Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[JSRAW]

MCC made some changes in cricketing code of laws.

Important changes
- Permanent ban on Saliva.
- In case of catch dismissals, new batter have to take strike and face the bowler even if previous striker-non striker cross the halfway mark of the pitch, unless it's the last ball.
- Mankading was considered unfair play under previous law, although it was allowed. Now they moved it to another section (under runout) and made it clear that its a non-striker's fault because he's the one stealing the ground. No more spirit of the game BS and no dehumanizing the bowler.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/mcc-moves-to-de-stigmatise-non-striker-run-outs-in-latest-law-updates-1304409

[onecall123]

MCC made some changes in cricketing code of laws.

Important changes
- Permanent ban on Saliva.
- In case of catch dismissals, new batter have to take strike and face the bowler even if previous striker-non striker cross the halfway mark of the pitch, unless it's the last ball.
- Mankading was considered unfair play under previous law, although it was allowed. Now they moved it to another section (under runout) and made it clear that its a non-striker's fault because he's the one stealing the ground. No more spirit of the game BS and no dehumanizing the bowler.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/mcc-moves-to-de-stigmatise-non-striker-run-outs-in-latest-law-updates-1304409

Feel sorry for the bowlers, it is a batsman dominated game now! Bowlers should be replaced by Bowling Machines with batsman-friendly rules so no young kids would be interested in bowling. In some cases, traditions should be kept just as they are, sometimes it is just a psychological boost that bowlers receive. The restrictions we are putting on bowlers are excessive. Astonished by the way the game is played. I think bowling should be banned too! 

[pakhitheboss]

Even after the bad start England have managed to score 250+ runs by the end of day 1 is good. Someone taking responsibility and doing the best to withstand the situation, and today it looks like Baristow the rescuer. Somehow England will manage to score 300+ runs which is quite good for an innings. If England perform well in bowling surely it can restrict West Indies within 250 runs. Then the match can turn towards England.

West Indies bowlers allowed the match to slip out of their control. Only Jason Holder was consistent, while Alzarri Joseph, Kemar Roach and Jayden Seales bowled in a wayward manner and allowed Jonny Bairstow to build big partnerships with lower order batsmen such as Ben Foakes and Chris Woakes. And England still have Craig Overton and Mark Wood to come, and these two have some batting capability. I guess it is possible for England to get to a total of around 300-350. It will be interesting to see the performance from the England bowlers, in the absence of Anderson and Broad.

The game is still in the initial stages and WI still can get back into the match. The English side will try to reach a score of more than 300 runs in order to stay in the match. WI only need to take the wicket of Bairstow in the first session of day 2 and restrict the English side not to go beyond 300. Worst performance by the English top order batters If it was not for Bairstow then the English side would have been out within 250 runs.

[Swordsoffreedom]

England vs West Indies

England are not in a good position in the first Test against the West Indies. Even in today's match, their top order batsmen have failed. In the previous Test series, they could not win any of the 5 matches against Australia. The top order batsmen did not play well against the West Indies either. Collecting less than 300 runs will be difficult to win the match. At the moment he has collected 176 runs losing 5 wickets.

Start was not good for England in first session of first test they lost 4 wickets very cheaply but now have very good recovery through Stokes, Bairstow and Foakes from 48/4 to now 223/6 is very good now they can feel some better Bairstow is still on crease with his very quick and important 89 with new batsman Woakes is going to give him company but still it's good for West Indies as they have early wickets very cheaply and their quick bowlers take some good advantage of early seem, but now England is back in match even they still need some more runs from Bairstow and Woakes, but they can feel comfortable after having early setbacks.

Roach and Seales were on fire for home team with their very good bowling, and they have done good start, but now both teams are on level and the match is going to be very entertaining for next few days.

