No question that he's a much better bowler now than he was then, and I suspect with Swann that it was just a matter of having years and overs on the clock. Giles, well, in hindsight perhaps he should've rode off into the sunset after the injury in 2005 instead of lingering around, but I don't think Swann would've ever replaced Giles in a Fletcher/Vaughan side. Even forgetting that he was one of certain few favourites who perhaps didn't deserve elevated status in "Team England" at that point, Giles' test record was mediocre, but in county cricket he was always a decent performer and Swann - while always a solid performer himself - I can't recall ever making a serious case to put himself ahead of Giles in the only comparable arena they had. When Swann got picked (or picked again) for England it wasn't because he was doing something spectacular that he hadn't done before; he was just a seasoned performer to take a chance on. It would seem obvious now, but sometimes you just can't tell how things will work out. Certainly not many would've predicted the successes that Swann has had.
I agree after years of seeing Swann at Northamptonshire I would never have predicted the fine test player he has become the move of counties helped him but his record for Notts still didnt suggest the things to come
I agree after years of seeing Swann at Northamptonshire I would never have predicted the fine test player he has become the move of counties helped him but his record for Notts still didnt suggest the things to come
He has always been popular at Trent Bridge, but I hardly ever saw him take a wicket. Good team man and all that, but his success at Test level has been quite astonishing. You must give credit to the selectors
Whilst I'm looking forward to the Oval and the rest of the summer, my thoughts are defitely turning to the Ashes. Whilst we are palying well as a team, and the Aussies are not what they were, winning in Oz, with their ball and their pitches is very different.
Batting wise, despite being an Essex fan all my life, Cook really worries me. I think he would make a better No 3 than opener, although Trott now seems to be stettled there. But Cooks form as opener really is a worry - thr trouble is who comes in? (we'd all love Marcus I'm sure but he's not an option).
I'm also concerned about bowling. Anderson when the ball isn't swinging doesn't pick up wickets, and without Flintoff we lack anyone with real aggresion to rip through the tail.
Anyone agree or have ideas on who should come through?
Although I was unimpressed by posh lad Broad's antics in the Trent Bridge test, I can help but wonder what if the likes of Andrew Caddick and Chris Lewis had done the same and been more aggressive.:D
I would've like to have seen Caddick chuck the ball at Steve Waugh - if he'd thrown it at Mark Taylor it might've bounced off to the boundary.:D
Whilst I'm looking forward to the Oval and the rest of the summer, my thoughts are defitely turning to the Ashes. Whilst we are palying well as a team, and the Aussies are not what they were, winning in Oz, with their ball and their pitches is very different.
Batting wise, despite being an Essex fan all my life, Cook really worries me. I think he would make a better No 3 than opener, although Trott now seems to be stettled there. But Cooks form as opener really is a worry - thr trouble is who comes in? (we'd all love Marcus I'm sure but he's not an option).
I'm also concerned about bowling. Anderson when the ball isn't swinging doesn't pick up wickets, and without Flintoff we lack anyone with real aggresion to rip through the tail.
Anyone agree or have ideas on who should come through?
Finn and an improving Broad have agression, be it the right agression or not in the case of Broad.
As for Cook, his worry his not his position, it's his frankly awful form amd technique, it has nothing to do where he bats. If he does not perform for the rest of the series, he simply can't go to Australia.
Finn and an improving Broad have agression, be it the right agression or not in the case of Broad.
As for Cook, his worry his not his position, it's his frankly awful form amd technique, it has nothing to do where he bats. If he does not perform for the rest of the series, he simply can't go to Australia.
Not sure I agree. yes Finn and Broad have aggresion but neither are really quick. Flintoff could bowl at well over 90 consistently and that can be crucial if the tail are hanging around. Maybe Finn will develop more speed but I feel uncomfortable going to Oz without at least one reallly quicjk bowler.
As for Cook, yes his form and technique are way off at the moment. But if we could find another good opener and bat him at 3, then (hopefully) he'd be coming in with the ball 20 overs old. At the moment he's not seeing off the new ball and I think we;d see a different batsman.
Not sure I agree. yes Finn and Broad have aggresion but neither are really quick. Flintoff could bowl at well over 90 consistently and that can be crucial if the tail are hanging around. Maybe Finn will develop more speed but I feel uncomfortable going to Oz without at least one reallly quicjk bowler.
As for Cook, yes his form and technique are way off at the moment. But if we could find another good opener and bat him at 3, then (hopefully) he'd be coming in with the ball 20 overs old. At the moment he's not seeing off the new ball and I think we;d see a different batsman.
