Obviously it's not that easy to play Warne if it was he wouldn't have 600+ wickets and be one of the great bowlers ever. Some players play spin well like KP others like Bell don't so him going down the wicket ain't going to do much cause he'll probably get stumped, it has to be natural.
England in Australia
- Thread starter andrew_nixon
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Iron-Haggis
Club Cricketer
That's the reason why number 3 is the right position for Bell. I think no matter what he should be number 3.
If McGrath isn't fit for the Test, I would say pick Bracken but he isn't in the squad. He is a better bowler than Johnson and Tait. Between Tait and Johnson it should be Tait. I don't see how playing Tait and Lee is anymore of a risk than picking Johnson. All 3 can be taken for a few. Tait is on his home track and I think bowls plenty more wicket taking deliveries than Johnson.
If McGrath isn't fit for the Test, I would say pick Bracken but he isn't in the squad. He is a better bowler than Johnson and Tait. Between Tait and Johnson it should be Tait. I don't see how playing Tait and Lee is anymore of a risk than picking Johnson. All 3 can be taken for a few. Tait is on his home track and I think bowls plenty more wicket taking deliveries than Johnson.
Stephen Bailey
Executive member
Iron-Haggis said:
I'd rather face Bracken than Tait that's for sure. Bracken just isn't quite good enough to get in the test team for me. He's a fantastic ODI bowler, but not up to test standards. Whereas Tait certainly has the talent and the pace!
Can't really comment on Johnson as I've hardly seen him bowl.
evertonfan
Chairman of Selectors
I'd add Johnson or Bracken just for the variation. There's no doubt that Tait fits the bill for Test cricket, but Strauss struggles against left-arm seamers.
puddleduck
Chairman of Selectors
To be fair Matt, I don't think the Aussies will be too worried about Strauss's problems against Lefties at the moment, bang it in and stick two men on the boundary, see you later Andrew.
evertonfan
Chairman of Selectors
puddleduck said:
I was thinking the same thing actually, but even with his daft shots in the first Test, he was still looking to cut away anything short and wide. If there is a left-armer who can bang it in short and bowl tight to Strauss, then it's goodnight Irene for him.
puddleduck
Chairman of Selectors
Yep, if he gets a score in this next test, then it could be worth them looking at a left-arm option. I think at the moment they will just attack him with the same plan. Afterall, he looked less than comfortable against Warne last time and he has yet to get far enough into his innings to show whether there has been any discernible improvement.
So 8 hours to go and it's not yet sure whether McGrath will play as Ricky has said he has to be 100% to play and he's got a blister on his heel atm. Looks like Monty will play and he better had play if we want to win this test.
The rumour is that Monty definetely will play, if McGrath does not make it, then I personally would go for Johnson. England players wouldn't be worried at all about playing Bracken, but Johnson looks a real find. I agree about the left-armer cutting off Strauss's cut shot. If that happens, where else will strauss play it. He will have to play the pull more meaning that with the troubles he had in the first test, it could be very tricky for him.
puddleduck
Chairman of Selectors
I've just been watching all the Ashes videos on the BBC Sport site. Some great little clips they've got up of past Ashes. I especially enjoyed the 1981 Documentary. However quite early on when it's all going tits up for Beefy, all the things he seems to be saying in the interview resemble Freddie massively.
Fair enough they are from two different eras, but essentially I feel they are similar characters, and so many of the points raised as to why him captaining then was a bad idea seem to hold very true if talking about Freddie today.
As I said, the circumstances were mostly quite different, but some of the underlying points raised seem very valid indeed.
Fair enough they are from two different eras, but essentially I feel they are similar characters, and so many of the points raised as to why him captaining then was a bad idea seem to hold very true if talking about Freddie today.
As I said, the circumstances were mostly quite different, but some of the underlying points raised seem very valid indeed.
PhilD123 said:
He scores loads through the cover regions, he's not as good at front foot driving as he is with cutting but he's still useful.
I've got McGrath in my FC team, I think he'll play although I'd rather I have only 10 in my team than he play
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