Although the start was not good, now the condition of England is very good. Since they lost only 6 wickets, they were able to collect 268 runs. Jonny Bairstow and Woakes, two batsmen at the crease, are both batting well. So the idea is that England will be able to collect more than 300 very easily. And it would be a good collection to fight. England's bowlers are very experienced. It will not be easy for West Indies to score 300 runs by batting against England's bowlers. After the disgusting performance against Australia I would expect England in this series.

[JohnBitCo]

MCC made some changes in cricketing code of laws.

Important changes
- Permanent ban on Saliva.
- In case of catch dismissals, new batter have to take strike and face the bowler even if previous striker-non striker cross the halfway mark of the pitch, unless it's the last ball.
- Mankading was considered unfair play under previous law, although it was allowed. Now they moved it to another section (under runout) and made it clear that its a non-striker's fault because he's the one stealing the ground. No more spirit of the game BS and no dehumanizing the bowler.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/mcc-moves-to-de-stigmatise-non-striker-run-outs-in-latest-law-updates-1304409

Feel sorry for the bowlers, it is a batsman dominated game now! Bowlers should be replaced by Bowling Machines with batsman-friendly rules so no young kids would be interested in bowling. In some cases, traditions should be kept just as they are, sometimes it is just a psychological boost that bowlers receive. The restrictions we are putting on bowlers are excessive. Astonished by the way the game is played. I think bowling should be banned too! 

Everyone likes to see high scoring games and therefore you will not find rules which may help the bowlers. The introduction of T20 was itself a move that supported batsmen. The T20 matches should have been played with fewer players as previously the same 10 players need to bat 50 overs and now the same 10 players need to bat 20 overs only. So you can see how easy it is for the batsmen to score runs freely.
There needs to be a balance between batters and bowlers otherwise there will be no interest in seeing four and sixes on every ball.

[JSRAW]

MCC made some changes in cricketing code of laws.

Important changes
- Permanent ban on Saliva.
- In case of catch dismissals, new batter have to take strike and face the bowler even if previous striker-non striker cross the halfway mark of the pitch, unless it's the last ball.
- Mankading was considered unfair play under previous law, although it was allowed. Now they moved it to another section (under runout) and made it clear that its a non-striker's fault because he's the one stealing the ground. No more spirit of the game BS and no dehumanizing the bowler.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/mcc-moves-to-de-stigmatise-non-striker-run-outs-in-latest-law-updates-1304409

Feel sorry for the bowlers, it is a batsman dominated game now! Bowlers should be replaced by Bowling Machines with batsman-friendly rules so no young kids would be interested in bowling. In some cases, traditions should be kept just as they are, sometimes it is just a psychological boost that bowlers receive. The restrictions we are putting on bowlers are excessive. Astonished by the way the game is played. I think bowling should be banned too!  

Its true that cricket is batters game but only in limited overs game and its kinda mixed bag in the test formats IMO. In my reading i would say bowlers are in fairly good position in the test (not similar to old era), that's why we see so many results in test format nowadays so clearly ball is dominating the bat or at least competing.

Banning Saliva does look like its against the bowler but last 2-3 years data suggest that banning saliva in covid times didn't effect the bowlers as far as swing-seam etc are concerns. They also clarified on "White ball rule", earlier it used to based on off-leg lines (specially leg sides) but now it will be based on batter's movement across the crease area.

Edit

Jonny freaking redhead bairstow is a torch bearer for the Poms, i have never imagined that before the Ashes. Good to see him performing but in a longer run it does seems illusion to me.

[repear7]

Test matches with England and West Indies have started for 2 days. England started the game very poorly and lost their valuable 4 wickets for 48 runs. Later Ben Stoke andJonny Bairstow formed a good partnership . Where he was supposed to be all out in 100, he scored 311 runs. The bottom line is that if the game is bad for everyone, one will play well. Which is what Jonny bairstow showed. Jonny Bairstow scored 140 runs.

