England in Australia
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evertonfan
Chairman of Selectors
Please stop Colin, Fletcher might be reading. 
That would be awesome to see for the ODI, who knows, we might get a few extra runs, only to be knocked down when we see KP getting smacked over Brisbane's top tier
treva
ICC Chairman
Hey guys ain't been to this part of the forum for a while for somereason as i joined this site because i wanted to talk about cricket 
:
lol
Anyway i am going to post my view on each of the players in the England squad this year
Andrew Flintoff - Not the right person to choose as captain in my opinion. He can motivate the team just as well if he was Vice Captain and in my opinion would perform better. On the cricketing side his batting in the longer form of the game is improving a great deal and i wouldn't be suprised if he ends up with a 40-50+ average at the end of the 5 tests. His bowling is still top notch and he looks as good as ever after coming back from his ankle injury.
Andrew Strauss - In my opinion the person who shoudl have been given the captains role. Showed what a great leader he is in the Pakistan series and Is ever impressing with the bat. Had a brilliant first few years in International cricket and this series I think he will produce the best 5 tests in his career.
Kevin Pietersen - After a brilliant Ashes series last time around on his debut he still impresses! After being criticsed after getting out to dodgy shots, he has answered critics so far in the warm up games. His natural batting is to play those shots and i expect nothing less of that this time around.
Steve Harmison - Last year he started to lift his game again at the ashes and the Pakistan series was big for him. A great performance at Old Trafford and a few others as well. Looks fit to play in the first test at Brisbane although missing out in a few of the warmup games. SHould be a good series for the pace man.
Monty Panesar - Looks like he will be starting at Brisbane in front of Ashley Giles and too right he should! He had a brilliant summer against Sri Lanka and Pakistan and deserves every right to play this Ashes series. After suprisingly being left out of the Champions Trophy he will be looking to unsettle the Aussie batting with some beautiful line and length and spin.
Matthew Hoggard - Well after the South African tour and the Ashes he ahs been a bit quite. Continues to be solid and reliable whenever he bowls. After bowling some brilliant line,length and swing with the new ball last year I think he will do it again this year.
Geraint Jones - After being given the nod for the first test at Brisbane and rightly chosen in my opinion he will look to impress the Chairman of Selectors. Although he ahs made some dodgy keeping errors he continues to take some decent catches and has a great record of number of catches taken. He looks like he has worked hard on batting and will look to score a few 50's and 100's this series.
Alistair Cook - Has been given his chance at opening after Marcus Trescothick left the tour with a recourance of his stress related illness that kept him out of the ICC champions trophy. He ahs had a great first year of International cricket and deserves his chance against the Aussies. A man to watch out for!
Ian Bell - A great summer against Pakistan gives him a place in the England middle order. Bell has moved himself to one of the best middle order batsman in International cricket today and after not a great Ashes series last time he will look to put the record straight this winter. For me England's man of the series.
Paul Collingwood - MR.Reliable as he is known, has kept steady form with the bat and bowl this year. His batting is a crucial part of England's line up and frequentley has pulled them out of trouble. His bowling has been fantastic this year and he continues to improve. Collingwood is probably the best fielder in world cricket and after taking probably the best catch ever in the history of cricket against Australia in the ODi series before the Ashes, he continues to keep up the standards.
Sajid Mahmood - Has had a hard time in One Day International cricket this year but ahsn't looked to bad in the 5 day format of the game. This is his first Ashes series and he needs to make sure his nerves don't get the better of him. He every now and again shows his ability with the bat and a 41 in the alst warm up match shows he could be crucial down at number 8 for England this winter.
there you go guys
:lol
Anyway i am going to post my view on each of the players in the England squad this year
Andrew Flintoff - Not the right person to choose as captain in my opinion. He can motivate the team just as well if he was Vice Captain and in my opinion would perform better. On the cricketing side his batting in the longer form of the game is improving a great deal and i wouldn't be suprised if he ends up with a 40-50+ average at the end of the 5 tests. His bowling is still top notch and he looks as good as ever after coming back from his ankle injury.
