England tour to South Africa December 2015/February 2016

[stefan]

I mean, some on this forum and a lot of SA fans I speak to, often cite politics as teh reason for losing, tests, odis, t20s it doesn't matter but I agree, all those reasons you mentioned are why SA lost. Although I don't see anything special in Cook.

Don't have to be special, just need to be able to lay the platform as an opener. Wouldn't exactly like chris rogers special but he did a fine job for aus. If cook together with elgar can see of the new ball and lay a platform it makes amla,ab and co's job much easier then walking in inside the first 5 overs each cause stian got out cheaply again.

 

[Markkkkk]

Although I don't see anything special in Cook.

Oh boy will we have an argument!

 

[Aalay]

Oh boy will we have an argument!

I will be the referee and every time you say Cook in your argument, everybody will take a shot.

 

[bigred]

So who do people think Bayliss and co will pick for the first test of the summer?

I reckon that Compton has done just about enough to stick around. Taylor wasn't good but I think they'll really want him for Bangladesh and India, so will probably persevere with him until then. I honestly think they'll give Hales a miss. He was dreadful and given Bayliss wasn't convinced by him enough to open in the UAE, I reckon he's had concerns about him for a while at test level.

So I reckon it'll be

1. Cook
2. Compton
3. Ballance
4. Root
5. Taylor
6. Stokes
7. Bairstow
8. Ali
9. Broad
10. Finn
11. Anderson

I reckon they might think about Root going to 3 so that Ballance or perhaps even Bell combat at 4.

 

[_Sam_]

I think that Ballance/Compton/Hales/Practically any other batsman in the country spot is really wide open to be honest and even those on the further fringes like Vince are possibilities for it if they have a brilliant start in the opening few county championship games and the others get off a bit poorly.

 

[bigred]

I think that Ballance/Compton/Hales/Practically any other batsman in the country spot is really wide open to be honest and even those on the further fringes like Vince are possibilities for it if they have a brilliant start in the opening few county championship games and the others get off a bit poorly.

This is why I was so cautious about dropping Bell. I never claimed that he was playing well in the last 12-18 months. However, I did ask the question 'who would do better?'. At the time, I genuinely didn't think there was anyone, and I'm just as unconvinced now.

 

[stefan]

So who do people think Bayliss and co will pick for the first test of the summer?

I reckon that Compton has done just about enough to stick around. Taylor wasn't good but I think they'll really want him for Bangladesh and India, so will probably persevere with him until then. I honestly think they'll give Hales a miss. He was dreadful and given Bayliss wasn't convinced by him enough to open in the UAE, I reckon he's had concerns about him for a while at test level.

So I reckon it'll be

1. Cook
2. Compton
3. Ballance
4. Root
5. Taylor
6. Stokes
7. Bairstow
8. Ali
9. Broad
10. Finn
11. Anderson

I reckon they might think about Root going to 3 so that Ballance or perhaps even Bell combat at 4.

Didn't bayliss make some comment about not wanting too many defensive players in his top 3? That seems to go totally against his thought pattern.

Personally I would drop both hales and taylor, both were dire on the tour as far as batting at test level is concerned.

 

[bigred]

Didn't bayliss make some comment about not wanting too many defensive players in his top 3? That seems to go totally against his thought pattern.

Personally I would drop both hales and taylor, both were dire on the tour as far as batting at test level is concerned.

I'm never in favour of too many changes; especially when we've just won. Just the one change for me, and that's just because Hales was out of his depth. Unless there's anyone better than Compton or Taylor, there's no point in changes.

 

[cricket_icon]

Oh boy will we have an argument!

LOL well I could be wrong, you've probably seen more of him than me

 

[bigred]

From what Bayliss is saying, it doesn't look like anyone will be dropped for the Sri Lanka series. They'll all just switch places with s top 4 looking like:

1. Cook
2. Compton
3. Root
4. Hales

 

[Deleted member 149013]

I thought Cook did a great job opening not to mention a century – nothing special??? It is exactly what England are lacking an effective opener.

Typical England we play at home and any signs or issues that need to be put right are covered up and soon as we play overseas they show.

The failure to take wickets on flat pitches, the lack of a full time spinner and flaws with batting.

