England's Summer of Cricket against Sri Lanka and India

[Alex]

Think Cook did well in this last match. Was changing it up constantly to try and get a wicket, and it was only really the pitch that stopped him. Seemed happier in himself too.

His batting leaves something to be desired, but as Boycott constantly tells us. He is a class player who is totally out of touch.

Personally I hope he turns it round, as at the end of the day I want England to do well. I care little about those who are not playing for us anymore. We have moved on from KP, rightly or wrongly. But its done now.

Hearing and reading some recently (not here) has made me wonder why they follow cricket at all. Wanting a team to lose so the Captain loses his job is idiotic.

[Shaggy]

I don't want us to lose but I 100% want Cook out of the captaincy. Want him to concentrate on his batting and get back to where he was.

And agree re the pitches Moeen is having to bowl on. I actually what England are doing to him is unfair too.

[Chazza]

As dress rehearsals for international cricket go this was a fairly indifferent one for Simon Kerrigan. With his mediocre display on day two of this County Championship contest, the Lancashire left-arm spinner did nothing to quell doubts that he is any more ready for Test cricket than he was last August when England threw him into a dead rubber with Australia and after just eight overs threw him a rubber ring. Appearing totally out of his depth, he did not bowl again.

Here, with the seamers dominating, the 25-year-old was held back – having seen a catch dropped during a three-over burst on the opening evening – until 2.40pm. Tasked with sending down some tight overs before the second new ball became available, he served up a full toss first up that was spanked to the midwicket rope by Riki Wessels. Two balls later, a repeat resulted in the same treatment.

During a return of 7-0-27-0 either side of a tea interval brought forward by a period of bad light, Kerrigan struggled to assert himself. To his credit, he spoke positively on Sunday about the prospect of putting his mauling at the hands of Shane Watson behind him and of his readiness to return to the world stage. However, his body language appeared to betray the words he conveyed.

That is an area Kerrigan needs to develop. At times his bowling and persona are just too nice, bordering on apologetic. If nastiness is inherent in fast bowlers, spinners trade on the con, persuading the batsmen that something is happening even when it is not. But there are none of the theatrics of Phil Tufnell or Graeme Swann to his repertoire. Arguably, along with greater variations, they will come with age.

It took a bowler who is indisputably the finished article to hurry the Lancashire innings to its conclusion once Steven Croft’s occasional off-spin opened up an end with Wessels’ dismissal. The veteran Glen Chapple’s three for four in 10 balls restricted the visitors’ ambitions and they were fully exhausted when Andre Adams’ skyscraper of a pull was taken in tumbling fashion by Andrea Agathangelou at deep square-leg in the next over from Kyle Hogg.

That Nottinghamshire eked out a first-innings advantage was in no small part due to former Lancashire player Steven Mullaney being dropped four times. It took one that kept low from Thomas Smith to account for him lbw for an otherwise attractive 82.

With Lancashire’s struggles at the top of the order this season, Mullaney’s success with a team competing for the title will be galling. “I loved it when I played at Lancashire, but there was an opportunity at Notts that I couldn’t really turn down in 2009. It was guaranteed one-day and Twenty20 cricket and then four-day cricket if I did well. I got in earlier than I thought,” he said, diplomatically.

With ball dominating in the evening session, Peter Siddle, in his last appearance before returning home under instruction from Cricket Australia, switched ends to good effect at the start of Lancashire’s second innings. Having taken just a single wicket on the opening day, the Australian Test bowler trebled his tally with a probing spell from the River End.

First, Agathangelou snicked a beauty in the opening over, after the hosts went in a second time 36 runs in arrears. Then, just as Lancashire’s second-wicket pair appeared to have seen off the brunt of the new-ball menace, Paul Horton fatally followed one outside off-stump.

With bad light halting the second day 17 overs early, Lancashire avoided further mishap in bowler-friendly conditions and will hope the weather is set fair for Tuesday morning.

Kerrigan, meanwhile, has played his last hand and is bound for Lord’s.

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jul/14/simon-kerrigan-england-lancashire-nottinghamshire-county-championship-match-report?CMP=twt_gu

[Shaggy]

Haha. Oh dear. He is a weird bowler. Either seems to bowl brilliantly, taking plenty of wickets at a good rate, or serves up absolute horror shows when he appears completely out of his depth

[Chazza]

Right old mess this spinner situation.

See Monty can't even get a game for Essex and has 'fallen out of love with the game'

[Shaggy]

For the first time in a while, I agree with Vaughan.

Michael Vaughan says he fears for spinner Simon Kerrigan if he plays in the 2nd Test. "Throwing him out to bowl at Lord's against an Indian batting line-up who can play spin with their eyes shut... I just think is unfair."

[Chazza]

James Anderson: ICC charges England bowler with misconduct

England bowler James Anderson has been charged with misconduct by the International Cricket Council following claims he abused and pushed India all-rounder Ravindran Jadeja during the first Test.

The incident is alleged to have happened immediately after the teams left the field for lunch on day two of the Trent Bridge match.

An England and Wales Cricket Board statement said Anderson "categorically denies the accusations" and has lodged its own complaint against Jadeja.

If found guilty, the 31-year-old Anderson could be banned for up to four Tests.
It is alleged that the offence followed a verbal altercation between Anderson and Jadeja as they were walking from the field.