Finn has just started his Test career and has made a very good impression so far. He is only very young and has the potential to up his pace. There are very few really quick bowlers about who can destroy a tail, only Dale Steyn springs to mind, and the others in recent years have been Shane Bond and Shoab Akhtar.
Broad and Anderson are good enough bowlers , but despite recent success do not have a great Test record, and it has been Swann who has been the major factor in England's recent good form.
As for batting , we are fine, but I would like to see Adam Lyth given a chance this year, though KP's form is a worry.
We should certainly match Australia this winter, I don't think there is any chance of losing heavily, and we may just sneak it.
I think i would send Cook back to county crickt for the rest of the season in order to a get him into form for the ashes and also give someone else a chance to show what they have incase he doesnt rediscover his form in the ashes
Not sure I agree. yes Finn and Broad have aggresion but neither are really quick. Flintoff could bowl at well over 90 consistently and that can be crucial if the tail are hanging around.
What has been interesting is that Harmison has been extremely hard to score runs off. Yet Durham have used him very leniently.
I have always thought he was best used at home so picking him for tours certainly destroyed his international career.
What a great competitor Dominic Cork is-for me his final over swung the game. Pollard may easily have nicked another few runs and would have played his part with the ball. Cork's obvious distress at his injury showed his humanity as well.
I was wondering this as well then I remembered the last test starts at Lord's and there has to be a 3 day break between matches.
Naturally it would be sacrilege for a Lord's test not to start on a Thursday
I assume it must be the case that the Lord's Test had to start on a Thursday, we couldn't have MCC members having to go to a Test Match on a Wednesday could we.
Strange that The Oval is not the final Test, and it should be interesting to see the attendance next week. I don't imagine it will be a sell out for the first two days.
The Pakistan wicketkeeper , Haider has a broken finger, such a pity if he cannot play after his efforts in the last game, and I don't imagine the Pakistanis want Kamran Akmal to return.
As for the T20, what a sickener for Notts. There are masses of the " we wuz robbed" comments on a Notts board, but we knew the score ( literally) so no complaints, well not that many. That guy Buttler took it away from us after we had got rid of Tres., And you can hardly complain about the excitement of the whole day
As a Hants fan, I'm delighted, but still trying to recover from the stress.How on earth did we manage to make it that difficult? Had it all in the last over or two. Wickets, injuries, dropped catches.
As a Hants fan, I'm delighted, but still trying to recover from the stress.How on earth did we manage to make it that difficult? Had it all in the last over or two. Wickets, injuries, dropped catches.
There are actually people on that Notts site who think the whole thing was a conspiracy to ensure Hampshire won it. They wonder why the game was played at the Rose Bowl ( errr, arranged at the start of the season), Why Hants got to play first so giving them a rest etc .
Well done to Hampshire from me anyway, we still have a shout in two more competitions.
Stuart Broad was hitting 90mph quite regularly yesterday, I know it was only a 20/20 but he can get it up there quickly!
But yeh, yesterday, what a day! It was very emotional, I was shaking so much at the end, thought we'd lost it didn't realise when the screen say 2 from 1 ball we actually only needed 1 run. That last over was agony took so bloody long, managed to convince myself we'd lost it, but we did it! and then the fireworks went off and the cheers went up, my fave moment probably was standing under the hants balcony shouting 'hampshire' as michael lumb came down the steps on his crutches and everyone giving him a pat on the back!
England set to be unchanged for the 3rd test as they name the same X11 with Tim Bresnan as bowling cover. Obviously Cook will be under scrutiny but I think he deserves to keep his place for now. 2 more failures here and it may be touch and go if he keeps his place for Lord's or even The Ashes. Though it was only a 20/20 there were signs he was finding some fluency towards the end of his innings yesterday.
England set to be unchanged for the 3rd test as they name the same X11 with Tim Bresnan as bowling cover. Obviously Cook will be under scrutiny but I think he deserves to keep his place for now. 2 more failures here and it may be touch and go if he keeps his place for Lord's or even The Ashes. Though it was only a 20/20 there were signs he was finding some fluency towards the end of his innings yesterday.
I agree toward the endyesterday he looked quite good im not suorised they have kept the same team although I would have tries someone else instead of Cook as cover for injuries and loss of form and let Cook rediscover his form in county cricket
Comments
I agree after years of seeing Swann at Northamptonshire I would never have predicted the fine test player he has become the move of counties helped him but his record for Notts still didnt suggest the things to come
He has always been popular at Trent Bridge, but I hardly ever saw him take a wicket. Good team man and all that, but his success at Test level has been quite astonishing. You must give credit to the selectors
Batting wise, despite being an Essex fan all my life, Cook really worries me. I think he would make a better No 3 than opener, although Trott now seems to be stettled there. But Cooks form as opener really is a worry - thr trouble is who comes in? (we'd all love Marcus I'm sure but he's not an option).
