South Africa in England

[evertonfan]

Yeah but we have to bat with Vaughan...

 

[Sureshot]

Lol, good one.

It's annoying to see all these posters immediately writing Harmison off. They say 'but he'll never be able to cope with Test cricket'. Yeah, because you're all experts at pyschoanalysis aren't you?

Give him a chance; at the end of the day, he can't do much worse than Pattinson. One thing Harmison guarantees is wickets. So what if he's expensive, i'll put my house on the fact that he'll take a hatful at Edgbaston and that's exactly what we need because we've been lacking in wickets so far this series.

"Give him a chance"? The same words we've been saying for how many matches?

Also, it's been proven that he can't cope with Test cricket. Did you not see his interview with Nasser? He is fighting himself mentally, can't cope with being away from family.

You say he guarantees wickets, but he has only take two 5fers since the Lord's Ashes test in 2005, both vs Pakistan in the Old Trafford test.

His performances in county cricket are irrelevant, it's a completely different ball game.

 

[evertonfan]

Gah give him a break. I don't pick the teams. Get behind your players for a friggin' change.

 

[RoboRocks]

Gah give him a break. I don't pick the teams. Get behind your players for a friggin' change.

I'm afraid he's right. The reason he retired from ODI cricket is to spend more time with his family. Harmison has gone back to county cricket after failures for England before and even after performing for Durham he goes back into the England side and looks terrible. I would like to get behind him but I'm can't see him performing.

I would have gone for Simon Jones for sure since people have said he's bowling well and he looks fit again. I would rather have Jones who can swing and reverse swing the ball at 90mph than Harmison who hasn't performed in the past and the fact the pitch doesn't suit him according to the groundsman.

 

[angryangy]

When the game is going, everyone's cards will be on the table, but I can't help but wonder about the player whose name has entered the vernacular as a synonym for a wide delivery.

 

[irottev]

Harmison is selected? Well at least it's a step up from the Pattinson thing, but still a ridiculous selections.

Speaking of ridiculous:

"If there is a better one-day keeper-batsman in the world at the moment I'd like to see him."
Nasser Hussain sings the praises of James Foster and wonders how he missed out on England's provisional Champions Trophy squad

But you just saw him for a few months in a row Nasser. Brendon McCullum. You're memory isn't too good either. Oh and of course then there's Dhoni, Sangakkara, Boucher ......

But yeah, this dude who has played 11 ODIs before with terrible figures a long time ago is the best ODI keeper batsman in the world, sure!

Why do the English commentators say such dumb stuff all the time. This comment makes Boycott's idiot remark listed below look half sane.

"He plays the ball off the back foot on the offside and on the leg side with a straight bat as good as anybody I've seen since Sobers."
Geoff Boycott can't hide his enthusiasm over watching Stuart Broad bat for England

 

[manee]

But yeah, this dude who has played 11 ODIs before with terrible figures a long time ago is the best ODI keeper batsman in the world, sure!

I think he was talking about general wicket keeping ability, in which Foster is second to few if anyone.

 

[karnog]

Never seen Foster play so i can't comment. Or i can. I think Nasser is speaking through his hat. I'm sure the bloke is talented but to say he's better than the current crop especially Sangakara is a joke. But i'll happily eat my words if Foster proves me wrong (which i'm sure he won't).

Anyway England are playing a cute game of musical chairs. Lets face it. England's batting rely heavily on Pietersen. To fix that they need to give the other batsman a good kick in the bum. Their bowling is far more settled. 2 aggressive pace bowlers (Flintoff and Anderson), a rock in Sidebottom and Monty can roll SA over (potentially). To do that England need to post good scores. Soooooo i think their needs to be a batting reshuffle.

Strauss
Cook
Pietersen
Bell
Vaughan
Collingwood (would prefer Shah but he's not in the squad)
Ambrose
Flintoff
Anderson
Sidebottom/Harmison (if bum is injured...)
Monty

As for SA they're settled.

