England tour of the West Indies 2019 (3 Tests, 5 ODIs and 3 T20s)

[PhatBoy]

Have to wonder if Gayle has made the right call to retire from ODIs after the World Cup when he's in such great form.

Probably best to bow out on a high though rather than try to hang on too long like Dhoni has.

Seems an odd call given dhoni has already won his side two odi matches this year, is averaging 150 after 7 matches, and across 20 games in 2017 averaged 60.

 

[Plugger35]

Seems an odd call given dhoni has already won his side two odi matches this year, is averaging 150 after 7 matches, and across 20 games in 2017 averaged 60.

He's not the player he was at his peak though and he's been criticised for scoring too slowly but as long as India are winning games it probably doesn't matter.

 

[ioppolo]

He's not the player he was at his peak though and he's been criticised for scoring too slowly but as long as India are winning games it probably doesn't matter.

Indians on FB & Reddit are very divided on him right now. If he costs them a knockout World Cup match the s**t storm will be one for the ages

 

[PhatBoy]

He's not the player he was at his peak though and he's been criticised for scoring too slowly but as long as India are winning games it probably doesn't matter.

It’s worth remembering though that his role has completely changed from what it was 6-7 years ago at his peak.

At that stage he was the fulcrum of the batting order, the one who everything was built around. He scored faster and set the tone for his side.

There’s a fellow batting a spot or two above him now that has taken that role - quite successfully.

Dhoni is now the finisher and resurrecter of innings.

 

[Plugger35]

It’s worth remembering though that his role has completely changed from what it was 6-7 years ago at his peak.

At that stage he was the fulcrum of the batting order, the one who everything was built around. He scored faster and set the tone for his side.

There’s a fellow batting a spot or two above him now that has taken that role - quite successfully.

Dhoni is now the finisher and resurrecter of innings.

No doubt his experience in ODI run chases is still valuable, he still knows how to pace an innings even if he doesn't have the hitting power he once had.

 

[to1994]

Dhoni is not a finisher anymore. He's now the specialist chaser when the opposition has made below 250, that's about it.

He's still a great keeper though and with his form being decent enough since touring here with the bat he's their best choice for the WC. Will be comical if he doesn't retire after it though while I could see Gayle still participating in at least one more t20 WC.

 

[Plugger35]

Dhoni is not a finisher anymore. He's now the specialist chaser when the opposition has made below 250, that's about it.

He's still a great keeper though and with his form being decent enough since touring here with the bat he's their best choice for the WC. Will be comical if he doesn't retire after it though while I could see Gayle still participating in at least one more t20 WC.

Yeah he's OK chasing totals like the one last night but you wouldn't count on him to chase down totals over 300 these days.

 

[Damon_3388]

Chris Henry Gayle's last 5 ODI innings - 497 runs (2 hundreds, 3 fifties), 99.40 average, 130.10 strike rate, 5.46 balls per boundary (26 fours, 44 sixes).

Hard to remember a batsman bowing out with such complete dominance, although part of the freedom and adventurousness may have come with the pressure release of knowing that he's retiring. Still, he's bowing out on top, on his terms, which is cool to see.

 

[Woody15]

Just watching the replay of the Windies innings. Not taking anything away from Gayle but that decision to call a no ball when Gayle was caught on 31 was a terrible one.

Then hits a six. Ouch.

 

[PhatBoy]

Just watching the replay of the Windies innings. Not taking anything away from Gayle but that decision to call a no ball when Gayle was caught on 31 was a terrible one.

Then hits a six. Ouch.

It was and it wasn’t. It was clearly going to be well above his shoulders and probably his head standing on the crease line - it was borderline where he actually ended up playing it.
It’s one of those ones like when a batsman walks across his stumps so the bowler fires it even wider than normal, it’s outside the tramlines so even though the batsman can actually reach it, it may still be called a wide.

 

[Park cricketer]

Think England are still massive favourites for the world cup simply for the reason that no team can out bat them on flat tracks, which is probably going to be the theme in the world cup.

But this should serve as a timely reminder for England. We have all been seeing cricket for so many years and it's simply impossible to keep attacking and be successful on a wicket that has a lot in them for the bowlers against an attack that can utilise that. England went in as the favourites to win the champions trophy on the back of some incredible past form but it came unstuck against Pakistan in the semifinals on a wearing used wicket at Cardiff which gripped a lot and shot making was difficult. Here again, there was a lot of pace and bounce in the wicket and the West Indians used that in a way that's reminiscent of their glory days in the 80s.

Think England should guard against being one dimensional and realise that 350+ totals may not always be the need of the hour and sometimes 230-250 might be enough on some surfaces. That said, England should still win the world cup unless they encounter a wicket that's similar to the Cardiff one against an asian team. I'm not sure if fresh wickets are used for the knockout matches or the same wickets from the group stages though. That would have a lot of influence in the later stages of the world cup. If used wickets are utilised for the knockout matches, then that should favour the asian teams. If fresh wickets are used, they're more likely to be flat and theoretically, England should be the outright favourites in those sort of conditions.

