Off Topic Sport Other than Football - formerly the Ashes Thread

They can`t leave a player like Root out, he may not be as destructive as most of the other top order batsmen but the team still needs a player like Root to hold an innings together when they find themselves 20/2 or 40/3. A constant stream of big hitters will not always come off, especially on more challenging pitches, having Root in there compliments things nicely and he can also contribute a few overs of spin if needed also.

I`d probably sacrifice one of the bowlers to make room for Stokes, depending on the pitch either one of Moeen or Rashid or a pace man.

 

It's a nice problem to have.

Perhaps if the pitch is as good as the two recent ones used here, there is a case for "resting" Root.

I don't think Rashid would be dropped as he's England's best bowler and many batsmen can't pick him.

I don't think England would risk playing only five bowlers either - which is actually Root's best case for being picked every time.

 

Jos Buttler

Well assisted at the end by Adil Rashid (who bowled well again)

 

Cracking game, really thought that was all over at 8 down. Thought it was strange picking Buttler as a specialist batsman in the Test side at number 7, but what a player, needs to play in all forms of the game.

 

Adil Rashid 3-27 off 4 overs on a batters' paradise in the T20

 

Another year where I wonder if laryngitis would be a career-threatening injury for Serena Williams...

 

Not for the feint hearted a massive all in brawl in a basketball match between Phillipines and Australia in Manilla
https://www.foxsports.com.au/basket...s/news-story/830fc9afc7d39ad5acc93bd05a3ed7ba

 

Does anyone know why Wimbledon almost always schedule half finished matches as the SECOND match on that court the following day?

 

Probably some archaic rule about the running order.

 

Well played Alex Hales.
Well supported by Jonny Bairstow

 

Good comeback after the first game

 

Plunkett bowled exceptionally well. Willey pretty good too.
Bowling wins these matches - more so than the explosive batting

 

Let's not mention Ball's last over.....

 

He did OK up to then too

 

With everyone distracted by the World Cup (or the Tories imploding) I'll just mention that London Spitfire are in the quarter finals of the Overwatch League grand finals, with their first game against the Los Angeles Gladiators beginning at 3am (no, not a typo) while the second and third leg take place on Saturday

 

Good news everybody! Trumpists will continue to complain about NFL players' freedom of expression!

 

England dominating the 2nd ODI at Lord's, but disgraceful performance by MS Dhoni who has played the last 15 overs like he's having a net. No urgency - no intent!
Paying public deserve better - no attempt to make a game of it.

 

It was bizarre.
Root top class today.
Rashid excellent again, as he often is these days.
David Willey also proving his worth - although when the chips are down, I'm not sure his bowling is good enough.

 

Well there's a turnup for the books, somebody who actually plays tennis won the Wimbledon women's final.

That's a sentence that're rarely been uttered for the past twenty years...

 

That's got to be good for the game, hasn't it? Having a clearly unfit 38 year old, just returning to playing, win the tournament devalues the whole thing completely. In contrast to the Nadal v Djokovic semi-final, it was bloody poor stuff and a joke of a final.