***Official*** English Domestic Season 2008

[Prince EWS]

For Monty? I can't recall too much from the ODI series there except the NZ openers blasting the English bowling attack.

I don't even think Monty was in the squad. They didn't play a spinner at all in a few of the games. He got dropped for Wright IIRC.

 

[gettingbetter]

OK, well I thought after such a good tour of Sri Lanka he would of been a fixture. Still Rashid to be selected in the distant future.

 

[Prince EWS]

OK, well I thought after such a good tour of Sri Lanka he would of been a fixture.

Should have been. His dropping was basically a knee-jerk - he was scapegoated for the tripe the bowling unit as a whole served up throughout the series.

 

[morgieb]

He should be, but isn't. He got dropped in New Zealand.

The only one day bowler better than Swann is Saqlain (yes, he's elegible for England).

 

[gettingbetter]

http://www.cricketweb.net/forum/showthread.php?t=35968&highlight=saqlain

Many of us already knew.

 

[Spitfires_Fan]

It would be an absolute travesty if Saqlain played for England. Stick with Swann, I say.

 

[Goughy]

Harsh, I'd say. Only seen him bowl four overs & based on that I don't think he'll ever be an absolutely massive turner of the ball because he delivers it with a very high arm action and seems to push it through quite briskly. Obviously it was a one day game I saw him bowl in, so he might give the ball more air in the longer game. He's supposed to have a googly, but he didn't bowl it when I saw him. Shahid Afridi is probably the closest reference point, bowling-wise.

He's very accurate tho, it must be said, especially for a junior leggie. Bowled his four overs for only ten runs & the pitch offered as much help to spinners as you'd expect an April pitch in Duham too. I would imagine he'll make his ODI or 20/20 debut before the end of the summer.

Interesting. All my info is 2nd and 3rd hand but people seem to think he is too slow through the air. Maybe he has made massive changes in the past 12 months.

Id be interested where those in the know rank him compared to Lawson as purely a legspinner.

On the sky game i saw him on last year, he bowled it slow and turned it square. Wasnt a one day game though, maybe thats how he bowls in the shorter form of the game as he feels he'll go for too many if he tosses it up.

Could be. Was consistently up near 60mph when I saw him & hardly gave it any air at all.

All interesting stuff. I really need to watch him bowl myself and form my own opinion.

The info I hear is that he is a bit of a slow roller that doesnt generate much turn but has very good variation and control. Lawson on the other hand is a big ripper of the ball. He has less control but is far more of an aggressive bowler and really puts work on the ball.

Im pretty sure if Rashid didnt bat then a fair few people would have him ranked below Lawson as a leggie.

 

[Anna]

First baller for Freddie.

Trigger strikes

On the note of Michael Munday, as well as being an ICC god, his FC average is under 26, if he keeps that average down and bowls well, surely he'll be a threat to Monty?

It depends on the amount of game time he gets this season.

 

[superkingdave]

Lancs sign Mohammed Yousuf...didn't see that coming, thought with Du Plessis arriving we wouldn't bother replacing Hodge..will mean some interesting selections if Flintoff doesn't get selected for England...we may see Loye opening.

Horton
Loye
Du Plessis
Law
MoYo
Flintoff

 

[brockley]

Ervine cut by his state team,he is free to qualify for england now.

 

[GIMH]

Lancs sign Mohammed Yousuf...didn't see that coming, thought with Du Plessis arriving we wouldn't bother replacing Hodge..will mean some interesting selections if Flintoff doesn't get selected for England...we may see Loye opening.

Horton
Loye
Du Plessis
Law
MoYo
Flintoff

Yes just saw this, gun

 

[_Ed_]

It would be an absolute travesty if Saqlain played for England. Stick with Swann, I say.

Can we have him then, if you don't want him?

Great bowler, I'd love to see him play international cricket again.

 

[YankeeAlpha]

MoYo for Lancs.. Good to see some quality overseas players in the CC!!

 

[grecian]

WTF, Mushtaq not playing for Sussex. Anyone know why? he's captain of my Telegraph fantasy team.

 

[Chubb]

WTF, Mushtaq not playing for Sussex. Anyone know why? he's captain of my Telegraph fantasy team.

He has had to have keyhole surgery on his knee and will be out for 3 weeks- Sussex only revealed it this morning.

 

[grecian]

He has had to have keyhole surgery on his knee and will be out for 3 weeks- Sussex only revealed it this morning.

Thanks. Hate Sussex now.

 

[Spitfires_Fan]

Can we have him then, if you don't want him?

Great bowler, I'd love to see him play international cricket again.

For Pakistan, sure, seeing as that's where he's from. But I cannot get my head around the idea of a player representing one country as many times as Saqlain did Pakistan before switching his allegiance to somewhere else.

 

[Anna]

Another win for Somerset over Hants in the FPT That little known Saffie 2nd teamer chipped in with 62 for Hants before he was bowled by debutant de Bruyn. A brilliant century from Hildy saw us home. Yay

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Nicky Boje batting at three AND making 200? Madness.

 

[wpdavid]

99 tons for Ramps now, and it all sounded very easy against Sussex's 'attack'.
Given the tempramental frailties that blighted his test career, I wonder how big a problem nerves will be now he's so close to the milestone.