The summer of cricket 2020

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Great ton from Morgan. Came in at 44/3 - now victory looks assured for England after this partnership.

(Spoiler: It wasn't.)

I think Vince and Moeen's international careers are at an end. England should look to other options, especially in the spin department, ahead of the 2023 World Cup in India.

On the Pakistan series, really looking forward to it. Pakistan look top quality, albeit more potential than actual fulfilled ability in most places. If their batting, led by Azam, stands up to the scrutiny of English conditions and the in-form English seamers, they have a real chance of taking the series. Their bowling will pose all kinds of threats to the brittle English batting and, unlike the West Indies, they have a good spin bowler in their arsenal.

England have a torrid record in the first test of a series - I believe they've lost their last five (excluding the one-off game against the Irish). But this is effectively, for England, the fourth game of a six-match series; it's just the opposition is different. I'm more worried about 'burnout' at the tail end of the series, with precious little downtime between the six tests. Hopefully Stokes will be fit to bowl as that solves the balance conundrum that England face.

In terms of a prediction, I think it's about 50-50 like the last time Pakistan were over, maybe slightly in England's favour as they're already battle-hardened and properly prepared. So let's go for 1-1 then!

As ever, I think the English opposition have been generously priced by the bookmakers. 9/2 on Pakistan to win the first test. Up to 9/1 on Pakistan to win the series. 3/1 on Stokes to be England's highest runscorer in the series also seems fairly sweet, given the stupendous form he's in.

Well there you go... I woke up and checked the score at one point : saw 213/1 and assumed Ireland had it in the bag so haven't actually seen any of it. But it does appear that some excellent batting got them just rewards...delighted for them (and Eirebilly !)
Even so , England must be disappointed with falling apart like that ? Sounds like some poor and panicky bowling near the (actually pretty close) end. And fielding errors ? Not a good finish for Vince...

Moeen seems to be in a bad state. No runs , bowling ordinary at best : I did wonder when I saw they'd made him vice captain if that wasn't an unnecessary added pressure to put on him at this time ...though I suppose they weren't expecting him to have to actually take charge of
a crucial session in the field. We know he has always been a confidence player ; and it appears that confidence is now almost completely shot. Probably best to let him return to his county and reconsider if and when possible/desirable ?
Funny that the Test team seems to be overflowing with competent bowlers but seems a little light on for batting alternatives - while the ODI squad can pretty much cover all their batting positions but looks rather ordinary when you take out the first choice bowlers. (In fairness they did bowl reasonably well in the other two games. But - all due respect to Ireland - they probably aren't in the India/Australia/NZ class as a batting side)

All good for the game anyway. On to the Tests and Pakistan ...

alfie wrote:Well there you go...  I woke up and checked the score at one point : saw 213/1 and assumed Ireland had it in the bag so haven't actually seen any of it. But it does appear that some excellent batting got them just rewards...delighted for them (and Eirebilly !)
Even so , England must be disappointed with falling apart like that ? Sounds like some poor and panicky bowling near the (actually pretty close) end. And fielding errors ? Not a good finish for Vince...

Moeen seems to be in a bad state. No runs , bowling ordinary at best : I did wonder when I saw they'd made him vice captain if that wasn't an unnecessary added pressure to put on him at this time ...though I suppose they weren't expecting him to have to actually take charge of
a crucial session in the field. We know he has always been a confidence player ; and it appears that confidence is now almost completely shot. Probably best to let him return to his county and reconsider if and when possible/desirable ?
Funny that the Test team seems to be overflowing with competent bowlers but seems a little light on for batting alternatives - while the ODI squad can pretty much cover all their batting positions but looks rather ordinary when you take out the first choice bowlers. (In fairness they did bowl reasonably well in the other two games. But - all due respect to Ireland - they probably aren't in the India/Australia/NZ class as a batting side)

All good for the game anyway. On to the Tests and Pakistan ...

Hi Alfie - with regard to potential England Test batsmen and particularly that difficult number 3 spot, someone who might be worth keeping an eye on is Middlesex's Nick Gubbins. He's started the season extremely well batting first wicket down. Scores of 192 and 60 in the Bob Willis opening round against Surrey following exactly 100 in the friendly against the same opponents the week before.

He was Middlesex Players' Player of the Season in 2016 when they won the County Championship and was linked with England then only to go off the boil. However, regardless of the ordinary bowling from a weakened Surrey side, he couldn't have started this season much better.

