***Official*** South Africa in England

[SpaceMonkey]

I dont know what happened to SA in the middle of their batting. The run rate just dropped right off, and whats worse the 2 batsmen who were mainly responsible for it get out cheaply rather than using it as a platform. Unforgivable really, be it a practice game or not. But it wont have harmed Patels standing in the team id imagine.

 

[Neil Pickup]

There must have been an error, Andre Nel is too good to go at 6.72 per over...

 

[stumpski]

Last representative game for Darren Pattinson, do you think? You know you're having a bad day when you're more than twice as expensive as Sajid Mahmood. Trott I suspect was only there because Key, Denly and Bopara were otherwise engaged. And Morgan has said he wants to play for England I believe, though he's nowhere near Test quality at the moment IMO. Is he now ineligible for Ireland, or would that only happens when he plays a Test or ODI?

 

[GIMH]

Can we count the Lions victory towards the ODI series, spare ourselves a whitewash?

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Can we count the Lions victory towards the ODI series, spare ourselves a whitewash?

Works for me.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Just looked at the Lions' card: Patel at 6 was the first native-born player. Chuck in the Aussie-reared Mascarenhas & Pattinson & it's a UN select!!

 

[FBU]

Last representative game for Darren Pattinson, do you think? You know you're having a bad day when you're more than twice as expensive as Sajid Mahmood.

Hope so.

 

[andruid]

Had a look at Eoin Morgan's numbers on Cricinfo just now and by God if Ireland lose such a potential gem to England (World Invitational XI) Ireland should probably consider going to war

 

[Briony]

I think SA might struggle in the ODIs. Over the past year they have lost Hall, Kemp and Pollock for various reasons. Their bowling looks loose. De Villiers and Duminy were absolute stodgers.

 

[Perm]

Had a look at Eoin Morgan's numbers on Cricinfo just now and by God if Ireland lose such a potential gem to England (World Invitational XI) Ireland should probably consider going to war

Let's be realistic though, if he turns down the option of qualifying for England and remains true to his Irish roots what opportunities will he get at international level? He'll play a handful of ODIs, probably a few Intercontinental Cup matches and bugger all else. I'm not sure how he goes about qualifying for England though, given he has represented Ireland in ODI cricket in the past, anybody care to shed some light on that for me?

 

[tooextracool]

I'd think the CB Series would count as a substantial series.

His performances in the CB series consisted of a lot of 30s and plenty of not outs. He had a good series, scoring both his half centuries against SL, but it was hardly a substantial series for him against Australia.

 

[tooextracool]

Perhaps I didn't make it clear enough in my initial post, but I was talking about the best ODI batsmen in the world right now, and to me that is Dhoni. If Hayden and Ponting had played and done well in the West Indies, or Tendulkar had played in the Asia Cup and scored runs then I would have adjusted my opinion on the issue. Basically I was just taking into account the past year or so, in which Dhoni has been very good.

Fair enough, I guess I can sort of understand your reasoning now, just seems to me that 'right now' is such a relative statement that it really doesnt make much sense to use it especially when you only consider an 8 month period.

Would you not consider his 347 runs in the Commonwealth Bank series as 'substantial'? Keep in mind he averaged 70 in that series against Vaas, Malinga, Muralitharan, Lee and Bracken while guiding India to a 2-0 victory in the finals. Aside from that series he has only played 22 ODIs outside the subcontinent (excluding teams that aren't ODI standard), with only the 2007 Natwest Series and World Cup falling into the time frame I mentioned. Even though his average of 25 in England looks poor, he actually played a few good cameo's at the end of India's innings and helped level the series at the Oval.

I dont think a few cameos is worthy of a tag such as being the best ODI batsman in the world. To date Dhoni has made most of his runs in the subcontinent. Hes a very good player but I would still be a little hesitant when rating his ability abroad.

 

[GIMH]

Let's be realistic though, if he turns down the option of qualifying for England and remains true to his Irish roots what opportunities will he get at international level? He'll play a handful of ODIs, probably a few Intercontinental Cup matches and bugger all else. I'm not sure how he goes about qualifying for England though, given he has represented Ireland in ODI cricket in the past, anybody care to shed some light on that for me?

Hmm, Joyce was playing cricket for Ireland whilst qualifying for England, the difference being that I don't think they had ODI status at the time, but as far as I know it was just through residency

 

[andruid]

Let's be realistic though, if he turns down the option of qualifying for England and remains true to his Irish roots what opportunities will he get at international level? He'll play a handful of ODIs, probably a few Intercontinental Cup matches and bugger all else. I'm not sure how he goes about qualifying for England though, given he has represented Ireland in ODI cricket in the past, anybody care to shed some light on that for me?

And that's the next best team after the Test nations

Ok I'll take my complaints elsewhere...

 

[Perm]

And that's the next best team after the Test nations

Ok I'll take my complaints elsewhere...

Point being?

If Morgan thinks he is good enough to play Test cricket and regular ODIs then I have no problem with him trying to qualify for England.

 

[_Ed_]

Injury-hit England call up Bresnan

 

[fredfertang]

Bresnan!!!

Wasn't this an ideal opportunity to see how Simon Jones is getting on? - 10 overs against test batsmen

With all due respect to Bresnan what are the selectors going to learn from playing him?

 

[GIMH]

Injury-hit England call up Bresnan

.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Bah. There goes my surprise Ashes pick. (On the bright side, he'll bowl rubbish in five ODIs instead of two Tests)

 

[GIMH]

Bumble actually suggested he should be in the Test side, during the Headingley Test