England v South Africa, 1st ICCCT Semi Final, The Oval, 19 June, 2013

both the yarps and poms have not enjoyed as much success as they should have over the past 20 years in the shorter forms of the game

I've decided I'm just going to enjoy the skill of Jimmeh with the ball in the Ashes. I tip him to take 30 wickets in the 5 English Tests - 4 of those will be Phil Hughes in the first 2 Tests (caught at 2nd slip or gully) before Bernie wakes up and gives him the arse. Unfortch the old bag of bones will probably replace him with David Warner.

Brass Monkey wrote:

PeterCS wrote:

PeterCS wrote:Trott 58 off 67. Drop the slow, slow bastard.

82 off 84. Get Hales or someone in there. At least he'd get the shit scoring rate up.

Bringing something up on one of the few occasions he does his job to his fullest extent is pretty banal to say the least. Grow up.

Elegant comeback? ~ Or might you give us a break, and stop brainwashing yourself with a repetitious bombardment of bullshit about a shit team of shit players playing shit because they are shit (etc.)? And examine and differentiate the realityyou claim to be so good at telling "as it is"?

Most would agree that a couple of these players are not and will not be up to limited-overs (maybe also not up to Tests either), and that three, maybe even four others have been playing too often without enough intelligence .... or else (controversial? chirpy?) have been showing poor confidence and/or form. Exasperating? Yep. Shit? ....

Anyway - Trott's record in this comp:

1. 43 @ 77
2. 76 @ 87
3. 8 @ 133 - the one failure, but not of slowness. Maybe the opposite (rashness), in a 23 over chase.
4. 82* @ 98

And FWIW the ODIs v NZ before that:

1. 37 @ 70
2. 109* @ 105
3. 37 @ 70

Decent 'platform-building' contributions, mostly, and improving. The evidence suggests he is taking to a different format from the area of his natural talent and application, Tests, where he has been one of England's most valuable players. ~ Of course, it may all be a trap, a false dawn, and - for once - he'll block the shit out of it for 25 overs and 10 runs in the final. Or crawl/rush to a duck. We can all screech then..  

But the consistent evidence is he has not been a blocker over the last period of time. And has contributed more to his team's effort than most batsmen in this competition. ~ Or is your own grim, faulty-record propaganda more important than facts?

horace wrote:both the yarps and poms have not enjoyed as much success as they should have over the past 20 years in the shorter forms of the game

Maybe. But Sri Lanka, more rarely WI, have been less good in Tests. And India have had the unfair advantage of the IPL.

As for Oz, they had the team, the grit, the application.

Dello wrote:Ian Bell's stint as opener this tournament. Runs @ 35, s/r 74 (the lowest in the side by miles).

When Pietersen comes back, surely Malteser Man has to be put out of our misery to accommodate him. Cook, we're stuck with. Trott's nailed on. Root's doing well and providing a bowling option. Ditto Bopara (feels like an out of body experience writing that).

The only two spots up for grabs are Morgan, who's struggling a bit but has won matches for England, or Bell, who is doing the usual flattering to deceive crap and has won no matches for anyone.

Well said. I know who I would have poised over the trapdoor. (Well, and a bowler too.)

skully wrote:Well done England. Looked downright scarey with the ball until the 9th wicket stand. And obviously the batting did as required. All falling into place nicely for the Ashes.

With England, falling into place is always uncomfortably close to falling apart!

taipan wrote:He is. Also overweight and a liability in the field

Point taken.

I was just going on the basis that he was one of the two bowlers who seemed to have a clue.

PeterCS wrote:Elegant comeback? ~ ...
1. 43 @ 77
2. 76 @ 87
3. 8 @ 133 - the one failure, but not of slowness. Maybe the opposite (rashness), in a 23 over chase.
4. 82* @ 98

And FWIW the ODIs v NZ before that:

1. 37 @ 70
2. 109* @ 105
3. 37 @ 70

Decent 'platform-building' contributions, mostly, and improving. The evidence suggests he is taking to a different format from the area of his natural talent and application, Tests, where he has been one of England's most valuable players. ~ Of course, it may all be a trap, a false dawn, and - for once - he'll block the shit out of it for 25 overs and 10 runs in the final. Or crawl/rush to a duck. We can all screech then..

But the consistent evidence is he has not been a blocker over the last period of time. And has contributed more to his team's effort than most batsmen in this competition. ~ Or is your own grim, faulty-record propaganda more important than facts?

Haven't got a problem with Trott, as such. As I said the other day, his record is undeniable - but, as I've always said, I've got a problem with the top three as a collective. The ironic thing is that, for once, he looked to score in the powerplays, and did, to an extent. Good. It's what we've all been asking for.