The summer of cricket 2020

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Stokes gone at last...and Roach gets one at last ! Bit fluky , reverse leg side edge but I think Kemar was entitled to dome good fortune...

Hell of an innings from Stokes

Yeah rreal wag from the tail here, heaps the embarrassment on the top order really! Its good for England, still going to be a low enough total to be a pretty much guaranteed win but also enough that they have to bat properly and get long enough in the middle for some genuine practice.

Deserved five for Willey

172 represents quite a good recovery for Ireland...Campher not out for a vital 59.

Suspect Morgan will probably be happier that they actually have a score to chase. If they'd bowled them out for eighty the batsmen would have hardly had a chance to get their feet wet...

Ireland's day gets worse as their opening bowler hobbles off after five balls.

I think we just achieved peak James Vince

59/3. Vince just getting out in typical Vince fashion. Brought back memories of his test career.

England might really feel the pressure if Ireland take a couple more before the 100 is reached.

Vince out. Pressure really on now, England dont have a lot of depth to their proven proper batsmen

James Vince

Does seem that Morgan is looking to give the fringe players an opportunity to play big knocks, and in the style theyd want when chasing or setting much bigger totals. Makes sense for the long term but with a RRR under 3 now theres no need for this pair to play riskily.

Here for the James Vince comments

Bantons also getting in on the act of being the best player in the world till he gets in an England shirt ...worried now!

The irony of a South African playing for Ireland taking apart Morgans England....

Gooseberry wrote:Bantons also getting in on the act of being the best player in the world till he gets in an England shirt ...worried now!

I just don't think he's very good, he might occasionally come off but when you look past his T20 strike rate there's not a lot of substance there.

Soul Requiem wrote:

Gooseberry wrote:Bantons also getting in on the act of being the best player in the world till he gets in an England shirt ...worried now!

I just don't think he's very good, he might occasionally come off but when you look past his T20 strike rate there's not a lot of substance there.

I'm more referring to love affair this forum has with him than any reality (as per Vince)

Such a shame for Tom Banton that his career is over at the age of 21

Meanwhile worlds worst batsman Sam Billings playing nicely here

Comfortably over the line, in the end.

If Tom Banton hasn't done anything in an England shirt after 20 or so games, then we can talk. Until then, he's a phenomenal limited overs talent.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Such a shame for Tom Banton that his career is over at the age of 21

Meanwhile worlds worst batsman Sam Billings playing nicely here

Touche! Look Ive never said hes terrible or not capable of doing better, just the amount of froth from certain posters after he had a good Blast series was frankly absurd. He has struggled to make an impact in an England shirt, and I dont think that should be any great shock to anyone except certain posters. But its pretty clear that people in the England set up do see potential in him, hes being given opportunities ahead of many in a side thats mostly made up of old pros. he will get ore chances, not so sure with Vince but such a shame if his careers over at errr 29.

Fair play to Billings, he is starting to do the business against sub D2 level attacks


Ireland just not very good and hamstrung by losing a bowler. Billings and Willey the big winners on the day.

Duty281 wrote:Comfortably over the line, in the end.

If Tom Banton hasn't done anything in an England shirt after 20 or so games, then we can talk. Until then, he's a phenomenal limited overs talent.

Yeah you couldnt expect a 21 year old with just one list A game under hi belt to come into international cricket and get a 50 and take a wicket

Banton is much more a more a T20 player than a 50 over one at this point, but I guess hes been given chances in this format because they are short of T20is before even the delayed world cup to develop players for that. Bit of a no win situation too for him as a power hitter coming in chasing a low total but with wickets tumbling.

I just find the level of hyperbole about him laughable. It doesnt mean I dont think hes any good, but beknighting him as the greatest thing since sliced bread before hes done anything of note is just silly.

Wait till you hear about this Buttler fella - averaged 26 after 26 innings with only 3 fifties. Thank God we never heard from him again.

