[Cricket] Eng v Ind - 5th Test - Edgbaston kick-off 11am

Pavilionaire said:

I have to hold my hands up. I thought test cricket in this country was dead in the water. Fortunately, by sheer force of personality, Rob Key got the MD role of the England cricket team, and we haven't looked back.

He picked Stokes as captain and he backed Anderson and Broad - 3 huge decisions he got right straight away.

Crucially, he has split the Head Coach's job into red ball and white ball cricket and nailed the appointment of Brendon McCullum as the test team supremo.

Key then backed his players when it would have been easy to bin off one or both of Lees and Crawley, yet their century opening stand gave England the platform for this incredible win today.

England should thank their lucky stars, all of which have aligned perfectly this summer.

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crodonilson said:

Still not sure how this approach will play out on the sub continent on sterile, slow pitches but at the moment it is a joy to watch. Just hope it's sustainable to carry on playing in such a manner with positive results, nobody can ever have hoped for such an improvement in performance in such a short space of time.

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Pavilionaire said:

Agreed. Playing this way on English wickets with the ageing Broad and Anderson is one thing, but getting results in the sub-continent where conditions are physically demanding is quite another.

In theory, the management team will be looking to continue this aggressive style of cricket by employing one or two attacking spinners where the ability to take wickets will be more important than economy.

My knowledge of the county game does not extend that far to know who best fits the bill. There was a time when a bowling average of 40 was deemed to be expensive, but with England's explosive middle order they'd take that if the strike rate was good.

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Guinness Boy said:

20/20 and ODIs for the rest of the month and then the Saffers in the next Test Match starting 17 August.

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Brighton Lines said:

Bairstow has always been frustrating. There was a period a few years back when he was comfortably the best batsman in England. But he couldn't quite translate it with his white ball load to the main game at the highest level.

It's like a light has switched on in his head.

Credit to him, he comes from good stock and loves the long game. Okay, Yorkshire, we admit you're good.

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Questions said:

England are ruining test cricket playing like this. **** off back to the one day game if you’re going to do this

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Questions said:

England are ruining test cricket playing like this. **** off back to the one day game if you’re going to do this

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