The English Revolution – A DaveK tale

[DaveK93]

Keen to see how Rashid goes should you select him. Personally think he's a far better option at 8 for England than Ali is.

I'm honestly not sure who I'll pick yet. If I get a turning pitch, I may consider both, as Ali has proved this morning, he is a pretty decent batsmen. If lets say Ballance was out of form, I'd happily put Ali in there.

[LastWicket]

Another option would be to try Ali as opener instead of Lyth to play the Warner role while allowing Cook to anchor the innings.

[DaveK93]

Another option would be to try Ali as opener instead of Lyth to play the Warner role while allowing Cook to anchor the innings.

I could do, although I prefer Moeen for late impetus in the innings, much like the first inns in Cardiff.

[DaveK93]

Moeen vs Rashid vs Borthwick

Before we get to the next match, let’s look at one of the key battles in the team. The spinner spot is set to be highly contested, with three top notch spinners selected in this touring squad. It’s also notable that all 3 are capable with the bat as well so let’s look in a little more detail…

Moeen Ali



The most established international out of the three. Seemingly a regular under the previous reign, Moeen shone against India with both bat and ball. His strike rate at test level is way under his usual aggressive batting, but that could be down to only just breaking through at test level.

Bowling wise, Moeen sports an impressive average. More effective at test level with the ball than FC, it is possible that his good start could be down to his unknown quality when he started. However, having become widely known, it is plausible he will be less effective than his debut season.

Adil Rashid



Having made his international debut way back in 2009, Adil seemed to have taken a backward step with his career. However, his resurgence has coincided with Jason Gillespie’s revival of Yorkshire, who are arguably one of the best teams in England at present.

Also displaying an aggressive tendency with the bat, Adil has proved himself handy, and his HS of 180 suggests he knows how to handle the willow. However, he hasn’t yet played a test match, so it remains to be seen whether his talent translates across.

With the ball, Adil is fairly solid. His averages took a knock during a lean spell having been dropped by England, but they are on the mend. His economy rate is also handy, especially when spinners can occasionally suffer at the hands of batsmen in England.

Of course, his averages at England level are poor. However, the 27 year old is proving to be a different player to the 21 year old that played previously. The question is though, how far has he come since then?

Scott Borthwick



Borthwick is definitely the newbie of the group. However, that is not to say he is any less talented. His only test came in Aus back in the last Ashes, and despite everything crumbling around him,put in a respectable performance.

With a double century to his name, Scott often bats higher up the order for Durham. He’s become a key component of their lineup in recent years, and now has 8 centuries to his name. However, his batting is lacking in the shorter formats.

Bowling wise, he has a similar average to the other two. Again, an average of 34 is respectable for English conditions, especially when Durham are more seam focused with the likes of Wood and Rushworth. As with previous though, he needs to work on the short format game.

So, an outsider? Possibly. Borthwick is more of a batsman, in a similar vein to Moeen. However, at 24, he has age on his side. If he can work on his game, there is no reason why he can’t establish himself as first choice. If two spinners were to be selected, Scott may have an advantage providing extra depth to the line up, but a lot depends on the pitches here in the WIndies.

[GrahamB]

I'd go with Borthwick out of those three.

[DaveK93]

West Indies – 1st Test Match

The big question before the match is who would play. As it turns out, the pitch was more of a seaming pitch. Therefore, we lead with an attack of Anderson, Broad, Wood and Stokes. As for the spinners, I gave up trying to pick one, and selected all 3. Ballance misses out, and Jonny Bairstow drops out the XI as well, as Ali and Borthwick are selected primarily for their batting.

Borthwick will bat at 3, with Moeen and Rashid coming in at 7/8. It is also worth noting that it is expected to remain sunny throughout the match, so all 3 spinners will be expected to share the load somewhat.

Lyth, Wood and Rashid all make debuts for this match, and with the upcoming Ashes, they will all be looking to make a serious impression.

News from the middle is that England are to bat first.



Not an ideal start for us really, as both Lyth and Cook fell before they got 20. Borthwick and Root rebuilt, taking us from 30-2 to 109-3, as Root departed for 37. Borthwick however stood incredibly firm, and played a measured innings as wickets fell around him. Stokes, Ali and Rashid all played sensible knocks as well, Rashid finishing on 58.

