Comments on: You can ignore Ollie Robinson – England probably won’t “go harder” in the second Test

By: Sam

Sam — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 18:45:13 +0000

Ok, who had ‘Jonny Bairstow carries protester off the field’ in the Ashes headline sweepstake?

At least he caught something this time, etc and so on.

By: Tim

Tim — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 18:11:25 +0000

In reply to Tim. Ok, Aus...

By: Tim

Tim — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 18:11:03 +0000

Just Stop Oz

By: A P Webster

A P Webster — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 14:02:47 +0000

In reply to A P Webster. Maybe not the best timing for a protest at an Ashes test then. Although the 'just stop, Oli' headlines write themselves

By: Deep Cower

Deep Cower — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 05:13:53 +0000

It would be interesting to see how this England team evolve after a few failures. Clearly they’ve created a new way to look at tests, and for that they should be rightly congratulated. But would some failures be treated as collateral damage or chinks in the Bazball armour? Would they dust themselves down and go at it again or settle into a more comfortable approach midway between methodical and mayhem? A few lost matches might also cost them in the World Test Championship circuit. These are interesting times.

By: King Cricket

King Cricket — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 21:32:56 +0000

In reply to A P Webster. It would become celebratory in that scenario.

By: A P Webster

A P Webster — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 19:06:52 +0000

In reply to A P Webster.

…also they might pick a spinner for that Test and then the sign wouldn’t make sense…

By: A P Webster

A P Webster — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 19:05:36 +0000

No spinner (Root doesn’t quite count). I was thinking of making an ‘Always Pick A Spinner’ protest sign to take to Headingley, but it might seem a bit unfair to focus on that given all the other cricket related issues highlighted this week.

By: W Pads

W Pads — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 16:19:19 +0000

Firstly I think that before “Bazball” can evolve too much there will need to be some significant defeats. England’s white ball teams had to face the setbacks of Carlos Braithwaite and the 2017 Champions Trophy semi final loss to Pakistan before they really started to dominate and show a bit more nuance than try and smash everything.

Every series since McCullum’s first has seen people suggest that “Bazball” will be found out and that it will have to be abandoned to return to a more orthodox system. Only by losing and sticking to your guns can you show people that you really are committed to changing established norms. Once you have proven beyond all doubt that you won’t abandon your principles you can begin to relax them here and there.

Secondly, given the reactions Ollie Robinson is getting out of basically all retired Aussie test cricketers I can’t be the only one hoping England pick the other Ollie Robinson at some point this series. Imagine Hayden and Michael Clarke trying to work out why the teamsheet had two O Robinsons.

By: Balladeer

Balladeer — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 14:47:00 +0000

“You can ignore Ollie Robinson”

…unless you’re Australian apparently.