[kro55]

Test matches with England and West Indies have started for 2 days. England started the game very poorly and lost their valuable 4 wickets for 48 runs. Later Ben Stoke andJonny Bairstow formed a good partnership . Where he was supposed to be all out in 100, he scored 311 runs. The bottom line is that if the game is bad for everyone, one will play well. Which is what Jonny bairstow showed. Jonny Bairstow scored 140 runs.

A collection of 311 runs is not enough to win, but a good enough collection to fight. England's bowlers have to perform well. Only then will England be able to win this match. If the bowler does not play well, most likely the match will be a draw.
West Indies managed to score 36 runs, they have not lost any wicket yet. If the top order can play well, the West Indies will be able to control the match.

[coinism]

A collection of 311 runs is not enough to win, but a good enough collection to fight. England's bowlers have to perform well. Only then will England be able to win this match. If the bowler does not play well, most likely the match will be a draw.
West Indies managed to score 36 runs, they have not lost any wicket yet. If the top order can play well, the West Indies will be able to control the match.

It's too early to predict from first inning that who will win the match. I think 311 is quite a decent total on West Indies pitches and credit for this goes to Jonny Bairstow 140, he has some support from Ben Foakes and stokes. Rest of the England batting just collapsed.
WI have a positive start so far, lets see how far they go from here.

[Minecache]

Feel sorry for the bowlers, it is a batsman dominated game now! Bowlers should be replaced by Bowling Machines with batsman-friendly rules so no young kids would be interested in bowling. In some cases, traditions should be kept just as they are, sometimes it is just a psychological boost that bowlers receive. The restrictions we are putting on bowlers are excessive. Astonished by the way the game is played. I think bowling should be banned too!  

Its true that cricket is batters game but only in limited overs game and its kinda mixed bag in the test formats IMO. In my reading i would say bowlers are in fairly good position in the test (not similar to old era), that's why we see so many results in test format nowadays so clearly ball is dominating the bat or at least competing.

Banning Saliva does look like its against the bowler but last 2-3 years data suggest that banning saliva in covid times didn't effect the bowlers as far as swing-seam etc are concerns. They also clarified on "White ball rule", earlier it used to based on off-leg lines (specially leg sides) but now it will be based on batter's movement across the crease area.

I think that one side which can be improved on is improving the quality of the cricket balls. We see batsmen modifying their bat at the right weight to perfectly suit them. Even 50g of more or less is not ok for them but since the start of cricket, I don't think the quality of cricket ball has changed much.

So, I think the quality of the cricket balls is something that can be looked at. They don't have to do anything stupid, maybe just do something that the ball swings more at first and spins more at the middle-end of one-day innings.

[LastWeek]

No.1 Test All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.
Form: INDIA

[SirLancelot]

A collection of 311 runs is not enough to win, but a good enough collection to fight. England's bowlers have to perform well. Only then will England be able to win this match. If the bowler does not play well, most likely the match will be a draw.
West Indies managed to score 36 runs, they have not lost any wicket yet. If the top order can play well, the West Indies will be able to control the match.

Jonny Bairstow is hero for England as they all out at 311 after having very poor start of this series first match against West Indies all seam bowlers done reasonable job for home team to restrict them at this score but still good from visitors as they are trying to have some better in test matches after worst defeat in Australia but still completely fail to have quality batting which can give them some better. Here after watching first inning look like they are going to lose this series as well because West Indies is having home advantage even they are also not good enough, but they can do some better performance against them bowlers are also not good enough for England.

In reply of this score now West Indies is 49/0 in ten over, skipper Kraigg Brathwaite is in aggressive mood lest watch how their response in remaining day of this first test match.

[JSRAW]

Feel sorry for the bowlers, it is a batsman dominated game now! Bowlers should be replaced by Bowling Machines with batsman-friendly rules so no young kids would be interested in bowling. In some cases, traditions should be kept just as they are, sometimes it is just a psychological boost that bowlers receive. The restrictions we are putting on bowlers are excessive. Astonished by the way the game is played. I think bowling should be banned too!  

