i would have left out ali and replaced him with taylor

would have still had topley, willey, jordan, rashid, stokes and root as bowling options

in the 2 full series taylor has had since being given a run in the team he is averaging 56 at a s/r of close to 90 and just made a hundred in the warmup so not really sure he did anything to deserve to be dropped

Isn't it a case of playing a spinner rather than an extra batsman ? You would go in without our number 1 spinner ? It's a nice problem to have

Let's hope we finish off better than New Zealand

At the end of the 25th over , we are 191/2

if i had to pick between ali and rashid as our main spinner for limited overs then i would be picking rashid every time, especially off the back of how he did in the BBL

its is a nice problem to have , someone had to make way to get root back in and taylor was the unlucky one. i just prefer the idea of having root and taylor at #3 and #4 so if the hales/roy partnership doesn't come off we have two solid options behind them who can both build an innings and do so at a good pace too

anyway back to the cricket itself

buttler races to his 50 off just 34 balls and brings up the 200 for england

I think the "proper way" and "its just not cricket" are phrases that have been (unfortunately) confined to the past. Long gone are the days, when a batsman took the fielders word that he took a clean catch. Or ask the fielder if it was a 4 or not. Even when a batsman gets a clear edge, they wont shift until the umpire gives them out. Then they may ask the umpire to check for a no-ball.

As for the fielding side, that will appeal for a caught behind/LBW like its a dead cert. However once the umpire says not out, there is no discussion and the decission is not appealed. Because they know full well its not out. Many a time I have seen this happen. Or another one, where Anderson was looking at the umpire tapping his wrist. Indicating the batsman have had more than the 15 secs they have to make a decision. Again its just not cricket, but it happens

All very sad, but its the modern way.

what a catch that would have been from behardien if it had stuck

fantastic 100 for buttler off just 73 balls

i think thats him now got the 4 fastest 100s in ODis for england

and there is still 8 overs left

bah he goes in the next over, and to behardien as well

made the most of being promoted to #4 today tho

Well this is fun

Classic Geoffrey-ism as the leggy serves up two six balls in succession.......

'there's more brains in a pork pie'

was just thinking exactly that

unless you are a south african bowler of course

this is carnage now

thought we had lost the chance of 400 when buttler went but its definitely within reach now

edit : and stokes after hitting some fantastic straight sixes tries a little fiddly scoop and is bowled next ball

a little surprised rashid and jordan are coming in ahead of willey here considering the sort of cameos willey has played in t20s over the last couple of years

England a little less than they wanted to be but its still a challenging target under lights today.

yeah having 2 front-line spinners is too many.
Having 6.5 bowlers in an one day game is also too many.
TBH you can rotate Stokes/Ali by the conditions, seam friendly Stokes, Spin friendly Ali, although the conditions can also be determined by ground sizes and pace of wicket generally spinners do far better in a 2 pace wicket or very big grounds.

So ridiculous called England to be strong at the 2015 world cup around 2013 period because they have so much depth and all rounders pushing the team that they can always have the perfect team in pretty much all conditions.
So pathetic they never picked this team for the world cup could have easily came close to winning the competition now their have to wait 4 years for another chances and cricket is a funny game England might not be the same side then.

Although end of the day it doesn't really matter, Morgan spoke well yesterday it is about having a squad of 15 and not a 11.
Pretty much expect at least 1 batsman and 1 Bowler/All rounder missing games/Series because they need a rest so the likes of Taylor should also play loads of cricket before the next ICC event and world cup.

a little bit messy the last couple of overs and just miss out on 400 but 399 is a fantastic total by anyone's standards and will take some getting

Rashid is a surprise unless in the nets Willey is hopeless against genuine pace althogh looking at the SA team only Merchant de Lange fits that description.

Fantastic score from England 399/9 and well done Jos Buttler.

In the end there is nothing that has happened in ODI cricket that makes Rashid better than Ali at this point in time. Rashid did well in the BBL, but so what it's domestic T20, should mean Rashid is the first in line for T20 perhaps, but not ODI.

II like bowling options though, can't have too many for me, so I like this side. I also like Taylor, but Joe Root plays his role, and is just better at it, and he bowls too. James is under-study to him, I'm afraid he's just unlucky.

Good performance, but they should have run that last one, nothing to lose, and 400 to gain.

Odd though feeling slightly disappointed in 399. Shows how far we've come.

same here , i kinda wanted to criticise the way they finished off the innings but when they have 399 on the board it just feels wrong to do so

A bowler could attempt this all the time without penalty. If the batter is in it should be a no ball.


Bairstow for Ali.

TBH never said drop Ali.
Just that having 2 spin option is too many.
Of course having more bowling options is better but that is usually linked with weakening the batting attack.
TBH England probably the only squad that has that dilemma generally all team know their 11 and balance in all conditions since a lot of it would be the same.
England not so easy because they have so many all rounders.
In some conditions having 2 Spinners is beneficial.
in Some conditions having 6-7 bowlers is beneficial.
In Some conditions dropping one bowler and having the extra batsman is beneficial.

The key is really not to waste any players in the team.
You don't really want 6.5 bowlers in a team if the 6th bowlers isn't really gonna bowl much and that 6th bowlers bats 8 or below.
Although at the same time you don't want the extra batsman if he hardly gets used.

Pretty much Taylor, Ali, Stokes, Rashid are fighting for 2 spots in the team.
but I would change them depending on conditions and form.

Willey to De Kock.... Hardcore cricket

Should be a match winning score but that epic run chase of 428 leaves a nagging doubt...

plus ABV..

Spreads currently calling SA runs at 321 - 329