Commonwealth Bank Series

[aussie1st]

He deserves a shot as he has the experience and the combination with Gilly.
Jaques should have been given first shot but his form hasn't been great.

 

[mattfb]

if jaques kept up his form he was gonna earn another shot at the ODI game, hes got a good record in it too

 

[cricketmad09]

Voges looks like he'll be given a go since hes already in the Test side. Hopes could well find himself opening which means we don't have to change the team dynamic too much. I wonder which other bowlers we will try, I would like to see Tait but he keeps getting injured at the wrong time.

Seems to have improved his bowling. Saw him in the QLD vs. Vic match at MCG, and looked like he was bowling more than just medium pacers.

 

[aussie1st]

He increased his speed since he was last in the ODI as I saw him notching 140 which shocked me.

 

[IloveGilly]

Would be quite a handy player, especially in an ODI match.

 

[mattfb]

Yea and he is in good form with the bat and ball

 

[angryangy]

I thought Hopes bowled the faster side of medium pace anyway, close enough to 130. Strange to hear he's found an extra yard or two at this age (Harmison retired from ODIs at that age!), perhaps he decided it was his primary attribute. Certainly explains his form, averaging 20 in both tournaments. His batting wouldn't get him a top order spot, but there's been enough runs to pick him as an all-rounder.

I think at this point, Jaques just needs to put a century on the board. He's been cursed by bad starts (in 7 innings without a 50 or 100, he has scored 56 runs) so really, if he can hang around for 20 or 30 balls, he should get off the ground again. Any opener is prone to getting done by an unplayable new ball delivery and I hope a string of bad fortune doesn't spark a legitimate form slump.

If we're "picking for the future" I'd give Paine a run. He's an ideal foil for Gilchrist and if Jaques is to be the successor to Gilly's vanguard play, he'd be ideal in a right-left combo with him, too.

There are far too many options, however. Clarke makes a good account of himself up the order and is probably ideal for it in some ways (much like how Martyn's more aggressive offside shots were suited to the field restrictions). However, Hussey is a senior opener and would surely be a consideration.

 

[aussie1st]

I would rather leave Hussey where he is as hes so dam effective at finishing our inns off. Can't remember the ODI but it was one of our recent ones where he got out and then suddenly the wheels fell of in the last 10 overs. Paine could be worth a punt but hasn't played too many games yet.

But other than him and Jaques not really many openers stepping up. Cosgrove was one but like Jaques seems to be in a slump. Klinger I guess could be worth a shot.

 

[Skater]

This would be my chosen team for the first one-day international:

1. Andrew Strauss
2. Ian Bell
3. Michael Vaughan (captain)
4. Paul Collingwood
5. Kevin Pietersen
6. Andrew Flintoff
7. Paul Nixon (wicket keeper)
8. Jamie Dalrymple
9. Jon Lewis
10. James Anderson
11. Monty Panesar

I think that Michael Vaughan's creative captaincy is vital, and Paul Nixon has a good batting average in one-day cricket so he is in my eleven.

 

[Sureshot]

We have to play Read as Nixon isn't the future. We have enough problems in finding a replacement for Stewart, using Nixon makes it ten times worse.

Put Read in for Nixon and I'd like that team but...

Open with Vaughan as Bell isn't an opener. Kp up to 4, JD above Read and Monty above Jimmy.

 

[Skater]

We have to play Read as Nixon isn't the future. We have enough problems in finding a replacement for Stewart, using Nixon makes it ten times worse.

Put Read in for Nixon and I'd like that team but...

Open with Vaughan as Bell isn't an opener. Kp up to 4, JD above Read and Monty above Jimmy.

Paul Nixon is only eight years older than Chris Read, and England will play a minimum of eight matches in this series so I think that they can experiment with the two wicket keepers. If every team was chosen based on the future, Australia wouldn't select the likes of Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Mike Hussey, Adam Gilchrist and Stuart Clark!

Ian Bell did fairly well as an opening batsman against Pakistan earlier this year but, as I said, there is a minimum of eight matches to play so they could try both systems.

Kevin Pietersen should stay as far away from the top order as possible in my opinion, I want batsmen that are going to steady the scoring before I have sloggers coming in. I agree, maybe Jamie Dalrymple should be in the order before the wicket keeper and maybe Monty Panesar should play before James Anderson in the order.

 

[Stephen Bailey]

If every team was chosen based on the future, Australia wouldn't select the likes of Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Mike Hussey, Adam Gilchrist and Stuart Clark!

There's a huge difference. Langer, Hayden, Ponting, Hussey, Gilchrist and Clark are proven international performers. Sure, Hussey and Clark may have come to international cricket quite late, but they are five years younger than Nixon and have a few years in them. Nixon just isn't the way to go. It's not like he's been a prolific scorer in domestic cricket either!

 

[manee]

Well hopefully he can pull it out of the bag. And if he does and England win either this series or the world cup then his career will mean 10,000 times more than it did. He can go out with his head held high and the England selectors (whoever they are) will seem like genius for what is in retrospect a foolish, baffling selection.

 

[evertonfan]

Kevin Pietersen should stay as far away from the top order as possible in my opinion, I want batsmen that are going to steady the scoring before I have sloggers coming in. I agree, maybe Jamie Dalrymple should be in the order before the wicket keeper and maybe Monty Panesar should play before James Anderson in the order.

You'd risk England scoring aggressive runs at the top of the order by putting run accumulators such as Collingwood ahead of someone who can blast the opposition away? Pietersen should bat at three let alone 4 and then the slightly les aggressive players can either dig us out of trouble or build on an aggressive start.

 

[kodos]

Agreed about Pietersen. I'd have Vaughan opening the batting as he does handle the new ball quite well and have Pietersen at 3. England already have a basher late in the innings in Flintoff. If Pietersen continues his dominance against Australia I feel he can at least bat to the 40th over and start playing "six" shots which will ease the pressure for the lower order players like Flintoff, Dalrymple and Read.