What a surprise. Ryan Sidebottom's pulled out of another tour. He is ridiculously injury prone at the minute, and I can't honestly see him ever returning to International cricket. With Harmison back and firing, and with Pietersen's liking for Anderson and Broad, I can't see a way back for Sidey, unless Harmy starts flaying it around all over the place again, which is a distinct possiblity considering the lack of bowling in the lead-up to the first Test.
The replacement for Sidebottom.....nope, not Kabir Ali, Matthew Hoggard, Tim Bresnan, Saj Mahmood, Chris Tremlett or Charlie Shreck, it's Amjad Khan. The man who only took 21 FC wickets last season, albeit at a good average, but when you compare him to any of the names listed above he's got nothing on them, not for me anyway. I don't honestly see why Kabir Ali gets completely overlooked by England, he's been magnificent in the past few seasons in FC cricket. He's only 28, and has performed brilliantly in the last 2 seasons. Here are his stats:
2007:
398 overs, 75 Maidens, 56 wickets at an average of 24.44.
2008:
311 overs, 53 maidens, 59 wickets at an average of 18.74.
If those aren't good enough stats to get a go in the England side, then I don't know what someone needs to do. Ali also had the competition from Simon Jones last year, and clearly rose to the challenge, taking more wickets than the season before. The guy's just getting better and better. I'm not sure what kind of pace he operates at, but it can't be any slower than Sidey. I honestly cannot see why the lad's not given a go in Test cricket. No-one's talking about him either, all the talk is about Bresnan, Mahmood and Tremlett. Kabir Ali just seems to stroll through the FC competitions, year on year and take heaps of wickets, yet never gets a go. It's shocking. He took 5 wickets in his only Test Match as well, crazy that he's not been given another go.