Cricket .. England in South Africa & Sri Lanka 2019/2020

Covered End said:

Addick Addict said:

Leuth said:

Which one of you rubbished Sibley after one innings and said we needed to look elsewhere? Bet you're feeling stupid now 

I certainly questioned his technique and long may his form continue. I was also someone who thought he should have been given a chance in front of some of the more "favoured" ones though.

Sibley might just be a Graeme Smith who played everything through leg too. Sincerely hope he is but it will be interesting to see how he copes against a Starc bowling across him and a top spinner such as Lyon (just had match figures against NZ of 63.5-19-134-10) on a bunsen burner. It he has a weakness they will find it.

The biggest thing that Sibley does have going for him is his level of concentration and he proved that from the very start of his professional career when he scored that double hundred against Yorkshire for Surrey at the age of 18. That will take him a long way and is something that someone like Joe Denly could learn from specifically in relation to shot selection when you think you're "in".

There's a bloke called, now what's his name, oh yes Steve Smith.
He heavily favours the on side and hasn't done too badly.

Steve Smith has been caught recently several times recently in the leg slip trap but can, comfortably, play on both sides of the wicket. He might "favour" the leg side but has the natural and self made talent to play 360 degrees albeit at times in a somewhat unorthodox fashion.

Sibley playing an off drive resembles someone who has been coached how to play it the day before and is attempting to play the shot for the first time - it lacks fluency but that is a legacy of him holding the bottom hand too tight and having a closed face simply because his main scoring shot and game plan is built around hitting the over pitched ball through mid wicket. He ends up having to play the cover drive in a jerky and chopping "in to out" motion and consequently loses the timing that stroking the ball with the full face of the bat would afford him. He also has a tendency to get his head outside the line of the ball when playing on the off side which causes him to "fall over".

That said, there are plenty of players who have scored a stack load of runs who don't have natural flair and that is because they know their game i.e. they recognise their strengths and won't try to play a shot to a ball they aren't comfortable doing. They also possess that stubborn resistance and desire to occupy the crease come what may. Cook became one of our finest accumulator of runs doing just that whereas one can't help thinking that an aesthetically pleasing Ramprakash over complicated and over thought things due to his nerves and self doubt when it came to stepping up to the international arena.

Sometimes, especially in Test cricket, less really is more and Sibley's limitations are also probably the reason that he has only played 22 List A matches as opposed to 70 First Class games - but that makes him ripe for the red ball only squad I mentioned previously as the way forward (with the possible odd exception of the likes of Stokes, Archer and Curran who should be playing both).

Time will tell whether Sibley will be a Test success but one thing that is for sure is that he deserves the chance to prove himself. Garry Ballance scored a shed load of runs before the likes of the Aussies and New Zealand bowlers worked him out. I just hope that Sibley doesn't go the same way.

Addick Addict said:

Covered End said:

Addick Addict said:

Leuth said:

Which one of you rubbished Sibley after one innings and said we needed to look elsewhere? Bet you're feeling stupid now 

I certainly questioned his technique and long may his form continue. I was also someone who thought he should have been given a chance in front of some of the more "favoured" ones though.

Sibley might just be a Graeme Smith who played everything through leg too. Sincerely hope he is but it will be interesting to see how he copes against a Starc bowling across him and a top spinner such as Lyon (just had match figures against NZ of 63.5-19-134-10) on a bunsen burner. It he has a weakness they will find it.

The biggest thing that Sibley does have going for him is his level of concentration and he proved that from the very start of his professional career when he scored that double hundred against Yorkshire for Surrey at the age of 18. That will take him a long way and is something that someone like Joe Denly could learn from specifically in relation to shot selection when you think you're "in".

There's a bloke called, now what's his name, oh yes Steve Smith.
He heavily favours the on side and hasn't done too badly.

Steve Smith has been caught recently several times recently in the leg slip trap but can, comfortably, play on both sides of the wicket. He might "favour" the leg side but has the natural and self made talent to play 360 degrees albeit at times in a somewhat unorthodox fashion.

Sibley playing an off drive resembles someone who has been coached how to play it the day before and is attempting to play the shot for the first time - it lacks fluency but that is a legacy of him holding the bottom hand too tight and having a closed face simply because his main scoring shot and game plan is built around hitting the over pitched ball through mid wicket. He ends up having to play the cover drive in a jerky and chopping "in to out" motion and consequently loses the timing that stroking the ball with the full face of the bat would afford him. He also has a tendency to get his head outside the line of the ball when playing on the off side which causes him to "fall over".

That said, there are plenty of players who have scored a stack load of runs who don't have natural flair and that is because they know their game i.e. they recognise their strengths and won't try to play a shot to a ball they aren't comfortable doing. They also possess that stubborn resistance and desire to occupy the crease come what may. Cook became one of our finest accumulator of runs doing just that whereas one can't help thinking that an aesthetically pleasing Ramprakash over complicated and over thought things due to his nerves and self doubt when it came to stepping up to the international arena.

Sometimes, especially in Test cricket, less really is more and Sibley's limitations are also probably the reason that he has only played 22 List A matches as opposed to 70 First Class games - but that makes him ripe for the red ball only squad I mentioned previously as the way forward (with the possible odd exception of the likes of Stokes, Archer and Curran who should be playing both).

Time will tell whether Sibley will be a Test success but one thing that is for sure is that he deserves the chance to prove himself. Garry Ballance scored a shed load of runs before the likes of the Aussies and New Zealand bowlers worked him out. I just hope that Sibley doesn't go the same way.

Sibley's doing ok.  He's top of the 2020 batting averages, with an average of 167.00..!

Foakes would have taken that stumping off denly.

We are crying out for a 95 mph bowler and top class spinner on this track. The former missed the game through injury and we don't currently have the latter.

31 overs to get 5 wickets

killerandflash said:

killerandflash said:

Addick Addict said:

We are crying out for a 95 mph bowler and top class spinner on this track. The former missed the game through injury and we don't currently have the latter.

And Jimmy clearly has a problem, whether a niggle or illness

Got a minor side strain...but is bowling anyway

Minor side strains have a tendency to become big ones. He doesn't look at all happy and the management have probably told him that he has to bowl in this one if he can and can miss out on the next

That’s one of the dumbest shots I’ve ever seen.

Denly has looked far more dangerous than Bess tbf.
Well deserved wicket 

I love watching Kent.

What a ridiculous waste of our last review 

They should've gone to Specsavers.

Another one bites the dust!

van der Dussen guides one from Broad to Jimmy at leg gully.

237-7 ... 20 overs left to get three wickets