Richard
Cricket Web Staff Member
Wouldn't Sinclair and Fulton be best swapped around?How
Bell
Fulton
Fleming
Sinclair
Oram
McCullum
Vettori
Mills
O'Brien
Martin
I'm not sure whether Fulton will be at #3 but I think those will be the 11 starters anyway. Grant Elliott might even sneak in ahead of O'Brien and bat below McCullum. But I think O'Briens recent performance will get him selected.
And don't we still have some form of hope that Gillespie will play instead of O'Brien? Especially if he cleans-up in the second-innings (which, with the tail we have, is eminently possible).
Either way, I think it's good that Strauss has at least managed a half-century, and good that Pietersen managed twin ones. But really, if he bats three in a Test, we'll know for certain the management have lost their minds. Maybe it might've been better if he'd not scored and Shah was picked, if Vaughan was to open.