Its true that cricket is batters game but only in limited overs game and its kinda mixed bag in the test formats IMO. In my reading i would say bowlers are in fairly good position in the test (not similar to old era), that's why we see so many results in test format nowadays so clearly ball is dominating the bat or at least competing.

Banning Saliva does look like its against the bowler but last 2-3 years data suggest that banning saliva in covid times didn't effect the bowlers as far as swing-seam etc are concerns. They also clarified on "White ball rule", earlier it used to based on off-leg lines (specially leg sides) but now it will be based on batter's movement across the crease area.

I think that one side which can be improved on is improving the quality of the cricket balls. We see batsmen modifying their bat at the right weight to perfectly suit them. Even 50g of more or less is not ok for them but since the start of cricket, I don't think the quality of cricket ball has changed much.

So, I think the quality of the cricket balls is something that can be looked at. They don't have to do anything stupid, maybe just do something that the ball swings more at first and spins more at the middle-end of one-day innings.

Bat weight doesn't matter much imo, if we're talking about overall width then yeah its a big issue but atm its all fixed for everyone, in test cricket we have 4 cricket balls. In red ball its Dukes (Eng-WI), India(SG), Kookaburra (rest of the world) and recent addition is Pink ball, not sure if specific country use similar ball for their home condition, only possibility of improvement i can think of is in LOI, need more research if they want to tackle dew conditions in LOI due to 2 ball rule,in white ball there is virtually no scope for reverse swing so they can try to look at it, if they are in mood?

[DanWalker]

Feel sorry for the bowlers, it is a batsman dominated game now! Bowlers should be replaced by Bowling Machines with batsman-friendly rules so no young kids would be interested in bowling. In some cases, traditions should be kept just as they are, sometimes it is just a psychological boost that bowlers receive. The restrictions we are putting on bowlers are excessive. Astonished by the way the game is played. I think bowling should be banned too! 

Everyone likes to see high scoring games and therefore you will not find rules which may help the bowlers. The introduction of T20 was itself a move that supported batsmen. The T20 matches should have been played with fewer players as previously the same 10 players need to bat 50 overs and now the same 10 players need to bat 20 overs only. So you can see how easy it is for the batsmen to score runs freely.
There needs to be a balance between batters and bowlers otherwise there will be no interest in seeing four and sixes on every ball.

Yeah, I think you are right. Because the days are gone when spectators enjoyed seeing the bowling of Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, or Brett Lee. Now everyone wants to sleep almost every ball hit for a six. To be honest, in my opinion, cricket has become less skillful than it was before.

[blatchcorn]

Yeah, I think you are right. Because the days are gone when spectators enjoyed seeing the bowling of Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, or Brett Lee. Now everyone wants to sleep almost every ball hit for a six. To be honest, in my opinion, cricket has become less skillful than it was before.

If you see interviews of crickets in 80s and 90s they will say they like test cricket more then ODI since test is the proper form of cricket. Since the introduction of T20 and T10, cricket is faster then ever before. There are very few people who have time to watch full 5 days of cricket.

Westindies are in hurry to chase England first inning total of 311 as they have score 107/2 with RR of 4. Its because of more T20 throughout the year, players are playing test like ODI and T20.

[Emitdama]

Yeah, I think you are right. Because the days are gone when spectators enjoyed seeing the bowling of Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, or Brett Lee. Now everyone wants to sleep almost every ball hit for a six. To be honest, in my opinion, cricket has become less skillful than it was before.

If you see interviews of crickets in 80s and 90s they will say they like test cricket more then ODI since test is the proper form of cricket. Since the introduction of T20 and T10, cricket is faster then ever before. There are very few people who have time to watch full 5 days of cricket.

Westindies are in hurry to chase England first inning total of 311 as they have score 107/2 with RR of 4. Its because of more T20 throughout the year, players are playing test like ODI and T20.

