and Broad given the new ball but out performed by Woakes and Mahmood. 

Whilst the spinners area given there seems to be a lot of questions still about the lower middle and which/how many seamers play.

Hi Goose - I read on Sky's report yesterday that Foakes and Buttler shared the keeping. Neither conceded a bye and, whilst nothing detrimental about Buttler's keeping was mentioned, Foakes took the two catches behind with one being referred to as ''a sharp chance'' off Parkinson. However and as you tried to say , Buttler top scored first dig. I suspect that will be enough to safeguard Buttler's place in the first Test.

Just possibly (although I rather doubt it), Foakes could get the Test gloves and Buttler play solely as a batsman. Whilst it's not too difficult to see Denly making way, it's not so easy to see who would bat at 3 in that scenario.

Crawley
Sibley
Jennings
Root
Stokes
Buttler
Foakes

Perhaps?

Foakes over Pope would be a THING. Im more inclined to go with the its going to be Buttler now hes showing some form with the bat again.  
Id also expect Denly ahead of Jennings given he bowled a fair chunk (and Jennings didnt) and has batted at 3 in both innings of the warm up.

Soul Requiem wrote:

Crawley
Sibley
Jennings
Root
Stokes
Buttler
Foakes

Perhaps?

Hi Soul - tbf, that addresses the ''how do we accommodate both Buttler and Foakes'' question although it would be a controversial call to leave out Pope. I see he's made a 50 today.

I also feel that Denly is still narrowly ahead of Jennings in the pecking order. I was at a Surrey supporters' forum last month at which Pope spoke. He was complimentary about Denly and said his contribution had generally been underrated. Whilst there was no way that Pope was ever going to slate Denly in public, he came across well and certainly seemed genuine.

guildfordbat wrote:

Soul Requiem wrote:

Crawley
Sibley
Jennings
Root
Stokes
Buttler
Foakes

Perhaps?

Hi Soul - tbf, that addresses the ''how do we accommodate both Buttler and Foakes'' question although it would be a controversial call to leave out Pope. I see he's made a 50 today.

I also feel that Denly is still narrowly ahead of Jennings in the pecking order. I was at a Surrey supporters' forum last month at which Pope spoke. He was complimentary about Denly and said his contribution had generally been underrated. Whilst there was no way that Pope was ever going to slate Denly in public, he came across well and certainly seemed genuine.

Completely forgot about Ollie Pope, the only other possible option is to play Buttler at three with a licence to attack.

Hi again Soul - as regards Buttler at 3, that could work if the first wicket went down with Sibley and Crawley having put on, say, 120 in 55 overs. However, alarm bells ring for me if he was walking out with the score at 1/1 in the first over.

Whist I'm not a fully paid up member of the Denly fan club, I feel he's the best bet to cover most bases at the current time.

To my mind, it then again becomes a shoot out between Buttler and Foakes who plays. I would go for Foakes in Sri Lanka although I suspect he'll only get an opportunity if things go wrong for us in the opening Test.

We should get more of an idea of what the 1st test team will be come the next warm up game - a 4 day game against a President's XI, which they'll be taking seriously (at the moment at least).

Seems like Jennings will be first reserve for the top order, with Crawley making runs in this game (albeit two failures for Sibley, something to note. I do slightly worry about his ability to play spin, after some soft dismissals to Santner and Maharaj already this winter...we'll see)

Denly having a very Denly two knocks in this warm up game...his place will always be up for debate whilst he continues to do this.

You could play Buttler as a pure bat, and Foakes as keeper...but the only way to do this I think would be drop Denly, then bump Root/Stokes up a slot and pop Buttler in at 5, unless you do want to go mad and have him at 3 (not the worst idea, if it is going to be mainly purely spin, he is a very good player of it. I sense though it'll just be a straight decision between Buttler/Foakes at 7, and at the moment Buttler slightly shades it for them (to be fair, he hasn't put a foot wrong with the gloves since he took them from Bairstow, it's his batting form!)

Suggestions from journos is they'll only play two frontline spinners...which suggests it'll be Leach and Bess, all being well. Curran/Woakes battling for the number 8 spot, and likely to be Broad at 11 with Wood's injury.

