NWR Cricket

Root back in the ranks.

My gut feeling is that this is a good thing.

He was never the most naturally gifted captain but hats off to him for trying his best during uniquely difficult times. His tenure was beset with difficulties - bubble life, key injuries, confused selections, infrastructural flux and with that the pressure of carrying the batting to a ridiculous degree.

I hope that cheeky grin returns and look forward to watching him break every English batting record available.

It would be very un-English to make a left-field appointment, regardless of how strong a case Oliver Hannon-Dalby may have made on social media, so I presume Stokes is up next.
 
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Will be great for Root and England if he can push on with a string of big scores and bring some of the other top order players with him. While Stokes an obvious appointment it is more a testimony to the lack of contenders in the counties and of course one worries that the burden will be too much.
 
Agreed - none of the available options are ideal and let's not forget that we also need to appoint an ECB chairman, a team manager, a head coach and a selector(s).

This red ball reset thing is going well, isn't it?
 
Think his position was untenable the minute he sounded off at Broad and Anderson in the Ashes, if they were bowling too short then its up to the skipper to get them to bowl fuller... and as they have both rightly said- getting bowled out for 140 it doesn't matter which bowlers you pick.... clearly some serious beef there - if he wanted them in the Test Side they would have gone to the Caribbean and could have fought for them. He didn't do that. He didn't even pick up the phone and speak to either of them. He may be busy - but as Captain your job is managing your full stable of players. His comments since that series lost about a better changing room having got rid of down in the dumps Buttler & Burns and de-selected the bowlers union pretty much confirm that.

My reading of it is that the big reset was give those two a series off - and hope that whoever comes in proves that they can do the job just as well - win the series because there is no need to change a winning team. We didn't do that - and now both bowlers must be in line for a recall - Root has been told that if they perform they are back - perhaps now would be a good time for you to step aside.

I do think whoever takes over needs to stop playing with being part of one of the cliques - and call it how he sees it. If we don't score the runs - blame the batsmen don't hide behind something that has been firing ok having a mildly off day - but sort the thing that is actually losing us games. It may not the batsmen's fault if the system is broken - but he stepped over the line for me - and there will need to be some meetings and reconcilliation there I think... that said if we win over the summer it all gets forgotten quite quickly...
 
It was indeed 1988, with 28 players and 4 captains used across 6 tests

The squad if you can call it that

Opening batsmen: Gooch (captain last 2 matches and the only one who played all 6 tests), Broad, Curtis, Moxon, Robinson
Batsmen: Gatting (captain 1st Test), Gower, Lamb, Smith - so far so good - Athey, Bailey, Barnett, Maynard
All rounders - not quite so good - Capel, Pringle (5 matches), Cowdrey (1 match, captain)
Fast bowlers - Dilley. Foster, Lawrence, Newport, Small, Jarvis, DeFreitas
Spinners Emburey (4 matches, 2 as captain), Childs
Wicket keeprs: Downton, Richards, Russell

Alan Lee's prematch summary before the Cowdrey match at Headingley

Beleagured teams are forever facing crisis days. The longer they
wait for a victory, the more dramatically is each game portrayed.
For England`s cricketers, however, the time of reckoning really
has arrived. On the outcome of the next few days here in Leeds
will rest not just the result of a Test series but the reputations
of some of those in charge and the patience of a watching nation.

To retain a chance of saving the series against the West Indies,
England must win on their least favourite ground, a venue where
they have been beaten four out of the last five years.

The mood of the country, indeed, is dispiritingly pessimistic if
ticket sales are anything to go by. Ten thousand, more than half
the capacity, are still available.

If this news deflated the new captain, Chris Cowdrey, his recep-
tion at Headingley can also have done little for his confidence.
He was turned away by a gateman who later explained, "I didn`t
know he was the England captain and he didn`t tell me."

No-one in the England camp wished to venture an opinion on the
state of the pitch but groundsman Keith Boyce said, "Its a belter
- the best I have prepared for 10 years."

England are not exactly kitted out for several days of bowling.
Foster and Dilley, neither of whom is immune to injury, are sup-
ported only by Pringle and Cowdrey. Only four players survive
from Old Trafford.

There are two new-capped batsmen, the adhesive opener, Curtis,
and the savagely strong Smith. There are recalls for Athey, Prin-
gle and Richards. There is also a welcome return from injury for
Foster.

Six of the final 11 at Old Trafford are missing, along with
Broad, Thomas and Cook who were all in the selected party.
Childs, called up to replace the injured Cook in the last Test,
retains his place in the squad but is almost certain to be
twelfth man.

