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The tour of India will be Nathan Lyon's last tour. India will belt him into submission, forcing the selectors into finally giving Stephen O'Keefe a decent run as our #1 spinner.
England tour of India (5 Tests, 3 ODIs, 3 T20s)
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eth-dog
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Lyon>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>O'Keefe. Lyon is our number 1 spinner and will be for a while.
Carbine Chaos
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O'Keefe is the most underappreciated cricketer in the country. The best performing FC spinner by a mile for years.
eth-dog
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Really? I reckon it's the opposite. Everybody overrates him despite being found out at test level every time he plays.
Carbine Chaos
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He's been solid in his Test outings. Outbowled Lyon when they bowled together from what I saw.
3 tests for O'Keefe
Carbine Chaos
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Has deserved heaps more, hopefully he gets a chance in India alongside Lyon.
eth-dog
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Flattered by a good test vs the West Indies. Bowls far too flat and gets his wickets by players slogging him
Flattered by his test against the West Indies. I personally find him not up to it, plus his form of recent years hasn't been as good as it used to be.
The first question is a reasonable one given it's a bit of a contentious one. Cook has been burdened with a lot of bullshit for a long time and looks to be becoming sick of it. Root is a rare talent who has already produced outstanding consistent results with the bat and has an excellent head on his shoulders mentality wise - if his batting is anything to go by there's not much that fazes him. As far as I know however he's got bugger all experience in the role other than a couple of games for Yorkshire which didn't go to plan (Middlesex chased down 400 on the last day IIRC), so it's not as though he's a ready made replacement.
To then verge onto the second question, I think without doubt Cook will be there as he has had another quality year which is unsurprising for a player of his calibre. I reckon he might be best off relinquishing the captaincy prior to their next series to ensure Root at least gets a good summer in to learn. Even that might not be enough, but the risk of Cook's captaincy and mentality being jaded due to all of the pressure heaped on him is pretty high IMO particularly with the Proteas being the preceding tourists next English summer.
I would also expect to see Anderson, he cleaned up in the home tests and will still be a big threat on our shores.
The overall premise for the article The Problem with England's fondness for allrounders is reasonable, but the call:
Is honestly one of more ridiculous examples used to justify his point I have ever read:
Over the course of their subcontinental tour this spring/summer he has scores of:
68, 117, 50, 44 and 146
and then with the ball contributions of:
3/75, 2/60, 5/57, 3/98
He isn't a blue chip batsman but performances such as that in test matches away from home comfortably commands a spot in their lineup without even taking into consideration the more than handy spin option he offers.
Is honestly one of more ridiculous examples used to justify his point I have ever read:
Over the course of their subcontinental tour this spring/summer he has scores of:
68, 117, 50, 44 and 146
and then with the ball contributions of:
3/75, 2/60, 5/57, 3/98
He isn't a blue chip batsman but performances such as that in test matches away from home comfortably commands a spot in their lineup without even taking into consideration the more than handy spin option he offers.
Doss
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The premise is fine, but no, Moeen and Stokes have both earned spots.
However, I think Moeen in particular is batting too high at five.
However, I think Moeen in particular is batting too high at five.
Yeah agreed but I think that was more due to it being the Subcontinent though and accommodating the second spinner.
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He batted four this series. I'm not convinced he is a long term test batsmen, but he did well enough in this series to get another crack there.
That articlefrom Manjreker was pretty good. Fortunately, we don't have as many options as England have for that sort of role. The temptation won't be there for our selectors. I would still be looking at Agar to play that sort of role and I think one is OK. England have four or five in that role which does nothing for them.
eth-dog
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I think England really need to find a pure bat for #4 that can average 40. Their best line-up for me is:
Cook
Jennings
Root
Gubbins
Bairstow (+)
Ali
Stokes
Rashid
Broad
Roland-Jones
Anderson
I really rate TRL. He's 28 and has over 300 wickets in FC cricket. Not sure what Ball brings to the table in comparison. Reece Topley is another I like, brings something different to the Broad-Stokes-Anderson trio.
Cook
Jennings
Root
Gubbins
Bairstow (+)
Ali
Stokes
Rashid
Broad
Roland-Jones
Anderson
I really rate TRL. He's 28 and has over 300 wickets in FC cricket. Not sure what Ball brings to the table in comparison. Reece Topley is another I like, brings something different to the Broad-Stokes-Anderson trio.
Gubbins & Roland-Jones, can't say I've heard of them.
eth-dog
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Gubbins is a 22 year old bat who averages 40 in FC cricket, and captained the English Lions (their Australia A equivalent) on their tour of the UAE, although played Afghanistan in that game. Also made 125 and 93 in the last county game which was to win the Championships.
Toby Roland-Jones is a 28 year old bowling all-rounder who averages 22 with the bat and 25 with the ball. Took 10-for in the same county match, including a hattrick in the second dig. The pair of them arguably won them the Championship this year.
Looks like yet another change for the sake of change approach.
Roland-Jones is good, but can't justify him leapfrogging Woakes, Ball, Plunkett and Finn at this point in time.
Why has Hameed mysteriously disappeared?
In any case for number four, I think they were on the right track in promoting Duckett after a year of spectacular and consistent performances in county & Lions tours. Whilst he was found out by the trials of spin on Indian wickets, I still think he should be under consideration for the visiting Proteas if he starts the summer well.
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I think both Hameed and Jennings will hold their spots in the top three. One will have to bat #3. Can't see Cook hanging on to the captaincy. He looks completely jaded and I can't recall many captain's saying another bloke is ready to take over unless they are ready to give it up.
That may or may not give him a new lease on life with cricket.
That may or may not give him a new lease on life with cricket.
Do you think Cook is a chance to drop down to #3 with Root at #4?
I was impressed by both Hameed & Jennings when they were opening. Might ease the pressure on Cook a bit and could find himself a few innings where he's coming in at 1/50 and the ball isn't nipping around quite as much as he tends to knick off a fair bit. Cook still has the solid defence of a No.3 and an opener if there is an early wicket.
I dunno Ponting was hot and cold dropping to 4
True, but that was also a struggling Ponting who was definitely passed it. Cook still is only 30/31? still has plenty of good cricket left in him I reckon. Just needs to give the captaincy to Root and I think we will see him churning out the runs again.
mugiwara
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I think Hameed should come down at #3. He has a solid defence technique.
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