Borthwick scored his first test century for England, hitting 115 from 223, and looked immovable for a long while. The other effect of his long innings is that the pitch started to take turn towards the end. We didn’t score particularly quickly, which is something I will be looking for in future, but we have an aggressive team, so that should help.
The West Indies looked set when they reached 80-0 with relative ease. Smith was the first to fall, Stokes trapping him plumb in front. Rashid picked up his first test wicket to remove Braithwaite for 60, and then the pitch seemed to change.

Borthwick came on to replace Moeen, who went for 30 off 5 overs, and suddenly the WIndies looked very amateur. Rashid picked up a further 2 wickets, and Borthwick 4, as they turned the ball round corners, completely bamboozling the batsmen. Jermaine Blackwood was the only one to stand firm, but he was roundly disposed of by Wood, who wiped out the middle stump with a quick delivery. Anderson mopped up with the last wicket to knock the WIndies out for 253, giving us a lead of 93.

Cook departed for a duck as we started our reply. Lyth and Borthwick formed a solid partnership of 85, but Lyth fell 2 short of his first test 50, caught behind off Samuels. Borthwick carried on though, and alongside Root put the WIndies to task. A second test century soon followed, and he didn’t look like stopping. We started to up the ante after that as well, and Root, Buttler and Stokes all fell playing aggressively.

It wasn’t all straight forward though. A brutal ball reared up and struck Borthwick on the arm, rendering him unable to continue with him on 172*. The injury later turned out to be a fracture, ruling him out for 4 weeks and the rest of the tour. Ali and Rashid picked up the baton, and struck quickly, both getting into the 40s. Late cameos from Wood and Anderson saw us up to tea on day 4, at which point we set the WIndies a target of 569 to win from 4 sessions.

Unfortunately, without our three pronged spin attack, we looked a little deflated. The pitch appeared to level out, favouring the batsmen, as the West Indies pulled off the draw. Neither Anderson or Broad found much in the pitch, Broad going wicketless for the full match. Blackwood and Ramdin’s partnership killed the game, and we now need to look to the next test, and get our first win on the board.



Next Time: Who will I replace Borthwick with, after his magnificent performance?

[MELB52]

Great performance by Borthwick with bat and ball! Shame about the injury though. Quite a defensive declaration setting them nearly 600 and only giving yourself 4 sessions to bowl. What was your reasoning behind that?

[DaveK93]

Great performance by Borthwick with bat and ball! Shame about the injury though. Quite a defensive declaration setting them nearly 600 and only giving yourself 4 sessions to bowl. What was your reasoning behind that?

I was expecting much more out of the pitch than I got. Losing Borthwick didn't help, I was basically going to attack them with spin for a long period. That plan got shelved with the injury.

[DaveK93]

West Indies – 2nd Test Match

The immediate issue to deal with is that of the injury to Borthwick. Returning at 3 is Ian Bell, who was perhaps unlucky to not be in the squad already. We make one other change though, as Chris Rushworth comes in for Mark Wood. With burning sun expected fairly solidly through the match, and with the pitch not really providing much for the seamers, Rushworth will be able to send down more overs, and help to share the load with the other bowlers.

We lose the toss and are asked to bowl.



We made early inroads, as we reduced West Indies to 59-3, with key man Chanderpaul being removed. Darren Bravo found some form in the middle though, and put on a solid stand with Marlon Samuels. Once Samuels went for 61 though, WIndies collapsed from 142 to 165-7.

Bravo remained though, and completed his century. Jerome Taylor stuck around though, and completed his second half century at test level, finally departing for 63. Once they went, the innings collapsed, and were all out for 324. Rashid and Broad both picked up 3 wickets, whilst Rushworth claimed his first test wicket by trapping Holder lbw.

We put on 85 at the start, before Lyth yet again fell before 50, reaching 44 this time. Cook and Root formed a solid partnership though, putting on 166 and putting us in a seriously good position. Root would fall for 93, and Cook for 134, but they had put the WIndies to the sword.

Buttler and Stokes failed to impress, and fell quickly, leaving us on 311-6. A stunning counter attack by Moeen and Rashid saw a record 7th wicket partnership though, putting on 231 before Rashid departed for 88. Moeen carried on though, smashing 164* from 218, as we finished on 596 ao about an hour into day 4.

The West Indies went into defence mode, with Chanderpaul, Bravo and Blackwood in particular defending resolutely. Jerome Taylor put on another 49 as well, but we finally broke the innings with half an hour left. Broad picked up a 5fer, and Stokes got a useful 3 wickets, as we were left with a quick chase.