Athey presumably earned a recall by making a wonderful unbeaten
168 at Bristol on Friday. He has never translated that ability to
Test level.

Broad`s lack of form meant that there were few rivals to Curtis
and he fully deserves his chance. Smith is more of a gamble but a
shrewd one none the less. In three full seasons of county crick-
et he has averaged 42, 41 and 50. The extra challenge may be all
he needs but one hopes the selectors show some public confidence
by revealing that he is to be given the rest of the summer to
prove himself.

The longest debate concerned the third bowler. Jarvis was not
considered fit enough and Small was not in good enough form.
DeFreitas, Agnew and Radford were all in the frame but Pringle`s
style was thought more likely to suit the pitch.

News from the West Indian camp was not designed to cheer England
either. R.B. Richardson will miss the match but Greenidge and
Haynes both appear to be fit.
 
I suppose one of the problems with English cricket is that you have so many players who are much the same, so largely interchangeable. In NZ we pretty much only ever have 11 or 12 who are reasonably capable so it is almost impossible to get dropped. At least it gives us some continuity.
 
It was indeed 1988, with 28 players and 4 captains used across 6 tests

The squad if you can call it that

Opening batsmen: Gooch (captain last 2 matches and the only one who played all 6 tests), Broad, Curtis, Moxon, Robinson
Batsmen: Gatting (captain 1st Test), Gower, Lamb, Smith - so far so good - Athey, Bailey, Barnett, Maynard
All rounders - not quite so good - Capel, Pringle (5 matches), Cowdrey (1 match, captain)
Fast bowlers - Dilley. Foster, Lawrence, Newport, Small, Jarvis, DeFreitas
Spinners Emburey (4 matches, 2 as captain), Childs
Wicket keeprs: Downton, Richards, Russell
Very nostalgic... Funny that Robin Smith at least made his debut that test. I gather Atherton's son is now playing county cricket. Another FEC?
 
Joshua De Caires, the son of former England captain Michael Atherton, signed a three-year deal with Middlesex in 2020 and made a Championship debut for them in July 2021. After making a pre-season hundred against Yorkshire for Leeds-Bradford UCCE in early 2021, he was asked by the BBC about comparisons with his dad, and said: "From what I have seen he just blocks the crap out of it, which is pretty similar to me."

According to Cricinfo... Sounds promising.
 
Very nostalgic... Funny that Robin Smith at least made his debut that test. I gather Atherton's son is now playing county cricket. Another FEC?
The Old Trafford test of that series featured my 1st day watching test cricket in the flesh. It was grim. Between the showers, WI lower middle order put on a hundred or so for the loss of one wicket. Which I missed.
I think it's still comfortably the worst day I've had watching cricket.
 
My first watch of a test match in England. I was the OS and the treasurer was an MCC member, so I had a day out at Lords. We sat in a freezing Warner Stand and watched four WI quicks bounce the crap out of Gooch between dawdles back to their marks. IIRC he got about thirty odd in about three hours before the inevitable, although it felt like seven. We finally got to Gower who played beatifully and made it look easy before casually holing out at deep square leg. I think England made about 220 ao before bad light saved us all the bother. It was dull, grey and cold all day and I resolved never to go and watch the WI play another test match. England were poor, the WI tedious.
 
My first test match actually changed my life. It was England v South Africa in 1965 at Trent Bridge . This was the match that featured a fantastic century by the great Graeme Pollock , and which famously South Africa won. I was sitting on the grass just outside the boundary ( o happy days then ) and next to me was a guy who worked for the Forestry Commission in Southern Rhodesia. Went to the TBI after the game with him and after a pint or three, he convinced me to get out of the UK and emigrate to Southern Africa. 3 months later I arrived in Salisbury and have never regretted the move for one second .
 
Hampshire’s reign at the top looking short-lived. Do you get bonus points for making the opposition bat again?

I'd been keenly awaiting ;), over the last couple of days, any comment from the vocal Hampshire supporters, until J Root intervened but holding off has only supported that decision. And J Vince for England Captain......................................:eek::oops::rolleyes: .

Lancie doing ok against Kent despite the ECB not allowing participation of Jimmie and Mahmood.
 
I'd been keenly awaiting ;), over the last couple of days, any comment from the vocal Hampshire supporters, until J Root intervened but holding off has only supported that decision. And J Vince for England Captain......................................:eek::oops::rolleyes: .

Lancie doing ok against Kent despite the ECB not allowing participation of Jimmie and Mahmood.
Excellent piece of captaincy from Vince to insert Surrey and bowl them out for 460 odd.
 
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