Well well well, that was an exciting game. A massive effort from Ireland in the end to get that win.

On to the test's now, Pakistan have some talent and i think their bowling with put England batters under some serious pressure. Looking forward to this.

England made Mo vice captain to give him the security he was stil central to their plans and very much part of the long term thinking for white ball. They put him in the wider red ball squad despite not having played any too, and again its clear the leadership still sees a potential future, most likely Asian tours, for him in that format too.
Hes had a stinker of a series though and it would be prudent for England to be looking at alternatives, one of which is what they did at the world cup and just playing on specialist spinner.
The problem they have is their other options (beyond rashid) are largely very much part timers or non batters. Dawson is probably the one who breaks the mold but fits into that not quite good enough in either discipline to get a place, similar to Denly really.
I cant see them ditching Mo altogether as things stand, certainly proclaiming his international career as over is a bit hyperbolic. England have got a lot better at managing players mental problems and accepting of blips, but Mo is way too fragile for my liking. I'd love to see a strong alternative stand up but its not their at the moment.
Also doesn't help that most of the spinners they have around the white ball squad are leggies or left armers, ideally Rashid would bowl in partnership with a spinner who moves the ball the other way.

Don't just blame the second string bowling either. Englands batting underperformed in this series, even in this game they shouldve made more on a good batting pitch and a lot of their runs came from the lower second string bowlers. The bowlers really only struggled in this game on batting surface.
Willey though really went to pieces under pressure. Must be extremely frustrating for the leadership whod seen him perform with bat and ball in the other games and looked to be the answer to their left arm gap. Does that dodgy death spell undo all the good stuff? Of he were bowling for a first choice side there could be other death bowling spots available.
Tom Curran a bit of a disappointment for me. He'd had a very good record for England up till this series. He was the one whod taken Willeys World Cup squad spot and even if he were just a spare in that he still had the opportunity to bring it up a notch here, but hasn't really done it with the ball.
Will england persist with either when everyone's available?

A lot of cloud around old Trafford and potential for more rain today, followed by 4 warm mostly sunny days. Could bowling first be an option? If Pakistan pick two spinners england won't want to bat last, and Pakistan won't want to bowl first but this early session could be ideal for Englands new ball bowlers. Day two might be the easiest batting of the game.


I'm assuming stokes will be fit to bowl so Crawley will be back in.
Roots said they will puck Broad and either wood or archer, so that leaves a choice between Woakes and Anderson. Selection would be a lot easier if Stokes couldn't bowl!
Leach could be in for Bess too if they have the extra batsman.

On the ODI squad/side, we have a pretty clear set 10 in that first XI for me;

Roy
Bairstow
Root
Morgan
Stokes
Buttler
????
Woakes
Archer
Rashid
Wood

The ??? was Plunkett during the World Cup, Moeen beforehand...would be great if Moeen can refind his form of circa 2017/18 when him and Rashid were so effective in those middle overs, and he was adding useful runs at 7. Personally I just don't see what Dawson would add to the side at 7, he isn't a "hitter" at the end, and is his bowling good enough to justify him taking that spot over a Livingstone, who can be that hitter/finisher, and also bowl a few overs if needed?

Shame the backups didn't really do more - Banton has probably overtaken Vince now as the top backup for Roy/Bairstow, with Salt trying to poke his way in over the coming years too.

If Root goes down, would Pope/Hain be able to step into that role?

Billings had a good series, and seems to be the reserve middle order/finisher sorted for now.

Willey did alright enough to take that backup role in case Woakes goes off the boil.

Biggest worry has to be the spin options, especially if Rashid's shoulder problems come back. Lose him, and suddenly we're a bit shafted in the spin department...

I personally don't want to see Pope anywhere near the ODI team for another few years, leave him to build into his test role before adding more burden onto him and for that reason and the fact he's a better limited overs player Hain has to be given a chance at three when Root isn't available, this continued insistence on playing Vince has achieved nothing.

The back up bowling is an issue but ordinarily there are seven genuine options in the first 11; Mahmood did ok until his last couple of overs and Willey was good at the head of the innings but again showed he cannot bowl effectively beyond that initial burst, i'd have been tempted to bowl him out within 20 overs and leave it to Curran and Mahmood to see things out in the last six.