In chasing, we lost 2 wickets, but managed to clear the target before the close of play. We take a 1-0 lead in the series, with one to play.



Next Time: Can we hold the series lead, or will the West Indies strike back?

[DaveK93]

West Indies – 3rd Test Match

One to go then before we return home. Yet again, we make changes, two this time. Jonny Bairstow takes over the gloves from Buttler, who hasn’t really shone as much as hoped this series. The other change sees Mark Wood back in for Chris Rushworth as the third seamer.

We win the toss, and elect to bat.



Our top 3 all piled on centuries, as we made the hosts toil in the field. Lyth (101), Cook (159), and Bell (182) all took the West Indies to task, as we put on a mammoth 640-9. There was also a half century for Joe Root, whilst late cameos from Rashid and Wood bumped up our total.

Smith, Samuels and Chanderpaul all reached the 70s in reply, as we managed to enforce the follow on. Anderson and Broad took 3 a piece, as my leading seamers finally demonstrated their capabilities. Wood also picked up two to add to his fledgling total. Four sessions remained in the match, as we looked to push on.

What we found however, was Shiv Chanderpaul. A simply stunning innings of 192 frustrated us as the WIndies not only survived but put on a lead. The pitch, which had promised much, died for the seamers, and we were struggling. Broad and Wood got 3 each, but there was very little for the rest of the bowlers.

Despite the draw, we do take the series 1-0. A win is a win, I’m not complaining about how we get it. I can’t help but think that New Zealand may punish us if we don’t bowl better.



Next Time: Time for a trip to Malahide to meet the Irish. With an expected squad of newbies, who know what will happen?

[DaveK93]

Series Stats

England



West Indies

[Dick Van Dykes Disco Dog]

Loving the 4 seam & 3 spin attack in the first test - very brave but completely justified by the end of the match !!

[DaveK93]

Loving the 4 seam & 3 spin attack in the first test - very brave but completely justified by the end of the match !!

It's very rare I'll trot that option out, but an away trip to Pakistan is coming up, so I'm expecting some turn there. With the T20 WC in India as well, 3 spinners may be useful. Providing of course, Borthwick's injury doesn't set him back too much.

[DaveK93]

Ireland – 1st One Day International

A very inexperienced team makes the short trip to Ireland. Morgan, Taylor and Finn are the big three names in the squad, so we will be looking at them to lead. Potential debutants include Billings, Vince, Willey, Coles, Gregory and Topley.

All of the players in the 12 man squad are established one day players, and in theory shouldn’t have issues translating those skills. There are some other players that are perhaps unlucky to miss out as well, with James Roy being a name that stands out particularly.




Moving on to the team selection, and it is Steven Finn that misses out. Sam Billings comes in to provide more batting depth to the order. Despite the lack of Finn, the 5 bowlers selected should be way more than capable of bowling Ireland out.

Vince and Hales lead at the top of the order, with Taylor set to play the anchor role at 3. With a batting line up that goes down to 9, we should be able to set up a formidable total/chase.
We win the toss, and elect to have a bat.



We started in attacking fashion, Hales getting 13 from 6 before being trapped in front by Murtagh. A 124 run partnership from debutant Vince and Taylor saw us continue to pressure the hosts. It would take a nick behind from Vince to finally dismiss him, hitting 77 from 90 on debut; an innings that had 13 fours.

A run of short partnerships saw us go from 139-2 to 183-5, but Taylor stood firm, reaching his first international century during a partnership with Adil Rashid. Rashid would also complete a half century. Rashid’s innings was particularly brutal, with his 53 coming from 38 deliveries. Taylor took 108 balls to compile his 102. Topley smashed a couple of fours at the end to push us over the 300, as we look to banish our previous ODI demons.

Gregory and Willey were the destructors in chief to start with, as Ireland could never really get settled. There was a half century from Ed Joyce, but he was the only one to pass 30, as Ireland crumbled. After the initial outburst of wickets, Rashid and Coles joined in, with Coles’ sheer pace completely stopping the Irish batsmen in their tracks.



So what did we learn? Well, in fairness to Ireland, pretty much nothing. We were expected to win, and win big, which we did. The real key will be the series with New Zealand; it’s there we’ll see how good we now are.

Next Time: Our first home test of the summer, as the Kiwis come to play.

[DaveK93]

New Zealand Touring Squad




England Squad - 1st Test