Open Season, usually a time period where hunting is legal although for English selectors this seems to be headed for the foreseeable future. The Open season of English openers describes it best, where batsmen have been hunted by selectors only to fail on the international stage and to be never heard of again.
As a post Lords effect the standard team selection jitters are in full flow, with Gary Balance already being relieved of duty and the call up to in form Jonny Bairstow. Critics are also taking a closer look into Alastair Cooks opening partner after Adam Lyth seems to be wrapped around the Aussies little finger with re-occurring back foot dismissals. The trap door seems to be creaking for another of England's openers, following experiments such as Michael Carberry, Sam Robson, Nick Compton and Joe Root. All these batsmen were given a maximum of nine games, which begs the question 'is that enough time to step up from the county circuit to international?'. Not only are none of these batsmen knocking on the door for selection but have struggled within their own counties, leaving very few ideas if Adam Lyth did need replacing possibly root opening again and James Taylor comes into the squad who's also in form. Is it in this 'New England' mentality to replace Lyth this early or are they willing to stick it out, a success story being Steve Smith for Australia who is now ranked number one in the world.
With only three games left of this Ashes series, one being in Trent Bridge could a case be made for Alex Hales who is one of England's most talented batsmen who has proven his ability in northern and southern hemisphere wickets. Although his attacking style would be an area of concern for selectors however, if given enough games he may be able to adapt, after all look at David Warner who seems to be able to play every kind of situation a characteristic England have struggled to find over the last twelve months.
Either way with Cook requesting 'English wickets' for the final three games, means Adam Lyth or any of the out of form England top order will have any rest bite with ground staff listening to the seamers dyer call for assistance after Cardiff and Lords offering very little.
Please feel free to leave any comments or feedback.
Jordan Bowen
Sunday, 26 July 2015
Monday, 20 July 2015
Ashes 2nd Test Review
It was a test match most English supporters would like to take back and claim as a 'bad dream'. The thought of Cardiff still reminiscing in their heads so that a result like this surely wasn't possible, however it was possible and did in fact happen.
The second test at Lords, for traditionalists that is disturbing enough, the alleged home of cricket being relegated while second division grounds such as the Swalec Stadium take the honour of opening the Ashes. Putting that behind us, the opening day at Lords was filled with what felt like a lingering buzz of optimism as a result of the first test where our one-nil lead could be built on further. This buzz was quickly diminished after Michael Clarke won the toss, possibly the most fatal of tosses for Alistair Cook to lose. From there on in the term 'one way traffic' would excellently describe the proceedings with England only positive coming from Moeen Ali's wicket, this only continues my bewilderment of how a part time spinner can actually pick up wickets against what on paper is a world class line up. Anyway the grind of Rodgers and fluency of Smith was backed up by what Geoffrey Boycott called a 'featherbed' making the Cardiff wicket look a lot better than it actually was (the only thing saving Cardiff's ground staff) the wicket was slow and offered nothing to bowlers which resulted in what showed as a disheartened English bowling attack. By the time the pain was over the tourists had made a soul destroying 566.
A brutal day and a half in the field and the hosts looked broken. No wonder Adam Lyth didn't want to stay more than two balls at the crease as England looked up the mountain. A stubborn Cook being the only one to show any sort of grit and determination batsmen are supposed to show especially in the ashes. To remain consistent Balance and Bell contributing nothing between them and even golden boy Joe Root who couldn't drag England out of trouble, however Ben Stokes stuck it to the Australian attack for an impressive 87 carrying on his fine form. At the end of the first innings England valiantly conjured up 312 where Australia felt a little more pain was due.
Australia as you can expect sunk their teeth into the opportunity and laid on the leather chasing for the English bowlers to make 254 with Warner and Smith both making it past fifty and making it the first time James Anderson has left Lords wicket less, a true testament to the pitch I thought. Leaving England a catastrophic 509 to win, or barely more realistically a day and a half to bat. When the first wicket fell not even ticket sellers were optimistic that it would reach a fifth day, and they were right. A dismal display of batting meant only Stuart Broad got over twenty (25) in an innings which collapsed so quickly it was if Trevor Bayliss aimed to recreate the Wall Street Crash, consisting of a run out and about five cheap dismissals.
With an overly negative tone reviewing this match (deservedly so) it has seriously raised questions of team selection particularly when established team members like Ian Bell are showing such little confidence. Can this 'new brand' of English cricket afford team changes because if you were to change one player based on this test like bell then surely Balance and Lyth are surely called into question?
And may we pray that English ground staff learn a lesson from this tame Lords pitch, not so we can have the ball doing hoops and completely blow the Aussies away with the likes of James Anderson, but so we can see bowlers maintain some sort of emphasis after the first 10 overs of an innings.
