Sri Lanka in England/Netherlands

[Sureshot]

Jon Lewis should also be in there.

Plunkett hasn't done much in ODi cricket yet, and has looked poor so far.

Lewis made his name in ODI cricket, and one of the best One Day bowlers in England.

Oh how these selectors have got it wrong.

 

[RoboRocks]

Plunkett is young.
The selectors think if he is successful then he will be around for a long time.
Loudon should play IMO he has eveything England could ask for.
He bats up the order for Warickshire.
Bowls accuratly and bowls the doosra.
I have seen him feild in the slips so he must be a good feilder.
IMO he should of played agaisnt Pakistan in the winter instead of some 37 year old Shaun Udal.

 

[evertonfan]

Cook should be given a go instead of Strauss IMO, although I can't see that happening considering he's the captain. Strauss has been out of form for a while, and to be honest, Trescothick or Colly should have captained the side, as they are both example setters, and consistent performers.

 

[Englishandproud]

Jon Lewis should also be in there.

Plunkett hasn't done much in ODi cricket yet, and has looked poor so far.

Lewis made his name in ODI cricket, and one of the best One Day bowlers in England.

Oh how these selectors have got it wrong.

Plunkett made a quickfire 56 against Pakistan last winter, and the last couple of times he has played England have always needed more runs then balls left when he has come into bat so has needed to up the run rate straight away.

Its Mahmood who should be fearing for his place the most.

Perhaps we should give Extra's a chance at batting as he has done ok in the first two ODI'S.

 

[puddleduck]

Plunkett is young.
The selectors think if he is successful then he will be around for a long time.
Loudon should play IMO he has eveything England could ask for.
He bats up the order for Warickshire.
Bowls accuratly and bowls the doosra.
I have seen him feild in the slips so he must be a good feilder.
IMO he should of played agaisnt Pakistan in the winter instead of some 37 year old Shaun Udal.

By all accounts his bowling this season has been average at best, poor most of the time.

Fair enough he is a competent batsman, but if Udal took a hammering in Pakistan on a dead pitch, although just speculation Loudon would have been as effective as stumps made of glass. He rarely keeps it particularly tight, his doosra is dubious and Cook was in the slips in India, but since then has looked average at best as a fielder.

Plunkett made a quickfire 56 against Pakistan last winter, and the last couple of times he has played England have always needed more runs then balls left when he has come into bat so has needed to up the run rate straight away

Fair enough that has been the case in his Odi performances, but in test cricket he has hardly looked a number 8 has he? Not that I don't think he can be worked on and turned into a useful player, but that is a fairly scratchy excuse.

I agree fully regarding Mahmood. He has yet to set the world alight for Lancashire, he was highly inaccurate in the test series, and seemed to get worse as it progressed. Not sure how that led them to believe he would be suited to Odi cricket?

 

[Englishandproud]

Fair enough that has been the case in his Odi performances, but in test cricket he has hardly looked a number 8 has he? Not that I don't think he can be worked on and turned into a useful player, but that is a fairly scratchy excuse.

You are right about his test performance's with the bat he hasnt yet produced the goods, which will not please Fletcher.
However he is a half decent bowler and was unlucky not to pick up more wickets in the last test series against Sri Lanka.

 

[Sureshot]

Plunkett made a quickfire 56 against Pakistan last winter, and the last couple of times he has played England have always needed more runs then balls left when he has come into bat so has needed to up the run rate straight away.

Its Mahmood who should be fearing for his place the most.

Perhaps we should give Extra's a chance at batting as he has done ok in the first two ODI'S.

Apparently he's poor off his legs though

 

[evertonfan]

I would keep Plunkett in the squad, because I think he is a good bowler and a decent batsman; the only reason he hasn't scored too many runs in the last two games is because he has been left too much to do, and he has to try and score quickly. As for the bowling, it isn't entirely his fault; Strauss has set some shoddy field positions for him. In the test arena though, I think England should use Plunkett so he can bat at number 8. If Panesar plays in the tests then we should use Plunkett to bat at 8 instead of Giles.

 

[Sureshot]

If they don't make changes for Saturday, I've given up all hope of us ever being a good ODI side under this management.

 

[puddleduck]

I don't mean to quash some of your theories, but this whole "poor fields" being set for the bowlers. Surely it is the bowlers who are not delivering to the fields being set? If a captain sets a field, then it is normally up to the bowler to either bowl to that field, or have a word with the skipper and get it changed. If the lads can't bowl to a set field, then end of the day what are they doing playing international cricket?

 

[Sureshot]

Maybe but in a power play to one of the most devastating ODI players ever you need more than 3 on the leg side, especially as Sanath was moving accross his stumps and was always looking to hit leg side.


---------

Murali has gone home after his son has been taken ill, he will miss the rest of the series.

 

[Gilchrist]

Oh, dear. Good luck to Muttiah Muralitharan and his family during this difficult time.

And I think Kumar Sangakkara should be batting at 3, sure he made runs at 4 in the previous game, and Jayawardne made runs batting at 3, but I think he can handle the likes of Harmison, etc.

 

[evertonfan]

Yeah, I just heard about that Murali going home news; family should always come first. Best wishes to him and his son. I might sound very pessimistic of England's chances here, but I fancy Sri Lanka to be motivated by this and win the match tomorrow.

 

[irottev]

When I saw Lewis in the tests he seemed like more an ODI type bowler to me. He was accurate but not overly threatening. In the tests he seemed to be able to be blocked and stuff. He should defiantly come in.

Plunkett has been alright. I would give him a few more chances. Mahmood was terrible though. I would swap Lewis in for him.

 

[evertonfan]

Alex Louden is finally in the starting XI; after all this wait, let's see if he can take his chance.