Andrew Strauss - In my opinion the person who shoudl have been given the captains role. Showed what a great leader he is in the Pakistan series and Is ever impressing with the bat. Had a brilliant first few years in International cricket and this series I think he will produce the best 5 tests in his career.
Kevin Pietersen - After a brilliant Ashes series last time around on his debut he still impresses! After being criticsed after getting out to dodgy shots, he has answered critics so far in the warm up games. His natural batting is to play those shots and i expect nothing less of that this time around.
Steve Harmison - Last year he started to lift his game again at the ashes and the Pakistan series was big for him. A great performance at Old Trafford and a few others as well. Looks fit to play in the first test at Brisbane although missing out in a few of the warmup games. SHould be a good series for the pace man.
Monty Panesar - Looks like he will be starting at Brisbane in front of Ashley Giles and too right he should! He had a brilliant summer against Sri Lanka and Pakistan and deserves every right to play this Ashes series. After suprisingly being left out of the Champions Trophy he will be looking to unsettle the Aussie batting with some beautiful line and length and spin.
Matthew Hoggard - Well after the South African tour and the Ashes he ahs been a bit quite. Continues to be solid and reliable whenever he bowls. After bowling some brilliant line,length and swing with the new ball last year I think he will do it again this year.
Geraint Jones - After being given the nod for the first test at Brisbane and rightly chosen in my opinion he will look to impress the Chairman of Selectors. Although he ahs made some dodgy keeping errors he continues to take some decent catches and has a great record of number of catches taken. He looks like he has worked hard on batting and will look to score a few 50's and 100's this series.
Alistair Cook - Has been given his chance at opening after Marcus Trescothick left the tour with a recourance of his stress related illness that kept him out of the ICC champions trophy. He ahs had a great first year of International cricket and deserves his chance against the Aussies. A man to watch out for!
Ian Bell - A great summer against Pakistan gives him a place in the England middle order. Bell has moved himself to one of the best middle order batsman in International cricket today and after not a great Ashes series last time he will look to put the record straight this winter. For me England's man of the series.
Paul Collingwood - MR.Reliable as he is known, has kept steady form with the bat and bowl this year. His batting is a crucial part of England's line up and frequentley has pulled them out of trouble. His bowling has been fantastic this year and he continues to improve. Collingwood is probably the best fielder in world cricket and after taking probably the best catch ever in the history of cricket against Australia in the ODi series before the Ashes, he continues to keep up the standards.
Sajid Mahmood - Has had a hard time in One Day International cricket this year but ahsn't looked to bad in the 5 day format of the game. This is his first Ashes series and he needs to make sure his nerves don't get the better of him. He every now and again shows his ability with the bat and a 41 in the alst warm up match shows he could be crucial down at number 8 for England this winter.
there you go guys
wolf
International Cricketer
Trev, what about Jimmy Anderson. Surely you would pick him ahead of Mahmood?
Gunner786
Panel of Selectors
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2004
- Location
- Emirates Stadium
i would play mahmood in the 1st test purely cos of his pace and the afct that he got ponting early in the icc trophy
if he doesnt perform then i would put in jimmy for him
this way cos of mahmoods capabilities with the bat we could play monty too,
cos lets face it only reason england want giels to play is cos of his batting
if he doesnt perform then i would put in jimmy for him
this way cos of mahmoods capabilities with the bat we could play monty too,
cos lets face it only reason england want giels to play is cos of his batting
JamesyJames3
International Coach
Mahmood won't play unless there is another injury or Harmison doesn't get fit.. The bottom four will be Hoggard, Harmison, Anderson and Monty.
puddleduck
Chairman of Selectors
I think Jimmy has to play ahead of Mahmood. Sajid has been in dire form for the last few months, with only a couple of good performances against Pakistan to show for it.