Even now life is very fast, and we have too many formats like T10 and T20 but still we have a big community in cricket supporters those love this Test format because it's really great to watch and having beauty of this game I am also from this community because mostly I love to watch these matches online and during my working hours as well it needs some good patience and better technique for players to give good results right now we have very players those are doing good in this format just because of franchise cricket and run for money.

Very interesting match now between West Indies and England with England able to have 4 quick wickets which bring him back in this game just 107 runs on board, and we are in second day play most chances we are going to have this match result in just four days because pitch is very good and supporting both batsmen and bowlers.

[Minor Miner]

Start was not good for England in first session of first test they lost 4 wickets very cheaply but now have very good recovery through Stokes, Bairstow and Foakes from 48/4 to now 223/6 is very good now they can feel some better Bairstow is still on crease with his very quick and important 89 with new batsman Woakes is going to give him company but still it's good for West Indies as they have early wickets very cheaply and their quick bowlers take some good advantage of early seem, but now England is back in match even they still need some more runs from Bairstow and Woakes, but they can feel comfortable after having early setbacks.
Roach and Seales were on fire for home team with their very good bowling, and they have done good start, but now both teams are on level and the match is going to be very entertaining for next few days.

Although the start was not good, now the condition of England is very good. Since they lost only 6 wickets, they were able to collect 268 runs. Jonny Bairstow and Woakes, two batsmen at the crease, are both batting well. So the idea is that England will be able to collect more than 300 very easily. And it would be a good collection to fight. England's bowlers are very experienced. It will not be easy for West Indies to score 300 runs by batting against England's bowlers. After the disgusting performance against Australia I would expect England in this series.

I think if I say England played well I will be wrong because it's Jonny Bairstow who alone held the innings together, and he just got out on 140 as the 1st innings of England came to a close.
They scored 311 runs and West Indies will come out to back after a break. I think West Indies need to survive the initial onslaught and stay on the pitch. after that, the runs will eventually come.

[Iranus]

Despite England's top order failing, the West Indies started their innings very well. They lost their first wicket on 83 runs. But the subsequent batsmen failed in their duty. They lost 4 wickets for 127 runs. Now I think they will lose all their wickets before 311. And their innings will end tomorrow in the first session. The performance of West Indies players is very irregular. The team does not have any experienced Ebgong dependent players.

[perfect999]

I think if I say England played well I will be wrong because it's Jonny Bairstow who alone held the innings together, and he just got out on 140 as the 1st innings of England came to a close.
They scored 311 runs and West Indies will come out to back after a break. I think West Indies need to survive the initial onslaught and stay on the pitch. after that, the runs will eventually come.

Now Bonner and Jason Holder at crease and West Indies is still trailing by 160 runs match is in very interesting position bowlers bring back England in game with their good effort now this last good pair is trying to hold inning for home team if English bowlers can take one or two more wickets than surely they can take some good lead and sit on driving seat for this match because they are doing right job after wicket of Braithwaite's aggressive inning they are controlling very wisely.

Now we have 25 overs remaining in today's play, so both teams will try to keep better position for tomorrow and rest of match, here we have very fascinating next few days of this test match. Holder is a key player for West Indies in this situation if he stays for some time then surely he can change this game for his side very positively with his batting after doing some good bowling early.

[Sithara007]

Despite England's top order failing, the West Indies started their innings very well. They lost their first wicket on 83 runs. But the subsequent batsmen failed in their duty. They lost 4 wickets for 127 runs. Now I think they will lose all their wickets before 311. And their innings will end tomorrow in the first session. The performance of West Indies players is very irregular. The team does not have any experienced Ebgong dependent players.

I have said this numerous times. West Indies should not be playing test cricket. They are good in T20, and to an extent in ODI cricket. But the players look clueless when it comes to test cricket. Gone are the days when they had legendary players like Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose, who were tailor-made for test cricket. Now all they have is a bunch of T20 specialists, who are not suitable for test cricket. England on the other hand have separate squads for different formats, so they are able to fare better.