Buttler wins the toss for the 3rd time and will bowl with weather possibly an issue.
Plunkett comes in for Willey and the exciting news, for us Kent supporters, is that Sam Billings comes in for the injured Roy - and will open too!
Can't believe that Billings is as exciting for you TP ;-)
He aint. To me he's just a (not as good) slogger in the Roy mould.I'm ok with him coming in at 7 with 10 overs left, but to open...nah. He wont get more than 20 today, lets see.
Has it been said that Billings will open? Isn't it more likely Duckett will open? To my knowledge Billings has never opened.
Buttler confirmed that Billings will open. I think they see Duckett as potentially the long term no. 3 and don't want to move him up and down with Hales potentially coming back.
Billings hasn't opened very often but it's probably an experiment - they know what Hales and Roy can do (and what Vince can't).
Still question Buttler being skipper, keeper and probably our main bat - especially in the absence of Hales, Roy and Root.
Just today he missed a possible catch off Rashid, missed a stumping off Ali that resulted in one because the ball fortunately fell onto the stumps and bizarrely let 4 byes through because he went far too far down the offside off Ali.
It's not as if we haven't got anyone else that can do a good job is it? And Billings is the best keeper of the lot - and I'm not saying that it's because he plays for Kent either!
Still question Buttler being skipper, keeper and probably our main bat - especially in the absence of Hales, Roy and Root.
Just today he missed a possible catch off Rashid, missed a stumping off Ali that resulted in one because the ball fortunately fell onto the stumps and bizarrely let 4 byes through because he went far too far down the offside off Ali.
It's not as if we haven't got anyone else that can do a good job is it? And Billings is the best keeper of the lot - and I'm not saying that it's because he plays for Kent either!
I think you're being a tad harsh. The possible catch wasn't one, as the batsman didn't hit it. The stumping was still a stumping, even though he was fortunate. The 4 byes, were unlucky as both the batsman & Buttler, thought it was spinning to the off, which is why they both went to the off.
197-6, we're doing well, because it looks a par 300 to me.
Still question Buttler being skipper, keeper and probably our main bat - especially in the absence of Hales, Roy and Root.
Just today he missed a possible catch off Rashid, missed a stumping off Ali that resulted in one because the ball fortunately fell onto the stumps and bizarrely let 4 byes through because he went far too far down the offside off Ali.
It's not as if we haven't got anyone else that can do a good job is it? And Billings is the best keeper of the lot - and I'm not saying that it's because he plays for Kent either!
I agree,give the gloves to Bairstow. Also, where's Root? - he would have given us the third spinner option.
Still question Buttler being skipper, keeper and probably our main bat - especially in the absence of Hales, Roy and Root.
Just today he missed a possible catch off Rashid, missed a stumping off Ali that resulted in one because the ball fortunately fell onto the stumps and bizarrely let 4 byes through because he went far too far down the offside off Ali.
It's not as if we haven't got anyone else that can do a good job is it? And Billings is the best keeper of the lot - and I'm not saying that it's because he plays for Kent either!
I agree,give the gloves to Bairstow. Also, where's Root? - he would have given us the third spinner option.
Still question Buttler being skipper, keeper and probably our main bat - especially in the absence of Hales, Roy and Root.
Just today he missed a possible catch off Rashid, missed a stumping off Ali that resulted in one because the ball fortunately fell onto the stumps and bizarrely let 4 byes through because he went far too far down the offside off Ali.
It's not as if we haven't got anyone else that can do a good job is it? And Billings is the best keeper of the lot - and I'm not saying that it's because he plays for Kent either!
I agree,give the gloves to Bairstow. Also, where's Root? - he would have given us the third spinner option.
I think Root has been rested?
Is the pitch a "Bunsen" with Ali and Rashid in the wickets? I fear for our batsmen if so
Still question Buttler being skipper, keeper and probably our main bat - especially in the absence of Hales, Roy and Root.
Just today he missed a possible catch off Rashid, missed a stumping off Ali that resulted in one because the ball fortunately fell onto the stumps and bizarrely let 4 byes through because he went far too far down the offside off Ali.
It's not as if we haven't got anyone else that can do a good job is it? And Billings is the best keeper of the lot - and I'm not saying that it's because he plays for Kent either!
I agree,give the gloves to Bairstow. Also, where's Root? - he would have given us the third spinner option.
I think Root has been rested?
Is the pitch a "Bunsen" with Ali and Rashid in the wickets? I fear for our batsmen if so
Still question Buttler being skipper, keeper and probably our main bat - especially in the absence of Hales, Roy and Root.
