Sri Lanka vs England (Two tests)

[Cooldude]

Which one, because he was outbowled by Ajmal quite strongly in UAE.

The retired one whom we shall not name

And all the others one that are allowed to have a career because of him

The pitches in Pakistan were way too slow for Swann who bowls with more loop most times, Monty who darts it in unsurprisingly got more reward. There are far more bite and bounce in these Sri Lankan pitches and Swann is looking a million bucks again

 

[DrVanNostrand]

Pretty entertaining series overall. Fantastic to see pitches that assist traditional, legal spinners like Swann and Herath. I'd love Randiv to come on as a bowler, his action is great and if he could find some more turn it would be a great weapon to go with his extra bounce.

Glad that England won so now the South Africa in England series is for the number one ranking. The Steyn/Philander machine is coming. Philander is already making County batsmen grovel.

 

[Torz]

George Dockrell took 6-27 off 20.1 overs for Somerset. How long 'till he's poached from Ireland for England?

 

[The Speaker]

George Dockrell took 6-27 off 20.1 overs for Somerset. How long 'till he's poached from Ireland for England?

Never, I would hope.

 

[DrVanNostrand]

George Dockrell took 6-27 off 20.1 overs for Somerset. How long 'till he's poached from Ireland for England?

Such a great bowler. I bet the pricks start waving their $$$ at him and he joins Morgan and (soon) Rankin on the dark side. I've got massive respect for Paul Stirling for this very reason, a massively talented player, only 20 or something, and has already stated his long-term committment to Ireland

Philander killed it (5-43 and 2-38) in the same match as well. Poms are insane for getting him acclimatised before the Test series over there.

 

[Doodlesweaver]

Such a great bowler. I bet the pricks start waving their $$$ at him and he joins Morgan and (soon) Rankin on the dark side. I've got massive respect for Paul Stirling for this very reason, a massively talented player, only 20 or something, and has already stated his long-term committment to Ireland

Philander killed it (5-43 and 2-38) in the same match as well. Poms are insane for getting him acclimatised before the Test series over there.

Couldn't be a better place for Philander to get used to bowling in England. Taunton is one of the toughest grounds for pace bowlers so if he is taking wickets there, he's not just good, he's fearsome and the English players will know it.

At the World Cup last year, the English commentators were talking about Dockrell with a proprietal air. Only Atherton and Gower sounded at all shame-faced about it, and even then, not a great deal.

 

[Santana]

Never, I would hope.

It'll happen for sure. The English scum are killing cricket in that country.

 

[Dipper]

Couldn't be a better place for Philander to get used to bowling in England. Taunton is one of the toughest grounds for pace bowlers so if he is taking wickets there, he's not just good, he's fearsome and the English players will know it.

Fair enough that Taunton is a batsman's pitch but it's April, it's cloudy and moist the ball will swing and decent swing bowlers will do well but it doesn't necessarily acclimatise you for July/August if the summer is sunny.

I got chatting to some bloke in the pub the other day who goes for Middlesex and we were talking about the SA/England series and he said he was amazed to see Philander plundering Test wickets as he'd played a season for Middlesex a couple of years back and this bloke said he was ordinary whenever he watched him, so it's not as if he hasn't got experience of English wickets/conditions.

The England quicks don't play a lot of county cricket these days but the likes of Harmsion and Hoggard used to butcher batting line ups in early season conditions, especially with Harmison it didn't always mean a lot when the real stuff started.

As for these Paddies, I'd rather not have them playing for England, but it's not England waving money at them, they want to play for England if they see themselves as potential Test players, England aren't stealing them, they're the traitors to their own flag.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

Dunno...if I had to swap allegiances to reach the ultimate goal in any given field I probably would.

Will Ireland ever be Test standard, I guess that's the big question.

 

[DrVanNostrand]

Will Ireland ever be Test standard, I guess that's the big question.

Well we are due for a new Test nation. Sri Lanka '81, Zimbabwe early '90s, Bangladesh 2000. But the big difference is that this time it's Ireland, a natural ally of the England/Australia/NZ bloc. India aren't going to allow that in a hurry.

Is their red ball cricket is currently Test standard? No.

Would they beat Bangladesh or Zimbabwe at home? Yes.

They're a bit like NZ in the sense that they have a tiny population compared to most of the cricketing world and have produced a handfull of world-class players against the odds. But the rest of the side is padded out by nuffy no-rounders, a trademark NZ trait of years gone by.

I'm a big fan and wish them nothing but the best. Their CEO is probably the most switched-on guy in world cricket as well.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

But the rest of the side is padded out by nuffy no-rounders, a trademark NZ trait of years gone by.

I'd argue it's a trait that is still in NZ cricket; some pretty ordinary players get games on a consistent basis still.

Stirling, O'Brien, Dockrell...there are glimmers of hope there but not enough to build a full-time team around IMO. Hopefully they prove me wrong.