5th Test (The Oval) - 31st July to 4th August

[Uppercut]

Replacing Stokes with a batsman rather than a bowler despite the strength of the lower order suggests they may be thinking this too. If they were down 2-1 instead I think Dawson would probably play ahead of Bethell.

Memes aside, surely this England setup aren’t thinking about the draw when they’re picking the team. They weren’t even thinking about the draw when India set them 600 in 4 sessions.

 

[Prince EWS]

Memes aside, surely this England setup aren’t thinking about the draw when they’re picking the team. They weren’t even thinking about the draw when India set them 600 in 4 sessions.

It wasn't the last Test in the series at the time tbf.

I don't think they're playing for the draw per se but I do think the series scoreline has probably played into the selection tactics to some degree. And so it should, I'm not criticising it.

 

[Uppercut]

It wasn't the last Test in the series at the time tbf.

I don't think they're playing for the draw per se but I do think the series scoreline has probably played into the selection tactics to some degree. And so it should, I'm not criticising it.

Yeah I agree with you that it would be better if they were. My feeling is that they absolutely should be thinking this way, but almost definitely aren’t.

 

[jaydesh]

I'm curious as to why Matthew Potts was sidelined. He's bowled with pretty decent rhythm for Durham. Also feel bad for Liam Dawson to be dropped after 1 match. The bowling attack for England looks pretty weak with a still half-fit Gus Atkinson and a more untested quantity in Jamie Overton. Josh Tongue was pretty good in cleaning up the tail, but against the top order, he was a Prasidh Krishna level quick.

As far as India go, if they don't pick Kuldeep Yadav for this match at least, then I have no sympathy for them if they lose (or draw, which is also a defeat as England would lead 2-1). The Oval usually gets flatter over time, so they need genuine bowling options. I'm really confused as to why Gill and Gambhir think treat bowling like it's some side hustle. My pick for 8-11 would be: Kuldeep, Akash Deep, Arshdeep, and Siraj

 

[silentstriker]

For the best. He must not be feeling so great to be ok with missing out despite no overt injury. Better to go in with a fresher bowler.

Yeah, cricinfo did the amount of deliveries by Bumrah over 140kph, and it went from a majority of his deliveries to less than 1% in this past test.

 

[silentstriker]

I think Kuldeep should come in for Shardul. The other two Deeps for Bumrah and Kambhoj.

Now all said though, if there was an issue in that track/ground that slowed everyone down, I do think we are being rather harsh on Kambhoj. I still wont mark his cards based on one game where even Bumrah was operating a good 10 Ks down on his usual pace.

I have been asking for Kuldeep this whole series - but this is the worst place for him given Surrey has often played without any spinner and its all seam bowlers. You need a minimum of four seamers for this wicket so I think it's going to be Shardul unfortunately.

 

[Prince EWS]

I have been asking for Kuldeep this whole series - but this is the worst place for him given Surrey has often played without any spinner and its all seam bowlers. You need a minimum of four seamers for this wicket so I think it's going to be Shardul unfortunately.

SOS Bhuvi IMO. Six man attack so it won't necessarily be a big workload for him - Shardul wasn't bowling a lot anyway. Let him bowl a spell with the new ball and bat #8.

 

[jaydesh]

I have been asking for Kuldeep this whole series - but this is the worst place for him given Surrey has often played without any spinner and its all seam bowlers. You need a minimum of four seamers for this wicket so I think it's going to be Shardul unfortunately.

They might also be considering SL's win last year, where all 10 wickets in ENG's 2nd innings were taken by seamers to set up an easy run chase. The pitch had a lot more bounce and swing compared to bygone years at the KIA oval.

 

[Hungry Llama]

England will miss dawsons accuracy, just have to hope Bethell doesnt have to bowl. Jovertons only runin this season: 14-0-81-0. They should forget about this flat wkt chase nonsense and prepare a grassy wkt for Woakes et al, overwise englands bowling attack is going to get thrashed. Perhaps thats why Gambir wanted to inspect it so minutely.