Gooseberry wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Comfortably over the line, in the end.

If Tom Banton hasn't done anything in an England shirt after 20 or so games, then we can talk. Until then, he's a phenomenal limited overs talent.

Yeah you couldnt expect a 21 year old with just one list A game under hi belt to come into international cricket and get a 50 and take a wicket  

Banton is much more a  more a T20 player than a 50 over one at this point, but I guess hes been given chances in this format because they are short of T20is before even the delayed world cup to develop players for that. Bit of a no win situation too for him as a power hitter coming in chasing a low total but with wickets tumbling.

I just find the level of hyperbole about him laughable. It doesnt mean I dont think hes any good, but beknighting him as the greatest thing since sliced bread before hes done anything of note is just silly.

I'd agree he's more a T20 player than a 50 over one at the moment, though there's no reason why he can't transition his game to the 50 over stage as well, in a similar way that Buttler has done.

Banton's clearly a tremendous talent, recognised by coaches all over the world (hence why he's got Big Bash and IPL contracts at such a young age and early stage in his pro career) and by the England selectors who are clearly intent on giving him a go. He's got the most potential of any limited-overs England player I've seen since Buttler. He may not fulfill that potential, true enough, as we can never genuinely know about fitness and his mental state at this stage, but I sincerely hope he does because it'll be brilliant for limited-overs English cricket and the limited-overs game as a whole.

Gooseberry wrote:

Soul Requiem wrote:

Gooseberry wrote:Bantons also getting in on the act of being the best player in the world till he gets in an England shirt ...worried now!

I just don't think he's very good, he might occasionally come off but when you look past his T20 strike rate there's not a lot of substance there.

I'm more referring to love affair this forum has with him than any reality (as per Vince)

Have you ever wondered that you might just not like cricket very much guys? If you need to balance every positive comment about a sport against 78 negative comments then maybe you just need to watch something else. I've been playing chess recently for instance.

Reminds me a bit of one of my best friends who's an ardent Liverpool supporter but has been incensed by them losing games since winning the league. A few of my pals have questioned that if he doesn't enjoy watching football this year as a Liverpool fan then maybe he just doesn't like football.

Are you maybe watching out of habit these days? Should we setup a support group for cricket fans who watch solely out of masochism? I can think of a fair few commentators and players from the nineties who might need that group as much as Goose and Soul...

Didn't stay up for the England innings ...doesn't sound as if I missed too much drama.
Top order a bit rusty , perhaps ? A pity young Banton didn't fire but it is one match so I'm not reading anything too serious into it. (also not about to declare Billings a new star on the basis of one innings , though I'm pleased for him that he performed so well)
These matches are more important to Ireland ; but they provide a useful run out for some England regulars and a chance for some new and fringe players to show their wares. I found the Irish innings moderately entertaining...roll on game two Saturday

king_carlos wrote:

Gooseberry wrote:

Soul Requiem wrote:

Gooseberry wrote:Bantons also getting in on the act of being the best player in the world till he gets in an England shirt ...worried now!

I just don't think he's very good, he might occasionally come off but when you look past his T20 strike rate there's not a lot of substance there.

I'm more referring to love affair this forum has with him than any reality (as per Vince)

Have you ever wondered that you might just not like cricket very much guys? If you need to balance every positive comment about a sport against 78 negative comments then maybe you just need to watch something else. I've been playing chess recently for instance.

Reminds me a bit of one of my best friends who's an ardent Liverpool supporter but has been incensed by them losing games since winning the league. A few of my pals have questioned that if he doesn't enjoy watching football this year as a Liverpool fan then maybe he just doesn't like football.

Are you maybe watching out of habit these days? Should we setup a support group for cricket fans who watch solely out of masochism? I can think of a fair few commentators and players from the nineties who might need that group as much as Goose and Soul...

What are you going on about?

I don't rate Tom Banton who is apparently the greatest thing since sliced bread so I don't like Cricket very much? Perhaps I just don't rate him because he's simply not that good, just a thought.