The ECB described the incident as "minor".

BBC Radio 5 live's Pat Murphy said: "Both the ECB and the Indian Board have tried to resolve the situation amicably but I understand Indian captain MS Dhoni is determined to push the matter forward.

"Anderson says Jadeja moved towards him in a threatening manner as the players went up the pavilion steps for lunch. Anderson put his hands up in defence and it was all over in a couple of seconds."

Anderson's case could be heard on Wednesday, with the second Test at Lord's due to start on Thursday.

Under ICC rules, any ban handed down would not be suspended pending the outcome of an appeal.

[Alex]

****s all that about then?

Its a Level 3 complaint, which apparently carries a 4 Test Ban

Gamesmanship?

[Chazza]

****s all that about then?

Its a Level 3 complaint, which apparently carries a 4 Test Ban

Gamesmanship?

Bit of push and shove apparently.

The inquest won't happen for another 14 days and then both players can appeal so they are unlikely to miss any of this series.

[Chazza]

England coach warns Gary Ballance over conduct after drunk dancing
• Ballance caught in Nottingham club after first India test
• Player ‘reminded of his responsibilities’ by Peter Moores



Gary Ballance has been “reminded of his responsibilities” by the England coach, Peter Moores, after photographs emerged of him dancing topless – and indisputably legless – in a Nottingham nightclub last Sunday after the completion of the Trent Bridge Test against India.

Ballance was pictured on The Tab, a national student website, in a dishevelled state of undress and intoxication at Pandora’s Box, with an eyewitness quoted as saying: “They had to carry him out at the end of the night. He was standing outside with his top off screaming ‘England! England! England!’”

The Tab claimed that the 24-year-old – who was born in Zimbabwe, completed his education at Harrow and scored a maiden Test century at Lord’s against Sri Lanka in May after making his Test debut in Sydney in the winter – was joined at the club by his Yorkshire team-mates Liam Plunkett and Joe Root, and Lancashire’s Jimmy Anderson.

“I am aware that some of the England players were caught on camera relaxing after the conclusion of the recent Trent Bridge Test match,” said Moores.

“As the players had been released at the end of the first Test and were not due to meet up to begin preparations for the second Test until Monday evening, and there were no suggestions of impropriety, there is no need for any disciplinary action. I will however be reminding all players of their responsibilities to uphold the best possible image for England cricket.”

England’s preparations for the second Test against India, which starts at Lord’s on Thursday, had already been disrupted by the increasingly bitter row that has followed Anderson’s clash with Ravindra Jadeja in the Trent Bridge pavilion on the second day of the match.

India’s captain MS Dhoni rejected a suggestion from England’s Alastair Cook that the tourists had deliberately ramped up the row in an effort to have Anderson suspended, and England have responded by submitting charges against Jadeja to the International Cricket Council, with the team manager, Phil Neale, accusing him of approaching Anderson “in an aggressive and threatening manner” during the lunch interval.

Significantly, England are charging Jadeja only with a Grade Two offence, which is usually punished by a fine rather than a suspension, and they will be hoping the judicial commissioner to be appointed by the ICC agrees with their view of the severity of the incident.

Cook said he was “surprised” India had charged Anderson with a Grade Three offence, which could rule him out of the third and fourth games in the five-Test series at Southampton and his home county ground of Old Trafford, saying: “In my opinion it’s a big mountain out of a molehill.”

The ICC had sent a lawyer to Nottingham last weekend but India refused to downgrade their charges against Anderson.

“We felt what happened was wrong so we went ahead with the charges,” said Dhoni. “It’s not something we have done, you know, let’s realise the facts. In no way can I go and touch you or you can come and touch me. You can put it in whatever way possible but there are certain things that need to be followed and should be followed.

“We talk a lot about the spirit of the game and the guidelines that need to be followed. There have been a few individuals from our side in the past that have crossed that line. It’s a difficult one. You can be aggressive, you can be vocal and that’s fine but there certain guidelines that are laid and we should be following all of them.”

Speaking before the charges against Jadeja were published, Dhoni had praised the player for his restraint. “I think it was good on Jadeja not to really do something,” said the India captain. “It could have gone a bit far but I felt he addressed it in the most appropriate manner. That’s something we will have to learn and move forward. Somebody has to back off at the right time. At the end of the day we play a sport and a lot of people look up to us. There is a lot of responsibility on us.”

England expect a preliminary hearing next Tuesday, the day after the Lord’s Test is due to end, but that could be quickly followed by a full hearing meaning a decision before the start of the third Test in Southampton on Sunday week. If Anderson is found guilty of a Grade Three offence he would be banned for at least two Tests.

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jul/16/england-gary-ballance-warned-conduct-drunk-dancing?CMP=twt_gu

[captainfog]

“They had to carry him out at the end of the night. He was standing outside with his top off screaming ‘England! England! England!’”

[EwarWoo]

Young bloke gets pissed shocker.

[Alex]

England win toss and are to Bowl first. Guess we win then.

[Alex]

This is also the greenest pitch I have seen for a long time.

[Chazza]

KP saying although he expects the ball to do a bit in the first 20 overs then it should settle down and be a decent batting track.

Big call to bowl first.