I thought Buttler's keeping in SA was pretty sloppy, with too many chances put down and generally untidy to the spinners. For me Foakes should come in, but he will not.

Two front line spinners makes sense, especially with overs available from Root and Denly.

Agree about Sibley - his form against spinners is not great.

Poor old Denly. Consistently middling performances are a treat for me, in this world of boom and, mainly for an England top three player, bust.

LondonTiger wrote:I thought Buttler's keeping in SA was pretty sloppy, with too many chances put down and generally untidy to the spinners. For me Foakes should come in, but he will not.

Two front line spinners makes sense, especially with overs available from Root and Denly.

Agree about Sibley - his form against spinners is not great.

Buttler and Bairstow have improved out of sight with the gloves since first featuring for England but neither holds a candle to Foakes. I am very old fashioned with my views in that regard though. The effect a great gloveman has on his side in the field is so often overlooked in my opinion. It galvanises fielding sides and holds everything together during long and Test deciding days in the field.

Sibley has no go to scoring shot of spinners which makes him very easy to tie down. If a batsman can't knock a spinner off his desired line or length then they will just settle giving the ball air on an off stump line looking to challenge both sides of the bat. I could see it being an issue for him when the ball starts spinning and bouncing in Sri Lanka.

I'd like to see Sibley use his long stride to get to the pitch of the ball and sweep more. Tall batsman have a big advantage in knocking a spinner of their length by using their stride and reach in the sweep. Crude but effective if well executed.

For all his weaknesses against test seamers, Jennings is a very good sweeper of the spinners which allows him to challenge them.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:We should get more of an idea of what the 1st test team will be come the next warm up game - a 4 day game against a President's XI, which they'll be taking seriously (at the moment at least).

Seems like Jennings will be first reserve for the top order, with Crawley making runs in this game (albeit two failures for Sibley, something to note. I do slightly worry about his ability to play spin, after some soft dismissals to Santner and Maharaj already this winter...we'll see)

Denly having a very Denly two knocks in this warm up game...his place will always be up for debate whilst he continues to do this.

You could play Buttler as a pure bat, and Foakes as keeper...but the only way to do this I think would be drop Denly, then bump Root/Stokes up a slot and pop Buttler in at 5, unless you do want to go mad and have him at 3 (not the worst idea, if it is going to be mainly purely spin, he is a very good player of it. I sense though it'll just be a straight decision between Buttler/Foakes at 7, and at the moment Buttler slightly shades it for them (to be fair, he hasn't put a foot wrong with the gloves since he took them from Bairstow, it's his batting form!)

Suggestions from journos is they'll only play two frontline spinners...which suggests it'll be Leach and Bess, all being well. Curran/Woakes battling for the number 8 spot, and likely to be Broad at 11 with Wood's injury.

I think the assumption that it will be two is down to Leach not being match fit.

You may note hes not even on the team sheet for this warmbup despite it being a use as many bowlers as youd like game.

I'd make a strong case for Mahmood over Broad because pace. He might not be Wood or Archer but hes still got something even on this filth. They didn't always bother with Broad last time they came so I dont see him suddenly being indespensible.

Whatever attack we go with I just hope that Root backs them. I've been less critical of his captaincy than others, at the end of the day he's the best from a dearth of options. We've seen a few bowlers under Joe get very under bowled though with part timers sometimes given lots of overs ahead of frontline bowlers. Once they're in the team he needs to back them in my opinion.

With several first choice quicks and seamers missing I fear we may see the England team try to be too clever with the tactics. Sam Curran bowling 70mph cutters with Buttler up the stumps on a turning wicket springs to mind there!

Players like Mahmood and Parkinson will do better if backed by their skipper than they will coming on 2nd change.

1.Sibley
2.Crawley
3.Denly
4.Root (c)
5.Stokes
6.Pope
7.Buttler (wk)
8.S Curran/Woakes
9.Bess
10.Broad/Mahmood
11.Parkinson

With Leach not fully fit I think we will see that make up, with the seamer hard to call. Given none of the seamers are suited to the conditions there could be an outside chance of Woakes and Curran playing to get that long tail England love the safety net of.

