I think England are playing good players, just not the best ODI players or working as a team and the balance is not right.
There was a collection of writers discussing the side on TMS yesterday, they were adamant that Cook and Trott could not bat in the same side. Then again they were rather easily swayed that Cook's selection for ODIs (as a batsman) was justified by his hundred, not exactly a long spell of evidence. They also regurgitated the theory Broad is under instruction to bowl short (Tests), I don't subscribe to that as other (successful) teams don't need to have one man banging it in short and not taking wickets. They are also of the view Cook is in the side being groomed as Test captain, I think it might have been Simon Hughes who said they should pick the side and the captain from it - if Cook is in the best side then he is a candidate for captain, although I've seen nothing from him bar ringing the standard changes. In fact I was very disappointed with how lacking in speed of reaction he was, and how quickly he took Swann off.
While England persist with their current selection policies there will be no progress. They always leave dropping an established player until too late, in Broad's case in Tests he never established himself and they still have a hard time dropping him. Anderson took 4/18 but even with that boost he has taken just 15 wickets in his last 14 ODIs at an average of 47.80. In World Cups he averages I think it is a smidgeon over 38 which includes half a dozen or more games against minnows and Bangladesh, and his ODI career average is a very ordinary 31.27. Yet I'm guessing few would drop him
Series averages (selected)
Pietersen : 80 runs @ 26.67
Bell : 77 runs @ 25.67
Trott : 64 runs @ 21.33
Dernbach : 3 wkts @ 47.67
Bresnan : 51 runs @ 17.00 & 3 wkts @ 48.00
Broad : 15 runs @ 7.50 & 0 wkts @ n/a (0/154)
Trott still averages 51.69 in ODIs, it is hard to justify dropping that because his SR is only 78.18. Should talk not be of dropping Bell who averages just 34.81 at an SR of 72.71 and averages just 19.75 at six.....................?!?!?!? Cook's ODI career average is 35.52 with an SR of 73.57. This series Bell has scored 77 runs @ 25.67 (SR 70.64) and Trott 64 runs @ 21.33 (SR 70.33)
Revamp needed, let's build for the World Cup instead of maintaining the status quo and pretending nothing's wrong. We have to drop :
Kieswetter : done nothing much right or wrong, just picked for too many wrong reasons.
Bell : not cut out for ODIs, if the only place he is going to bat is six then he might as well be left out. Being a good and/or form batsman does not make him an autopick for the ODI side.
Broad : woefully out of form, in Tests he was never truly in much form but now his ODI form has gone the same way.
Dernbach : wasn't impressed by his selection, he's not proving himself good enough if his bowling is all he relies on.
Anderson : also woefully out of form, too hit and miss and to take 4/18 and still be averaging near 30 in the series shows how reliant he is on good performances to cover up his poor ones - and the good ones ain't frequent enough.
For a side War claims "ENG are basically playing their best team" I could easily drop five, possibly six if Trott's runs weren't valuable and outweigh speed. I could also drop Bresnan, he is only averaging 38.00 with the ball and while he can bat, I wouldn't trust him any higher than 8-9. He has batted at seven on eight occasions and averages 16.83 One excellent bowl against India aside, he averages poorly against the better ODI sides
Bresnan
vs AUS/IND/PAK/SAF/SRI/WIN : 34 wkts @ 46.41 (SR 50.73)
vs BAN/IRE/HOL/SCO : 18 wkts @ 22.11 (SR 28.33)
So that's seven who could easily be dropped for slow scoring, averages, form etc I gather Stokes is injured, but Bopara, Patel, Davies and others aren't are they? Bring in Woakes maybe, Onions, Tremlett, anyone. I'd start from scratch, England won't and the selectors obviously don't start with a blank bit of paper but one with Pietersen, Bell, Trott, Broad, Anderson and Swann pre-printed on it. Maybe they just have a whole ream of paper with those names printed on them and don't want to waste them
Maybe that's their idea of 'building for the next World Cup', stick with the same names until such a time as they succeed (or don't as the case will be)
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Patel in for Broad and Finn in for Bresnan please. Patel can bat 7, Swann is more than good enoguh for a #8 and Dernbach, Finn and Jimmy can fight over the rest.
We need wickets.
Finn is too wayward and expensive, more suited to Tests. Patel maybe 'can bat 7' but is he a good enough bowler? And if he comes in that would be what, two spinners? England need to get a sixth bowler in the side, and I don't mean Pietersen or Trott. Patel could make the number six spot his own, be that sixth bowler alongside maybe Bopara in a side something like - Trott, Davies, Bopara, Pietersen, Morgan, Patel, Stokes, Swann, Broad, Tremlett, Onions/whoever. You could change a few names, it's only a possible XI with scope for changes but to demonstrate the balance with the bowling Onions, Tremlett, Broad, Stokes, Swann, Patel and Bopara.
If we don't give Patel an extended run in the side then we're shunning a player who could give the side balance. Sure he has to prove his worth, but the players we're picking don't give the side the balance he could and a lot aren't justifying their autopick status.
Agree re Swann, hasn't he opened in ODIs for Notts before? Might even have batted six or seven for Northants, can't remember.
Dernbach, Finn and Jimmy would be left out of the side if I had any say on the matter. Anderson has taken 15 wickets at 47.80 in his last 14 ODIs as mentioned, Dernbach isn't proving much of an ODI specialist. Finn needs to work on his bowling.
