kingbadger

I was just quoting Mark's words back to him, he said Cook was a GOAT opener, not me!

See this is what rings volumes for me - Cook can be deservedly considered a GOAT opener, yet Root doesn't even make the cut in a current World XI. Root averages only in the high 30s when batting at 3, and as you've said yourself this isn't an insignifant sample size either. This tells me his game isn't quite as good as Cook's - it's a full 8 runs lower than Cook averages batting in the top two, if we're talking pure statistics.

Not entirely sure on what basis Root playing with lesser players has in terms of their batting prowess? I'd be more amenable to the argument if Root batted at 3. As it is he hides himself down the order. I have no doubt that Cook would have easily averaged more than Root had he batted at 4 or below for the majority of his career, especially with being such a good player of spin. I'd put Root and KP at an equal for me in terms of the modern era middle order players. Root for me has never quite fulfilled his potential as a player - he's not been someone to properly punish a team and his conversion rate shows that. He's often found ways to get to 50/60 without breaking a sweat then ended up snicking a wide one whilst trying to run it down to third man. He was neck and neck with Williamson/Kohli/Smith in the conversation of the best player in the world a few years back, however hasn't quite kicked on like the others have. If you're giving kudos for batting in a poor team, then Thorpe and (specialist batsman) Stewart are up there too. Especially given the strength of test match attacks in the 90s/early 00s batting on much lesser wickets.

I still think they've made the approach and were told either 'no thanks, never, fuck off with that fee' or 'yes, on my final hurrah'. Must be the only reason he's never been courted in the press. He obviously always mapped out a massive final tour so him saying yes to Glasto could have happened years ago, they were just waiting for the final tour to actually take place for him to slot in. I'm somewhat hopefully thinking the latter is the case. Elton will know that the hype round a Glastonbury set will be exactly what's needed to sell out those final tickets and possible 'extra dates' to be added. The fee for a one off gig might be a pittance to him, but as an advert whilst in the middle of a massive stadium/arena tour? Different kettle of fish.

In terms of someone who never hid themselves down the order, think the case can easily be made that Sir Alastair Cook holds that position as it stands. Not saying Root can't take the mantle at some point, but he needs to play a fare few more match winning innings and boost that conversion rate up before I think you could consider that. Assuming we're talking solely about test match cricket, of course.

I feel like any benefit to Chelmsford being small is negated by the fact that the pitch isn't exactly the greatest in fairness! Not sure I'd refer to Root as being our best ever batsmen but that's an entirely different conversation to have altogether! Glad they've picked Mahmood, jury is still very much out on him I think so be good to see how he fares. I'm still not convinced he is the express, hit the deck kind of bowler he's been made out to be but I think he certainly has potential to be a good overseas option as his action suggests he should be able to get the ball reversing nicely. Imagine India's batting lineup will be unchanged so only Pant/Jadeja as lefties for Moeen to bowl at. Assume Ashwin comes in now for Thakur as I can't see them going in with Pant and Jadeja at 6/7 then 4 bowlers who can't really hold a bat between them. Rahane must be running on the last fumes of the goodwill left over from the Australia series, another poor return and I can see him being dropped.

I completely agree that the fatal flaw with England's batting at the moment is that everyone wants to bat 5 or below. And the one quandary with Pope is that he's played the majority of his County career batting 5/6 and calling the flattest pitch in the country his home. Lawrence has at least batted 4 at Chelmsford for years so much more used to difficult English conditions and in the future only has to move up one position. I do think Pope/Lawrence/Crawley are all potential genuine top order Test match batsmen, and the issue is Root not being able to move up to 3. If he is genuinely one of the top batsmen in world cricket, then he should be able to do so, and then allow Pope/Lawrence to fall in behind. I can distinctly remember coming out of the previous India tour in 2016 (?) thinking we'd see a combination of Cook/Hameed/Jennings/Root cemented at the top of the order for the foreseeable. Halcyon days! Buttler and Curran make for interesting cases that generally fly under the radar with everyone else being completely inept. Buttler looked more inept than anyone at Trent Bridge yet he seems to be getting pushed up the order by default. As for Curran, he's neither a batting or bowling all rounder. You can't really justify picking him as the 3rd seamer, nor realistically bat him higher than 8. I'm not sure he's ever going to be able to figure out his game in the longer format as a result. He's almost the ultimate bits and pieces cricketer - can whack it and gives you a left arm alternative. But I can't ever see him being given the space to breathe and prove he's genuine test quality with either ball or bat. His obvious handiness in the limited overs format might see him pigeonholed as a white ball only player, which would be a shame. Burns, Hameed, Root, Lawrence, Pope, Bairstow, Ali, Robinson, Wood, Anderson, Broad That's how I'd line up with everyone available. Bairstow seems good for getting 30 and out which is a damn sight more than it looks like we'd get out of Buttler right now. Root at 3 will never happen but I think it should, and I'd rather have Wood's pace as an alternative than Curran's left arm swingers, even if Lords isn't the quickest of decks. Overton would be overkill with both Broad and Robinson in there providing for tall right arm medium pace.