Woakes pulling out of the IPL to target the summer Tests certainly won't do him any harm in the selectors eyes.

With only 2 tests it will be hard for the selectors to make knee jerk selections if the first test goes South. Perhaps Jennings for one of the top 3 but I don't think they'd want to drop either of Sibley (2 centuries for the Lions) or Crawley (runs in the warm-up).

Agreed Carlos. They way england lined up for that warm up suggests the eleven above. Theres a case that Sibley will struggle in these conditions but I think England will want to back him with a longer term view. Much needed runs and confidence for Crawley was a big plus.

Curran looked to be the favoured option for the "we might as well have just picked another batsman" spot but Woakes somehow managed to actually get wickets. Englandndonseem a bit dogmatic about having that left arm option though.

Ultimately Englands chances do come down to Parkinson and Bess stepping up to the plate and being able to bowl long spells of consistent attacking balls. It's a huge ask for two very inexperienced players, but at least they should have had some confidence from the warm up.

Rashid interview makes it clear his shoulders still a long term problem, hes talking about wanting to play tests again but its hard to see how even if it does get sorted out. Just keep him in one piece for the T20 world cup and anything after that a bonus. Maybe a lot rides on Parkinson beyond just this series.

England side announced for the next warm up game;

Sibley, Crawley, Denly, Root, Stokes, Pope, Buttler (wk), Woakes, Curran, Bess, Leach.

Likely this is the XI for the 1st test many journos are saying, so only two spinners and Broad not in the XI (obviously providing everyone comes through unscathed).

Good to see Leach back

Woakes and Curran playing is a waste of a place, neither are going to be a threat with the ball so may as well plump for a bit of potential X factor in either Mahmood or Parkinson.

Hmm very mixed messages in regard to Leachs fitness from England then! 

Cannot fathom why he didnt bowl in the last game, unless they just had him in the gym running treadmills to get his fitness up. 

I do agree that theres more value in having 3 spinners than a medium pacer even if Woakes did bowl a good spell. The last tour showed England can win with that set up.

To be fair, I've now seen two journos say this is a straight shootout between Woakes and Curran for the 1st test, and that number 8 slot - so mixed messages all round!

Good start for England, Crawley looks to be loving the Sroi Lankan conditions counter to logic! Sibley made the sort of score that would have Denly fans in raptures but has yet to really show hes as comfortable here as he was in South Africa.



Some more on the Leach situation ...apparently his calf injury kept him out of the first warm up, and he was still wearing a support in Tuesday. Root quite open about the risk of reinjury, but they seem keen to give him this game to assess where his overall fitness is with a view to selecting him for the first test if its possible. regardless the talk does seem to be of playing two spinners as mentioned yesterday. Roots also been banging on about not just assuming things will be the same as last time in terms of conditions, which appears to be a bad attempt at justifying picking a half fit spinner and leaving out the guy who just took 4 for 4 whilst having Broad in the side who said himself its pointless to bring him here.

We will see anyway but the media does seem to have it that this is the favoured line up for the first test, with the exception of one of Broad or Mahmood replacing one of Curran or Woakes.

Crawley makes his century, before being bowled (by a seamer!) - Denly, you will all be shocked to hear, made 26

Pope batting at 5 instead of Stokes is interesting.

Crawley in fairness to the lad seems to be a very quick learner so hopefully he can take this form into the test series.

I like Crawley. From what I've seen he has got something : arguably wasn't quite ready when picked ; and he may not have an uninterrupted run in the team when Burns is available again... But I think it is far from certain that he will automatically be the one to miss out in the home summer. Makes this a big series for him.
And for Sibley , I guess.

I like Pope at 5, especially if Stokes is doing much bowling. Eventually Pope could be our number 3 for a decade or so, thus moving him up a notch makes sense.

alfie wrote:I like Crawley. From what I've seen he has got something : arguably wasn't quite ready when picked ; and he may not have an uninterrupted run in the team when Burns is available again... But I think it is far from certain that he will automatically be the one to miss out in the home summer. Makes this a big series for him.
And for Sibley , I guess.