Billings was the only player to really enhance his chances but it was ultimately just Ireland, you can't ignore a 120 average over a series batting down the order though in fairness.

Also worth remembering that the focus is more on the t20 than 50 over squad development currently. The next major 50 over Cup is a long way off still.
I'm sure that's why Banton was given the opportunities here.
Is Wileys fruitiness under pressure a bigger or lesser problem when bowling just 4 overs but players trying to hit every ball?
I also see the lack of a second spin option a bigger issue there where they really want to be able to vary the attack over to over. That though is a tick for Willey as the only left arm seam option.

Tend to agree on Pope for now England have bags of T20 batsmen (Malan Salt) already missing from a second string squad so let him concentrate on tests.

Speaking of which ..

Pakistan batting first and playing two spinners. England unchanged from the last time, as Stokes still can't bowl, so the balance still looks a little suspect.

Both sides make sense I think - Pakistan doing what the West Indies should have with the toss...

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Both sides make sense I think - Pakistan doing what the West Indies should have with the toss...

Yep, proper decision to bat.

Don't know that much about the current Pakistan team but seems this will be a challenging series for England. Something we should welcome ....

be a improvement watching it today at old trafford with out fans

no bloody annoying horns

Willey is terrific with the new ball but after that forget it... Fine for six or seven overs if you need an opener , as long as you have a sixth option. So not a first choice team prospect . He's not a Plunkett.

And I like Willey ; but I'm being realistic.

Pakistan batting first and stacking the spin ranks ? England better get 'em out cheaply...

Going back to the comments about the England make up for limited overs games, I don't share the reservations of others about blooding Pope.

He's a versatile cricketer with a wise head on his young shoulders. Furthermore, it was in the RL 50 that he first broke into the Surrey side and it was there that he was initially considered most suited. Obviously he shouldn't be picked for ODIs or international T20s if there are more suitable players available (possibly Malan, possibly Salt) but I feel any decision to omit him so as to concentrate solely on Test cricket is not doing him or us any favours.

Btw, having championed Balbirnie in recent years for his good reading of the game and unselfish attitude in playing in accordance with the team's needs, it was rather appropriate that his century yesterday ended up being overshadowed by that of Stirling who also took the MotM award. Not that I would expect that to concern Balbirnie.

alfie wrote:Pakistan batting first and stacking the spin ranks ? England better get 'em out cheaply...

yeah ive just had a bet on yasir shah to take most wickets

the old trafford pitch has been spinning for a while

Pakistan's team, just a few thoughts.

Shan Masood - Averages 31 in tests after 20 played, but is hugely experienced in FC cricket with over 100 matches. Has three test tons.
Abid Ali - Has only played four test innings so far and got two centuries, admittedly against weak opposition. Does have twenty FC tons, so very experienced in FC cricket.
Azhar Ali - Captain. Played 78 tests, averages over 40 and has 16 test tons.
Babar Azam - Averages 45 in the test arena, and is arguably the most in-form batsman in test cricket over the past few years.
Asad Shafiq - Another experienced test player with a batting average of 40 and a dozen test tons.
Shadab Khan - Young all-rounder. Pretty low batting average, so more a bowler than a bat. Does legbreaks.
Mohammad Rizwan - Keeper. Pretty meh batting stats.
Yasir Shah - More legbreaks. Over 200 test wickets @ 30.
Shaheen Afridi - Young, left arm fast bowler. Already has 30 test wickets. Bit worried for Pakistan if he's batting at 9, though! Proper tailender.
Mohammad Abbas - Right arm medium fast bowler. Did well when he was last over in England.
Naseem Shah - Only 17 years old, but started his test career at 16 in Brisbane. Right arm fast.

Lots of talent in it.

Duty281 wrote:Pakistan's team, just a few thoughts.

