https://wisden.com/series-stories/england-v-new-zealand/in-the-zak-crawley-culture-war-everyone-has-to-pick-a-side/amp

comment by Amanda Hugginkiss (U11574)
posted 9 hours, 54 minutes ago
Took'em 4 balls to hit the one run they needed

Cricket is a silly game at times
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I wonder whether this is why the follow on isn't enforced as much to avoid small run chases and allows teams to win gamed at the fall of the last wicket.

comment by Amanda Hugginkiss (U11574)
posted 48 minutes ago
https://wisden.com/series-stories/england-v-new-zealand/in-the-zak-crawley-culture-war-everyone-has-to-pick-a-side/amp
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Very good read. It has to be more than just class with Crawley though as otherwise you'd pick Vince at 5 surely?

Many bowlers say Vince is the hardest player to bowl at because good balls will go for 4. I know he doesn't have a test double but the guy is as classy as anyone.

Yes indeed. "Class" is only a loosely defined term at best. It seems to mean "the ability to play pretty shots to good bowling", or something along those lines. It also seems to be used as a shield to pretend that "flimsy technique" and "poor mentality" don't exist.

It does feel very much like a we know best with this guy. "Just watch him bat and tell me he isn't good"

Yeah he's obviously good but is he a test match opener? Arguably he's got the qualities to be a more of a 4 but he's obviously sure of his ability and if England are backing him then he's not going to remodel himself.

How many tests are these top 3 going to get? Pope must surely get the summer but then how quickly do you get a guy out of there for his own good if they're averaging not many?

Well Crawley is going to get another bat, Northants have avoided the follow on but they're 9 down so Kent I'd assume will bat the day as there is no way they'll able to force a result I wouldn't have thought.

Stokes lasted all of 2 balls today

Toby Roland-Jones getting him out. Didn't really clock that he's back but he's now got 33 wickets this season. He had taken 24 at an average of 20 before this week but he's got 9/90 in the match. He's 34 now but would it have been wrong to give him a game at 8 considering it's at Lords?

I'll stick the football on later but the commentary from the Kent game is cracking me up.

Compton looks "out of sorts"
Crawley looks "a million dollars"

Both look fine and playing their usual game.

Crawley out to Ben Curran the game has been heading a draw as soon as Northants got ahead of the follow on. All the part timers are on so Crawley has pretty easily got to 80 odd but trying to reach a century has holed out to a part timer.

He will beat Compton this time though but he's likely to just want to boost his average so will want to stay not out.

is any county championship televised at all !!!

All games are on Youtube for free

Yeah it's all on live streams now via youtube which is great however there are still so few people watching it. The other day when the Roses match was on and you had Jimmy bowling at Root, something you won't often get to see, and there were only like 3.5k people watching.

I don't know whether they did it before but it feels like it's fairly new this year where the radio commentators are now working in tandem with each other so they'll be representation in the commentary box from both counties. This generates better insight into both teams when playing rather than a bias towards one or the other.

Quite funny seeing the BBC report the Kent game as Crawley finding his form.

I'm not going to knock the guy for scoring 2 50's, but 7 other people scored a 50 in that game.

All it really shows us is what we already knew, that he can score on flat pitches.

Read to the bottom of the report mate - "Report supplied by the ECB Reporters' Network."

It's such an incestuous game at the minute

Even just in that match, Crawley scored 146 runs and was out twice while Compton scored 208 and only lost his wicket once.

Amazing how keen the media seems to be to push Crawley as the best thing since sliced bread. We'll see how quickly it turns if he doesn't score against NZ, as all common sense and statistical precedent suggests will be the case

The averages only give the top 50 bats in the division according to their average with Burns sitting in 50th with a (considering the pitches) below par average of 36.57 yet Crawley is below him. In fact there are 5 players in the top 50 from Kent and Crawley isn't one or them.

As has been mentioned time and time again. If he was sensational in the West Indies then we would probably be thinking its great that he has a couple of knocks under his belt.

comment by Emile Death Rowe (TCM) (U8959)
posted 2 hours, 53 minutes ago
Yeah it's all on live streams now via youtube which is great however there are still so few people watching it. The other day when the Roses match was on and you had Jimmy bowling at Root, something you won't often get to see, and there were only like 3.5k people watching.

I don't know whether they did it before but it feels like it's fairly new this year where the radio commentators are now working in tandem with each other so they'll be representation in the commentary box from both counties. This generates better insight into both teams when playing rather than a bias towards one or the other.
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It's the first I've heard of this so maybe not many aware

comment by The Welsh Xavi (U15412)
posted 4 hours, 14 minutes ago
All games are on Youtube for free
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Cheers

ECB named a county 11 to play a warm up game v NZ next week, perhaps hints who's in the ECB's thoughts for a potential callup:

Jack Blatherwick (Lancashire),
Michael Burgess (Warwickshire),
Ben Compton (Kent),
Ben Gibbon (Worcestershire),
Nick Gubbins (Hampshire),
Tom Haines (Sussex),
Lyndon James (Nottinghamshire),
Ryan Patel (Surrey),
Liam Patterson-White (Nottinghamshire),
Jamie Porter (Essex),
Ollie Robinson (Sussex),
Dom Sibley (Warwickshire).

No Sam Hain. Wonder if that means he's been kept back for the white ball squad finally

Sibley, Compton, Patel, Haines, Gubbins are all openers (although Gubbins is down at 3 now). At least my boy is in there though.

4 seamers, Robinson and Porter are hugely experienced and in the case of Porter, unlucky not to have been called up for England. Blatherwick and Gibbon though? I think one has a few games from the Bob Willis Trophy but hasn't played this year. The other made his debut this year in the game that Stokes teed off.

Surely could have put the likes of Sam Cook, Jamie Overton, Tom Helm etc in there?

I've heard good things about Patterson-White but Where's Matt Parkinson? Maybe they didn't want New Zealand to get a look at him?

I think they've tried not to pick anyone who will be playing in the blast, but for a one off game you'd think they could have picked a more varied team.

Ah I see. I mean its not a bad squad that considered. Sibley will be gutted as he fancied batting in the blast this year

Stone due back imminently, before he gets injured again. It'd be good to have him and Wood as options for the series against South Africa later in the summer.

Judging by Wood's recent comments I reckon he must be rated doubtful for SA.

As for Stone, sadly it's difficult to see him staying fit, but all the best to him.