Sri Lanka v England

booth70

Superb innings from Jayawardene and what a clanger from Monty

SL 289/8....Jayawardene's made 168 of those runs!

TheDrog

which one? You would have thought he might have learned how to catch by now

Dozen Wicked Words

Monty is an awful fielder, thats not going to change. One thing I would say in his defence is how much better he has bowled than Swann recently. Great bowlers of the past have been just as bad in the field as Monty. If I had to choose between the two at present I would still pick Monty, even with his inability to catch. Incidentally Patel has seized his chance with both hands this Test so far.

Todays bowling figures for Swann and Monty:

Panesar 23 overs for 42 runs
Swann 23 overs for 92 runs

booth70

Swanny's getting worse with each test but I reckon his batting will always keep him ahead of Monty if they ever decide to play with only one spinner

BTW elsewhere this Philander bloke keeps taking wickets for fun...youngest to 50 in the history of test cricket....in only his 7th test....Eng v SA should make for a good summer's viewing after last year's no contest!

TheDrog

dooferoaks wrote: »

Monty is an awful fielder, thats not going to change. One thing I would say in his defence is how much better he has bowled than Swann recently. Great bowlers of the past have been just as bad in the field as Monty. If I had to choose between the two at present I would still pick Monty, even with his inability to catch. Incidentally Patel has seized his chance with both hands this Test so far.

Todays bowling figures for Swann and Monty:

Panesar 23 overs for 42 runs
Swann 23 overs for 92 runs

great bowlers of the past is the important thing there, as things have become more and more professional players need to excel in the field to nail down their places in teams. Times have changed you can't hide weak fielders any more and opposing teams will expose this. Watching the Ireland match the other day they were discussing this in relation to fielders at third man. Monty is bowling superbly but he can't bat and can't field it makes him a liablilty as shown today.

Dozen Wicked Words

TheDrog wrote: »

great bowlers of the past is the important thing there, as things have become more and more professional players need to excel in the field to nail down their places in teams. Times have changed you can't hide weak fielders any more and opposing teams will expose this. Watching the Ireland match the other day they were discussing this in relation to fielders at third man. Monty is bowling superbly but he can't bat and can't field it makes him a liablilty as shown today.

I think you might be right, its just my AshleyGilesaphobia coming out. Dull, poor bowlers who hold down their place in the team because they can bat a bit. And yes, I know he was great in ONE Ashes but that didn't make up for the rest of his blandness. Colour and character is being washed out in modern English cricket, replaced by arrogance and obnoxiousness.

/rant

TheDrog

England again unimpressive with the bat on the subcontinent all out for 193 but striking back with the ball reducing Sri Lanka to 14/3 with Swann taking 2 wickets.

djimi

TheDrog wrote: »

great bowlers of the past is the important thing there, as things have become more and more professional players need to excel in the field to nail down their places in teams. Times have changed you can't hide weak fielders any more and opposing teams will expose this. Watching the Ireland match the other day they were discussing this in relation to fielders at third man. Monty is bowling superbly but he can't bat and can't field it makes him a liablilty as shown today.

Theres no excuse for any top level cricketer, bowler or batsman, not to be able to field in this day and age. Im not saying they all have to be Jonty Rhodes, but Monty really is shocking (hes probably worse than me in the field, and thats really saying something ).

Im a huge fan of Monty and always love to see him do well, but I really dont see how there is any justification to select him ahead of Swann in a single spinner side. Monty might edge Swann in the bowling stakes in recent times, but Swann offers so much more to the side in terms of batting and fielding as well.

booth70

SL 77/5 and 202 ahead....having watched England bat I reckon SL have more than enough already

TheDrog

Swann bouncing back today 4-28 off 12 so far

Dozen Wicked Words

Swann was excellent today, and yet again the batting, bell apart, has been woeful.

booth70

Mmm....England 113/2 chasing 330+....either they'll crash and burn tomoro to 180 all out or Trotty's going to play the innings of his life

Nicely set up

booth70

220/4.....Trotty 96 n.o.....Surely England aren't going to mess this up?

