posted May 9, 2008

Yep - that was really depressing and the sort of performance I thought we'd seen the last of. Somebody really needs to get a grip of the batting and get them to show some sort of stickability and determination. 200 runs in two innings is completely unacceptable.

Last year of course Ottis didn't just excel with the ball, he often made important contributions with the bat in the lower order. Similarly we were missing Liam Plunkett, who is no mug with a bat. The problem at the moment is that once 5 wickets are down then the rest just clatter for next to nothing.

I am very disappointed by Colly's performance because I thought he would show more grit and application. He's done it many times for England in difficult circumstances, so why not for his county? All I read in the papers was him praising Flintoff - he needs to look to his own form first.

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posted May 9, 2008

i think it may have been pretty bowler friendly conditions from the scorecards!!!!..... and you were up against Flintoff and Andersonn who are meant to be 2 of englands top 5/6 bowlers

dont take it to hard!

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posted May 9, 2008

Not at all worried about these two bad scores, even if he is out of form i think his application will be enough to keep decent scores coming till he hits some form

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posted May 9, 2008

big blow for England - Along with Mohammed Kaif, and Yuvraj Collingwood is among the top three fieldsmen in thw world - His batting is also gritty, dour and meant for draws in times fo crisis

he is a modern day Geoff boycott - sadly, he will be missed

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posted May 9, 2008

Perhaps his shoulder and back problems have been one reason for his poor form. It's also tough to bat in early season conditions and a few low scores in a row isn't unusual.

As for that Lancashire game-it was an awful performance. I didn't think they stood a chance of winning from the overnight position but hoped the remaining batsman would at least put up a fight...they didn't even make it to 100.
The batting has been atrocious-Harmison Jnr is a batsman who bowls so they are playing 7 batsmen, Wiseman has FC hundreds to his name and they still can't make a decent score.
I know we were forced to put out a weakened team for this match but it's still one where almost half of the side are international players.
If they play as badly against Scotland then we will lose that match.

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posted May 9, 2008

How many innings have Durham had? What there highest score? 235 all out. Oh dear this is bad, still Scotland away, a good start and we may get some confidence back.

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posted May 9, 2008

You'd hope that the match against Scotland would be a good one to regain some confidence but if we don't start well then another debacle could be on the cards.

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posted May 9, 2008

It's not going to be a popular opinion on this forum, but in a funny sort of way, I'm quite pleased.

While I have a lot of time for Colly at county and international limited overs level, I really don't believe he is a worthwhile test player.

I know he averages 40 in tests and I know he made 200 against Australia in Australia but for my money, there are better batsmen around and despite his great fielding and being a good team man, he does have the worst footwork early in an innings that I've seen - and I suspect that's why he struggles when the ball's doing a bit and also why he's a specialist on low flat pitches.

As an attacking players in ODIs and T20 - fine. I also believe he has a good cricket brain and deserves to captain the England limited overs team - but IMHO he shouldn't get near the test side.

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posted May 9, 2008

RobM , who would you give Colly's place to?

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posted May 10, 2008

I think Colly should be replaced by Michael Carberry....

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