English Domestic Cricket 2007 - Page 8

mattfb · 17th February 2007, 09:38 AM

Dougie! lets hope this county season can improve his cricket for next season with the blues

aussie1st · 17th February 2007, 07:57 PM

He should enjoy the swinging conditions over in England, maybe he can finally crack that 5 fer mark

Sureshot · 17th February 2007, 09:38 PM

Matt Prior has signed a new 3 year contract with Sussex.

Great news for us as he is the best in the land (no bias honest).

evertonfan · 17th February 2007, 10:09 PM

Not biased at all SS. He is quite clearly the best batsman of the current crop in England and his glovework is sound from what i've seen. Chirpy fella too.

nightprowler10 · 18th February 2007, 12:42 AM

Too bad he couldn't convert his CC talent into ODI success.

Will_NA · 18th February 2007, 12:48 AM

wasn't given enough of a chance

paul nixon is, like, a 105 years old and couldn't hit a basketball let alone a cricket ball. his highest score in 10 innings for england is 49 (when he should have been given out on 12) and averages 12. bring back prior

Sureshot · 18th February 2007, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nightprowler10

Too bad he couldn't convert his CC talent into ODI success.

Of Englands keepers over the last few years we have:

Read; 36 Matches (24 innings) 300 runs @ 17.64 with a HS of 30*
Jones; 49 Matches (41 innings) 815 runs @ 24.69 with a HS of 80
Nixon; 10 matches (10 innings) 104 runs @ 11.55 with a HS of 49
Prior; 12 matches (12 innings) 240 runs @ 20.00 with a HS of 45

Foster was over 5 years ago so I won't include him. Though he was similar to Nixon.

In 2006 Jones averaged nearly 30. Dropping from Tests was fine but from ODIs? I'm a little uncertain now.

Oh how I hate this dilemna. A very interesting summer coming up indeed. not only for the England Test keeper (whoever it may be but I hope it's not Nixon) and the ones who missed out.

Drewska · 18th February 2007, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sureshot

Of Englands keepers over the last few years we have:

Read; 36 Matches (24 innings) 300 runs @ 17.64 with a HS of 30*
Jones; 49 Matches (41 innings) 815 runs @ 24.69 with a HS of 80
Nixon; 10 matches (10 innings) 104 runs @ 11.55 with a HS of 49
Prior; 12 matches (12 innings) 240 runs @ 20.00 with a HS of 45

Foster was over 5 years ago so I won't include him. Though he was similar to Nixon.

In 2006 Jones averaged nearly 30. Dropping from Tests was fine but from ODIs? I'm a little uncertain now.

Oh how I hate this dilemna. A very interesting summer coming up indeed. not only for the England Test keeper (whoever it may be but I hope it's not Nixon) and the ones who missed out.

Jones had a contrasting year in 2006. His test form was shocking with just one score of 50, but in ODI's he looked totally solid, chipping in against India and Sri Lanka. I think Jones should be given another chance as ODI keeper, but his batting isn't right for test matches at the moment (The sweep shot against spinners

) and he gave away his wicket too many times in the ashes.

puddleduck · 18th February 2007, 11:30 AM

He basically looked mentally destroyed in the test series, so I think we had to drop him from the Odi side too. If your keeper is suffering from self-doubt that can rub off on the whole fielding unit as they are often the focal point.

Those stats do show that Prior deserves a chance, he did most of that opening the batting, still quite young, against India in India. So I think it would be fair to say he's demonstrated more than most of the other candidates with the bat.

He's going well in Bangladesh on the A tour as well. Him and Nick Compton are both in the runs.

Personally I'm more than happy with Read getting an extended stint in the side, a couple of series worth. He's shown in county cricket he can add useful cameos in the short form on more than enough occassions, his glovework is more often than not superb, and I think he's earnt that run. Won't happen though

manee · 18th February 2007, 11:32 AM

I think England should invest in one of those keepers and train that person hard to be truly great and give them more squad stability.

Australia invested in Gilchrist for tests and gave him chances and look how good he is now.

puddleduck · 18th February 2007, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manee

I think England should invest in one of those keepers and train that person hard to be truly great and give them more squad stability.

Australia invested in Gilchrist for tests and gave him chances and look how good he is now.

I think that's the current problem, I reckon they have singled out young Davies as being the long-term keeper. They will want him to have a good year for Worcestershire this year, and depending on how good year, he could feasibly break into the squad half-way through, or even the winter tours. So they've got 4 or so options who all in their own way offer roughly the same level and potentially someone who could trump them all for years to come.

Also they did invest in Jones. They tried all sorts, and unfortunately he just got worse and worse as his career progressed.

manee · 18th February 2007, 11:37 AM

Jones is good though, he needs mental help rather than batting help. He sometimes plays the most stupid shots at the worst time.

puddleduck · 18th February 2007, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manee

Jones is good though, he needs mental help rather than batting help. He sometimes plays the most stupid shots at the worst time.

We'll have to agree to disagree on that one

He has some lovely looking shots, but in reality he's mentally weak. His glovework whilst much improved is still nothing special, and that improvement seemed to come at the cost of his slightly better than adequate batting. Unless he goes back to Kent and starts racking up 100's whilst still keeping well, I hope to never see him near the England side again.

For me he had his chance, a very long one at that, and has almost gotten worse series by series. I would think Foster, Read, Prior and depending on how he goes next season Davies would all deserve a run ahead of him.

manee · 18th February 2007, 11:44 AM

It really is a problem for England, Nixon's form in ODIs is a temporary fix but he will retire soon. Those records for English keepers is worrying.

What England would give for India who have two oood keeper batsman and Australia who are in a similar position.

puddleduck · 18th February 2007, 11:51 AM

We have to make do with what we've got. What most countries would give for an all-rounder like Freddie, or Kallis!

We've got some very fine keepers, Read and Foster are two fantastic glovemen, there aren't many better in world cricket, but rightly or wrongly runs are a key part of being a wicket-keeper these days. Unfortunately for England it is especially the case, as whilst Freddie is a fine player to have, he is not the worlds best number 6 test batsman and our tail is fairly long these days.