He looks like he could be a long term option at 3, I quite like the idea of having a shotmaker at 3 with two traditional openers.

It's far from perfect and might well fail but been a while since we've a batting line up with the potential this one has;

Burns
Sibley
Crawley
Root
Pope
Stokes

Not sure it overly matters which way round you have Pope and Stokes really.

LondonTiger wrote:I like Pope at 5, especially if Stokes is doing much bowling. Eventually Pope could be our number 3 for a decade or so, thus moving him up a notch makes sense.

Yes I'd expect Pope to end up at three ...but not in a hurry , please ! No problem with a bit of flexibility around the 5/6/7 part of the order. Though I suspect this match is probably more a case of making sure Pope gets a good chance for time at the crease before the Tests.

alfie wrote:I like Crawley. From what I've seen he has got something : arguably wasn't quite ready when picked ; and he may not have an uninterrupted run in the team when Burns is available again... But I think it is far from certain that he will automatically be the one to miss out in the home summer. Makes this a big series for him.
And for Sibley , I guess.

There could be a strong case for one of them to take Denlys spot at 3 if he can take this form to tests. But what a problem to have,  5 players that various people would have in the top 3 plus Jennings on the tour as a spare part. Is the post Strauss/Trott era finally over?

Pope above Stokes also makes sense as part of his gradual bedding in, although theres no guarantee that they will mirror this in the tests, it might just be they felt Pope would benefit more from a full run in the middle as its his first time in Sri Lanka.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Crawley makes his century, before being bowled (by a seamer!) - Denly, you will all be shocked to hear, made 26

Does my head in. Probably his too. Getting a start and establishing yourself in an international first class innings is the toughest thing for a specialist batsman to do - but this guy does it time and time again. The best starter in the history of the international game. Then, for the slightly easier task of building on the start and making proper runs once settled, he fails time and time again.

And England seem to accept this mental failing, just like they completely gave up on Broad's batting ability and concluded that it couldn't possibly be salvaged, as one of those things.

Duty281 wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Crawley makes his century, before being bowled (by a seamer!) - Denly, you will all be shocked to hear, made 26

Does my head in. Probably his too. Getting a start and establishing yourself in an international first class innings is the toughest thing for a specialist batsman to do - but this guy does it time and time again. The best starter in the history of the international game. Then, for the slightly easier task of building on the start and making proper runs once settled, he fails time and time again.

And England seem to accept this mental failing, just like they completely gave up on Broad's batting ability and concluded that it couldn't possibly be salvaged, as one of those things.

Bit of an exaggeration, and this is a game against a bunch of sub D2 county level players in which he is the lowest scorer so far. 

Test wise 10 of his 18 innings have been 20 or lower. What deems a start is debatable of course, but hes not as reliable as you make out. He also had a run of  4 50+ scores in 6 innings, which could be deemed as converting a start. 

Im not sure its a mental failing so much as just not being very good. England can accept Roots supposed mental failing to bat very long innings, his recent run has a lowest score of 27 in 8 test innings...a better run of "starts" than Denly has ever managed (and he did convert one to a rare double century). 

Broad quitting batting can be carried, but having a specialist bat who can't bat is a problem. Its not even like its a test thing with Denly, hes never been more than an average county champs player. Hes just not that good.

Denly is a limited player ...don't think many of us would argue with that assessment ? But he has at least provided some dogged batting in the difficult position of number three - even against some good bowling teams. I think it's fair to say he's earned the right to a spot - for now.
As for the whole "new look top order" promise : it looks as if there is potential for the best 1-4 England have fielded since Trott dropped out : but I'd hold the celebrations for a while yet. Let us see if these young fellows can maintain a good record against strong attacks in tricky conditions - especially as opposing teams will have been working on plans as everyone does nowadays based on extensive video footage and analysis...one reason why it can be easier to get a good start to a career than back up in your second season...

Sri Lanka is a different arena. Watching with interest when the Tests start.