Wonder if the news about Manchester going back into more of a lockdown will have an effect on the test next week...players having a few days off from “the bubble” and meant to return to it on Sunday...

Probably affects what they can do outside of the bubble but given the measures in place are theoretically applicable to most locations I doubt it has a big impact.

Didn't stop Leicester playing PL games at home

Denly ruled out of the last two games so Livingstone comes in. Wonder if he plays over Banton, as he is a more natural middle order player and also offers a bowling option so Vince won’t be needed! Not that six bowlers will be needed going off Ireland’s batting performance the other day...

Ireland win the toss and, unperturbed by their batting failure in the first game, elect to bat first.

Topley in for Curran. Little in for McCarthy.

Light rain clearing away in time for the start...looks a lot less sunny than the other day though.
Ireland might be a bit more careful in the early overs this time...

A while since Topley played.

Overhead conditions look pretty poor, so I'm doubly surprised Ireland want to bat first. Think the ball might be swinging quite a bit in the opening exchanges.

And yes, four and a half years since Topley played for England.

Willey has it all over them again...

Nice catch by Banton

Utterly daft to bat first in these conditions. Difficult to get bat on ball, and Willey certainly making the most of the conditions. Topley perhaps unlucky not to join him in the wickets column. Wonder if England considered Curran for Mahmood?

19/2 after 9. Ireland unlikely to make 200 again.

James Vince is bowling...interesting.

Will he re-invent himself as a bowler and go after Anderson's record?

Vince has taken a wicket for England.

Arguably the greatest moment in English cricketing history.

Duty281 wrote:Vince has taken a wicket for England.

Arguably the greatest moment in English cricketing history.

The new Paul Collingwood

Very soft dismissal for Tector after a useful knock...Rashid very much in charge.

I see Hameed got 68 for Notts. Hopefully a sign he might be gradually coming back ?

128/6 after 36. Campher leading the resistance again.

SA might want him back at this rate

And Campher has another fifty

Dragging Ireland towards 200... So they're doing better than the other day at least. A lot to like about this young fellow : started carefully , stepped up as he went on - and is now rather taking the England pace bowlers to the cleaners with some innovative shots...

66no at 200/7...three overs to go

Another top innings in trying circumstances from Campher. Certainly a great find for Ireland and he's rescued them from outright embarrassment with the bat in two games.

But unlikely to be enough, again. Thought Rashid's ten over spell earlier was excellent - the Irish struggled to pick him throughout. Amazing that England won the World Cup with him so out of form and fitness during that competition.

Yes Rashid bowled really well. Certainly looks more comfortable after having time to recover full fitness.

Glad Topley got a wicket there at the end : not a bad return to international action for him...very good death bowling .

Hmm. Thought I'd sit up , have a look at young Banton batting...he played some nice shots in his 15 from 15... But that man Campher (who can do no wrong : 2/21 from 3) has got him again.

Ireland taking some scalps again : though with Bairstow (currently 64 from 32) teeing off at everything this might be over early ...104/3 after thirteen.

Whisper it ; but Ireland are back in with a sniff in this...

Bairstow eventually got out for a whirlwind 82 from 41 ; but with skipper Morgan getting himself out for a duck (caught by Campher , of course ) England are 137/5 . Still need 74 although they are only in the 18th over .

And now Moeen has emulated Roy and Morgan and got himself out for a duck ! 137/6 and a lot up to Billings now ...

Yes, just switched over from the FA Cup final to see three wickets in 12 balls has blown the contest wide open. All that after Bairstow hit England's joint fastest ODI fifty and got to 3,000 ODI runs.

Don't want to be dismissive, but I'm not overly convinced by the intensity being applied in this series.

GSC wrote:Don't want to be dismissive, but I'm not overly convinced by the intensity being applied in this series.

Possibly fair to say that Morgan and Moeen might not have been quite so careless if it had been a World Cup knock out game...

