England tour of India (5 Tests, 3 ODIs, 3 T20s)

[Pykie]

The Ashes this year are going to be fascinating.

Both sides are in similar positions in a bit of a transitional period, with plenty of young players who have started their careers well.

Both sides have 2 genuine gun batsmen (Cook/Root vs Warner/Smith) and 2 decent fast bowlers.

Going to be fairly close imo.

 

[JG22]

The Ashes this year are going to be fascinating.

Both sides are in similar positions in a bit of a transitional period, with plenty of young players who have started their careers well.

Both sides have 2 genuine gun batsmen (Cook/Root vs Warner/Smith) and 2 decent fast bowlers.

Going to be fairly close imo.

The second tier batsman will be fascinating and may shape who wins it. We know Root, Smith will score runs...

Stokes, Bairstow v Khawaja, Handscomb

 

[eth-dog]

England have a massive advantage of having:

1. Bairstow; A keeper who can bat top 5
2. Ali and Stoke; two genuine top 7 bats who are bowlers as well.

Having 6 bowling options can't be underestimated. Wouldn't be surprised to see Jack Leach get a tour over here either. Left Arm Orthodox, took 65 wickets this year at 21 and has a career average of a tad under 26.

 

[Hellgood]

England have a massive advantage of having:

1. Bairstow; A keeper who can bat top 5
2. Ali and Stoke; two genuine top 7 bats who are bowlers as well.

Having 6 bowling options can't be underestimated. Wouldn't be surprised to see Jack Leach get a tour over here either. Left Arm Orthodox, took 65 wickets this year at 21 and has a career average of a tad under 26.

Had a sensational year numbers wise.

Both Rogers and the England hierarchy were both pretty honest about him not quite being mentally ready for the step up though. Should be in the frame, but it would take a change in selection philosophy to justify picking him ahead of Moeen and Rashid who've been doing enough and allow for accommodating another specialist paceman/seamer.

 

[eth-dog]

Had a sensational year numbers wise.

Both Rogers and the England hierarchy were both pretty honest about him not quite being mentally ready for the step up though. Should be in the frame, but it would take a change in selection philosophy to justify picking him ahead of Moeen and Rashid who've been doing enough and allow for accommodating another specialist paceman/seamer.

Rashid averages 43 and has an ER of 3.8, so he might the get the flick if he doesn't perform next year.

 

[Pykie]

England have a massive advantage of having:

1. Bairstow; A keeper who can bat top 5
2. Ali and Stoke; two genuine top 7 bats who are bowlers as well.

Having 6 bowling options can't be underestimated. Wouldn't be surprised to see Jack Leach get a tour over here either. Left Arm Orthodox, took 65 wickets this year at 21 and has a career average of a tad under 26.

Agreed, there's a few things Australia's way though.

1. Warner is the best batsmen in his home conditions in the world.
2. Anderson has traditionally struggled in Australia, Root is yet to score any runs here.
3. Smith is a demi-god in Australia.
4. Starc is the best bowler of the 2 sides, especially on flat pitches.

 

[Doss]

Agreed, there's a few things Australia's way though.

1. Warner is the best batsmen in his home conditions in the world.
2. Anderson has traditionally struggled in Australia, Root is yet to score any runs here.
3. Smith is a demi-god in Australia.

He hardly struggled in 2010-11.

 

[Pykie]

He hardly struggled in 2010-11.

He averages 38.44 in Aus, with his BB being 4/44.

My point being he's not the same bowler as he is at home.

 

[Doss]

He averages 38.44 in Aus, with his BB being 4/44.

My point being he's not the same bowler as he is at home.

That he is definitely not, what with the lack of swing in comparison to England; but the memory of him cutting us to pieces at Melbourne in 2010 is still seared into my memory I suppose.

 

[eth-dog]

He averages 38.44 in Aus, with his BB being 4/44.

My point being he's not the same bowler as he is at home.