Sounds like from the journos that this pitch is a pancake, Root and Pope both making hay on it (they have the makings of a good partnership for each other, with the way they are both busy between the wickets - i think anyways).

England expecting the pitch in Galle to be much more as usual in Sri Lanka.

Albeit, that is if we get there...with the virus looming

alfie wrote:Denly is a limited player ...don't think many of us would argue with that assessment ?  But he has at least provided some dogged batting in the difficult position of number three - even against some good bowling teams.  I think it's fair to say he's earned the right to a spot - for now.
As for the whole "new look top order" promise : it looks as if there is potential for the best 1-4 England have fielded since Trott dropped out : but I'd hold the celebrations for a while yet. Let us see if these young fellows can maintain a good record against strong attacks in tricky conditions - especially as opposing teams will have been working on plans as everyone does nowadays based on extensive video footage and analysis...one reason why it can be easier to get a good start to a career than back up in your second season...

Sri Lanka is a different arena. Watching with interest when the Tests start.

Alfie yeah theres huge caveats with all the england players but its not that long ago we couldnt even named two players we would want in the side let alone the status now where theres 3 openers who have earnt a place and Denly at 3 who whilst I will continue to rubbish as a pretty poor player is still doing better than the past umpteen players to get that job in spite of all their talent (Root, Vince, Roy...)

None of them are yet coming close to what Cook Strauss or Trott acheived at the height of their careers. But they are players we can imagine getting named in an England test team. Not the desperation of getting Mo to fill in, or thinking Stoneman/Robson could actually be a success at test level. Or picking T20 specialists like Roy and Hales.

Gooseberry wrote:

Duty281 wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Crawley makes his century, before being bowled (by a seamer!) - Denly, you will all be shocked to hear, made 26

Does my head in. Probably his too. Getting a start and establishing yourself in an international first class innings is the toughest thing for a specialist batsman to do - but this guy does it time and time again. The best starter in the history of the international game. Then, for the slightly easier task of building on the start and making proper runs once settled, he fails time and time again.

And England seem to accept this mental failing, just like they completely gave up on Broad's batting ability and concluded that it couldn't possibly be salvaged, as one of those things.

Bit of an exaggeration, and this is a game against a bunch of sub D2 county level players in which he is the lowest scorer so far. 

Test wise 10 of his 18 innings have been 20 or lower. What deems a start is debatable of course, but hes not as reliable as you make out. He also had a run of  4 50+ scores in 6 innings, which could be deemed as converting a start. 

Im not sure its a mental failing so much as just not being very good. England can accept Roots supposed mental failing to bat very long innings, his recent run has a lowest score of 27 in 8 test innings...a better run of "starts" than Denly has ever managed (and he did convert one to a rare double century). 

Broad quitting batting can be carried, but having a specialist bat who can't bat is a problem. Its not even like its a test thing with Denly, hes never been more than an average county champs player. Hes just not that good.

Never let it be said that goose allows facts to get in the way of his stats!  According to cricinfo (but what do they know?!), Denly has had 26 Test innings and in 11 of those he's scored 20 or lower.

Anyway, I do understand the frustrations and concerns with him - errh, I mean Denly, not goose. Basically, he's not scoring enough or going on enough. However, just to mention something which doesn't outweigh that but probably gets him a (small) brownie point. Besides converting and scoring big, the other thing that professional coaches bang on about as regards batting is the importance of partnerships. Denly's patient and measured approach in scoring one of his typical 20s or 30s does at least allow for that. In compiling his 26 today, he and Crawley put on 72 in 23.3 overs. I'm not opening the champagne on that account but it's more useful than, say, Roy slamming 20 off a dozen balls and then getting out before the next batsman in has found his gloves!

I mentioned the other day that Pope had spoken in support of Denly at a Surrey do and had seemed genuine in what he said. Pope didn't really elaborate but I got the impression that Denly's role in partnerships and wearing down the bowlers was all part of it.