Jordan Bowen
The second test at Lords, for traditionalists that is disturbing enough, the alleged home of cricket being relegated while second division grounds such as the Swalec Stadium take the honour of opening the Ashes. Putting that behind us, the opening day at Lords was filled with what felt like a lingering buzz of optimism as a result of the first test where our one-nil lead could be built on further. This buzz was quickly diminished after Michael Clarke won the toss, possibly the most fatal of tosses for Alistair Cook to lose. From there on in the term 'one way traffic' would excellently describe the proceedings with England only positive coming from Moeen Ali's wicket, this only continues my bewilderment of how a part time spinner can actually pick up wickets against what on paper is a world class line up. Anyway the grind of Rodgers and fluency of Smith was backed up by what Geoffrey Boycott called a 'featherbed' making the Cardiff wicket look a lot better than it actually was (the only thing saving Cardiff's ground staff) the wicket was slow and offered nothing to bowlers which resulted in what showed as a disheartened English bowling attack. By the time the pain was over the tourists had made a soul destroying 566.
A brutal day and a half in the field and the hosts looked broken. No wonder Adam Lyth didn't want to stay more than two balls at the crease as England looked up the mountain. A stubborn Cook being the only one to show any sort of grit and determination batsmen are supposed to show especially in the ashes. To remain consistent Balance and Bell contributing nothing between them and even golden boy Joe Root who couldn't drag England out of trouble, however Ben Stokes stuck it to the Australian attack for an impressive 87 carrying on his fine form. At the end of the first innings England valiantly conjured up 312 where Australia felt a little more pain was due.
Australia as you can expect sunk their teeth into the opportunity and laid on the leather chasing for the English bowlers to make 254 with Warner and Smith both making it past fifty and making it the first time James Anderson has left Lords wicket less, a true testament to the pitch I thought. Leaving England a catastrophic 509 to win, or barely more realistically a day and a half to bat. When the first wicket fell not even ticket sellers were optimistic that it would reach a fifth day, and they were right. A dismal display of batting meant only Stuart Broad got over twenty (25) in an innings which collapsed so quickly it was if Trevor Bayliss aimed to recreate the Wall Street Crash, consisting of a run out and about five cheap dismissals.
With an overly negative tone reviewing this match (deservedly so) it has seriously raised questions of team selection particularly when established team members like Ian Bell are showing such little confidence. Can this 'new brand' of English cricket afford team changes because if you were to change one player based on this test like bell then surely Balance and Lyth are surely called into question?
And may we pray that English ground staff learn a lesson from this tame Lords pitch, not so we can have the ball doing hoops and completely blow the Aussies away with the likes of James Anderson, but so we can see bowlers maintain some sort of emphasis after the first 10 overs of an innings.
Jordan Bowen
Tuesday, 28 October 2014
Pittsburgh Steeler's week 8 review and the future
The here and now- what to take away from the colts
The Pittsburgh Steeler's season at this moment can be described as 'neither here or there' with potential talent finally rising to the surface, however the mixture of inexperience and old age on defense is still putting a cap on what this team can achieve. After Sundays mind-blowing victory against the Indianapolis Colts the ship seems to be heading in the right direction going into the second half of the year, with gems being uncovered to back this offense up. Rookie wide-receiver Martavis Bryant showing why he was drafted in the 4th round, to boost a team poor team in the red zone, ranked 31st a couple of weeks ago. I think the rookie provides the 'big play' ability which has been inadequate in the team minus Antonio Brown, with 87 yards and 2 touchdowns the Clemson man seems to be settling in nicely at Heinz Field. Not only was it a good day for wide receivers but Big Ben Roethlisberger who came 20 yards short of breaking the all time passing yards for one game but also showed signs to the critics that him and offensive co-ordinator Todd Haley do have an understanding. For many fans of the Steel City Sunday's game still demonstrated underlying problems, like the entire defence. Apart from a nice play by William Gay to score his interception, the defence still struggles to stop teams completing effective drives consistently. When looking at Andrew Luck who still passed for 400 yards, but with 2 interceptions and a safety there was assurance that the defence could make big plays and create turnovers like past defences before them.1st down yardage and more- how the Steeler's are going to clinch the playoff spot
I refer to the playoffs as 1st down yardage because that's the Steeler's ultimate goal at this time and has been ever since pre-season. For me I feel that with the smart additions brought in through the draft and free agency, people like Lance Moore and Ryan Shazier as well as others, that this team should be achieving a play off spot of some sort. Despite the fact that the AFC North is one of the toughest division's, the Bengals showed severe cracks against the Colts in week 7 where they were shut out. Baltimore can be contained on offense with a mediocre run game however their defence is solid but isn't the best against the pass. The Browns it is down to which team turns up and what mood Brian Hoyer is in. It has become clear that consistency will deliver this team to where they should be come week 16, the Steeler's inconsistency is best displayed through the statistic that the win against the colts was the first consecutive win this season. As well as consistency the defence must stand up especially stopping the run and giving up big plays both evident in the 31-10 loss to the Browns in week 6.To conclude I predict with a tricky finish to the season after the week 12 bye, finishing 8-8 exactly the same as last year despite the differences. Additionally I reckon the Steeler's will fall short narrowly of playoffs once again even though Le'veon Bell will finish with the 4th most rushing yards and Antonio Brown being a top 3 wide receiver both in receptions and yards.
Jordan Bowen
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