A no-Cook recipe: England in Sri Lanka 2018

[ad hoc]

Root out for 46 just as they bring up the 100 partnership. Yet another dismissal while sweeping

[Kevin S]

Though it's also been a hugely productive shot this series to be fair.

[jwdd27]

Have England ever lined up with 3 wicketkeepers before? Obviously we've had two with Buttler and Bairstow over the past year, and it would have happened in the Alec Stewart era with Jack Russell, but 3 must be new ground.

[ad hoc]

100 for Bairstow. I sort of wanted him to tell the selectors to sod off after the second test, but his way of getting back at them is probably better

[ad hoc]

And the Bairstow Stokes partnership ends at 99. Root Bairstow was apparently only the second century partnership of this entire series, and I thought it was odds on we'd have a second one straight after it, buslike.

[Ray de Galles]

100 for Bairstow. I sort of wanted him to tell the selectors to sod off after the second test, but his way of getting back at them is probably better

a) I thought the selectors chose the squads and the coach & captain pick the XI for individual matches?

b) What have whoever chose the team done wrong? England won the last test and Bairstow has come back from his break strongly, it all seems positive for England to me.

[ad hoc]

(b) Felt to me (and to a lot of people, and obviously Bairstow himself given his pointed celebration on reaching 100) that he was really harshly treated when they effectively dropped him for the second test.

[Ray de Galles]

Well, any player is going to be bolshy about being dropped but, objectively, what did they do wrong?

[ad hoc]

Page 3 of this thread contains my response to that question, spread over about 3 posts. I can't swear that it's "objective" but no other opinion is objective either

[Ray de Galles]

So Buttler should have been dropped for the last test, where he scored 64 and 34?

Am I right about who picks the XI btw, genuine question?

[ad hoc]

Actually I am not sure about who picks the XI on tour. At home it's the selectors, but you might be right about when they are away.

As for Buttler in the last test - his selection turned out well. That's a bit 20/20 hindsight though.

[Ray de Galles]

Not really, as Etienne pointed out at the time :

Buttler has averaged 48 in the last year, Bairstow 30.

and Butler's average in the last test was 49.

[ad hoc]

And my point was that Bairstow has been dicked around for a while (at least a year) and being dropped from the second test pretty much was the culmination of that. To be honest the Buttler thing wasnt really the point. I am not sure who would have been the right one to drop (probably one of the openers but then that's obviously a specialist position). It is of course possible that the decision they made was - either by luck or judgment - the very best one they could have made for the team (it obviously turned out OK) but that doesn't mean they treated Bairstow well. In fact they clearly didn't.

[jameswba]

He wasn't dropped though, was he? He got injured, wasn't fit enough to play in the first test, then the team played so well without him that there was no reason to make changes for the second. Buttler's 38 in the first innings of that first test was one of those knocks that was more crucial in reality than the number of runs would suggest. It didn't give justification for dropping him.

And, as has also been pointed out, Buttler had outperformed Bairstow with the bat over the English summer, a period when some of Bairstow's innings were, frankly, brainless. I do accept the argument that Bairstow has been affected by questions over whether he should have retained the wicketkeeping role. However, the counter-argument would be that, as a senior player, he should have been a bit less precious and a bit more ready to do what seemed right for the team. That was, as Mark Butcher and others have pointed out, to bat in the top order, let Buttler add the keeping to his no7 role and - more crucially still - let young batters settle in the middle order. The likes of Tom Westley, Ollie Pope etc might have made a better go of things had they not always had the pressure of having to come in early.

I think it's those younger players who've been truly 'dicked around' by the selectors. Moeen Ali too. Asked to bat at 3, does it unquestioningly for the good of the team, gets two games there, then it's said he 'hasn't taken the opportunity' and he's back down the order again.

All that said, I'm delighted for Bairstow today. Brilliant effort.

[diggedy derek]

Gotta be the angriest celebration for a century since Harmanpreet Kaur

[Satchmo Distel]

England do not play any Tests between Feb 14 and July 24. Longest gap I can recall since their 1988-89 India tour was cancelled.

Bairstow at 3 might not work against better teams. Does Leach get dropped and they go back to four seamers plus Ali?

[ad hoc]

Sri Lanka collapse from 173/1 to 240 all out

[diggedy derek]

Very disappointing.

[ad hoc]

Silva and Mendis were starting to make this interesting, but then Mendis just got run out for 86.

[ad hoc]

Unbroken final wicket partnership of (so far) 58, gets us to tea with Sri Lanka only 43 runs from victory.

[ad hoc]

All over, England win by 42.

Meanwhile, in Dubai, Yasir Shah has taken 8/41 in NZ's first innings total of 90 all out, including a triple wicket maiden. NZ are now following on a mere 328 behind