England's pace attack for First Test

[NUFAN]

Monty Panesar.

Oh right, I thought he was just chucking a random Indian in the team, not Monty..

 

[shortpitched713]

I don't think Anderson with his habit of falling away in his delivery stride will be capble of sustained accuracy at test level.

I'd give Harmison another chance against the West Indies

Haven't seen much of one Makhaya Ntini then, have you?

Also you don't think Anderson could be accurate enough and then you want to give Harmison another chance!?

 

[mavric41]

In India we prefer to use

a) Trying
b) Trying Harder
c) Hardly Trying
d) A blend of the above

I think you missed

Very Trying

 

[shortpitched713]

Serious question. How's Chris Tremlett doing?

 

[superkingdave]

Serious question. How's Chris Tremlett doing?

I''ll give you one guess

 

[Richard]

Haven't seen much of one Makhaya Ntini then, have you?

Not sure I'd say Ntini falls away in delivery stride myself... ??

 

[Richard]

Well seeing as you've gone for a 2 man pace attack, who else is going to bowl overs?

I haven't, I just voted for the only 2 I'd see as certainties.

The others, you really might as well pick out of a hat if you're not going to go for Jones on the grounds of not being proven fit.

 

[Goughy]

Not sure I'd say Ntini falls away in delivery stride myself... ??

You wouldnt? I would

 

[Poker Boy]

I nearly didn't put Flintoff and Hoggard in as I thought they were certs. Of the rest Harmison should get one more chance on the basis that WI will remember him for 2004 rather than the dross he's bowled since and he might have the "wood" on them. I'd only play three of them plus Monty (Flintoff's batting ATM is not good enough for No 6 and four bowlers worked perfectly well v Pakistan last summer.). My other options in the squad for Lord's would be Anderson and Lewis. IMO Plunkett and Mahmood need to be sent back to CC to work on their weaknesses and if they are good enough they will come back again. I wouldn't risk SJ till he has FC matches under his belt (we must learn from the fiasco of Giles last winter) so he is saved for the latter WI Tests or even India.
So the XI would be:
Strauss
Cook
Vaughan
KP
Collingwood
Bell
Flintoff
Foster
Harmison
Monty
Hoggard
With Anderson and Lweis standing by in the very unlikey event someone gets injured.

 

[Gloucefan]

Flintoff, Hoaggard, Harmison and Lewis.

Harmison will come good again and should be given this chance imo. Lewis because he is deadly early(ish) season in England. Although I haven't taken into account where the test is because I don't know. The other two pick themselves as does the rest of the team (until Tres and Jones return). The only spot I can really see up for grabs is the wicketkeeper. No idea what they are going to do there.

 

[Salamuddin]

Haven't seen much of one Makhaya Ntini then, have you?

Also you don't think Anderson could be accurate enough and then you want to give Harmison another chance!?

Ntini and Anderson have different actions and different problems.
In any case I think Ntini's action is flawed itself. By angling in so wide of the crease he effectively eliminates a major mode of dismissal: the LBW and the fact that he has a very low percentage of LBW dismissals bears testimony to that.

I also don't think Ntini is as great a bowler as he's made out to be.....yes, he's a very good bowler on the high veldt (but a lot of pace bowlers have enjoyed success over there) but his record away from home is far less impressive.

 

[SJS]

I think you missed

Very Trying

 

[Swervy]

Haha, who on EARTH didn't vote for Flintoff?

And I really do have to wonder who these "other" are. I mean, I'd love to see Gough, Caddick and Cork, obviously, but sadly none exactly have a compelling case for selection at the current time...

hahah..you so much live in 2000 its untrue

 

[Matt79]

Haha, who on EARTH didn't vote for Flintoff?

And I really do have to wonder who these "other" are. I mean, I'd love to see Gough, Caddick and Cork, obviously, but sadly none exactly have a compelling case for selection at the current time...

Only problem being that Gough, Caddick and Cork have all retired from all cricket haven't they?

 

[GIMH]

No is the short answer tbh

 

[SJS]

Its amusing to see Sajid Mehmood's two votes (and one of them is from Dasa who has voted for all nine plus Others). Wonder what the selectors see in this joke of an international bowler that everyone else misses. He is pathetically clueless about what he should be doing and it shows from his facial expressions - not of cluelessness but of great knowledge after he has bowled another of his wild deliveries.

 

[Matt79]

I actually think his face looks a lot like that singer Patrizio Buanne:

 

[Pup Clarke]

Only problem being that Gough, Caddick and Cork have all retired from all cricket haven't they?

 

[PhoenixFire]

Ntini and Anderson have different actions and different problems.
In any case I think Ntini's action is flawed itself. By angling in so wide of the crease he effectively eliminates a major mode of dismissal: the LBW and the fact that he has a very low percentage of LBW dismissals bears testimony to that.

But that angle also causes batsmen trouble with caught behind to compensate.

 

[Matt79]

Laughing with me or at me?

I thought Gough retired to go be a celebrity dancer, and Caddick and Cork must both be in their 40s by now...