2nd Test: England v Sri Lanka, Leeds, June 20-24

[Kingsholmmad]

Marvelous. Cook gone cheaply again, Ballance gets a first-baller and Robson edges a cracker. Much as I like Cook, and much as I accept that he's playing with a new team and new backroom staff, I can't help thinking he's just another England captain who can't bat and lead at the same time. Trouble is, there's no-one else currently in the team who would, realistically, be likely to do any better.

[Going South]

Ok, so this one's done. 1-0 to England.
Is there a 3rd Test, or was that the series to England?

Hahahaha. 52/3.

[Going South]

Errr. Spoke too early. Make that 52/4. Still 4.5 overs left in the day. Can the English survive the day ??? LOL.

[Going South]

Man. Edged not out. Blame DRS !!!!

[Going South]

Dhamaka Prasad 4 overs 4 wickets??? Where is he hiding all the time ????

[Going South]

Marvelous. Cook gone cheaply again, Ballance gets a first-baller and Robson edges a cracker. Much as I like Cook, and much as I accept that he's playing with a new team and new backroom staff, I can't help thinking he's just another England captain who can't bat and lead at the same time. Trouble is, there's no-one else currently in the team who would, realistically, be likely to do any better.

how about captain broad????

[Kingsholmmad]

how about captain broad????

Nah, too much of a loose cannon. He'd probably show more imagination than Cook but would spend his time placing the field for the miracle ball that never comes and DRSing everything that he shouldn't. He'd be no improvement. However, if it comes down to decision-making, I'm just glad we haven't got Billy Bowden in charge. He's having a shocker.

[Going South]

Wow. What a finish. 57/5. They still have some balls left but stopped the game abruptly just to favor ECB. tsk tsk. That's cheating !!!!!

[Going South]

Captain bell???

[SuperGLS]

At work so haven't seen anything after lunch, but wow, I love it!

Cookie Monster needs a break.

[Ankur]

Marvelous. Cook gone cheaply again, Ballance gets a first-baller and Robson edges a cracker. Much as I like Cook, and much as I accept that he's playing with a new team and new backroom staff, I can't help thinking he's just another England captain who can't bat and lead at the same time. Trouble is, there's no-one else currently in the team who would, realistically, be likely to do any better.

Sorry to break this to you. Cook is not a leader, in fact a very poor captain. He has not had a good series of scores since Ashes of 2011. Ideally he could be considered spent force. His batting career is similar to Vaughan, and captaincy career resembles that of Mushfiq-ur-Rahim.

[Boycs]

Looks like it's time for my bi-monthly disownment of the England team.

[Boycs]

Meanwhile Stokes takes a 7-fer

[TedWard]

What was this I heard about Ali's action being questioned earlier today?

[Kingsholmmad]

Captain bell???

Have you not seen how susceptible his confidence is? We need his batting and if we dumped the captaincy on him, that'd totally go. He wouldn't last a series. The trouble is we've got nobody else. You can't bring somebody in from outside the team just to be captain (so, no Morgan). You can't expect somebody to succeed with the captaincy when they've been in the team for no more than a year (which rules out Robson, Ballance, Root, Moeen and Jordan). You can't make someone captain when they're only just managing to hold onto a place in the squad (so that rules out Prior (who might, otherwise, make a good captain) and Plunkett).

Ask yourself when England last had a fast bowler who made a good captain, especially when they were as temperamental as Broad or as near the end of their international careers as Anderson. And as I said about Bell, if you throw him into being held responsible for a team in transition in a five test series against the Indians, it'll destroy him. And we need him.

So, I fear that, unless he simply walks out on the whole team in the next few days, Cook is likely to be the whipping boy for the rest of the summer before the ECB do the dirty and dump him in the autumn. Maybe by then, Prior will have discovered enough form, Bell will have built up enough strength of character or Root will have gained enough experience to take over. 'Cos right now I can't see who else is gonna do it.

[Kingsholmmad]

Sorry to break this to you. Cook is not a leader, in fact a very poor captain. He has not had a good series of scores since Ashes of 2011. Ideally he could be considered spent force. His batting career is similar to Vaughan, and captaincy career resembles that of Mushfiq-ur-Rahim.