 

[evertonfan]

I'm afraid he's right. The reason he retired from ODI cricket is to spend more time with his family. Harmison has gone back to county cricket after failures for England before and even after performing for Durham he goes back into the England side and looks terrible. I would like to get behind him but I'm can't see him performing.

I would have gone for Simon Jones for sure since people have said he's bowling well and he looks fit again. I would rather have Jones who can swing and reverse swing the ball at 90mph than Harmison who hasn't performed in the past and the fact the pitch doesn't suit him according to the groundsman.

If he's in an England shirt then you bloody well give him your support. Even with Pattinson, I gave him support because it wasn't his fault that he was selected when he should have been.

I'm sick of these England fans who just slag off players. At the end of the day, they are miles better than you. For you to question they're right to play for England is ridiculous. One of the reasons Harmison fell out of love with cricket is because of all the flak he was getting. It's about time some of you lot just stopped slating these players and you know, try actually getting behind them for a change?

You'd rather have Jones? So would I, so would all of us. The fact is however, he's not int he squad and Harmison is. Deal with it.

Any England fan who doesn't get behind the team and its players is a disgrace.

Come on England.

By the way i'm sorry if it seemed like I was aiming that purely at you Rob.

evertonfan added 11 Minutes and 22 Seconds later...

But yeah, this dude who has played 11 ODIs before with terrible figures a long time ago is the best ODI keeper batsman in the world, sure!.

Nasser's commentary isn't the best. Don't tarnish all our commentators with the same brush. Fell free to slag off Mark Nicholos all you want though.

 

[m_vaughan]

Well I think Nasser's commentary is actually very good. He doesnt mind speaking his heart out and speaks the truth. Foster is a bloody good wicketkeeper.

His performances in county cricket are irrelevant, it's a completely different ball game.

How else is someone who is out of the England team win back the confidence of the selectors?

 

[manee]

It is not as if Harmison has always been bossing County cricket, either.

 

[Ollie_H]

I think Nasser went a little over the top when he was saying that there isnt a better one day keeper than Foster. But he has something the selectors don't. He has a passion for English Cricket.

I'm sorry but what is Ashley Giles doing as a selector? When have you ever seen a selector come out and actually give a passionate speech about the team that they feel is right?

On to Foster when he was put into the International scene he was incrediblt young and was like a rabbit in front a car's headlights. Since then he has matured a lot and for what I feel is the best English keeper in the country. He is also a very good batsmen but on keeeping ability he is the best in the country.

 

[m_vaughan]

Well I have my personal view and I know a lot of people will be against it, but I really think Geraint Jones is the best Wk-batsman to have.

 

[Ayub 95]

well look at this for best english keepers currently

 

[BigCrickNan]

If he's in an England shirt then you bloody well give him your support. Even with Pattinson, I gave him support because it wasn't his fault that he was selected when he should have been.

I'm sick of these England fans who just slag off players. At the end of the day, they are miles better than you. For you to question they're right to play for England is ridiculous. One of the reasons Harmison fell out of love with cricket is because of all the flak he was getting. It's about time some of you lot just stopped slating these players and you know, try actually getting behind them for a change?

You'd rather have Jones? So would I, so would all of us. The fact is however, he's not int he squad and Harmison is. Deal with it.

Any England fan who doesn't get behind the team and its players is a disgrace.

Come on England.

By the way i'm sorry if it seemed like I was aiming that purely at you Rob.

evertonfan added 11 Minutes and 22 Seconds later...



Nasser's commentary isn't the best. Don't tarnish all our commentators with the same brush. Fell free to slag off Mark Nicholos all you want though.

Weren't you the one lamenting the fact we had Vaughan earlier. I'm sure they support the players, they're not just confident in them doing any good..

And yes M_Vaughan, bring back GoJo , he is pretty poor most of the time but catches the important ones and seem like the only batsman keeper we have that is fairly aggresive. I don't know how he's doing, has his year break done him good?