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Horses for courses: Batsmen

91Jmay

International Coach
It is a pretty accepted thing for teams to chop and change bowlers depending on conditions, for example if you go to India teams will pick at least one more spinner and sometimes two. However batsmen seem to be expected to be the same regardless of conditions. Why don't teams have specialist batsmen (or change their orders) for conditions more often? Specifically Moeen Ali to open for England in UAE which has been mooted, this seems like a great idea to me to get another spinner in the side and have a decent player of spin up the order. Why is the disconnect so great though between batting/bowling?
 

91Jmay

International Coach
Yeah, I am not saying every team should do it for every pitch just it seems to be something teams reject out of hand when there could be benefits.
 

sledger

Spanish_Vicente
My favourite type of specialists are the ones who specialise in piling on the runs against crap opposition. Teams from the subcontinent tend to have plenty of these.
 

indiaholic

International Captain
It is a pretty accepted thing for teams to chop and change bowlers depending on conditions, for example if you go to India teams will pick at least one more spinner and sometimes two. However batsmen seem to be expected to be the same regardless of conditions. Why don't teams have specialist batsmen (or change their orders) for conditions more often? Specifically Moeen Ali to open for England in UAE which has been mooted, this seems like a great idea to me to get another spinner in the side and have a decent player of spin up the order. Why is the disconnect so great though between batting/bowling?
Yeah teams need to do this more often. No idea why the disconnect exists.
 

Lillian Thomson

Hall of Fame Member
Nice idea in theory but you have to have enough batsman to shuffle. If Ali opens in the UAE it's not really horses for courses or to get a second spinner in, it's a desperate measure because of a lack of options.
 

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