Brook reaches 2000 test runs in his 36th innings, matching Viv Richards, Frank Worrell, Arthur Morris and Everton Weeks for the 8th quickest. Not bad company to be amongst. Bradman, the freak that he was, took just 22 innings. 10 fewer than anyone else.
He is pretty much certain to be the next captiaj when Stokes steps down (Which a lot of people think will be after the 2027 home Ashes). Could well become captain for all three formats but that couod be overwhelming. Pope got his best score for quite as while as well.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2024/11/28/england-ban-players-appear-pakistan-super-league/ I wonder how that will go down with some players like Alex Hales and Jason Roy who are now banned from Tournaments they played in last year.
That's behind a paywall, Hales only has a whiteball contract with Nottinghamshire, surely he'd be exempt, I'd imagine Roy is on a similar deal.
He's not a natural #3, so maybe a drop down the order would help relieve some of the pressure on him. There was some talk of retaining Jamie Smith as a pure batter, and moving him to 3, or even moving Stokes up if he's not bowling as much.
To be honest, I’d be very surprised if Stokes goes on that long. Genuinely think he goes after the Ashes next year. Been having more and more issues with his body and stepping away from other formats and the IPL too in order to prolong his career which is probably a sign that he’s having to give increasingly more.
Thag was the thinking but the ECB apparently think he will stay another 18 months maybe doing just tests.
Apparently they would be exempt during the Engloah season when they are no Domestic Whife ball but not during tne times when there is. So it appears no missing the Blast for an overseas franchise. The article is not very well written through- the headline is contradicted within the headline and other bits are unclear.
They would of only played in those overlapping tournaments with the blessing of the counties, and likely foregone the remunerations of there whiteball only contracts during that period. This just clears things up, these types of players will likely go freelance in the future.
He signed a 2 year central contact just the other month, when he's only agreed to one year ones in the past, so as long has he holds up physically he'll be around for that spell. I'd doubt he plays much more white ball cricket though. Got injured in the Hundred in the summer and declined the IPL. Think he'll be primarily a Test player with a few matches for Durham to keep sharp.
That’s correct. But the new policy is that the counties won’t be able to give their blessing anymore as the ECB always has the final say.
Apparently he is still hoping to do the Champions Trophy in February and is doing the South Africa T20 league.
Yes, I understand that, hence why I said they are likely to freelance in future, and not sign any county contracts.
I wonder how the ECB would react to that. Suspect they would probably ban players from any tournament that hires freelance English players no matter the time of the year.
I can't imagine they have any jurisdiction to ban English players that don't have a contract with an English club
I mean banning those with a English contract going to tournaments hiring non contracted English players.
Wouidnt be the best idea but it wouidnt only be the ECB who won’t want freelance players becoming the international norm.
Brook now has four 150+ scores from seven centuries and has just hit one out of the ground. Our batting lineup is also deep. Carse down at #10. He has a first class average of 31 with a couple of centuries in the past 18 months. If they can see off the new ball then there's potential for a huge total.
https://www.thetimes.com/sport/cric...al-action-in-overseas-franchise-row-5zmtt9vb6 Legal action possibly coming from the PCA over the ECB’s new rules. Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler Players threaten ECB with legal action in overseas franchise row English players told that, apart from IPL, they will not be granted permission to play in any competitions that clash with the domestic season in radical policy change by governing body A significant row has broken out between the ECB and the players’ association, which is threatening legal action after the governing body announced it will effectively ban English players from taking part in some overseas franchise tournaments. On Thursday, the ECB announced a change to its policy on “no-objection certificates”, which any player contracted to either England or a county must obtain before they can play in an overseas tournament. Some players who are on white-ball only contracts with their countries have called for an emergency meeting with the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) next week to assess the implications of the changes, whereby they will not be granted permission to play in any competitions that clash with the English domestic season. This means they are likely to be prevented from taking part in either the Pakistan Super League (PSL) or Major League Cricket (MLC) in the USA, both of which offer lucrative contracts to overseas players. However, an exception has been made for the Indian Premier League (IPL). The PCA will meet a group of players next week but says it was “blindsided” by the ECB’s decision and is talking to its legal advisers about challenging the decision. “The PCA’s legal team is currently completing a thorough check of the implementation of this new policy,” Daryl Mitchell, its chief executive, said on Friday. “The PCA is continuing to source considered opinions and potential consequences of this policy from players and player representatives.” He added that they were frustrated at the lack of time given for consultation and discussion before the new policy was announced. The new policy was approved by the ECB’s board of directors on Wednesday and Richard Gould, its chief executive, said it was necessary to protect the integrity of English domestic competitions. The ECB believes it is a necessary change because of the increase in new T20 competitions — there are at least four tournaments around the world that clash with the English season and the new policy states that no-objection certificates will not be granted for any competition that clashes with either the T20 Blast or the Hundred and, other than the IPL, it is unlikely that permission would be granted for any tournament that takes place during the English season. The only exception may be for players who have white-ball-only contracts who could play in tournaments that take place while the county championship is being played, but any player who has a standard multiformat contract will be prevented from playing in any competition during the season. The PSL will take place in April and May next year and no player who has a multiformat contract will be able to take part. Players such as Jason Roy and Alex Hales have previously skipped parts of the T20 Blast or the Hundred to take part in the MLC or the Lanka Premier League, but will now not be allowed to do that, despite these contracts being more lucrative than their county Blast deals. A number of players who were not picked up in the IPL auction were hoping they might be able to take part in the PSL instead and are now waiting to see if the new rules will allow them to do so. One unintended consequence of the new policy may also be that players who were on multiformat contracts with their counties may now seek to move to white-ball-only contracts or “pay as you play” deals to allow them to explore options overseas.
Yeah as much as I don’t like being negative it’s hard to know what to take out of this if we do go on to win it because it’s been one of the worst fielding performances I have ever seen from NZ. Even if they’d only taken half of them things would look very different. Shame about Stokes getting out when he did because not too sure how many more chances we’ll get to see him score a century. Wanted him to equal Botham’s 14. The one thing I would take is that I think Atkinson’s ability to contribute runs lower down the order cancels out the need for Woakes even more. At least away from home. I suppose if we do go back to preparing green tops that offer lots of seam and swing then he could be used as a horses for courses style bowler at home. But that should be the full extent of his role now imo.
Given some of the tails you see in test cricket, both Atkinson and Carse could bat at #8. Having them #8 and #9 is perfectly reasonable. Potts is no mug with the bat either if you decide to bring him in - he averages just shy of 20 in FC, which is more than acceptable for a seamer at #10. Woakes is 36 in a few months. He's got one 50 in his last 17 tests, and doesn't take wickets outside England. He's just a short term option at home now. We need to have enough seamers ready for the Ashes - so that's Atkinson, Carse, hopefully Archer, and then seeing if the likes of Potts, Turner, Tongue and Hull can step up. They've been ruthless with the wicket keepers, time to do the same with the quicks.