England v India, 1st Test, Trent Bridge, 9-13 July, 2014

Likely XIs?

Well, you can leave out Woakes for a start!

Wonder what they'll do with Stokes. By rights, he should be batting at seven and bowling as the 4th seamer, but are they really going pop Prior down to eight? And can Stokes really be the 4th bowler in just a four man attack?

I suppose Jordan has made it easy for him by going wicketless in the last match - it's not like they'll feel like they're losing anything by giving him the old heave ho.

Still, an attack of a declining Anderson, perennially limping Stuart Broad, Liam "bang it in" Plunkett and Stokes doesn't look too amazing on paper, especially if TB is as dead a surface as it was in last year's Ashes.

Has Stokes been injured? I would've thought he was an auto inclusion in the England XI after his breakthrough tour last Aus summer.

Dello wrote:Wonder what they'll do with Stokes. By rights, he should be batting at seven and bowling as the 4th seamer, but are they really going pop Prior down to eight? And can Stokes really be the 4th bowler in just a four man attack?

I suppose Jordan has made it easy for him by going wicketless in the last match - it's not like they'll feel like they're losing anything by giving him the old heave ho.

Still, an attack of a declining Anderson, perennially limping Stuart Broad, Liam "bang it in" Plunkett and Stokes doesn't look too amazing on paper, especially if TB is as dead a surface as it was in last year's Ashes.  

Not sure I follow, Dello - unless I am being more than usually thick.

Won't Stokes just replace Chris Jordan, simple as that? (Or Plunkett, if there's no prospect of effective bounce.) What's wrong with Stokes as a fourth quick? The bigger worry on other surfaces is the shortage of penetrative spin. Moeen may be 0.5 or 0.75, Root 0.25 or 0.5 of an international spinner at this point, but times will come very shortly when they need a bigger decimal.

Regarding TB: Well, if it's an uncooked pudding, it won't suit anyone. But Anderson and Broad will be relishing a go on almost any other likely surface there, I'd have thought.

And as for Stokes or Prior having to go down to 8: I'd have thought it's better to have a tail like a hawk than one like a croc.

skully wrote:Has Stokes been injured? I would've thought he was an auto inclusion in  the England XI after his breakthrough tour last Aus summer.

Is this a wind-up, Skulls?

The "hand smashed in frustration" story has come up on FB numerous times!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/england/10699164/Ben-Stokes-ruled-out-of-of-Twenty20-World-Cup-after-fracturing-hand-from-punching-locker.html

Since when, his comeback has been only recent.

No wind up, Pete. I was unaware. Had other more pressing matters distracting me at the time.   

Likely India XI

Vijay
Dhawan
Pujara
Kohli
Rahane
*+ Dhoni
Jadeja
Binny
S Ahmed
P Singh
I Sharma

Hope they pick Kumar/Pandey/Aaron in place of I Sharma.

PeterCS wrote:

Dello wrote:Wonder what they'll do with Stokes. By rights, he should be batting at seven and bowling as the 4th seamer, but are they really going pop Prior down to eight? And can Stokes really be the 4th bowler in just a four man attack?

I suppose Jordan has made it easy for him by going wicketless in the last match - it's not like they'll feel like they're losing anything by giving him the old heave ho.

Still, an attack of a declining Anderson, perennially limping Stuart Broad, Liam "bang it in" Plunkett and Stokes doesn't look too amazing on paper, especially if TB is as dead a surface as it was in last year's Ashes.  

Not sure I follow, Dello - unless I am being more than usually thick.

Won't Stokes just replace Chris Jordan, simple as that? (Or Plunkett, if there's no prospect of effective bounce.) What's wrong with Stokes as a fourth quick?

I'd say Jordan's a specialist bowler with a bit of batting as his second string. I wouldn't class Stokes as a frontline bowler yet. He's still at the bits-n-bobsy stage of his career. Can chip in with bat and/or ball here and there, but not with any great consistency. He's ideal as a 5th option in an attack with 4 other specialists (three seamers and a spinner, or two seamers and two spinners), but I think if he comes in for Jordan, England are basically going with just three out-and-out specialist bowlers.

Jordan is a bowler, regardless of the last match. He's no batsman.

Ben Stokes is neither a batsman or a bowler.

philcric wrote:Likely India XI

Vijay
Dhawan
Pujara
Kohli
Rahane
*+ Dhoni
Jadeja
Binny
S Ahmed
P Singh
I Sharma

Hope they pick Kumar/Pandey/Aaron in place of I Sharma.

Most likely. Though Dhoni coming in at 6 in England is a worry.

skully wrote:Likely XIs?

XI Cook clones for Engerlund.

Is this guy's hair freal?

Or is that Krusty wig on an egg a comment on England's performances v SL?

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/video_audio/756273.html



Incidentally, he has one v good line. The set-up about various England batsmen's vulnerability to various types of bowling.

You know that punchline is coming, but there's nothing you can do to stop it.

Basil wrote:Well, you can leave out Woakes for a start!

He's put on a "yard and a half" of pace this season, according to Bears' skipper Jim Troughton. Not a half yard (what's that, 2-3mph?). Not a full yard. A whacking great yard and a half.

Should be winging them down at 90mph. Great stuff.

There is no way - literally no way - he'll still be bowling 80mph dobbers. No way.

Two matches isn't enough for Jordan. But he has hittable spells and the Indian batsmen could make mincemeat of him.

I'll be stunned if we get any green wickets, unless we have a massive downpour for an extended spell, because there hasn't been enough rain.

It's also not likely that any ground that has paid for the privilege of hosting an India test is going to prepare a wicket that could make the Test match only last three days.

There's only two winners in this series - India and boredom. Both could be on the cards.

Dello wrote:

Basil wrote:Well, you can leave out Woakes for a start!

He's put on a "yard and a half" of pace this season, according to Bears' skipper Jim Troughton. Not a half yard (what's that, 2-3mph?). Not a full yard. A whacking great yard and a half.

Should be winging them down at 90mph. Great stuff.

There is no way - literally no way - he'll still be bowling 80mph dobbers. No way.

A yard of pace. One of the more nebulous cricket comments. Right up with the ball got big on him and he bowls a heavy ball. Totally unexplainable but we all know what it means.

His stats, again, are undeniable - 34 wickets @ 18.

Brass Monkey wrote:His stats, again, are undeniable - 34 wickets @ 18.

I deny them.

Jack Shantry, 32 wickets @ 22.

F*cking dobbers...

Yeah, and if they picked on pure county stats David Masters would have played a load of Tests... with bowlers perhaps even more than batsmen you have to look beyond FC stats, there's a question to be asked as to whether they will get top class batsmen out and get wickets in unfavourable conditions. Someone who averages sub-25 in county cricket might average double that if they played Tests around the world where the ball doesn't swing.

And conversely, there are players who rise to the challenge and occasion, relish big matches (few Tests are not), and benefit from Test-class wickets.

Dello wrote:

Brass Monkey wrote:His stats, again, are undeniable - 34 wickets @ 18.

I deny them.

Jack Shantry, 32 wickets @ 22.

F*cking dobbers...

Shantry's run-up, like a tazered lesbian cuttlefish, would blow the Indian batsmen's minds to such an extent that they'd think that Rosie Huntingdon-BlahBlah looks like Lou Beale. It's a ploy too high-brow for the likes of James Chocolate

Jack Brooks?

Which one?

The Yorkshireman.

Lou Beale? Give her a gander of the Eiffel Tower if you want, I'm keeping my general in his bunker...