Shan Masood - Averages 31 in tests after 20 played, but is hugely experienced in FC cricket with over 100 matches. Has three test tons.
Abid Ali - Has only played four test innings so far and got two centuries, admittedly against weak opposition. Does have twenty FC tons, so very experienced in FC cricket.
Azhar Ali - Captain. Played 78 tests, averages over 40 and has 16 test tons.
Babar Azam - Averages 45 in the test arena, and is arguably the most in-form batsman in test cricket over the past few years.
Asad Shafiq - Another experienced test player with a batting average of 40 and a dozen test tons.
Shadab Khan - Young all-rounder. Pretty low batting average, so more a bowler than a bat. Does legbreaks.
Mohammad Rizwan - Keeper. Pretty meh batting stats.
Yasir Shah - More legbreaks. Over 200 test wickets @ 30.
Shaheen Afridi - Young, left arm fast bowler. Already has 30 test wickets. Bit worried for Pakistan if he's batting at 9, though! Proper tailender.
Mohammad Abbas - Right arm medium fast bowler. Did well when he was last over in England.
Naseem Shah - Only 17 years old, but started his test career at 16 in Brisbane. Right arm fast.

Lots of talent in it.

Duty - you are a splendid chap. Ideal crib sheet, many thanks.

Duty281 wrote:Pakistan's team, just a few thoughts.

Shan Masood - Averages 31 in tests after 20 played, but is hugely experienced in FC cricket with over 100 matches. Has three test tons.
Abid Ali - Has only played four test innings so far and got two centuries, admittedly against weak opposition. Does have twenty FC tons, so very experienced in FC cricket.
Azhar Ali - Captain. Played 78 tests, averages over 40 and has 16 test tons.
Babar Azam - Averages 45 in the test arena, and is arguably the most in-form batsman in test cricket over the past few years.
Asad Shafiq - Another experienced test player with a batting average of 40 and a dozen test tons.
Shadab Khan - Young all-rounder. Pretty low batting average, so more a bowler than a bat. Does legbreaks.
Mohammad Rizwan - Keeper. Pretty meh batting stats.
Yasir Shah - More legbreaks. Over 200 test wickets @ 30.
Shaheen Afridi - Young, left arm fast bowler. Already has 30 test wickets. Bit worried for Pakistan if he's batting at 9, though! Proper tailender.
Mohammad Abbas - Right arm medium fast bowler. Did well when he was last over in England.
Naseem Shah - Only 17 years old, but started his test career at 16 in Brisbane. Right arm fast.

Lots of talent in it.

Yep agree - hard not to think that bowling attack doesn't win them one test at least, especially now as we're going to be batting last against Yasir...

Anderson gone past the edge of Masood numerous times already.

Looks like five out all out though ? But a pretty good five. Plenty of bowling.

Pitch a bit quicker than last week ?

alfie wrote:Looks like five out all out though ?  But a pretty good five. Plenty of bowling.

Pitch a bit quicker than last week ?

Looks a bit of a long tail, yes - like England, I suppose.

May have done Rizwan a disservice as he's got a FC average of over 40; albeit he hasn't done much in his nine test innings except for a futile 95 against a strong Aussie bowling attack late last year.

Quiet start today, Pakistan will be delighted.

done well sticking in there pakistan so far. in these conditions would like to have seen a early break through

England have a habit of getting ruined by spinners in the first test of a series. Should be good batting conditions day two for them so not a total disaster to bowl first if they can take advantage of the cloud.

Really importnat they get some wickets with these opening spells. If not Pakistan get in a very strong position.

Assume stokes won't be bowling despite the nets with the same team being selected.

Openers hanging in there. Ball doing just a bit too much at the moment.

Might be worth bringing Woakes on

Might be time for a bit of Archer and Woakes...

Yeah they've seen off the opening pair. No need to bowl anyone in long spells with four pace men.
A few balls have beaten the bat but you wouldn't say they've looked uncomfortable . I think this is a decent batting pitch and they'll want to make proper use of it...get 400 and I think England might have some problems batting second and last.

Lot of work to do to get there yet , of course ! But this has been a good start at 30/0 from 11

Starting to rain a little. Has been forecast, intermittently, throughout the day, though the other four days look dry so a result should be easily possible.

Nothing doing for England, so far. Don't think the seamers have been too consistent in terms of line and length. Could be an important test for Bess.

Root will be concerned because, as he and we learned from the West Indies series, the ball does very little after the 20 over mark with the absence of saliva.

That was the briefest of brief showers ! All done in two balls...well done umpires in staying on.might be a few more later ? Weather forecasting I looked at said 21% , 23% chances of rain at various times...

Excellent fiirst hour for Pakistan. Solid sensible batting. Bowling has been fine I think , apart from a couple of loose balls. But they've survived the good balls and not done anything silly. Might need the five bowlers this time.