Mr. Guappa

booth70 wrote: »

220/4.....Trotty 96 n.o.....Surely England aren't going to mess this up?

Prior gone a few minutes ago - 244/5. If Trott is there past 300 then they should do it, if he goes before that then the tail could disappear in quick order.

booth70

255/6....Trott is the key as I thought he would be:)

booth70

booth70 wrote: »

255/6....Trott is the key as I thought he would be:)

Eek:eek:....Trott's gone for 112....256/7...Still Broad and Swann together with 80 odd to go may work in England's favour if they both keep their heads

Cardinal Richelieu

Perfectly set up for Monty to come out and hammer the ball around and redeem himself for those dropped catches:D Looking like England will run out of wickets 40 or 50 runs short.

Edit: Didn't happen

Giggsy11

Herath's 12th wicket of the game? When was the last time we have seen bowler taking so many wickets in a test? I mean in the modern day game wickets are evenly spread among bowlers, its been a while since I saw someone taking 12 wickets in a game.

Cardinal Richelieu

Giggsy11 wrote: »

Herath's 12th wicket of the game? When was the last time we have seen bowler taking so many wickets in a test? I mean in the modern day game wickets are evenly spread among bowlers, its been a while since I saw someone taking 12 wickets in a game.

2008 Jason Krejza India v Australia, 12 for 358, good quiz question actually.

booth70

booth70 wrote: »

220/4.....Trotty 96 n.o.....Surely England aren't going to mess this up?

I guess they can and just did.....233/4 to 264 all out....Can't believe what just happened there.....Trott played out of his skin to give England a chance but the rest just do not have a clue against spin end of story!!

If England are no 1 what does it say about the other teams??!!:(

Giggsy11

Cardinal Richelieu wrote: »

2008 Jason Krejza India v Australia, 12 for 358, good quiz question actually.

Is he the last one? If so really surprising. Previously it used to happen very frequently. Good to see the game is becoming more of a team game.

Giggsy11

booth70 wrote: »

I guess they can and just did.....233/4 to 264 all out....Can't believe what just happened there.....Trott played out of his skin to give England a chance but the rest just do not have a clue against spin end of story!!

If England are no 1 what does it say about the other teams??!!

Home ground bullies. Most of the big teams are dominant on thier own turfs but average on away. Maybe SA are the only team who looks likey to break this.

booth70

How crucial was the 70 odd runs that the keeper Jayawardene added with the nos: 10 and jack yesterday?

Mongarra

booth70 wrote: »

How crucial was the 70 odd runs that the keeper Jayawardene added with the nos: 10 and jack yesterday?

A rhetorical question I know, but obviously it was crucial. Jaya particularly, and Monty combined to make the difference.

Cardinal Richelieu

Giggsy11 wrote: »

Is he the last one? If so really surprising. Previously it used to happen very frequently. Good to see the game is becoming more of a team game.

12 or more wickets in a Test match has been done 96 times. Herath is the 3rd Sri Lankan after Vaas(1) and Murali(6 times) to do so.


http://www.howstat.com.au/cricket/Statistics/Bowling/BowlingOutstandingInnsMatch.asp?Stat=2

booth70

Brilliant from KP today....

Sri Lanka could still win this if they keep their heads tomorrow and set England a target of about 150 on the final day

booth70

SL 33 for 6 effectively.....but 2 of those wickets were bowlers....still think if SL get about 150 ahead this could be an exciting finish:)

booth70

SL 247/8.......62 ahead

Swanny who was getting worse with each match suddenly has 10:(

Surely even England won't mess this up now!!:D

booth70

England coasting after 2 early wickets and will hold on to their No 1 ranking....but only just!!

England winning will mean that Straussy will most likely hold on to his place/captaincy against SA despite a duck today

So , despite a miserable winter for England it will be 1 v 2 this summer.....Anderson v Steyn should be something to look forward to:)