I see beeb are headlining Foakes' batting effort, scoring 3 less than Bairstow who is playing for what would appear to be the weaker side (Yorks) ie more merits to Bairstow's efforts not one to say "Bairstow should be in the side" but he was important in some of the wins that got this whole "England can chase any score" nonsense started, and isn't like 36 batting average is poor in context of a) keeping a lot of the time and b) compared to other regulars. didn't do so well in 2024, BUT all those innings were in India and plenty didn't do well (Crawley and Stokes as badly in 2024, same ballpark average, in mid to higher 20s) anyway I say move on, better than going back, although windies obviously felt they could have a captaincy election but just decided to cut to the Chase.......
Ben Foakes should be the automatic first choice keeper for England, he's the best gloves man in the country and he's a more than capable batter (he just hit his best score against Warwickshire and followed that up with 86 against Yorkshire). Jamie Smith should also be in the side but can bat at five, six or eight, depending on where Stokes wants to slot in. As for the West Indies and their choice of Captain, it's just another indicator of how far down the ladder of importance red ball cricket has fallen in this once great nation.
nah, Foakes was tried and if he'd succeeded would still be in there, the balance of the side has long since been pointing at and needing a batsman keeper like Read I'll just be glad when he retires, and have to laugh at references made to Read's county batting in the past being mirrored by you doing the same (county scores are no guide at all on Test batting)
England v Zimbabwe: Essex bowler Sam Cook to make international debut - BBC Sport no Foakes or Bairstow, and probably rightly so - move on, move on, kick Foakes (and Bairstow) into touch.... England team: Crawley, Duckett, Pope, Root, Brook, Stokes (capt), Smith (wk), Atkinson, Tongue, Cook, Bashir. (was about to sort into batting order, as alphabet means little in most team sports, but seems BBC have finally learned..........) I suppose having Smith in there, and Stokes, means no lean towards batting for the spinner selection
Sam Cook to make his debut . Didn’t realise it’s just a 4 day test match . Well guess we don’t need 5 days very often .
many objecting to 4 day tests cite the stunning finishes, but as anecdotal evidence is hardly substantial as there'll be dozens and dozens of dull draws and 2-3 day finishes, washouts etc to the fifth day thriller and maybe it is a greater Test, teams having to find ways to force wins with less overs.
is little or no gain to them playing England, as you said earlier a lot of the teams focus on where the money is which for England is not quite so clear cut as for smaller countries who attract three men and a dog crowds to Tests I don't blame them, if people want cricket to expand globally then ODIs and T20is are accessible to all, and going to be more popular to non-stuck-in-their-way traditional fans ie not a lot of people find drawn out encounters as thrilling as one day games with outcomes all but sure
I know I must be missing something but I just don’t get why Bashir keeps getting the nod ahead of other spinners. It’s not like Rahem is a young boy anymore and needs nurturing, throw the ****er in I say..
Ah well, we're lucky that he's nowhere ear the impact player he was a few years ago. Enter stage left, Luke Wood, decent left arm quickie..
ECB seem keen to have him and Wood fit for the Ashes though . It’s a a shame but cannot rely on such injury prone players really . Trouble is some of the alternatives have their own issues like Tongue .
Highlights of 1st day is on BBC2 at 7 on Thursday night . Test Cricket just about to start in England after 2 months of zero rain & yep , you got it , rain is forecast over most of the country over next 5/6 days , not non stop but could affect the match . God must be an Aussie with a weird sense of humour
With clouds overhead it's no surprise that when Zimbabwe won the toss Ervine looked to the skies and said we'll have a bowl, so we'll get to see the eleven feet tall Blessing Muzarabani running in nice and early.
After a relatively slow start it now appears that seven overs of watchful cricket was enough for the England openers and now Bazball has kicked in. 87-0 at 5.27 an over at the mo..
lot of pre match talk re Muzarabani, fair enough took wickets against the flakes of Pakistan but 44 wickets against Afghans, Irish and Deshis is why he's done so well 0/48 vs saffers is far more reflective of how he'll do against decent opposition (most of the time) I would love the zimmers to rise again but the era that it was likely to happen long since went, with changes in focus (T20 and ODIs more lucrative to smaller nations)
Run a ball ton for Ben on his home ground, very nicely played innings. Raza's spin isn't causing any problems for the Opening pair and with Richard Ngarava being carted off injured the Zimmers have a lot to think about..