Oh look what happens when Archer pitches the ball up.

Drink break and a fine full ball from Archer does for Abid Ali !

Didn't see that coming , to be honest . He'd looked very sound ; ball tailed in but surprised he just missed it...footwork too tentative ?

Welcome break for England

Going from Ian Bishop and Michael Holding on comms to Shane Warne is quite the downgrade

The value of having Archer in the side, these 4 in early conditions testing all facets of a batsmen

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Going from Ian Bishop and Michael Holding on comms to Shane Warne is quite the downgrade

Bish is very very good, really knows his stuff and Warne well...

Abid caught cheating onto his back foot a bit after the bouncer in Archers first over

Sir Chris Woakes

Good bowling from Woakes ...Azhar Ali not troubling the scorers. Not sure why he reviewed that ? Maybe hoped he'd got outside the line ; but it was a bit of a Shane Watson hope...

These drink/rain breaks are doing England some favours.

That looked out on first sight in real time. Fine bowling from Woakes.

Michael Gough is that rarity - a very good third umpire. No faffing about and clear communication.

Corr what a nut first up to Azam that was too!

Not entirely sure why Ali reviewed that. And right into Babar first up

GSC wrote:Abid caught cheating onto his back foot a bit after the bouncer in Archers first over

True. He wasn't taking the committed forward move that he'd been doing earlier...and the pitched up delivery was right through the gap. As Hussain says , it isn't easy to pick up Archer's change of length - probably his most effective weapon , to be honest , as he doesn't really move the ball away from the right handers.

I would like to see Archer use that combination of deliveries more - especially later in an innings when not much is happening. He's tended to overdo the short stuff lately , with not enough use of the fuller length. Hopefully this success will encourage him.

The sub plot to this is selections when Stokes is fit to bowl. Andersons not bowled badly, but Woakes has consistently got better results this summer despite not getting the new ball.
Early days yet in this test of course.

England needed those two wickets badly, if they can now keep chipping away and then mop up the tail with the next new ball (sooner might be pushing it a bit) they can get in a strong position. Another near chance given.

Gooseberry wrote:The sub plot to this is selections when Stokes is fit to bowl. Andersons not bowled badly, but Woakes has consistently got better results this summer despite not getting the new ball.
Early days yet in this test of course.

England needed those two wickets badly, if they can now keep chipping away and then mop up the tail with the next new ball (sooner might be pushing it a bit) they can get in a strong position. Another near chance given.

Very true, Goose. Woakes is an excellent bowler at home and Broad has been our best bowler this series. A good problem to have.

Unless it's a really dry pitch that might be dead on day 2/3 (which this one may be...) I actually think our best seam attack at home is Anderson, Broad and Woakes. Jof is an excellent bowler but those are the three I'd want in England unless the pitch looks like it might turn into a road in the middle of the match.

When Stokes can bowl I think he and Curran complement each other very well too. If it's swinging then Curran can turn a match, break partnerships and get very good batsman out. If the ball is older and not doing a lot then Stokes can bowl aggressive spells. A good contrast of strengths.

The England seam attack at home is the least of Chris Silverwood's worries basically.

king_carlos wrote:
The England seam attack at home is the least of Chris Silverwood's worries basically.

Aside from whoever he does pick someone will tell him its wrong.

Root was quite clear prior to this that they would want the paceman in, presumably because of those times on flatter wickets and occasions where they've failed to roll over tails (eg first test against the west indies when they had two pace men )

Always feel that with Anderson, Woakes, Broad theres a lack of variety, even Stokes is another notfast right armer.

Id almost wonder if we don't have a spinner that demands selection, whether the all seam attack is a viable tactic

Yeah they are spoiled for choice. Tend to agree with king_carlos re the best attack for English conditions ...but of course this year with the tight schedule rotating them makes sense. And when doing that , wear and tear is probably the main consideration ; so the medical staff should have a lot of input.
But on recent form it is hard to leave Woakes out of any combination...even if his all rounder credentials are a bit flimsy lately...

Good session for England after a tough start. Agree that Woakes should be in any first XI in home conditions.

GSC wrote:Id almost wonder if we don't have a spinner that demands selection, whether the all seam attack is a viable tactic

Till Anderson gets injured in his first over ....

I think Pakistan will be happy enough with the morning. Get the sense England have to get some breakthroughs after lunch or it could be a long evening.