Then again , Moeen has a bit of a history of playing loose shots early on so maybe not. Credit to Ireland , both Vince and Banton were got out by good bowling rather than carelessness.

Willey has played some handsome strokes and seems to have halted the Irish revival...and Billings has continued from his good work the other day. Only 21 more needed now so I think England are going to avoid embarrassment .

England get over the line. One game left on Tuesday before returning to the tests.

Fair play to Billings, he's actually making the most of the opportunities he's been given finally. It might not be A class opposition but he's delivering in situations with some level of pressure. Wiley too, England clearly want a left arm seamer in their wider squad and hes put himself back in the frame. Great to see Rashid appears to be fully functional again. For the sake of peace I won't mention ..... or ......



The lad Campher .... if this is all of note he ever does in cricket its still more than most Ireland caps will have achieved. Runs catches and wickets when you're barely a professional and have never faced a side of this quality before, he obviously has some talent but also the the magic attitude to go out and use it. Obviously its early days for him yet but Morgan did an absolute number convincing him to move over. Is Ireland going to give him the environment to keep on developing in the same way SA mightve done? Debatable, but at least he will have put himself in the spotlight for the t20 circuit when that starts up again.

GSC wrote:Don't want to be dismissive, but I'm not overly convinced by the intensity being applied in this series.

I won’t have James Vince’s bowling degraded like this

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

GSC wrote:Don't want to be dismissive, but I'm not overly convinced by the intensity being applied in this series.

I won’t have James Vince’s bowling degraded like this

C'mon guys Vince has a 5 for to his name in the CC and noone would question the intensity of that competition would they

Would say though that these games are theoretically more meaningful than the tests were given a win would make Irelands qualification a lot more likely, and any losses could impact Englands seeding as well as heaping pressure on them to win the tougher fixtures. They were always planning to rotate the squad a lot over the coming years, its probably a weaker side than they would've liked but the players they have bought in are playing for their international careers. Cant tell me Billings isn't taking it seriously. Whilst the lack of crowd perhaps lessens the on the field pressure theres still more global media focus on this series than their might otherwise be given the lack of other pro cricket to watch currently.

Ordinarily England would field 6 bowling options, and have a Root or Denly to as an extra. Morgan likes to have that spare option for when the pitch suits , I doubt he wouldve used Vince if there were a less occasional pie chucker available. Woakes and co spent half the world cup utilising "county bowling" on stodgy pitches.

Ireland taking a bit of a humping in this series.
But better yesterday in terms of how much we lost by.

Wouldn’t England want better competition? I know they have just played the West Indies.

Bit like England playing USA in rugby.

Don’t follow the cricket to much, not to sure will be any kind of force for the top4/6 teams.

The wins agains Pakistan and England were good memories. Don’t see them happening again soon.

I suspect it's much easier in the current situation to have Ireland over than get somebody to tour, and should also be pointed out a number of first team England players are with the test side (Root, Stokes, Buttler, Archer, Wood etc...)

westisbest wrote:Ireland taking a bit of a humping in this series.
But better yesterday in terms of how much we lost by.

Wouldn’t England want better competition? I know they have just played the West Indies.

Bit like England playing USA in rugby.

Don’t follow the cricket to much, not to sure will be any kind of force for the top4/6 teams.

The wins agains Pakistan and England were good memories. Don’t see them happening again soon.

This is part of the qualification system for the world cup, England had to play a 3 match series against them at some point in the 2 year period. They do tend to play Ireland more frequently than other top nations would anyway as its relatively easy to set up games and they get a decent audience on TV despite not being a glamour tie. This ones worked out good for England in the current situation with a compressed summer, they are able to rest a number of test players and put out a development team to give opportunities to fill out and improve the squad with an eye to upcoming T20 world cup and the longer term future of the 50 over side. England would've played Aus and Pakistan in white ball this summer too those are off due to COVID.