Just today he missed a possible catch off Rashid, missed a stumping off Ali that resulted in one because the ball fortunately fell onto the stumps and bizarrely let 4 byes through because he went far too far down the offside off Ali.
It's not as if we haven't got anyone else that can do a good job is it? And Billings is the best keeper of the lot - and I'm not saying that it's because he plays for Kent either!
I think you're being a tad harsh. The possible catch wasn't one, as the batsman didn't hit it. The stumping was still a stumping, even though he was fortunate. The 4 byes, were unlucky as both the batsman & Buttler, thought it was spinning to the off, which is why they both went to the off.
197-6, we're doing well, because it looks a par 300 to me.
Harsh possibly but it has been like this for Buttler throughout the series. It's a hard enough job skippering let alone having the responsibility of doing the other two jobs too. The other aspect is that these conditions are so energy sapping and keeping for 50 overs is really hard on the mind and body.
Leaving aside my possible Billings bias, we do have our Test keeper in the side. This was an ideal series for Buttler to learn about captaining without external pressures (I wonder how many times he's done it in First Class cricket) and I just think we missed a trick here.
Still question Buttler being skipper, keeper and probably our main bat - especially in the absence of Hales, Roy and Root.
Just today he missed a possible catch off Rashid, missed a stumping off Ali that resulted in one because the ball fortunately fell onto the stumps and bizarrely let 4 byes through because he went far too far down the offside off Ali.
It's not as if we haven't got anyone else that can do a good job is it? And Billings is the best keeper of the lot - and I'm not saying that it's because he plays for Kent either!
I agree,give the gloves to Bairstow. Also, where's Root? - he would have given us the third spinner option.
I think Root has been rested?
Is the pitch a "Bunsen" with Ali and Rashid in the wickets? I fear for our batsmen if so
Yes. We could well get spun out.
No way. They haven't got a Rashid - he gets wickets with bad balls as well as good ;-)
Joking aside, for all the stick that Rashid does get, he is our leading wicket taker in ODIs this year and if we want to compare like against like, these are the figures for our two spinners in this series:
Still question Buttler being skipper, keeper and probably our main bat - especially in the absence of Hales, Roy and Root.
Just today he missed a possible catch off Rashid, missed a stumping off Ali that resulted in one because the ball fortunately fell onto the stumps and bizarrely let 4 byes through because he went far too far down the offside off Ali.
It's not as if we haven't got anyone else that can do a good job is it? And Billings is the best keeper of the lot - and I'm not saying that it's because he plays for Kent either!
I agree,give the gloves to Bairstow. Also, where's Root? - he would have given us the third spinner option.
I think Root has been rested?
Is the pitch a "Bunsen" with Ali and Rashid in the wickets? I fear for our batsmen if so
Yes. We could well get spun out.
No way. They haven't got a Rashid - he gets wickets with bad balls as well as good ;-)
Thats the problem, he very rarely bowls a ball good enough to get someone out in the normal fashion, there's always a buffet ball or 2 every over.
Still question Buttler being skipper, keeper and probably our main bat - especially in the absence of Hales, Roy and Root.
Just today he missed a possible catch off Rashid, missed a stumping off Ali that resulted in one because the ball fortunately fell onto the stumps and bizarrely let 4 byes through because he went far too far down the offside off Ali.
It's not as if we haven't got anyone else that can do a good job is it? And Billings is the best keeper of the lot - and I'm not saying that it's because he plays for Kent either!
I agree,give the gloves to Bairstow. Also, where's Root? - he would have given us the third spinner option.
I think Root has been rested?
Is the pitch a "Bunsen" with Ali and Rashid in the wickets? I fear for our batsmen if so
Yes. We could well get spun out.
No way. They haven't got a Rashid - he gets wickets with bad balls as well as good ;-)
Thats the problem, he very rarely bowls a ball good enough to get someone out in the normal fashion, there's always a buffet ball or 2 every over.
Yes but he does get wickets and is always going to baowl "buffet bowls" because leggies don't, Warney apart, have the control. Even so, he's still only gone for 5 an over average in this series. And only Ali (at 4.93 with just the one wicket) has a better economy rate in this series for England.
His good balls are too good (although he got one today with a peach) but when you do have variations even bad balls can become a challenge. Ali doesn't have any so he has to bring control but there is just the 2 runs in the series between them.
Still question Buttler being skipper, keeper and probably our main bat - especially in the absence of Hales, Roy and Root.