Btw, I'm mightily impressed by Pope, both as a player and individual. Very talented and versatile batsman who reads the game situation well. As well as cementing his Test spot (if he hasn't already), I feel he'll be knocking on the door for an ODI and t20 international place before long. So as to totally jinx him - nah, I'll leave that for now.

guildfordbat wrote:
Btw, I'm mightily impressed by Pope, both as a player and individual. Very talented and versatile batsman who reads the game situation well. As well as cementing his Test spot (if he hasn't already), I feel he'll be knocking on the door for an ODI and t20 international place before long. So as to totally jinx him - nah, I'll leave that for now.

I hope you're wrong about that, one thing we don't need is a young player ruined by having to adapt to multi format especially when he'd ideally do the Root role.

Soul Requiem wrote:

guildfordbat wrote:
Btw, I'm mightily impressed by Pope, both as a player and individual. Very talented and versatile batsman who reads the game situation well. As well as cementing his Test spot (if he hasn't already), I feel he'll be knocking on the door for an ODI and t20 international place before long. So as to totally jinx him - nah, I'll leave that for now.

I hope you're wrong about that, one thing we don't need is a young player ruined by having to adapt to multi format especially when he'd ideally do the Root role.

Hi Soul - I understand your concern but I believe that Pope would be talented and adaptable enough to cope and thrive. He actually first broke into the Surrey side as a limited overs batsman. He's a good fielder too, both close in and on the boundary.

Pope has the 360 degree game to play all forms for sure. His issue will only be the huge depth in the batting in shorter formats.

1.Roy
2.Bairstow
3.Root
4.Morgan
5.Stokes
6.Buttler (wk)
7.Moeen
8.Woakes

That's a settled and ridiculously strong order. Bairstow being able to take the gloves opens up the possibility of Pope slotting in at 6 if Buttler were rested though.

Seems fairly likely this tour is being called off tomorrow according to reports

Off topic... but the first Australia v NZ ODI will be played at a closed SCG later today.
Aus F1 Grand Prix has just been cancelled too.

Pal Joey wrote:Off topic... but the first Australia v NZ ODI will be played at a closed SCG later today.
Aus F1 Grand Prix has just been cancelled too.

Yes...I got the thoughtful email from Aus Cricket this morning : also advising the women's team tour of SA was being scrubbed - at least for now. Probably makes some sense even if the whole virus thing isn't causing slightly exaggerated panic. Grand Prix call off is a bit late since the teams and visitors have already been here infecting us all for some time ...

According to Michael Clarke nobody was going to come to watch the NZ games anyway so not much difference

Wait until the football starts !

Have a feeling there's a lot more cancellations / crowdless matches to come, Alfie. AFL and NRL... but only after the opening of the new stadium in Townsville tonight with the NRL. Then shut the gates!

Received an email too this morning informing me that the Building Expo next week is now postponed until further notice.

This ODI match is bizarre. Some individual applause from a few police and security guards at the ground echoing around the SCG.

On the pitch, Stokes has been replaced by Parkinson on the pitch in this game due to an abdominal issue.

Root brought up his hundred before the rest threw away their wickets going for quick runs. Two wickets to fall so far, both to Woakes

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:On the pitch, Stokes has been replaced by Parkinson on the pitch in this game due to an abdominal issue.

Root brought up his hundred before the rest threw away their wickets going for quick runs. Two wickets to fall so far, both to Woakes

Any word if the injury happened yesterday and why he didnt bat at 5?

Woakes presumably booked a place in the test XI with 4 of the 5 wickets to fall to an English seamer on the tour so far.

Gooseberry wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:On the pitch, Stokes has been replaced by Parkinson on the pitch in this game due to an abdominal issue.

Root brought up his hundred before the rest threw away their wickets going for quick runs. Two wickets to fall so far, both to Woakes

Any word if the injury happened yesterday and why he didnt bat at 5?

Woakes presumably booked a place in the test XI with 4 of the 5 wickets to fall to an English seamer on the tour so far.

Haven't seen any word on where he picked it up, would assume in the nets maybe?

Woakes is actually having a quietly impressive winter with the ball, in his albeit limited red ball game time. And having cancelled his IPL stint, seems he is going to focus on the test stuff this summer too

Tours off so the test championship must be in jeopardy too.