Hales can’t open but let’s waste some more time and give him another series to be sure. Ali is predictable, bowls the same delivery just on different lines so once you get used to his pace its fill your boots. Why is he in the team again?
If Cook doesn’t fire it falls to Root and we can’t rely on one batsman. If you were to remove Broad or Root the squad would not look convincing in the slightest. Stokes has improved but will inconsistency get in the way again.

Bairstow is not a wicket keeper it matters when he can’t catch simple edges. Compton is trying out for the ODI squad we didn’t need aggressive hitting. Woakes looked awful and couldn’t keep any length he was all over. The best seamers are Anderson, Broad, Finn, Wood and Plunkett.

Broad saying we want to be best the team in the world is laughable at best right now. The signs of improvement came in the NZ series and against Australia but have failed to go any further than that and the thought we could have a better one day squad than our test squad is a strong possibility. I think we won the SA series through stand out performances it wasn’t the case of a dominating team. Had Steyn and Philander been fit could have been a different story.

England need to address some major floors before playing overseas again. One thing they have done right was drop Bell but 90% of the improvements have been with limited overs the test team has just been filled with as many batsman as possible to chase what Broad and Anderson carve out for us.

 

[dp458]

From what Bayliss is saying, it doesn't look like anyone will be dropped for the Sri Lanka series. They'll all just switch places with s top 4 looking like:

1. Cook
2. Compton
3. Root
4. Hales

Its aalright saying that going into the season, however all it takes is someone to start the season on fire, and they will be seriously considered, Taylor I would say is safe, his fielding at short leg is actually worth a lot of runs, and he is probs the best player of spin, so theyll let him bed in, for india and bangladesh for the winter.

Anyone from
Stoneman,Chopra,Lyth,Bell,Ballance,Vince,Malan, Hildreth(I personally really rate him, gets runs against the bears, which is when i would have seen him),CArberry,
could get in based on a blistering start.

Id also seriously consider the possibility of going to a proper keeper and letting bairstow bat 4/5, Moeen could bat 7 and say Read could bat 8

 

[MUFC1987]

I think Compton and Taylor will definitely play. Hales probably needs to find some early season form to keep his place. I think a switch wouldn't be the end of the world, as Compton is definitely more comfortable against pace bowlers. But there's no way that Root is moving up the order, with the runs he scores at 4.

I think the keeping is certainly an issue, but it's hard to tell who there is really pushing. Buttler might be a slightly better keeper, but it's not by enough to make that much of a difference.

I can't see Hildreth ever being picked though, he's battered the door down for years now and not got near the squad. Can't see that changing now he's the north side of 30. I do agree on Chopra though. Seems to have been near the top of the run scorers in the Championship for years, so deserves to be mentioned. I imagine most people are put off by his low-ish career average, but I'd imagine over the last 5 years that it's a lot higher than that.

 

[dp458]

I think Compton and Taylor will definitely play. Hales probably needs to find some early season form to keep his place. I think a switch wouldn't be the end of the world, as Compton is definitely more comfortable against pace bowlers. But there's no way that Root is moving up the order, with the runs he scores at 4.

I think the keeping is certainly an issue, but it's hard to tell who there is really pushing. Buttler might be a slightly better keeper, but it's not by enough to make that much of a difference.

I can't see Hildreth ever being picked though, he's battered the door down for years now and not got near the squad. Can't see that changing now he's the north side of 30. I do agree on Chopra though. Seems to have been near the top of the run scorers in the Championship for years, so deserves to be mentioned. I imagine most people are put off by his low-ish career average, but I'd imagine over the last 5 years that it's a lot higher than that.

He has done well for Warks, although he has been under performing since being captain, which has probably prevented him being mentioned seriously before

Although the burn rate through openers and the fact there arent many other ones left, he might just get a chance

 

[Jetty]

Eng team for 50-over warm-up:
Hales, Roy, Taylor, Morgan, Buttler, Moeen, Bairstow, Rashid, Willey, Jordan, Topley

Stokes, Root, Broad and Woakes sitting out but expected to came back for the first ODI. Who will they replace? I was thinking Root for Taylor, Stokes for Bairstow, Broad for Topley and Woakes.....