I'm also concerned about bowling. Anderson when the ball isn't swinging doesn't pick up wickets, and without Flintoff we lack anyone with real aggresion to rip through the tail.
Anyone agree or have ideas on who should come through?
I would've like to have seen Caddick chuck the ball at Steve Waugh - if he'd thrown it at Mark Taylor it might've bounced off to the boundary.:D
Finn and an improving Broad have agression, be it the right agression or not in the case of Broad.
As for Cook, his worry his not his position, it's his frankly awful form amd technique, it has nothing to do where he bats. If he does not perform for the rest of the series, he simply can't go to Australia.
Not sure I agree. yes Finn and Broad have aggresion but neither are really quick. Flintoff could bowl at well over 90 consistently and that can be crucial if the tail are hanging around. Maybe Finn will develop more speed but I feel uncomfortable going to Oz without at least one reallly quicjk bowler.
As for Cook, yes his form and technique are way off at the moment. But if we could find another good opener and bat him at 3, then (hopefully) he'd be coming in with the ball 20 overs old. At the moment he's not seeing off the new ball and I think we;d see a different batsman.
Finn has just started his Test career and has made a very good impression so far. He is only very young and has the potential to up his pace. There are very few really quick bowlers about who can destroy a tail, only Dale Steyn springs to mind, and the others in recent years have been Shane Bond and Shoab Akhtar.
Broad and Anderson are good enough bowlers , but despite recent success do not have a great Test record, and it has been Swann who has been the major factor in England's recent good form.
As for batting , we are fine, but I would like to see Adam Lyth given a chance this year, though KP's form is a worry.
We should certainly match Australia this winter, I don't think there is any chance of losing heavily, and we may just sneak it.
What has been interesting is that Harmison has been extremely hard to score runs off. Yet Durham have used him very leniently.
I have always thought he was best used at home so picking him for tours certainly destroyed his international career.
Do you not recall his 7 - 12 in 2004 against West Indies in Jamaica and his tour average was 14 wickets at 23?
But then the next tour, in South Africa, he was dreadful.
And of course November 2006 in Brisbane
Yeah, that's really selfish because if the match finishes early, I'll have nothing to watch at the weekend.
I was wondering this as well then I remembered the last test starts at Lord's and there has to be a 3 day break between matches.
Naturally it would be sacrilege for a Lord's test not to start on a Thursday
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/boffins-confirm-bradmans-genius-20100814-1240u.html
I actually think that Friday is the best start day:)
Easily the best:)
Try explaining the ending of this game to someone who doesn't follow cricket.
The Finals day had everything. Fantastic entertainment.
Poor Tresco.
He should have realised that the injured batter would be that stressed that he would probably run as well. He should have briefed his team.
However, I was pleased to see Hampshire win without having to play Mr Excitement.
I assume it must be the case that the Lord's Test had to start on a Thursday, we couldn't have MCC members having to go to a Test Match on a Wednesday could we.
Strange that The Oval is not the final Test, and it should be interesting to see the attendance next week. I don't imagine it will be a sell out for the first two days.
The Pakistan wicketkeeper , Haider has a broken finger, such a pity if he cannot play after his efforts in the last game, and I don't imagine the Pakistanis want Kamran Akmal to return.
As for the T20, what a sickener for Notts. There are masses of the " we wuz robbed" comments on a Notts board, but we knew the score ( literally) so no complaints, well not that many. That guy Buttler took it away from us after we had got rid of Tres., And you can hardly complain about the excitement of the whole day
As a Hants fan, I'm delighted, but still trying to recover from the stress.How on earth did we manage to make it that difficult? Had it all in the last over or two. Wickets, injuries, dropped catches.
There are actually people on that Notts site who think the whole thing was a conspiracy to ensure Hampshire won it. They wonder why the game was played at the Rose Bowl ( errr, arranged at the start of the season), Why Hants got to play first so giving them a rest etc .
Well done to Hampshire from me anyway, we still have a shout in two more competitions.
But yeh, yesterday, what a day! It was very emotional, I was shaking so much at the end, thought we'd lost it didn't realise when the screen say 2 from 1 ball we actually only needed 1 run. That last over was agony took so bloody long, managed to convince myself we'd lost it, but we did it! and then the fireworks went off and the cheers went up, my fave moment probably was standing under the hants balcony shouting 'hampshire' as michael lumb came down the steps on his crutches and everyone giving him a pat on the back!
I agree toward the endyesterday he looked quite good im not suorised they have kept the same team although I would have tries someone else instead of Cook as cover for injuries and loss of form and let Cook rediscover his form in county cricket