Just today he missed a possible catch off Rashid, missed a stumping off Ali that resulted in one because the ball fortunately fell onto the stumps and bizarrely let 4 byes through because he went far too far down the offside off Ali.
It's not as if we haven't got anyone else that can do a good job is it? And Billings is the best keeper of the lot - and I'm not saying that it's because he plays for Kent either!
Agreed, being keeper, captain and key middle order batsman is too much
I still find it slightly bizarre that Billings has always been called up to England duty as a white ball batsman only
Still question Buttler being skipper, keeper and probably our main bat - especially in the absence of Hales, Roy and Root.
Just today he missed a possible catch off Rashid, missed a stumping off Ali that resulted in one because the ball fortunately fell onto the stumps and bizarrely let 4 byes through because he went far too far down the offside off Ali.
It's not as if we haven't got anyone else that can do a good job is it? And Billings is the best keeper of the lot - and I'm not saying that it's because he plays for Kent either!
I agree,give the gloves to Bairstow. Also, where's Root? - he would have given us the third spinner option.
I think Root has been rested?
Is the pitch a "Bunsen" with Ali and Rashid in the wickets? I fear for our batsmen if so
Yes. We could well get spun out.
No way. They haven't got a Rashid - he gets wickets with bad balls as well as good ;-)
Thats the problem, he very rarely bowls a ball good enough to get someone out in the normal fashion, there's always a buffet ball or 2 every over.
Yes but he does get wickets and is always going to baowl "buffet bowls" because leggies don't, Warney apart, have the control. Even so, he's still only gone for 5 an over average in this series. And only Ali (at 4.93 with just the one wicket) has a better economy rate in this series for England.
His good balls are too good (although he got one today with a peach) but when you do have variations even bad balls can become a challenge. Ali doesn't have any so he has to bring control but there is just the 2 runs in the series between them.
Agreed, But Ali's bad balls go for 4 byes, over the wicket keepers head
Still question Buttler being skipper, keeper and probably our main bat - especially in the absence of Hales, Roy and Root.
Just today he missed a possible catch off Rashid, missed a stumping off Ali that resulted in one because the ball fortunately fell onto the stumps and bizarrely let 4 byes through because he went far too far down the offside off Ali.
It's not as if we haven't got anyone else that can do a good job is it? And Billings is the best keeper of the lot - and I'm not saying that it's because he plays for Kent either!
Agreed, being keeper, captain and key middle order batsman is too much
I still find it slightly bizarre that Billings has always been called up to England duty as a white ball batsman only
I think that Billings opening today is the first signal that they are, potentially, looking at him as a top 5 bat. He wasn't going to get in ahead of Bairstow and Buttler as batsman and keeper and he hasn't done enough of it for Kent (white ball call ups meaning he's not been available a lot of the time) to make a big enough argument to be just a top 5 bat - especially in Div 2.
Comments
No clashes between batsman and bowler afterwards!
Billings hasn't opened very often but it's probably an experiment - they know what Hales and Roy can do (and what Vince can't).
Tamin Iqbal gets his 5000 career runs and then cuts a Rashid googly straight to cover.
122-3
176-4 off 33
184-5 off 35.1
Just today he missed a possible catch off Rashid, missed a stumping off Ali that resulted in one because the ball fortunately fell onto the stumps and bizarrely let 4 byes through because he went far too far down the offside off Ali.
It's not as if we haven't got anyone else that can do a good job is it? And Billings is the best keeper of the lot - and I'm not saying that it's because he plays for Kent either!
192-6 off 38.1
The stumping was still a stumping, even though he was fortunate.
The 4 byes, were unlucky as both the batsman & Buttler, thought it was spinning to the off, which is why they both went to the off.
197-6, we're doing well, because it looks a par 300 to me.
Also, where's Root? - he would have given us the third spinner option.
Is the pitch a "Bunsen" with Ali and Rashid in the wickets? I fear for our batsmen if so
Leaving aside my possible Billings bias, we do have our Test keeper in the side. This was an ideal series for Buttler to learn about captaining without external pressures (I wonder how many times he's done it in First Class cricket) and I just think we missed a trick here.
Ali..........29-0-143-1
Rashid... 29-0-145-10
His good balls are too good (although he got one today with a peach) but when you do have variations even bad balls can become a challenge. Ali doesn't have any so he has to bring control but there is just the 2 runs in the series between them.
Our seamers got well and truly thumped in the last few overs. Big task for us now.
I still find it slightly bizarre that Billings has always been called up to England duty as a white ball batsman only