4th Test (Old Trafford, Manchester) - 23rd to 27th of July

[ScottyMuser]

my take exactly. root's unequivocally an excellent batsman and has been a great and dependable servant of english cricket both home and abroad in every country except for one. he's excelled in poor england teams and england teams that can win. but he has to deliver in australia to go into the parthenon. it's for the very same reason i don't put warner up there with other aussie legends, couldn't get it done in england.

What about NZ, WI, SL, Pak or India. All counties Warner failed in in top of England. To try and compare Warner to Root, is laughable. Warner is not an Australian great as he is simply a slightly above good opener. I don't think it is hyperbole to suggest there are *at least* 10-15 better Australian bats across history (both Waughs, Punter, Border, Smith, Bradman, Langer, Hayden, Chappell, Clarke, Boon, Taylor, Trumper, MHusser, etc). Whereas to suggest Root isn't a top 10 in history, from any country, is seriously deluded. He is far (far far) better than the hack Kohli; outside of matches vs Bangladesh/ZImbabwe, has an unequivocally better record than flat track bully Tendulkar, etc. He has better longevity/injury record than Kane (who I rate as the best bat this century).

 

[Johan]

moreso Root has done it everywhere but Australia and Warner couldn't get it done anywhere except Australia and South Africa.

 

[Daemon]

A better comparison to Root is Ponting. Both have one major hole in their record but still easily greats of the game. ATGs don’t need to be perfect lol otherwise we’d have a grand total of 3

 

[halba]

Bumrah KRYPTONITE = FLAT WICKETS!!

This wicket is flat like a Rawalpindi road.

The Eng curators have successfully taken Bumrah out of the equation here.

 

[halba]

moreso Root has done it everywhere but Australia and Warner couldn't get it done anywhere except Australia and South Africa.

Hes one of the best of all time- Root. everyone has a kryptonite, no one atleast in the modenr game, is completely without flaw.

 

[halba]

WI/Aus pitches were objectively horrible

some of the most bowler friendly wickets series ever in modern history surely. all 3 tests out of 3 were extremely bowler friendly with absolutely little for the batters. Movement off the air, pitch, seam, pace, bounce, it had everything.

 

[Johan]

some of the most bowler friendly wickets series ever in modern history surely. all 3 tests out of 3 were extremely bowler friendly with absolutely little for the batters. Movement off the air, pitch, seam, pace, bounce, it had everything.

yeah, horrible and very unbalanced stuff.

 

[honestbharani]

So it has unravelled as expected. Been tough to watch the last couple of days, inspite of kinda expecting the worst, especially yesterday. England have definitely shown they have more than one way to play this game which is encouraging for them.

I just think the Lords defeat broke this team, especially getting that close and then losing. Will be a test of character, this test, from today and the next test. I hope these guys do us proud.

 

[Line and Length]

Comparing Root with Warner is odious. Some are doing it simply because both have failed to achieve centuries when playing away in Ashes series.

While Root's performances in Australia have been below par (average 35.7), his average in Australia is superior to Warner's in England (26.5), India (21.8), NZ (13.0), Pakistan (33.8), SL (25.2) and WI (26.9).

Root is an ATG while the instigator of Sandpapergate is a flop outside Oz and SA.

 

[halba]

Comparing Root with Warner is odious. Some are doing it simply because both have failed to achieve centuries when playing away in Ashes series.

While Root's performances in Australia have been below par (average 35.7), his average in Australia is superior to Warner's in England (26.5), India (21.8), NZ (13.0), Pakistan (33.8), SL (25.2) and WI (26.9).

Root is an ATG while the instigator of Sandpapergate is a flop outside Oz and SA.

Warner pretty average outside Australia. No comparison I agree.

 

[ankitj]

His action is a double edged sword really, and being at your best everyday puts pressure on him to try too hard which could risk another big injury.