Also Jones continues to do nothing to justify his selection. Missed a tricky stumping off KP in the final innings of the warmup game, to go with 2 dropped catches, and another missed stumping so far. A top score of 33 in the warmup games. So thats no runs of note, and 4 missed chances in 3 games
Also Jones continues to do nothing to justify his selection. Missed a tricky stumping off KP in the final innings of the warmup game, to go with 2 dropped catches, and another missed stumping so far. A top score of 33 in the warmup games. So thats no runs of note, and 4 missed chances in 3 games
evertonfan
Chairman of Selectors
Anybody here watch Sky's coverage of India vs South Africa today? Ian Ward was talking about a quote from a newspaper saying something along the lines of; "England will need Monty when the pitch is spinning, but England will need Giles when their heads are spinning".
It's a fair point regarding Giles' experience, but i'd still rather have Monty in the squad even if we suffer a lack of experience for it. Talent is more important in my opinion.
Is that batting order as well? Becuase if it is, then i'd swap Hoggard with Harmison.
It's a fair point regarding Giles' experience, but i'd still rather have Monty in the squad even if we suffer a lack of experience for it. Talent is more important in my opinion.
JamesyJames3 said:
Is that batting order as well? Becuase if it is, then i'd swap Hoggard with Harmison.
JamesyJames3
International Coach
evertonfan said:
Well, so would I. However, Hoggard will bat ahead of Harmisson.
Fletcher is an arse for putting Jones ahead of Read. There is no ground on his selection and the decision has been made on the back of one day performances with the bat. What a joke!
puddleduck said:I think Jimmy has to play ahead of Mahmood. Sajid has been in dire form for the last few months, with only a couple of good performances against Pakistan to show for it.
Also Jones continues to do nothing to justify his selection. Missed a tricky stumping off KP in the final innings of the warmup game, to go with 2 dropped catches, and another missed stumping so far. A top score of 33 in the warmup games. So thats no runs of note, and 4 missed chances in 3 games
So we have a keeper who isn't in form with bat or gloves? The point being he's playing because of his Ashes experience? Stupid. Read may not have been scoring runs but he wasn't missing as many chances.
I utter 5 letters again.
Prior.
JamesyJames3
International Coach
Sureshot said:
Not having a go at you, but at Fletcher for this!
You say he wasn't scoring runs, but he did in the 2 test matches he played!! Surely he should be judged on test matches, not one dayers where our whole team is in a mess.
evertonfan said:
Forget the experience if you aren't good enough to make the 11 you shouldn't be there. In saying that I see Giles making the 11 and would get a shock not seeing him there. Clearly Fletcher likes his all rounders.
BigCrickNan
Chairman of Selectors
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2005
I agree with Sureshot about Prior. Even if his keeping isnt as good as the other two (it's still pretty solid) his batting is far superior and he is capable of scoring hundreds regulary. Unlike Fletchers description of jones saying he can make hundreds.. his last hundred was over 2 years ago!.
ps 3k!!
ps 3k!!
Octavius
Club Cricketer
Honestly, even though Read has ability batting in tests, his recent form with the bat and gloves looked remarkably similar to Jones lacklustre performances that saw him dropped. If Prior is better than these two with the bat and his glovework is even close (surely it cant be worse?!) then England need to look beyond medicore and start realising that it takes 11 men playing at their best to beat the Aussies. I also remember watching the last ashes and was shocked at how bad Jones was. I guess im used to top quality glovesmen.
The number 1 priority is making no errors behind the stumps, this will be crucial. Secondly you need someone who can bat with the tail and get at least a 50.
I do not see Jones doing this, and i was certainly unimpressed with Read who seemed out of place at this level.
Surely in all England county cricket there is a better option???
As for Harmison, this ashes series will make or break him.
The number 1 priority is making no errors behind the stumps, this will be crucial. Secondly you need someone who can bat with the tail and get at least a 50.
I do not see Jones doing this, and i was certainly unimpressed with Read who seemed out of place at this level.
Surely in all England county cricket there is a better option???
As for Harmison, this ashes series will make or break him.
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