England 'A' in the UAE etc

[SpaceMonkey]

I've never, ever rated Swann as a batsman but he can bowl, yes, don't know how on Earth I forgot him.
He's not as good as Crofty, I maintain, but he does rise above the ranks of mediocrity that perpetuate most of the county scene.
Mainly because he plays for Northants, one of the few counties with a square that offers fingerspin a chance (another being Glam, coincidentally enough).

a chance? i wouldnt call a pitch that turns sharp on day 1 for EVERY game, as just a chance

 

[Richard]

Well, Wantage Road and Sophia Gardens are two of the only squares in the country that regularly produce pitches that offer anything to the fingerspinners.
Fortuntaly, that's a lot.
Of course, Graeme isn't going to be playing there at home any more. Jason Brown is though (no coincidence, of course, that he's another of the modestly successful fingerspinners in the country, either).

 

[superkingdave]

Well, Wantage Road and Sophia Gardens are two of the only squares in the country that regularly produce pitches that offer anything to the fingerspinners.
Fortuntaly, that's a lot.
Of course, Graeme isn't going to be playing there at home any more. Jason Brown is though (no coincidence, of course, that he's another of the modestly successful fingerspinners in the country, either).

OT usually offers more than a bit

 

[Richard]

Well, yes, it'd explain Keedy's relative success of the past 2 seasons.
Always had a bit of a reputation, of course.

 

[chris.hinton]

No, he was selected for England.

There's a big difference.

Right i am going to back Rikki Clarke now because quite Simply you dont

 

[tooextracool]

Apart from Robert Croft, no.
There are plenty as bad, but no-one significantly better.
That Gareth Batty was the next one tried should tell you that.

croft wasnt too bad, averaged under 25 away from home and has an ER of 4.24 in ODis.

 

[Richard]

Exactly - that's why I said apart from him, he was a good bowler and IMO always better than Giles. He's unspeakably unfortunate that Batty and Dawson were remotely considered ahead of him.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Ian Bell 8-4-7-4. Sri Lanka A really can't bat.

 

[superkingdave]

pitch doesnt sound great, another fantastic knock from Rikki (1 from 30 balls )

118-5 overnight with SL A all out for 145. With some batting to come lets hope we can get a decent lead.

 

[tooextracool]

He didn't exactly distinguish himself against Bangladesh, either, but at least he didn't totally disgrace himself.

yes although hes certainly had no problems doing that so far on this tour.

 

[Richard]

To be fair he's not the only one.

 

[tooextracool]

which still doesnt change the fact that hes a very poor player. whether hes performed as poor as dawson or not is irrelevant.

 

[Richard]

It's not just Dawson who's done poorly (and it's hardly a surprise to see Dawson doing poorly, really, given his performances for Yorks).

 

[marc71178]

Right i am going to back Rikki Clarke now because quite Simply you dont

Any idea how pathetic that sounds?

 

[tooextracool]

It's not just Dawson who's done poorly (and it's hardly a surprise to see Dawson doing poorly, really, given his performances for Yorks).

how many other people have performed just as poorly? ie not a significant performance in any of his innings, id think very few.

 

[dinu23]

England A is in trouble at 26/5

 

[wpdavid]

England A is in trouble at 26/5

... including ducks for Solanki, Bell & Shah, and, IIRC, a mighty 1 from Clarke. Good fightback by Prior & Swann, but they were always struggling without anything of note from the supposed batsmen.

 

[chaminda_00]

Sri Lanka win by 45 runs after Prior got a quick fire 100, good come back by the Sri Lanka after their shocking performance in the 1st Match. But to be honest not too many positives out of the game apart from Bandara and Kalavitigoda. Bandara got to be pushing for a spot in the Sri Lanka Test Squad for New Zealand. I I think he may get into the squad just in front of Chandana on the back of age (25) and recent performances. Chandana batting might be the only thing that gets him in the squad in front of him, they say they want to play an all rounder at 7.

Kalavitigoda form probably puts him infront of Gunawardene and on par with Daniel, Kandamby, Mubrak and Dilshan for the last batting spot. His abilty to bat in the top order also might give as an option to play Sangakkara down the order as a keeper. Add to that his is one of the best fielder in Sri Lanka (from what i've heard).

 

[dinu23]

No doubt Bandara should get in to the teast team in the near future. I was wandering how the hell he was kept out of the team for so long.

 

[chaminda_00]

No doubt Bandara should get in to the teast team in the near future. I was wandering how the hell he was kept out of the team for so long.

It was proabably cus of the one game he played when he was way too young. Also the selectors seem to see him as a all rounder more then just a bowler who can bat, which is what he really is. There has been too much pressure for him to perform with the bat as well as the bowl.

Hopefully he will have some success if he gets a go, we really need a leggie to go with Murali.