Also India could well have 4 players exceeding 500 runs for the series by the end the match.

 

[honestbharani]

If we are playing a 4th seamer, I hope they give Kambhoj a shot instead of Shardul. Heck, I would take Prasidh over Shardul at this point.

 

[Prince EWS]

If we are playing a 4th seamer, I hope they give Kambhoj a shot instead of Shardul. Heck, I would take Prasidh over Shardul at this point.

Thakur getting #punished by his biggest fan here.

 

[Arachnödouche2.0]

I wish I could buy Kuldeep a beer.

 

[Prince EWS]

I wish I could buy Kuldeep a beer.

He might be the best spinner in the world lol.

 

[Ju7]

ENG vs AUS Cricket Scorecard, 6th Test at London, August 24 - 29, 1989

I was trying to think of ones from the 1989 Ashes series. This one above was fairly gruesome. I seem to remember some decent bowling combos at different times in the 90s but they never use to get on the park too regularly.

Edit: In my opinion here is an even worse attack, even though England won the game, it was at Headingley back in the old days ENG vs PAK Cricket Scorecard, 4th Test at Leeds, July 23 - 26, 1992But an attack of Lewis, Munton and Pringle is pie-chucking. I recall Neil Mallender, he wasn't that bad a bowler but was very much horses for courses. Munton and Pringle being very English medium pacers who would have got nowhere near any team from the Duncan Fletcher period onwards.

Good research!I think the bowling attack vs Pakistan was worse too.Also,as an aside look at Pakistan's attack!!

 

[Daemon]

He might be the best spinner in the world lol.

Ashwin didn’t play a whole series in England in his prime too, it was really stupid.

 

[Prince EWS]

Ashwin didn’t play a whole series in England in his prime too, it was really stupid.

The answer is always Jadeja.

 

[honestbharani]

They weren’t even thinking about the draw when India set them 600 in 4 sessions.

Haha they thought about it but realized it was beyond them. I dont think they batted particularly stupidly at least at the top of the order that game.

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

Replacing Stokes with a batsman rather than a bowler despite the strength of the lower order suggests they may be thinking this too. If they were down 2-1 instead I think Dawson would probably play ahead of Bethell.

I think they're desperate to give Bethell a go so probably inked him in as soon as Stokes was ruled about before even thinking about team balance. Then figured out which four bowlers they wanted afterwards.

 

[LangleyburyCCPlayer]

I'm curious as to why Matthew Potts was sidelined. He's bowled with pretty decent rhythm for Durham. Also feel bad for Liam Dawson to be dropped after 1 match. The bowling attack for England looks pretty weak with a still half-fit Gus Atkinson and a more untested quantity in Jamie Overton. Josh Tongue was pretty good in cleaning up the tail, but against the top order, he was a Prasidh Krishna level quick.

As far as India go, if they don't pick Kuldeep Yadav for this match at least, then I have no sympathy for them if they lose (or draw, which is also a defeat as England would lead 2-1). The Oval usually gets flatter over time, so they need genuine bowling options. I'm really confused as to why Gill and Gambhir think treat bowling like it's some side hustle. My pick for 8-11 would be: Kuldeep, Akash Deep, Arshdeep, and Siraj

He’s not been great this season for Durham, but he wouldn’t be any worse in my book than Overton, and has the sort of stamina which seems sorely lacking in most English seamers

 

[Chin Music]

Good research!I think the bowling attack vs Pakistan was worse too.Also,as an aside look at Pakistan's attack!!

To be honest I went largely by memory. I went to the 1992 Oval test and saw the 2ws backed up by Mushy. Serious cricket watching times. I always hated people bigging up the next successful trundler in county cricket when five minutes watching them told you that they would be useless in test cricket. England selectors would still make that mistake for most of that decade before wising up.

I don’t envy the current selectors vis a vis the current bowlers. It’s a tough gig given the surfaces they have played on. Crawley however…..