If you take out 2006/07 (where he was quite frankly not ready) he averages 32.6, so it does change a lot.

 

[Doss]

If you take out 2006/07 (where he was quite frankly not ready) he averages 32.6, so it does change a lot.

Flintoff's use of the fourth seamer (after himself, Harmison and Hoggard) on that tour was appalling. Whether it be Anderson or Sajid Mahmood, they'd basically be whistled up from fine leg for the odd over then sent away again.

I remember him playing ODIs here in 2002/03, but didn't play a Test.

 

[eth-dog]

Flintoff's use of the fourth seamer (after himself, Harmison and Hoggard) on that tour was appalling. Whether it be Anderson or Sajid Mahmood, they'd basically be whistled up from fine leg for the odd over then sent away again.

I remember him playing ODIs here in 2002/03, but didn't play a Test.

He made his ODI debut in 2003 in England so that can't be right.

 

[Doss]

He made his ODI debut in 2003 in England so that can't be right.

Nah, debuted in ODIs against Australia at Melbourne in December 2002.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/8608.html

 

[eth-dog]

Nah, debuted in ODIs against Australia at Melbourne in December 2002.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/8608.html

Woops, was looking at the test part instead of ODI's...

 

[Doss]

Woops, was looking at the test part instead of ODI's...

I well remember Anderson batting and looking like a hapless deer in headlights in one of the ODI finals that season, when Brett Lee bowled one of the better mini-spells ODI spells I can remember.

Ended up being run out by Gilchrist when he stepped out of his crease after playing and missing a ball.

How times change.

 

[Pykie]

I well remember Anderson batting and looking like a hapless deer in headlights in one of the ODI finals that season, when Brett Lee bowled one of the better mini-spells ODI spells I can remember.

Ended up being run out by Gilchrist when he stepped out of his crease after playing and missing a ball.

How times change.

I think Australia's advantage will be the third quick as well.

We've got a lot of depth there, with a few really good young prospects in the shield and Pattinson/Cummins to come back. Bird is a better 3rd option than what England have imo.

 

[corbies]

I think Australia's advantage will be the third quick as well.

We've got a lot of depth there, with a few really good young prospects in the shield and Pattinson/Cummins to come back. Bird is a better 3rd option than what England have imo.

I think its arguable that Woakes is a better bowler then Bird. They have a fair bit of depth there too with Wood, Plunkett, Finn and Ball.

 

[eth-dog]

I think its arguable that Woakes is a better bowler then Bird. They have a fair bit of depth there too with Wood, Plunkett, Finn and Ball.

Woakes: 17 tests, 48 wickets @ 29, ER 3.07, SR 57.2
Bird: 8 tests, 34 wickets @ 27, ER 3.19, SR 51.5

 

[mugiwara]

MSD steps down as captain from ODI and T20I.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/story/1075558.html

 

[mugiwara]

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-england-2016-17/content/story/1075923.html?CMP=chrome

So Yuvraj and Dhawan gets another chance. Although Dhawan might be a back up, interesting to see few names there. Yuvi, raina, Nehra and young Rishabh Pant. Interesting to see where MSD plays as Yuvi normally plays at #4. I would have liked MSD play there but with Yuvi in the team, MSD might play in his normal position. It will be tricky for Kohli to pick the line up as he has got few players who can't be dropped and few players who should play but difficult to pick due to seniors blocking them.

 

[ioppolo]

Back to Suresh Raina they go.

 

[mugiwara]

Back to Suresh Raina they go.

Ya. Going back to Raina, Yuvraj is disappointing. Nehra was amazing in WC, but he should go now. He is too old to play next WC. I don't understand why they picked him.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

Pant is a gun.

 

[mugiwara]

Pant is a gun.

Ya. He is supposed to be the next wicket keeper. He has performed well in U19 and in IPL. But he needs to play more domestic cricket before being a regular in senior team.

 

[akkaps]

I thought we'd seen he last of Raina after Dhoni dropped the captaincy.