England in Australia

[kodos]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/6140748.stm

"Geraint Jones will be England's wicket-keeper in the first Ashes Test, coach Duncan Fletcher has confirmed."

Oh dear...

Judging also from that article is that Plunkett will be also in the side for the 1st test ahead of Anderson and Mahmood. If Plunkett is a near certainty to play the first test than why isn't he selected in the 14 man side for this current game? I guess there is one positive out of Jones selection over Read, that is Panesar will more than likely start ahead of Giles in the first test due to Jone's supposed more "superior" batting than Read.

 

[rickyp]

My theory is, NSW gave Giles those 2 wickets, so England would play him instead of Penisar.

cough *worst theory ever* cough

seriously, no chance in hell that is true, its just not the way the game would be played, and even if it is, im sure fletcher isnt that retarded, to be perfectly honest i wouldnt be suprised if he knew the 1st team before todays play

 

[Skater]

This may be of interest to you:

http://www.planetcricket.org/forums/showthread.php?p=563021#post563021

 

[puddleduck]

cough *worst theory ever* cough

seriously, no chance in hell that is true, its just not the way the game would be played, and even if it is, im sure fletcher isnt that retarded, to be perfectly honest i wouldnt be suprised if he knew the 1st team before todays play

I don't think he was being serious :

 

[manee]

It was actually quite funny.

Jones playing the first test is a reasonable move, Read got a chance and didnt perform...there still is a high chance he may play one of the latter matches though.

 

[BigCrickNan]

jones is playing . Well played australia you've won the ashes!

in reply to kodos - Reads batting is better than jones!!

 

[puddleduck]

It was actually quite funny.

Jones playing the first test is a reasonable move, Read got a chance and didnt perform..

Not sure how you've come to that conclusion... In test cricket, in the two tests he got to play, he averaged 30 runs more than Jones had managed in the previous 15 test matches. He also kept perfectly, and all in all outperformed Jones massively.

He has 3 poor games in the Odi format, and suddenly Jones, who was poor back in the County game, and dropped a dolly in the first warmup match without finding the boundary with the bat in 40 balls at the crease is back in? Please explain how you got to your conclusion Manee, because if you can, maybe it will give a glimpse into how Fletcher got to his?

 

[barmyarmy]

The only logic I can see is that Fletcher believes that Jones at his best it better than Read at his best batting-wise. He wants a keeper who can score centuries. Time to recall Alec Stewart imo!

 

[MUFC1987]

Great that Jones is back in, he's a much better batsman and has less weaknesses that Read in that Department. Jones' keeping is just as good as well. Read has kept poorly, he's dropped chances just as much as Jones has, yet he's seen as some machine who doesn't make mistakes with the gloves, yeah right. :

 

[BigCrickNan]

jones can't score hundreds at international level! he did once, and that was over 2 years ago against a poor new zealand side!

 

[manee]

But he is a defence over an almost immenant England collapse sometime in the series. His keeping is improving and Fletcher is a fan of him since he can wicketkeep and bat.

Read's wicketkeeping has not been enough to earn himself a place in the side.

 

[BigCrickNan]

But he is a defence over an almost immenant England collapse sometime in the series. His keeping is improving and Fletcher is a fan of him since he can wicketkeep and bat.

Read's wicketkeeping has not been enough to earn himself a place in the side.

Ye but read was bloody batting well!!! And he hasn't dropped obvious catches like jones has!!!

 

[manee]

I agree that he should pick Read, but his reasoning for picking Jones was that Read had not scored enough with the bat and had not kept outstandingly enough to be noticed simply for his keeping.

 

[cricketmad09]

I don't think he was being serious :

 

[Sureshot]

The only logic I can see is that Fletcher believes that Jones at his best it better than Read at his best batting-wise. He wants a keeper who can score centuries. Time to recall Alec Stewart imo!

Or the closest player atm. Go on guess, who I'm going to say

Harmy going at over 5s, rest around 3. Giles one more wicket has him pencilled in no doubt :

I still have faith that Fletcher will play Panesar, either ahead of Giles or as one of two spinners.
Not quite sure why Read's chance is going to be limited to 1 test match in which he played well and one ODI tournament where the whole team were terrible.

It could happen...

The team that Fletcher is thinking could be:

Tres
Strauss
Cook
KP
Bell
Freddie
Jones
Giles
Hoggard
Anderson
Panesar

What do you think? At least Gilo will have some control over Steve "American Missile" Harmison.

I'd be happy with that team. Freddie looks like he can bowl 15-20 a day without problems, and as we might have 2 spinners the seamers could bowl say 13-15 each at full whack. Hoggy and Anderson opening is a decent combination. Strong line up, Cook will thrive on their pitches I think, Strauss too.