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3rd Test at Headingley, Leeds

trundler

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"I think it showed without Steve (on Sunday) we were able to get the job done, which is a positive."
"But we know we have got guys who are in form and playing well, so if that is the case in a few days' time it will be great to still have (Smith) and hopefully, he comes good but I think we have got the batting in the sheds that can do the job."

Can you believe this ****? Smith is in form. Labuschagne has had one innings, so hard to tell. The rest range from erratic to outright formless.
They're supposed to churn out drivel like that but they would still be ****ting their pants in reality
 

Burgey

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Surely they won’t risk him if there is any risk at all of concussion affecting him
 

stephen

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
You think it might be too risky sending him out to bat against Jofra Archer when a blow to the head is likely to kill him or leave him permanently disabled?
This. Smith should not play the next test period. Concussions are not to be messed around with.
 

morgieb

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Even McGrath nearly got killed off with people trying to mess with his action from what I read. Though o/c the funny thing is that they were trying to make all Aussie quicks be like Jimmy Anderson.....
 

stephen

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Swing bowling is the pace equivalent of finger spin. It's a necessary art but it's highly condition dependent. Much better to get seam movement, which is harder to play anyway.

Waqar and Steyn are the only out and out swing bowlers who have been regularly threatening everywhere in the world. Both of those guys had express pace to go with it though. And even then, Waqar struggled in Australia and Steyn tended to have long periods of not much and then run through entire line ups.
 

wpdavid

Hall of Fame Member
Fred Titmus, David Allen, Ray Illingworth,... basically most English off-spinners post-WWII

Before my time, but the 1960s generation doesn't look the most exciting. For some reason I was looking into their records a few years back. All had respectable averages based on economical run-rates but extraordinarily poor strike rates. No wonder we got excited about Swann.
 

Flem274*

123/5
Swing bowling is the pace equivalent of finger spin. It's a necessary art but it's highly condition dependent. Much better to get seam movement, which is harder to play anyway.

Waqar and Steyn are the only out and out swing bowlers who have been regularly threatening everywhere in the world. Both of those guys had express pace to go with it though. And even then, Waqar struggled in Australia and Steyn tended to have long periods of not much and then run through entire line ups.
most swing bowlers who have long test careers add strings to their bow. dale steyn a perfect example. he had the swing spell then the crazy spells, and jimmy anderson settles in the mcgrath corridor where he nags all day. trent boult has sort of mixed the two, adding a 140 short ball or corridor spell to his armoury which has seen him take wickets in asia and uae. mohammad shami works the corridor as well, though is developing his bouncer nicely.

im trying to think of a current test swing bowler who only swings it and is staying in the side. they usually struggle to make it to test level given fc players worldwide usually love decent but not express pace on the ball with no movement.
 

Lillian Thomson

Hall of Fame Member
Aside from the human element of not wanting a bloke suffering, it's a great shame purely from a cricketing perspective. He's been accused of struggling when the ball is swinging and has never played a Test at Headingly.
 

flibbertyjibber

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Glad Smith out but only for his safety. Yes it gives us a huge extra advantage but his health comes first ahead of any rivalry even if it is an Ashes series. Hope he returns for 4th test on the bounciest track we have. See how he copes with Archer then.
 

Starfighter

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I don't think there has been a single successful bowler in test cricket who relied purely on swing, intentionally or not. When you to swing the ball conventionally you have to angle the seam, this means some amount of side spin which can move the ball the other way off the pitch, especially when old, and a good likelihood of a somewhat wobbled* seam at points which has the potential to move it some way or another. It's hard to bowl swing without moving it off the pitch at points, although getting under the ball and landing it on the shiny side may minimise it.

*There's nothing inherently special about not having the seam dead upright and straight. It's called 'wobble' when it's considered desirable and 'scramble' when it's not. The two are often indistinguishable except for situation.
 

trundler

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Swing bowling is the pace equivalent of finger spin. It's a necessary art but it's highly condition dependent. Much better to get seam movement, which is harder to play anyway.

Waqar and Steyn are the only out and out swing bowlers who have been regularly threatening everywhere in the world. Both of those guys had express pace to go with it though. And even then, Waqar struggled in Australia and Steyn tended to have long periods of not much and then run through entire line ups.
Waqar and Steyn mastered reverse swing which comes in pretty handy on dry decks. They were both great with the old ball for this reason too. Steyn averages sub 20 with the old ball in Asia.
 

Farkspark

Banned
With Smith out, a more conservative approach

Harris
Bancroft
Khawaja
Warner
Head
Labuschagne
Wade
Pattinson
Cummins
Starc
Hazelwood

Paine out, can’t bat, terrible captain and Lyon out if the pitch is pacer friendly.
 

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