England v Australia, 4th Test, Trent Bridge, 06-10 August 2015

Dunno if it's been discussed but Moeen to open? Has this been considered?

I mooted it. People didn't want to subscribe to my newsletter

Not-so-great minds eh? Seems to have the grit and concentration. Worth a go.

Just a bit loose still probably, granted he isn't having to really grind it out at number 8, but he does have experience up the order and has largely sorted out the short ball problem

I'm glad we mooted it. It felt un-mooted.

Apparently Wood is struggling in his race to be fit for thursday. Only bowled for 25 minutes in the nets yesterday. If he's ruled out then Footitt will likely make his debut.

Well, tough ask for him to come into this situation but he knows the ground and would add some variety to the attack.

It always seems less of a gamble handing a debut to a bowler rather than a batsman in these situations. I think a Footitt gamble is worth it in this test anyway. We still have the Oval if things go pear-shaped here. (Although I hope England don't have that mindset)

They're on about Plunkett, for experience's sake... Don't get me wrong, I rate his bowling - just who cares how little cricket he's played, about match fitness, as long as he can draw on his experience from 2006.

Yeah, and he was shit back then... he's a "bang it in" bowler, as well, which is the last thing we need at Trent Bridge. Has 0-100 written all over him there.

beamer wrote:Yeah, and he was shit back then... he's a "bang it in" bowler, as well, which is the last thing we need at Trent Bridge. Has 0-100 written all over him there.

He'll only come on to bowl when Rogers and Smith are well set, the pitch is flat, the sun is baking and made to go around the wicket and bang it in for a 9 over spell.

So, between my daughter's whinging about her stressful life (just starting a new job in UK) did I hear correctly that Jimmeh and maybe Woody are out of T4?? So is this when Sturat takes 14 wkts in a Test??

skully wrote:So, between my daughter's whinging about her stressful life (just starting a new job in UK) did I hear correctly that Jimmeh and maybe Woody are out of T4?? So is this when Sturat takes 14 wkts in a Test??

Jammy's out. 100%. Haven't heard an update on Wood since Bayliss said a few days ago he was confident he'd pull up okay.

Could be Plunkett or debutant Mark Footitt lining up. Crazy days.

Dello wrote:

skully wrote:So, between my daughter's whinging about her stressful life (just starting a new job in UK) did I hear correctly that Jimmeh and maybe Woody are out of T4?? So is this when Sturat takes 14 wkts in a Test??

Jammy's out. 100%. Haven't heard an update on Wood since Bayliss said a few days ago he was confident he'd pull up okay.

Could be Plunkett or debutant Mark Footitt lining up. Crazy days.

Crazy days? Crazy days?? Talk about sensationalist. You want crazy days? Chris Woakes lining up. Chris Woakes and his Partridge-esque grin, lining up to take on these marauding Australian batsmen with his up-and-down, airy, nothingness filth. Not crazy enough? How about loveable Timothy Thomas Bresnan lining up? Dibbly-dobbly Brezzy Lad with his tea-making skills and his many anecdotes about wooly jumpers, farting down 79mph leg-side dogshit against the likes of Warner and Smith. THEY are crazy days.

It was a repressed memory, England going into an actual Ashes Test with Woakes and Simon Kerrigan making their debuts. That happened. And we all let it happen.

For shame.

Christ, is Liam Plunkett seriously still around smelling up the England test set up? Does he still try and remodel his bowling action after every delivery?

Footitt eh? I swear he was in my sig on the old C4 forum as one of my 3 to watch for the future in 2005 along with Stuart Broad. I forget who the third was now.

England will play safe and select Plunkett for sure.

Yeah, Kerrigan's Match, the day we let the Aussies off the hook. Even though we nearly won it anyway. Taking the piss, not to mention leaving it on the pitch afterwards. We soon got taught a lesson in the second half of that ten-match Ashes series.

JKLever wrote:Christ, is Liam Plunkett seriously still around smelling up the England test set up? Does he still try and remodel his bowling action after every delivery?

Footitt eh? I swear he was in my sig on the old C4 forum as one of my 3 to watch for the future in 2005 along with Stuart Broad. I forget who the third was now.

England will play safe and select Plunkett for sure.

Speaking of signatures... your blip theory's gone up in flames with a 3-0 and a 0-5 to add to the list.

JKLever wrote:Christ, is Liam Plunkett seriously still around smelling up the England test set up? Does he still try and remodel his bowling action after every delivery?

Footitt eh? I swear he was in my sig on the old C4 forum as one of my 3 to watch for the future in 2005 along with Stuart Broad. I forget who the third was now.

England will play safe and select Plunkett for sure.

No, he's a different bowler now... bit more steep, bit more bustle. He was used as a battering ram on dead tracks by Cook last year, who has pretty much turned out to be the worst captain I have seen.

He's looked a bit more competent since being freed from the shackles of Flower/Moores cricket-by-numbers... while he will never be one of the great natural innovative captains he's at least not looking a constant liability in the role any more.

Maybe it's the more experience he's got now, maybe it's the Strauss positivity mandate but yes, he's improved slightly. Until now he's been awful. No-one can say it's not down to him. It's all down to him. You could even see it in the second Test - if it hasn't gone according to plan he doesn't know what to do. It's been an awful two years, when he's largely not been making any runs and shelling dollies. People have short memories.

Apparently Footitt and Plunkett both impressed in the net session and Wood bowled sharply. Decent backups all in all. You could take all 5 with you in the winter. 

The pitch is apparently much more like the Edgbaston pitch than the other two at the moment

Well, not saying he's the finished article yet, or indeed ever will be. But we're no longer desperate enough to be calling for them to throw in an uncapped captain who's half decent in county cricket, or go with the one-day captain who isn't really even pushing for a Test spot as a batsman, or promote the next man in line who really doesn't need the responsibility yet.

The overall mindset always seemed to come from the top, we just about accepted it when we were generally winning with Strauss as captain, but "stick to the script and wait for the opposition to throw in the towel" doesn't work when the opposition have any substance to them.

What's the flamingbails opinion on Wood? I only saw the highlights of the Cardiff test.

Generally looks pretty lively, certainly made an impression in the NZ series. Concerns about his physical durability though, needs handling with caution. England selectors not exactly kmown for that though.