I don't know for certain but I suspect that Cook is actually quite a good leader, if a somewhat unadventurous (and recently unsuccesful) captain. I still think that with a settled team and a little more adventure, he could last for quite a while, if only as the least worst option for us. Don't forget that it was his decision-making that got us to within a gnat's whisker of winning the last test. The draw was down to Sri Lankan luck not "very poor captaincy".

[Going South]

That was some good perceptive on English cricket kingo. Thanks for sharing.

[Going South]

How about an outsider? Or Bring back KP. He sure got leadership skills and can think outside the box and is innovative/competitive.

[GiantScrub]

Cook might be the least worst captain at the moment, but I believe the drop in captaincy to the next worst option (probably Broad) is better than having an out-of-form, stressed, useless Cook with the bat. He's in the team to open first and captain second, and he really needs to rediscover some form.

[Ankur]

Sorry to break this to you. Cook is not a leader, in fact a very poor captain. He has not had a good series of scores since Ashes of 2011. Ideally he could be considered spent force. His batting career is similar to Vaughan, and captaincy career resembles that of Mushfiq-ur-Rahim.

I don't know for certain but I suspect that Cook is actually quite a good leader, if a somewhat unadventurous (and recently unsuccesful) captain. I still think that with a settled team and a little more adventure, he could last for quite a while, if only as the least worst option for us. Don't forget that it was his decision-making that got us to within a gnat's whisker of winning the last test. The draw was down to Sri Lankan luck not "very poor captaincy".

A vindictive person, who believes every opinion not in alignment with his own deserves punishment, cannot be a good leader. May be he can get better results with a settled team or miraculous, but that wont make him a good leader.

[raja]

England are cruising here.
This is just their way of making a Test match exciting.

Their real batsmen are still to be dismissied - Root, Prior, Moeen Ali, Broad, Jordan, Anderson.

Headingley has had a few famous Tests in its history - no reason to believe this won't be another one as England pull the rug from under SL's feet.

[Verity]

Wow Good job Sri Lanka, England imploded by the looks of it, good bowling?

[Kingsholmmad]

How about an outsider? Or Bring back KP. He sure got leadership skills and can think outside the box and is innovative/competitive.

Please, anybody but KP. Almost every match he's played in for the last year has ended in defeat. On the few occasions he's been on the winning side (eg once for the Delhi Daredevils and more recently with Surrey), he's contributed virtually nothing. Entertaining, innovative and competitive he may be; a match winner for England, regrettably, he is not.

If you want an outsider, though, how about Paul Collingwood? Getting on a bit, I know, but there is still no one in this country better at gritting their teeth and grafting when the going gets tough. What's more, he can graft whether he's batting, bowling or fielding and I bet there's nobody in the changing room currently who wouldn't graft for him if he was captain. Can't see it happening, though.

[Kingsholmmad]

A vindictive person, who believes every opinion not in alignment with his own deserves punishment, cannot be a good leader.

Maybe not (although it seemed to work OK for Mao Tse-Tung) but that implies that the umbrella field he set on the last day of the last test was his own idea (which would make him a better captain than everyone currently gives him credit for) or somebody else was punished for having an idea not in alignment with his own. Perhaps you could prove the level of Cook's vindictiveness by explaining what punishment was meted out and to whom?

[Verity]

Cook might be the least worst captain at the moment, but I believe the drop in captaincy to the next worst option (probably Broad) is better than having an out-of-form, stressed, useless Cook with the bat. He's in the team to open first and captain second, and he really needs to rediscover some form.

Just do what South Africa done with Smith, give it to one of there young batsmen.

[GiantScrub]

I could see Root being captain if he hadn't been dropped in Sydney. He seems to have his head screwed on right.

I saw the replays of all the dismissals… this Robson kid looks so ugly when he gets out. No feet and pushing away from the body. I guess it worked ok for Sehwag but it's not exactly textbook.

[SuperGLS]

You think they'll last an hour or should I wake up early to watch this historic day?

How about an outsider? Or Bring back KP. He sure got leadership skills and can think outside the box and is innovative/competitive.

Hah! How'd that work for the last team he captained...?

If you want an outsider, though, how about Paul Collingwood? Getting on a bit, I know, but there is still no one in this country better at gritting their teeth and grafting when the going gets tough. What's more, he can graft whether he's batting, bowling or fielding and I bet there's nobody in the changing room currently who wouldn't graft for him if he was captain. Can't see it happening, though.

I love you already Mr. King.

