Fallacies regarding Read/Jones

[CJ D]

I saw the comment on the BBC as well - however Agnew described it as 13 hours batting without giving a chance and Cricinfo said

"Lara never really looked like getting out, at least not once he'd survived that nasty moment before he was off the mark, when he may or may not have nicked Stephen Harmison through to Geraint Jones. There was a noise, and many umpires might have decided that it came from ball flicking bat – but Darrell Hair didn't (how Michael Vaughan must have wished it had been Hair rather than Aleem Dar at the business end when he was given out today). Apart from that, there was a close run-out call, and a loopy top-edged sweep in the 290s, as the England bowlers toiled without ever threatening to recapture the magic of Tests One, Two and Three."

So no blame attachd to Jones from anyone else. I hope that he and Flintoff can stick around this morning - could make for some entertaining cricket.

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

Afternoon all. Again freddie could come to the rescue but this lad jones impresses me. A bullish personality when the chips are down are just what we need, especially as our openers arer failing big time. As I've said before vuaghan failures (although it might have been a bad decision) doesnt surprise me (something to do with the fact we give our best bats the captaincy and watch them become average bats), but tresco, if there is going to any ort of consistancy should either be dropped or moved down the order when we play NZ, who could well give us a right going over. Butch and strauss to open for me.

Again I find myself agreeing with racheal about Boucher. it would have been kinder to all if alan donald had bashed his head after dropping atherton in their titanic battle a few years ago. I remember at the time I thought he would.

[cantplaycantalk]

Looks like you spoke to soon on the opener front. 100 partnership.

[CJ D]

Flat pitch - nuff said. Nice to see Tresco get a bit of confidence back (just in time for him to reclaim his top ten spot in the ODI's)

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

Well if I have to give them a bit of stick for them to perform, so be it. You just cant figure it out.

[Farmer Giles]

Hello Rachael.

Have to agree with you about the Bedser-Evans combination. I never saw them, apart from on film, but that guy could keep wicket. Bedser was medium to medium-fast, and to stand up to that took some courage and lightning reactions. It also frightened the batsman to death with the keeper whispering in his ear.

[James M]

People must remember that Alec Stewart is a one-off. As a professional cricketer he was a beacon of respectability AND talent. Few in the modern game come close to his dedication to make the most of what he has. Furthermore, Stewie could hold his own in any side as a top order batsman AND a wicketkeeper. No other keeper batsman I've seen in my lifetime can open and keep in the same game without noticeable disparity. Read is more a keeper batsman, Jones a batsman keeper. If anything is passable it is Read's and Jones's batting compared to Stewie. Only Read of the two can compare favourably with him with the gauntlets. In fact I'd go as far as to say Read is a better keeper. But Stewie will never be surpassed and his legacy is one of greatness that will be used as the model for future England keepers. Inevitably they won't live up to it but the model is there. This can only be a good thing if looked at positively, the standards have been set and we move on to a new era.

[cantplaycantalk]

Well perhaps apart from Gilchrist?

[Farmer Giles]

Wow James, are you Stewie's PR. He was a great all-round cricketer, opener, keeper and not a bad skipper. But if you had to list really great keepers, I could think of Knott, Evans, Ames, Russell, Taylor, to name but a few. Stewie was in the side mainly for his batting, and the good keeping was a bonus.

[James M]

What, opening the batting in Tests? Never seen Gilchrist do that personally.