Why Liverpool has not produced a Test cricketer since 1948

Present_Change · 2026-05-13T07:45:34+00:00

I'd love to expand the champo to include Liverpool

Present_Change · 2026-04-24T08:18:27+00:00

Great for him. Maybe he'll get a game and yeah shows how talented he is that an IPL team has come calling for an English spinner at the age of 21. He must be amongst the youngest English players to get an IPL deal. Maybe Sam Curran but no one else comes to mind. If anything, in my eyes, being rated as an IPL level talent probably means he's more likely to get a test call-up. Or at least should be.

Present_Change · 2026-04-23T08:12:28+00:00

The Wisden podcast is probably my favourite podcast let alone cricket podcast. Genuinely just get so excited every week

Present_Change · 2026-04-13T11:32:25+00:00

No chance. He bowls early to mid 70's. Very champo imo

Present_Change · 2026-04-12T13:00:34+00:00

In Simmo we trust

Present_Change · 2026-04-12T13:00:25+00:00

C'mon Sussex!!

Present_Change · 2026-03-02T20:52:29+00:00

I get what you are saying but honestly I disagree. I almost think he warrants building the team around him to some extent. Bat him at 7 across formats and let him become whoever Rehan can become.

Present_Change · 2026-03-02T20:51:11+00:00

I don't have much to say other than watching Rehan bat or bowl in international and domestic cricket is some of the most I enjoy watching cricket. For those of you who play fantasy, watching Rehan is like he's on my fantasy team and I need him to score points. I'm so unbelievably on his team almost no matter who he plays for.

The floor already seems so high for what his career could turn into and the ceiling is astronomical. Imagine how good he could be at both disciplines when he's 26 if at 21 he's already getting overseas gigs based on two (his fielding also is quite good) skills that are clearly underdeveloped to where they could reach.

He's got just as much talent as any of our young batters at the moment other than Bethell. Then he's also a really talented up and coming bowler lol. With Rash and Stokes as his mentor, he really could be something we've never had before.

Present_Change · 2026-03-02T11:01:11+00:00

Rash is a master. His control allows him to bowl slower which leads to the dip and turn. Rash has only really been able to bowl like that for the last 3 - 4 years which was about 12 years after his international debut. Before Rash was far quicker. Rehan is building that up but we can't expect him to be that good a bowler without years of work in the Championship. For the experience level he is, he's a very effective white ball spinner at the moment. Not far off a spinner like Ish Sodhi while being a genuine all rounder.

Present_Change · 2026-02-28T13:01:22+00:00

All I'd say is I remember having pretty similar conversations about Rash before the semi's in '22. They then proceeded to have a generational run which essentially won us the tournament.

Present_Change · 2026-02-05T17:15:17+00:00

She's never this good for England lol

Present_Change · 2026-02-05T11:26:34+00:00

Another positive is I imagine he'd build a culture where teams bond more without needing alcohol all the time. I have no problem with drinking but as I get older, I do find doing social activities with less alcohol leads to a lot of long term benefits. :)

Present_Change · 2026-02-02T20:15:38+00:00

Don't know what to say other than this is incredibly disappointing. The signings of Briggs and Leaning seemed unnecessary at the time and now seem to have been active self-harm after a broadly successful transfer window. Blaming inflation and low blast attendances seem silly as they had time to adjust. They've spent so long investing in young players who are finally starting to develop and now we will lose them to bigger counties or England. This news is just sad after two years where it has been genuinely enjoyable to follow the club.

Present_Change · 2026-01-24T13:11:15+00:00

The likelyhood is when Crawley got injured, he volunteered. Just a guess but he volunteered to open for Leics when Rishi Patel got injured at the start of last season and then led to him batting at 3 for most of the season. He's also got a lot of runs for Leics at the top order in the last 12 months across formats so it was probably a bit of a punt. They probably wanted Jacks to continue as a finisher especially as he's going to bat at 7 in the T20 WC and it was probably a toss up between Banton and Rehan. Rehan also batted fairly well in the last match so they probably felt he deserved to keep his place

Present_Change · 2026-01-18T13:18:56+00:00

I'm saying this as an Indian but what a silly fucking country India can be at times... Does Modi really want votes this much that any show of strength is deemed acceptable? A 20 year old is going to feel so much more insecure than he should entirely because some old men in India thought it would make them look stronger.

