posted Nov 17, 2008

the tail enders can have a dessert

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posted Nov 17, 2008

England's better players need to take greater responsibility...the current front 3 are the weaker links in the batting line up...and then the so called star turns are coming in to bat when the opposition have their tails up and England are behind the clock!
I struggle to see why Prior opens...unless he is going to try to blast some quick runs but but 38 off 64 balls, with only 4 boundaries (when the first 15 overs are power plays) begs some serious questions...and this seems to be his usual pattern.
On the flatter decks, as in India I would try to open with Flintoff (he is not great starting against spin...another good reason. Bell would also open with the intention of anchoring and batting through. KP at 3, Bopara 4 (I think he is genuinely talented)...then either Shah or Collingwood...bearing in mind Shah would be batting primarily against spinners which is his strength...with Patel and Prior at 7 and 8.
This line up, to me is much better balanced and also shows a more agressive intent.

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posted Nov 17, 2008

yuvraj was the difference.. england did a better job in 2nd odi. i think england should have sent some big hitters early on to reduce reqd run rate (like ravi bopara).

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posted Nov 17, 2008

Prior is there as the pinch hitter but just doesn't seem able to take the initiative. When he does try to be aggressive he seems so unnatural. His average is not so bad but consistently making a start and then getting out at a strike rate of about 70 is not going to cut it. There was an experiment with Luke Wright here too but he looked much the same.

For me, the balance of the team is wrong now and we're not exploting our strengths. KP and Flintoff should be able to bowl 15 good overs so why 6 other bowlers??? I don't get it. Drop a seamer and pick another specialist batsman.

I'd also like to talk to Freddie and see if he'd be game to step up and open with Bell. He's great against pace and is a natural hitting over the top. It's a risk but he's the type of player who can take the game away from the opposition at the top of the innings.

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posted Nov 17, 2008

actually - just checking Prior's stats. His average is pretty bad! (23.4)

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posted Nov 17, 2008

Great post barrymanulow, you totally hit the nail on the head.

Shah, Prior and KP got starts but more than the fact that they didn't get a big one, is that they ate up so many balls getting their 30-40-odd that it ultimately cost England the game. Bell and Prior is a very bizarre opening combination - they are never sure whether to attack or consolidate. If Prior is a pinch hitter, he should do that and not block. Today he played more than 10 overs to score 38. A hitter should score that kind of runs in 3-4 overs, more so when you are chasing close to 300.

I wont be that harsh on KP, he was farming the strike to get Flintoff to thrash the ball around, and unfortunately got bowled in the same over. If KP had continued for some longer time, I'm not saying that England would've won or even come closer, but he'd go with a strike rate close to 100, thats what matters in ODI cricket.

Also, England do not have the stomach for such a fight. Take the situation when Flintoff and KP got out. Who do they have coming in? Colly, Bopara, Patel and Broad. Thats not a bad set (on paper) to take the fight to the opposition. But hang on, not England. Did you ever see Pakistan chase down totals close to 300. Even in the recent game against WI? Till about 35-40 overs they'd be like close to 150. Then someone just blitzes it and they win it in the last over or something. I've watched Inzy, Yousuf, Younis play some remarkable innings and someone like a Moin or Akmal or a Mahmood or a Tanvir do the honors at the end. Not England - they will all cave in together.

Problem: there are only 2 good batsmen - KP and Flintoff, and they are required to play at all positions from opening to the death. Not possible.

It is going to be a very bad series.

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posted Nov 18, 2008

Key
Mustard
Pietersen
Bopara
Collingwood
Bell
Flintoff
Patel
Broad
Anderson
Harmison

Alright maybe i'm biased because i'm a kent fan but i genuinely believe Key would do the business for england. He has a range of shots that Bell and Prior cannot compete with, even when he is not scoring boundaries he is always scoring runs. Bell is not an opener and him and Flintoff at the death would work much better. Bopara should always have been higher up the order and Mustard will give us that attacking impetus that we so badly need at the top of the order

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posted Nov 18, 2008

Players rarely score at a run a ball for their first 50+ runs, Barry Manulow. Certainly, Yuvraj didn't in the last match. He pushed on toward the end of the innings. This is what Hayden and Gilchrist were doing in the last WC. They scored at faster than a run a ball in the end, but much slower early on. This is what England were trying to do, but failed to go on with their innings.

Also amazed that so many think that England can be significantly improved by changing the batting order, or picking Rob Key.

India are on a high and flying. The trick is to get England to respond with character and style, through application, coaching and good management. Not make a few superficial changes. Or try to bat like the Sri Lankans of the late 90s.

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posted Nov 18, 2008

Bell and Prior are definitely not the worst in history but they are definitely the least scary among all the openers at present. Its every teams nightmare to see sehwag and Gambhir still at crease after 20 overs, thats not the case with bell and prior.

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posted Nov 18, 2008

50 Overs is not the same as T20, it does require at least one batsman to build an innings, even if they have a low strike rate they can support big hitters throughout the innings.
Is Bell the man for the job?
Secondly, you have to be flexible to the match situation, so when chasing 300 you need to have a batsman that can hit it in the power plays. I think that KP could open, as he is a gifted batsman and given the responsibility could build an innings and score at a decent rate.
If KP and Freddie had stuck around they would have certainly scored the runs, even if one had a n.o. we would have won, because there was still batting to come. Losing both in one over lost the game.

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