[Cricket] England v Australia- 5th Ashes Test- The Oval- Thursday 12th September 2019

Brighton Lines said:

Another time Burns would be playing for his place. I've got huge doubts about his stance and technique in the long run. But, as things stand, he's got plenty of time to sort it out.

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The Wizard said:

Disagree. He’s outscored all of the other openers in this series put together, he’s one of the first names on the team sheet now opening this series against the standard of bowling I think he’s done very well. His stance is odd but odd doesn’t mean it doesn’t work.

Root dropped TWICE 2 dollies as well.

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the right footed denilson said:

During the early professional years of Rugby (Union), the RFU wrote to all schools and clubs and asked them to identify promising back-row forwards who could be retrained to play in the front row. I.E- moving naturally athletic, ball carrying players in to the front row (who at that point were just the fattest players in the school/club).

I wonder whether we need to take a similar approach in the county game. Pope is 21- he's run scoring ability is obviously beyond question. Can we not look at moving he, and other players with either natural ability or obvious mental fortitude, in to the top 3, give them a season or two or three in the county game (absolutely not fast track them in to the national team), let them learn without any pressure and then get them into the England set-up around the age of 24 (which seems like a far more sensible age than 21 anyway).
Another thing would be to identify players who have a natural ability more suited to long form cricket- make them focus on that and that only, and pay them a kind of non-20/20 playing subsidy.

We need to do something about the top 3, it's not going to get any better in the long run without some seriously creative thinking.

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Brighton Lines said:

It's a well made point. The problem is the reach of the game these days. Most youngsters who come through are doing so as as a result of family tradition. Having cricket on Sky doesn't help. (Im a huge hypocrite there as I have the full suite). The point remains though. A lot of folk missed the World Cup.

There is no cricket tradition in my family. I got lucky. A junior school teacher who played locally, a cricket mad friend and, most importantly, the 1981 Ashes series in the box when I was at my most impressionable.

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Beach Hut said:

Root dropped for the 2nd time

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"Burns has now scored more runs in a home Ashes series than Cook ever managed."

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The data turns up four batsmen who have been dropped five times in an innings: one was Andy Blignaut, whose 84 not out in Harare in 2005 included an extremely rare hat-trick of dropped catches; Zaheer Khan was the unhappy bowler. (There was also a hat-trick of missed chances at Old Trafford in 1972, when two batsmen survived against Geoff Arnold.) The others who have been missed five times are Hashim Amla (253 in Nagpur, 2010), Taufeeq Umar (135 in St Kitts, 2011) and Kane Williamson (242 not out in Wellington, 2014). Nothing in this century quite matches the seven or eight missed catches (reports vary) off George Bonnor when he made 87 in Sydney in 1883, or six misses off Bill Ponsford in his 266 at The Oval in 1934 (as recorded by veteran scorer Bill Ferguson). Wavell Hinds was dropped twice at the MCG in 2000, and still made a duck.

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The Wizard said:

My fault. Daft shot from Burns that, he doesn’t get as lucky as Root. 103-2

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The Wizard said:

Bloody stupid, give stokes more responsibility with the bat and he does that.

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