I saw the replays of all the dismissals… this Robson kid looks so ugly when he gets out. No feet and pushing away from the body. I guess it worked ok for Sehwag but it's not exactly textbook.

More a Fulton than a Sehwag, surely.

[GiantScrub]

Robson's game outside off stump is weak, Fulton's is nonexistent. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

[Going South]

Bah. Root is no dhoni. ROFL

[GiantScrub]

After this horror show, India have no excuse for not winning 5-0, right? Right?

[Verity]

To me Anderson and Broad are both shot, both are past it and now Swann retired they lack a decent spinner, I see it being tough times for England in the coming years, batting may have failed here but they have zero depth with the ball.

[GiantScrub]

Broad's had a couple of bad tests and is recovering from injury. Hardly cause to call end of career. Anderson on the other hand has looked horrible since Trent Bridge this time last year, and there's enough talent waiting in the wings that I could see him being dropped during the India series if not before.

In general England have a lot of fast bowling depth, they just consistently choose to not pick any of them. The Ashes might have been a little different if they'd picked, say, Plunkett Jordan Onions instead of three useless hat-racks, and I said as much before the tour began on the forums.

Spinners are a different story. It's my theory that England will develop no real spinners until they stop holding half the championship season when the weather's too cold and wet to grip the damn ball.

[Katto]

Cook is burned out
England captains last 4 years in this day and age. its time for him to Logan Run out of there

considering they should've won the first test had he taken a more aggressive approach, now they're going to lose the series barring bad weather


oh, but its Shane Warne's fault

[bharathh]

The English batsmen unfortunately started out the season against SL. They should have scheduled BCCI first. Watch how everyone gets back into form and looks like a world beating team when they start playing BCCI. Centuries and fifers will abound for the Englishmen. This series will soon be forgotten as a blip.

[Ankur]

After this horror show, India have no excuse for not winning 5-0, right? Right?

it will be a surprise if india lose 5-0. nothing else can be guaranteed.

[Boycs]

Broad's had a couple of bad tests and is recovering from injury. Hardly cause to call end of career. Anderson on the other hand has looked horrible since Trent Bridge this time last year, and there's enough talent waiting in the wings that I could see him being dropped during the India series if not before.

In general England have a lot of fast bowling depth, they just consistently choose to not pick any of them. The Ashes might have been a little different if they'd picked, say, Plunkett Jordan Onions instead of three useless hat-racks, and I said as much before the tour began on the forums.

Spinners are a different story. It's my theory that England will develop no real spinners until they stop holding half the championship season when the weather's too cold and wet to grip the damn ball.

Onions is a definitely, and Tremlett. I think an attack of Tremlett/Finn, Onions, Broad and Anderson might be potent enough, as I think Jimmy still has something left in the tank, he looks quite trim and fit at the moment.

[TedWard]

Whoever lasts the longest out of these two today (Root and Ali) should be the next captain.

[Boycs]

Begin Operation Dunkirk!

[Katto]

Whoever lasts the longest out of these two today (Root and Ali) should be the next captain.

can you change your avatar!
you're confusing me always with GS who had that for a couple years

[Boycs]

TMS giving me a chuckle, Vaughan recounting Tufnell preparing to bat against Alan Donald, rooting around in everyone's bags trying to find more arm guards. Vaughan does quite a good impression of Tuffers, and of Bumble.

[SuperGLS]

Glad I didn't wake up early. ECB called in the weather gods I see.

[Ankur]

Well done England !!!

[Going South]

Wow. They now fix rain also. Technology these days!!

[Going South]

Whoever lasts the longest out of these two today (Root and Ali) should be the next captain.

can you change your avatar!
you're confusing me always with GS who had that for a couple years

yes. Thank you. He STOLE IT. get your own avatar!!!! THIEF !!!!

[SuperGLS]

I have a bad feeling.

[Going South]

If this match end as draw for whatever reasons I would be literally ROFL

[Boycs]

Please, bouncing Root. He's been bounced by far superior bowling attacks and survived. Adelaide?

[Boycs]

I love how Root smiles at the bowlers. And I loved MJ's grin back. Great cricket. I love feisty bowling and batsmen who couldn't give shit.

[Boycs]

I wonder if SL will get carried away with hostile bowling and let England get away from them, a la Thommo and Lillee against Greig.

[Ankur]

I have a bad feeling.

+1

Root 105 , Moeen 107. England 270/8 at end of day's play.