Final Ashes test and on to NZ!

[mawallace]

Time to thank Vince for his efforts and dump him.
Being likened to Stan Laurel when fielding, is also not a vote of confidence.
I think  Foakes would have battled away, and spent more time at the crease than Vince, so I hope he gets a chance against New Zealand.

Seems like the press agree - Lawrence is mentioned in this article by Bayliss!

http://www.cricket.com.au/news/feature/england-australia-ashes-james-vince-selection-vaughan-clarke-lawrence-highlights-scg/2018-01-04

[IlfordEagle]

Indeed Foakes would have stayed there, if he keeps then Bairstow can play just as a batsman, goodbye to Vince I think, great to watch but never in long enough to appreciate! A good effort from the tail today but 346 is 100/150 short & I cannot believe the Aussies won't get 500 ish with another huge score from Smith. A very tiring day in the heat beckons for Eng on Saturday. Feel a little sorry for Curran & Crane both of whom have great potential & should become regulars in 2/3 years.

[bwildered]

Well, the greywash is more like one of those colour schemes which was all but white with a hint of grey.
Out played in every department, outstanding contribution from the captain who did lead from the front. One of those combined X1 the media usually publish, might just get Cook in the side has the solitary Pommie .
Would Stokes or Westley have made a difference, we will now never know. Aussies must be in the driving seat to retain next year unless the top order can fill some dependable runs . What a valuable contribution Trott use to do at three .

[Oldhasbeen]

Bye bye Vince. And Ballance (not deemed good enough to displace Vince despite his failures) and Ball (not even considered for final test despite others' injuries)
Stoneman will probably hang on in there for NZ for lack of convincing alternatives
IMHO Curran & Crane have promise but are not ready for the Test arena. Curran looks more like a one-day player to me.

Some clapped-out oldies need a rest (at least!), & some new blood is sorely needed amongst the experienced players.

Very difficult to pick an NZ  squad at the moment, as the fitness / availability of so many seamers is TBC e.g. Stokes,Wood, Woakes, TRJ, Craig Overton. (I assume will Finn &  Jamie Overton won't be available

However, for batsmen, keepers & spinners  I'd go for:
Root
Cook
Stoneman
Malan
Livingstone
Hameed (yes, this is a punt!)
Bairstow
Foakes
Leach
Rashid

Seamers - really depends on who is fit / available but please leave Broad at home!






 

[LeedsExile]

As usual the "experts" who never watch county cricket are suggesting Dan Lawrence for the NZ tour. He is a couple of years away in my opinion. He needs some solid county scores before test selection. Picking him now could set him back. It is not as if New Zealand do not have their own high quality seamers waiting to exploit their conditions.

[Oldhasbeen]

As usual the "experts" who never watch county cricket are suggesting Dan Lawrence for the NZ tour. He is a couple of years away in my opinion. He needs some solid county scores before test selection. Picking him now could set him back. It is not as if New Zealand do not have their own high quality seamers waiting to exploit their conditions.

Haven't seen a lot of Dan but inclined to agree. Liam Livingstone looks a better bet at the moment.

It'll be a difficult job for the selectors, so many questions about availability and balancing the need for new blood with the need to stick out a good team, NZ are no mugs! However, it's a much less pressured environment  than Aus for a rookie.

[Andy]

I tend to agree that this is early for Dan. I think the drop in form towards the end of last season was possibly a blessing. For player and club.

[honkytonk]

Bye bye Vince. And Ballance (not deemed good enough to displace Vince despite his failures) and Ball (not even considered for final test despite others' injuries)
Stoneman will probably hang on in there for NZ for lack of convincing alternatives
IMHO Curran & Crane have promise but are not ready for the Test arena. Curran looks more like a one-day player to me.

Some clapped-out oldies need a rest (at least!), & some new blood is sorely needed amongst the experienced players.

Very difficult to pick an NZ  squad at the moment, as the fitness / availability of so many seamers is TBC e.g. Stokes,Wood, Woakes, TRJ, Craig Overton. (I assume will Finn &  Jamie Overton won't be available

However, for batsmen, keepers & spinners  I'd go for:
Root
Cook
Stoneman
Malan
Livingstone
Hameed (yes, this is a punt!)
Bairstow
Foakes
Leach
Rashid

Seamers - really depends on who is fit / available but please leave Broad at home!

Id be happy with that but I would stick with Crane over Rashid. As for the bowlers, like you say, depends on injury but I would let Anderson have a rest, Broad would miss out, Ball not good enough.  If fit I could see Curran, Wood, TRJ and Woakes all going.  I think Overton may have a chance of being fit.  I would like to see Garton given a go.  He looked nippy when I saw him last season.  We have a year and a half till the aussies come over, that is what I would be focusing on.

[bwildered]

England's miserable tour in numbers

England went through a series without taking 20 wickets in a match for the first time since the 2009 tour of the West Indies
The 1,003.2 overs England bowled in the series is the most since the 1994-95 Ashes, when they sent down 1,013.4 overs
The 58 wickets England have taken is their second lowest tally in a five-Test series in Australia, behind 57 in 1958-59
Australia are the first team to go through a five-Test series with only four bowlers taking wickets
This is the first Ashes series since 1994-95 when all five Tests have reached the fifth day.

Completely outplayed, never on top in any respect ( despite the comments ) surprised if they won more than two sessions on the whole tour .

[nat]

England's miserable tour in numbers

England went through a series without taking 20 wickets in a match for the first time since the 2009 tour of the West Indies
The 1,003.2 overs England bowled in the series is the most since the 1994-95 Ashes, when they sent down 1,013.4 overs
The 58 wickets England have taken is their second lowest tally in a five-Test series in Australia, behind 57 in 1958-59
Australia are the first team to go through a five-Test series with only four bowlers taking wickets
This is the first Ashes series since 1994-95 when all five Tests have reached the fifth day.

Completely outplayed, never on top in any respect ( despite the comments ) surprised if they won more than two sessions on the whole tour .

You're wrong ... because the England players said so.

[nat]

Anderson - "...the tour was not disastrous...".

So what would you call it when you lose two matches by an innings, one match by 10 wickets and another by over 100 runs... in a 5 game series?!

and this comes from the vice-captain!

Get rid of the whole leadership and appoint a captain with sole responsibility for results (Root too young at the mo). Either Darryl Mitchell or Wayne Madsen.

[psb68]

Foakes to bat 7 Bairstows 6  Malan 3 Wood has to play if fit in New Zealand ,hopefully the Stokes Shambles will be resolved by then and he plays.

[nat]

Foakes to bat 7 Bairstows 6  Malan 3 Wood has to play if fit in New Zealand ,hopefully the Stokes Shambles will be resolved by then and he plays.

Wood will never be fit for long...need to move on.

[IlfordEagle]

Having watched Lawrence ever since he made his debut I agree he isn't ready yet, he does need 2 more years, he has done really well so far but needs more big scores & to get 1k FC runs per season, temperament wise he is ready but needs to be more match hardened. A Work in Progress certainly but a very promising WIP.
Curran, Overton & Crane all have potential but a harsh introduction to Test cricket for them all. It makes you realise how valuable a no 3 Trott was, slow & deliberate maybe but Mr Reliable.

[tonk]

Got to find batsmen that are not too one  day orientated and that is becoming increasingly difficult with all these one day competitions around the globe offering the big bucks, if you are a young pro cricketer you have to take a view of where can I make the best living?