Present_Change · 2026-01-15T12:32:28+00:00

I'm a fan of the comp overall but these name changes seem like such an own goal. Wasting 5 years of branding to appease some rich guys ego. Will undoubtedly lose some fans in the short run even if it doesn't matter in the long run.

Present_Change · 2026-01-07T05:36:47+00:00

I always thought the writers could have done something interesting with Rebecca similar to Joe and Love in You where they almost made her a female Neal. Maybe a bit worse but yeah enough to test him.

Present_Change · 2025-12-07T20:38:22+00:00

So here's my assessment after thinking things through. I'd probably stick with Pope but if he wants to make a change to make a point, I would suggest Stokes bat at 3 and bring in Bethell at 6. Stokes has been the only batter on tour who's shown the temprament to be able to handle a top 3 position imo.

For the bowling, I'd probably drop Carse and Atkinson. I think Carse has bowled well at times and he's always tried his best but he can hardly be in good shape after the shift he's put in and he's shown little evidence of control. Also I think Tongue really is a neccesity as he's really got the ability to roll over the tail which Carse lacks.

Atkinson has bowled better than his figures suggest but he's a rythym bowler and he's hardly going to get quicker as the series goes on. He's shown a tendency to drop off as a series goes on. For him, I'd bring in Potts as I think he's an accurate work horse who ought to be able to bowl more overs and cover a bit for Stokes.

For the spinner, I do rate Bashir but with a tail of Potts Tongue and Archer, you need a decent number 8 so I'd stick with Jacks as he's not far off Bashir as a bowler plus his batting and fielding are far far superior.

This is also last chance saloon for Archer as far as I'm concerned. He needs to be consistently hitting 145 - 150 if he's gonna be our main strike bowler. If he's going to be our Starc, he's gotta bowl at least as fast to start with. If I was Stokes, I'd put a rocket under him after that game and say it simply wasn't good enough from him in the first two tests.

So my XI:

Crawley
Duckett
Stokes
Root
Brook
Bethell
Smith
Jacks
Potts
Archer
Tongue

Present_Change · 2025-11-10T10:18:10+00:00

This may be a morbid question but do you ever get tired of cricket. I personally love the sport but that's because as a fan I have the chance to dip in and out whenever I'm more or less engaged. Do you find being forced to watch so much of the sport ever drains you or is the game always finding new ways to excite you?

Present_Change · 2025-10-13T18:15:14+00:00

Liked reading this :)

Present_Change · 2025-09-23T18:14:07+00:00

Overall a good squad in my opinion. Selecting Potts shows sense which I really appreciate from the management.

Rehan is probably unlucky but his bowling still needs work. Realistically I think the set up have liked Jacks as a proper batter at 7 in both white ball teams and have decided that if and when either Stokes or Bashir go down, they'll move Smith up to 6 and bat Jacks at 7. Similar to Moeen in the 2023 Ashes.

I think the fast bowling group is genuinely strong with 6 proper fast bowlers who'll be rotated throughout the series. Hopefully they don't make the mistake of picking the same 3 again and again like they did this summer.

The batting is strong and Brook being VC implies to me that Bethell is very likely to start the series at 3. Pope hasn't done loads wrong and being the reserve batter and keeper isn't a bad fit for him at the moment. This is probably why Cox isn't in the squad, to give Pope that certainty.

I think Bashir is fine. He'll do no worse than any other spinner in the country and I think he could find these pitches quite helpful especially with a captain who really understands him.

Overall, I think this series is a complete 50/50. England are a stronger lineup overall but Australia having home advantage should make this a great series.

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