Martinez1986
Vital Squad Member
we're missing the king of swing badly
we're missing the king of swing badly
I’m sorry Will, but Roy will never make a test opener as long as he’s a hole in his arse.
There are definitely some technical problems. What I mentioned earlier about how he plays the ball with hard hands was kind of shown through that dismissal; he pushed so hard at it and the ball flew to Warner. He also gets squared up very easily which led to his dismissal at Lords and means that he doesn't play the ball with a straight bat. Those are just my observations.
Aside from all of that, he also seems to still have an ODI mentality. He finds it difficult to leave the ball outside off stump on a regular basis and just wants to get bat on ball which has led to him nicking off on a few occasions, such as during his dismissal today.
But a caveat to all of that is that he's playing in effectively his first Test series, against arguably the best bowling attack in the world. Also, do you remember when he first came into the ODI side in 2015 for that New Zealand series and looked like a fish out of water? It took him about a year to get used to that format, and now he's one of the best (in my opinion, the very best) player we've ever had in ODIs. Plus, it's not like there's anyone crying out to be selected in the county circuit. The technical issues are fixable and his mentality can be worked on, but it'll take time... I personally think that we should just have patience and given time he could be a real asset to the side in the opener's position. I can totally understand why people would disagree, though.
Agree and disagree with some of that. Limited overs cricket is very different to test cricket so don’t think we can use it as a comparison. Fundamentally he doesn’t have the temperament for test cricket, regardless of technique. In Odis he can get away with chasing balls outside his offside because there aren’t four slips waiting to take the edge, in tests there are. Just bowl there and he hasn’t the patience to leave the ball so the edge is inevitable.
In regards Root his form is poor and is under pressure being the captain as he knows he’s virtually an opener as there is no resilience ahead of him. Relieving him of the captaincy may help but I can’t see any ready made replacements unfortunately.
I agree that different skills are required for the different formats. The main point I was making though was more that, at times, it takes a little bit of time for players to adjust to a new format, or a step up in quality. When Roy first came into the ODI side, many would’ve said that he didn’t have the temperament for international cricket. He passed 40 just twice in his first 12 innings. But persistence paid off, and eventually he came good. Who’s to say the same won’t happen in Tests? His mindset can be worked upon and improved by the team’s psychologist. I just think he’s worth persisting with, if only on the basis that there is literally no one else banging on the door to be selected.
As for the captaincy, I’d give it to Broad personally. A very experienced player now, with a good cricketing brain and a confident personality that is suited to leadership. He’s also one of the few sure shots to actually be selected in the team at the moment!
Roy won’t be any better at 3.....flat ODI pitches, white Kookaburra (virtually no swing) white balls and an absence of close fielders allows him far more scope to play than in Tests.Roy should be 3 with Root 4. Stokes 5 and Bairstow 6. Put Buttler at 7 as he played woeful. They are a 50 over side trying to play test cricket. Bring back Boycs.
Agree about giving it to Broad- though to be honest giving the batting performances it will make no difference.
Disagree about Roy. Thought it right he was given a chance but as you know I was reticent. Sadly he’s proven exactly why I was fearful. His game, temperament, technique, mindset isn’t suited to test cricket. He doesn’t open for Surrey in first class cricket, only averages lates 30’s and I can see why. Good odi players doesn’t automatically mean you’ll be be a good test one.
Regardless of all that the whole batting unit has been shite for years, today has been an absolute embarrassment.
Keaton Jenning is gash he will never make a test batsman.Time to recall Keaton Jennings who whilst pretty poor...can occasionally manage a ‘scratchy 25’ which bizarrely would be a better option than what we are seeing in this series ...Burns excepted (who tends to have the luck of the devil)
With all the misery regarding Latics, Root and Denly have given us at least a ray of hope in this match. If we win this, it'll be one of the greatest Ashes victories of all time.
Keaton Jenning is gash he will never make a test batsman.
Careful Will....it's the hope that kills you.