He also outscored others on shite pitches so I think it evens itself out. That 81* was made under real pressure as well. I'm by no means saying that he's nailed down a place in the side, but I think he's shown more than enough promise to warrant another test at least. My point being why do Burns, Sibley, Crawley etc get given umpteen chances to prove themselves (or as the case may be to prove themselves incapable) but Lawrence doesn't? Wonder why a Kent stalwart would be so keen to keep Crawley in above Sibley and even Burns despite him averaging 11 this year! (for what it's worth I'd persevere with Crawley for now for much the same reason as I would Lawrence - potential and huge talent, which we've seen glimpses of from both)

Likewise. It's possibly my favourite album of theirs. Villains may have been a bit of a step down, but still some bangers on it. If there was ever a Pyramid-sized Other headliners then I think QOTSA are it. Probably could addend Biffy Clyro to that as well, though they're obviously nowhere near as good.

My point being that 3 of those tests were in India on absolute hellscapes as far as conditions were concerned, and the 2 previous to that were still in alien conditions in Sri Lanka. And he's shown promise this summer already with the aforementioned 81* against the best side in the world, again in trying conditions whilst batting with the tail (despite coming in at 4!). Easy to pick at his average, but I'd say he's had to bat in some pretty ropy conditions against the best bowling attacks in the world, all whilst starting out early in his career. For that reason I feel like more slack needs to be given, not just cos I'm an Essex fan and have played against him/his family before.

Dropping Lawrence would be completely nonsensical. He got 81* in the test before, and dropping him after just 1 test of the series negates the point in selecting him for the series in the first place. This is England though and it's jobs for the boys so imagine Bairstow's 20s will justify his selection for the remaining tests regardless.

Lizzo into Relton is the absolute dream of a party to finish the festival on the Sunday. Especially after Diana Ross in the Legends slot. Stick Idles in third down or something as well to break up all the glitz and disco.

It's seemingly gone completely Stranger Things and ignored the fact that Ghostbusters is/was a comedy. If you have to diverge that much from the theme of the original source material then you really should leave well alone.

There's being cautious, which every opening batsmen needs to be, then there's being unable to score anywhere other than off your pads/leg side. The issue with his painstaking strike rate is that whilst he's absorbing balls, he's not moving the game on enough to make it worthwhile. The knock on effect is that eve if he scores a 50 he's still exposing the middle/lower order to the second new ball whilst in a precarious position. He's totally reliant on other batsmen doing the damage to the opposition, and it's far too easy to tie up simply by bowling an offside line. This is without discussing his shortcomings are even more obvious when facing spin. He's only 25 and has time on his side, but it's patently obvious he needs to expand his game to do anything other than bat to survive at test level, which is what he's doing at the moment. And the test arena is probably not the place to try to make those adjustments.

I get that Leach is number 1 spinner but if it comes down to playing no spinner or Moeen, due to needing an all rounder, then I'd go with Ali every time. Especially in England. What irks me as well is that we haven't picked the best front line 4 pace bowlers either - I'd have had Wood or Mahmood in there to offer pace and something with the older ball. Robinson is a decent enough number 8, if you're picking 6 specialist batsmen and a keeper, you can't then compromise on the 4 bowlers. Again picking no spinner and then batting first on winning the toss is fairly brainless planning. Sibley for me is just far too limited and too defensive in his approach. It's just easy pickings for bowlers to tie him down and squeeze his wicket out. I just can't see him improving or expanding his game enough to become genuinely good enough at the top of the order. I'd keep Lawrence in the side, he's got much more of a game to call upon and they'll have one eye on the Ashes and the glut of runs he got against a very strong Aussie A side a few years back. Be tempted to go back to the James Vince well for the remaining games. He obviously has the talent and I think he's been treated poorly - was picked for England on a really tough tour despite being put of nick. It's interesting to see who England deem persevering with regardless, and who gets dropped pretty sharpish. Vince and Westley both had their best innings in their final tests, but never got given another opportunity.