West Indies in England

[rabeta]

This is a problem for England. David Gravney really needs tp come out and say that they are very confident with Micheal Vaughan playing a lot of cricket for England this year. Then, it can be said that Micheal Vaughan should be at Lords on Thursday just to show that he is captain. However, it is a worry that he wanted to be around the players in the Ashes series though he hadn't played test match cricket for about a year. You do not see captains, like Mike Gatting, just tunring up in the England dressing room becasue "They are Ashes winning captains'".

I think England need to resolve this issue. Either, they are very confident Vaughan will play a lot of cricket for England and should therefore be captain, and around the side when he cannot play. Or, I know this won't go down well, but appoint another captain, so that the stand-in does not just feel like he is just standing in, all the time.... Like in the Ashes, it is not right to have a stand-in captain for the whole series.

 

[Gunner786]

hope shah gets a game
fletcher didnt treat him right at all and out of the whole england squad he is the most deserving batsman.

not sure what more he can do other than score the runs he has been scoring at county level

 

[edgefan007]

My England XI :-

*Strauss (Captain)
*Cook / Tresco
*Bell
*Pietersen
*Collingwood
*Flintoff
*Prior/Nixon
*Plunkett
*Hoggard
*Panesar
*Harmison

The Rest :-
12th - Vaughan
*Saj Mahmood
*Owais Shah
*James Anderson

 

[Sureshot]

You do knkow that Vaughan isn't in the squad for tomorrow, right? Or is this your team at the moment if everyone is fit?

Flintoff is still rated as uncertain for tomorrow...

 

[karnog]

Time to give Flintoff the wake-up call and drop him down the order as a specialist bowler or drop him from the top 11 completely (thats if he is fit). Vaughan being injured and Shah coming into the team is a plus in my eyes. If pieterson comes at number 3 and bell at 4 then england have a good chance. Then you got collingwood and prior then flintoff (he can then play his gilchrist wanna be shots). The bowling department is a bit weak. Hoggard is good and Monty is ok. Not sure if Plunkett/Mahmood can cut it at the test level. Harmison has been out of form (as you all know) so he should be under pressure- it would push him to try and perform at his best. Anderson is better than plunkett or mahmood but he can't exactly bat. But that shouldn't matter. The top 7 should be able to play (Strauss, cook, pieterson, bell, collingwood, prior and flintoff). Hoggard is the possible night watch man. Harmison n monty can have their cameo and the fourth bowler is well meh.

 

[Griffo]

Flintoff isnt a top class batsmen worthy or the number 8 spot then fill the top order up and there goes Englands batting problems now for the bowling...

 

[rabeta]

Flintoff isnt a top class batsmen worthy or the number 8 spot then fill the top order up and there goes Englands batting problems now for the bowling...

But he is a top class allrounder and should be batting a No.7. I am certain that if he plays and bats in that position he will be very well, becasue he can play more of his natural game.

 

[Griffo]

But he is good enough to be just a bowler if they did this it would help fix the bowling problem which now seems gone with Harmisons form and it gives you that extra batsmen that could be either Shah or Collingwood/Bell when Vaughan returns. The weak link in the batting order is Vaughan he would not make the ODI side if he wasnt the captain and probably wouldnt make the Test side if his name wasnt Michael Vaughan

 

[Sureshot]

Prior should bat 6 and Flintoff at 7, if he's fit of course.

Our bowling looks quite good to me.

Harmison (been in good form so far with some plaudits from very good batsman, Hodge iirc), Hoggard has also been in good form and is always Mr Consistency, Plunkett is a bit of an unknown and Monty will show good control but might not do too much tomorrow or in this Test due to a week of rain.

 

[rabeta]

Prior should bat 6 and Flintoff at 7, if he's fit of course.

Our bowling looks quite good to me.

Harmison (been in good form so far with some plaudits from very good batsman, Hodge iirc), Hoggard has also been in good form and is always Mr Consistency, Plunkett is a bit of an unknown and Monty will show good control but might not do too much tomorrow or in this Test due to a week of rain.

Good post. Yea, it will be interesting to see how much swing Plunkett will get, remembering he got all that swing in Australia under lights. I have the feeling that Plunkett needs swing to perform in this test, though the pitch will be green so there will be seam movement there if he can present the seam. It will be interesting to see Harmison, though I think it is good to see him coming out today with some confidence, saying that he has nothing to prove, I just hope that he finds some good form in the test arena again.

We should have no trouble with the bowling especially at Lord's to the West Indies, it is our top 3 I am worried about again.

 

[Chimp132]

out top three should be ok in the test match series with strauss cook and bell

 

[Leicester Fox]

I want to hate Harmy and drop him but hes probably our best pace bowler,or most talented anyway. Theres no way we should play Fred,hes not going to be fully fit so whats the point? We should win anyway and even if we don't I'd still rather have our best player fit

 

[Sureshot]

Well CricInfo reckon Shah comes in for Fred and we play 4 seamers with Monty dropping out. Which if the conditions suit seam then fair enough, but if it doesn't and the WIndies end up batting 140 odd overs then that's a lot of workload for the seamers.

I say rest Flintoff and I don't think he will be risked imo.

 

[madmusician]

Hmm, although I would love Shah to play, I wouldn't like the idea of going into a test without a spinner, just for variety's sake. What's Monty done to deserve getting dropped anyway?

 

[rabeta]

Hmm, although I would love Shah to play, I wouldn't like the idea of going into a test without a spinner, just for variety's sake. What's Monty done to deserve getting dropped anyway?

Completely agree, I never like going into Tests without a spinner. If the pitch wil not spin, it doesn't matter, well it does, but spinners, especially Monty will provide you with control, and will give the seamers a rest, also gives the batsmen something else to think about.