 

[Park cricketer]

Dhoni is someone who would be a massive liability in the England side for most matches if he played for them.

Ironically though, this England side could do with a Dhoni in their side in situations like this to provide a different gear. He would scratch around here and there, slowly accumulating and provide a final little boost in the end to drag the team total above 200 which would be something to bowl at. Currently though, England have an incredible 4th and 5th gear but lack a more stable lower gear required for the rocky situations. Buttler is probably the only guy who is capable of adapting like he did in that last ODI vs Australia in England. Root obviously is another one too.

 

[Ishikawa]

Dhoni is someone who would be a massive liability in the England side for most matches if he played for them.

Ironically though, this England side could do with a Dhoni in their side in situations like this to provide a different gear. He would scratch around here and there, slowly accumulating and provide a final little boost in the end to drag the team total above 200 which would be something to bowl at. Currently though, England have an incredible 4th and 5th gear but lack a more stable lower gear required for the rocky situations. Buttler is probably the only guy who is capable of adapting like he did in that last ODI vs Australia in England. Root obviously is another one too.

I was thinking one of Root & Morgan ideally would be playing that anchor role. But it rarely seems to work that way with the English, they either feast like kings or the wheels fall completely off as they did again this morning.

 

[Ishikawa]

Chris Henry Gayle's last 5 ODI innings - 497 runs (2 hundreds, 3 fifties), 99.40 average, 130.10 strike rate, 5.46 balls per boundary (26 fours, 44 sixes).

Hard to remember a batsman bowing out with such complete dominance, although part of the freedom and adventurousness may have come with the pressure release of knowing that he's retiring. Still, he's bowing out on top, on his terms, which is cool to see.

Kumar was (similarly) utterly unreal through the 2015 World Cup, his last ten ODI knocks...


http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...=2;template=results;type=batting;view=innings

That's some run of form! Would love to see Gayle go out with a massive World Cup too (hopefully on a winning note).

 

[Plugger35]

Kumar was (similarly) utterly unreal through the 2015 World Cup, his last ten ODI knocks...

View attachment 628469
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...=2;template=results;type=batting;view=innings

That's some run of form! Would love to see Gayle go out with a massive World Cup too (hopefully on a winning note).

Yeah if NZ don't win the World Cup I'd like to see the West Indies win it to send Gayle out on winning note, he's been one of my favourite batsmen to watch.

Hard to think of a batsman that could hit the ball with more brute force than him when he's in the zone, he just demolishes bowling attacks.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

Had to laugh last night. Gayle made 77 in 27 balls, game just about over. A camera spots Gayle sitting with his team mates and Bumble says, "What's he still doing here, I thought he had a bus to catch"

 

[PhatBoy]

Yeah if NZ don't win the World Cup I'd like to see the West Indies win it to send Gayle out on winning note, he's been one of my favourite batsmen to watch.

Hard to think of a batsman that could hit the ball with more brute force than him when he's in the zone, he just demolishes bowling attacks.

It’s amazing to watch, some of his shots are just furious and all muscle and hard swinging. Others, like his little pick-up shot over mid-wicket, are some of the most effortless distance-to-bat-swing shots you would ever see

 

[footyfan1978]

Have to wonder if Gayle has made the right call to retire from ODIs after the World Cup when he's in such great form.

Probably best to bow out on a high though rather than try to hang on too long like Dhoni has.

Gayle is right time to go. See out World Cup and keep playing T20 games around world.

 

[Ishikawa]

Absolutely loved the Gayle innings, but yeah that no ball call on Woakes was disgraceful.

 

[RobRocket]

Honestly don’t understand why England can’t play Roy, Hales and Bairstow all in the same team.
Roy
Bairstow
Hales
Root
Morgan (c)
Butler (wk)
Stokes
Rashid
Curran
Woakes
Wood/plunkett

I don’t think they need two spinners by playing Ali as 7th. Particularly since he is an all rounder.


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[Bomberboyokay]

T20Is start tomorrow morning.

 

[Ishikawa]

Not sure if an example of WICB incompetence or Sky greed, but basically the TV rights for the tour had been sold well prior to these additional two T20's being added. Now the inevitable argument of who holds the broadcast rights / who pays has come up:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_...s-cwi-pockets-sky-baulk-cost-additional-t20is

Sky always cop flak, because well it's the easy thing to do, but to me it seems more a case of the WICB overlooking such an important aspect of scheduling the extra games.

 

[Bomberboyokay]

England win with 7 balls left.

 

[PhatBoy]

The fielding from us was borderline suspicious it was so bad.

We could have easily won that if we’d caught properly

 

[Pea Nut]

Don't judge a pitch until both teams have batted on it. LOL Windies.