I hope I'm wrong but don't be surprised if Bumrah looks to cut his test career short and play more limited overs cricket instead. Pragmatically not a bad decision given he's aware of what he can achieve realistically.

What I meant by enthusiasm is that I hope he plays at least 70 tests and bowls with full tilt every game.

They are thorough professionals at this level. One bad gave won't make them lose enthusiasm. It's just us obsessive fans overthinking.

 

[SkyBlue]

Post this series, India need to make a big call with two senior players.

A. Jadeja. Almost useless with the ball, 37 years old. He's got a lot of runs recently but I would still invest in a specialist batter at #6. Honestly, Jadeja doesn't make that big of an impact with the bat to play him as a specialist bat. We already have a player of the same mold in Sundar and who's proven to be far more useful with the ball so this would be the right time to move on from him. Harsh but necessary.

B. Bumrah. I don't know if this is going to help India in the long run when your premier pace bowler is going to be available for only a handful of test matches in a big series and then gets subsequently injured post that. As great as he is, Im really not sure if this is helping India in maintaining that continuity as a bowling unit. Given that he'll be 32 this year, him taking the Malinga route and focusing on white ball would probably work for him just in terms of managing his workload.

I think he can have a far more devastating impact in white ball and probably win India a couple more ICC tournaments.

This is a big call but one that can benefit India long term both in red ball and white ball.

Either that or he makes a call like Jimmy Anderson and focuses just on red ball cricket but this is very unlikely to happen.

 

[cnerd123]

So the problem with this India team is the two best players?

What nonsense lol

 

[Thala_0710]

moreso Root has done it everywhere but Australia and Warner couldn't get it done anywhere except Australia and South Africa.

Any final decision on luffy's dp?

 

[Johan]

Any final decision on luffy's dp?

Brother the series isn't over yet, he's not out yet.

 

[Thala_0710]

Brother the series isn't over yet, he's not out yet.

Be serious

 

[LangleyburyCCPlayer]

So it has unravelled as expected. Been tough to watch the last couple of days, inspite of kinda expecting the worst, especially yesterday. England have definitely shown they have more than one way to play this game which is encouraging for them.

I just think the Lords defeat broke this team, especially getting that close and then losing. Will be a test of character, this test, from today and the next test. I hope these guys do us proud.

Your players look broken physically (literally in the case of Pant, that was a horrendous piece of luck even if it was a poor shot choice), Bumrah and Siraj are not as effective as they have been, and there have been some very questionable selection calls

 

[Molehill]

Comparing Root with Warner is odious. Some are doing it simply because both have failed to achieve centuries when playing away in Ashes series.

While Root's performances in Australia have been below par (average 35.7), his average in Australia is superior to Warner's in England (26.5), India (21.8), NZ (13.0), Pakistan (33.8), SL (25.2) and WI (26.9).

Root is an ATG while the instigator of Sandpapergate is a flop outside Oz and SA.

No one believes Warner had the brains to instigate Sandpapergate. That came from higher and clearly involved far more than were penalised for it.

 

[ankitj]

B. Bumrah. I don't know if this is going to help India in the long run when your premier pace bowler is going to be available for only a handful of test matches in a big series and then gets subsequently injured post that. As great as he is, Im really not sure if this is helping India in maintaining that continuity as a bowling unit. Given that he'll be 32 this year, him taking the Malinga route and focusing on white ball would probably work for him just in terms of managing his workload.

I hope no one in selection committee thinks like this. Bumrah is in his prime.

 

[GIMH]

my take exactly. root's unequivocally an excellent batsman and has been a great and dependable servant of english cricket both home and abroad in every country except for one. he's excelled in poor england teams and england teams that can win. but he has to deliver in australia to go into the parthenon. it's for the very same reason i don't put warner up there with other aussie legends, couldn't get it done in england.

The levels of delusion are frankly reassuring. It won’t matter anyway come the New Year, but I look forwards to the gymnastics at that point.