***Official England in India***

[sledger]

You have to have 2 keepers to allow for illness.

Oh yeah, certainly. What I meant was I thought it a shame that they didn't give James Foster a chance instead. Imagine that it's almost a dead cert that Prior will be first choice WK for this series.

 

[zaremba]

Oh yeah, certainly. What I meant was I thought it a shame that they didn't give James Foster a chance instead. Imagine that it's almost a dead cert that Prior will be first choice WK for this series.

Sorry as soon as I'd posted I realised this is probably what you meant. Foster would have been a decent choice, I agree.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Incredibly harsh on Foster to not even make the Performance Squad (running concurrently with the ODI series - hence no Patel) into the bargain.

 

[Uppercut]

The important thing now is to realise that playing two spinners against India is a bad idea. Harmison, Sidebottom, Flintoff, Anderson Panesar should be the attack if they're going five-man, otherwise Sidebottom has to be the man to miss out (regrettably).

 

[Richard]

As much as I think the most long-term benefit would come from Harmison playing both Tests, and much as I don't think either are terribly likely to be effective, Sidebottom for mine is far more likely to be the bowler to have a longer-term part to play.

 

[Uppercut]

As much as I think the most long-term benefit would come from Harmison playing both Tests, and much as I don't think either are terribly likely to be effective, Sidebottom for mine is far more likely to be the bowler to have a longer-term part to play.

AWTA. And i just think he's a better bowler tbh. But with Anderson already in the side and undroppable after his summer, and with the ball unlikely to swing in India, Harmison will quite rightly play.

 

[GIMH]

Looking at that squad, I am guessing

Strauss
Cook
Bell
Pietersen*
Collingwood
Flintoff
Prior
Sidebottom
Anderson
Harmison
Panesar

Long tail but you can't justifiably pick Broad ahead of any of the other bowlers

 

[Goughy]

Long tail but you can't justifiably pick Broad ahead of any of the other bowlers

Too long IMO.

Im a bit worried about these Tests TBH

 

[GIMH]

What side would you pick mate?

 

[Richard]

Looking at that squad, I am guessing

Strauss
Cook
Bell
Pietersen*
Collingwood
Flintoff
Prior
Sidebottom
Anderson
Harmison
Panesar

Long tail but you can't justifiably pick Broad ahead of any of the other bowlers

Horribly long. Every bit as bad as SL last winter. I worry that they will in fact pick Broad for the sake of a few more runs. Though you could argue that all of he, Anderson, Sidebottom and Harmison are fairly likely to be ineffective.

 

[Goughy]

What side would you pick mate?

Given the squad, Id replace either Sidebottom or Anderson with Shah and rely on Collingwood and KP to be able to take a lot of overs to plug an end if needed as the 5th bowler.

Though they will certainly go with 5 bowlers given the squad composition. They would have selected more than 6 bats if they expected to play 6. They would have had a reserve.

Outside the squad, I see no logic why Patel isnt worth a shot. Allows the extra bat to be played and the reserve bowler if needed. However, no sweat if KP takes that role upon himself.

 

[Richard]

BTW is there any reason this shouldn't be merged in with this thread?

 

[aussie]

Looking at that squad, I am guessing

Strauss
Cook
Bell
Pietersen*
Collingwood
Flintoff
Prior
Sidebottom
Anderson
Harmison
Panesar

Long tail but you can't justifiably pick Broad ahead of any of the other bowlers

\

4-seamers in India surely is overkill, plus has already mentioned that tail is way too long. Swann for either Anderson/Sidebottom for me.

 

[tooextracool]

Knock Knock Knock, he was done fair and square by Muralitharan in the SL series. AVerage of 25 is nothing much to write home about. Ang guess what, India will have a stronger spin attack than SL.

The only time I have seen KP struggle against spin, was against Vettori both this summer and in NZ who essentially ran circles around him, especially when the ball was turning.
Outside of Vettori, I dont think KP struggles against spin as such though. Hes had less success playing in the subcontinent because the pace of the wickets and his style of play arent exactly in synchronization but I think hes too good a player to not figure it out in the long run. He certainly dominated Murali in England, at a time when Murali was even more dominant than he was on England's last tour to SL, even on turning pitches.

 

[TT Boy]

Looking at that squad, I am guessing

Strauss
Cook
Bell
Pietersen*
Collingwood
Flintoff
Prior
Sidebottom
Anderson
Harmison
Panesar

Long tail but you can't justifiably pick Broad ahead of any of the other bowlers

I would go for this…

Cook
Strauss
Bell/Shah
KP
Shah/Bell
Collingwood
Prior
Flintoff
Harmison
Anderson
Panesar

 

[Richard]

Incidentally I agree with Martyn's prediction (ie, it's the same side I'd expect them to pick) and from the squad selected I'd go for:
Strauss
Cook
Shah
Pietersen
Bell
Collingwood
Ambrose
Flintoff
Sidebottom
Anderson
MSP
However the only time I'd actually expect that team to have the remotest chance of getting on the field would be if a) Prior had done poorly in the ODIs (not that that's OOTQ at all) and b) England had won the First Test and were looking to defend that lead in the Second (which is much less likely).

 

[Goughy]

I would go for this…

Cook
Strauss
Bell/Shah
KP
Shah/Bell
Collingwood
Prior
Flintoff
Harmison
Anderson
Panesar

Yeah, it would be my choice as well. Unfortunately it just isnt going to happen.

 

[Uppercut]

Horribly long. Every bit as bad as SL last winter. I worry that they will in fact pick Broad for the sake of a few more runs. Though you could argue that all of he, Anderson, Sidebottom and Harmison are fairly likely to be ineffective.

Pace>Spin against this India side, even in India- history shows it. They're just so, so much better against spin, i fully expect Panesar to get whipped around like a little girl, even when the ball turns. So if you conclude what you did, you've gotta say no English bowler is likely to be effective.

 

[Scaly piscine]

This is the side I think England will go with

Strauss
Cook
Bell
Pietersen
Collingwood
Prior
Flintoff
Broad/Swann
Sidebottom
Harmison
Panesar


Anderson the one that will miss out for me.

 

[Richard]

Pace>Spin against this India side, even in India- history shows it. They're just so, so much better against spin, i fully expect Panesar to get whipped around like a little girl, even when the ball turns. So if you conclude what you did, you've gotta say no English bowler is likely to be effective.

I have high hopes for Flintoff, as I always do (even if he just gets 4-90). Likewise, people go OTT about how good Indian batsmen are against spin - if the ball turns and a bowler is capable of tossing it up and firing it through flat (ie, using variation of flight) any batsman, however good, will struggle and the bowler will pick-up wickets.

I don't expect MSP to do that, of course, as he's yet to really demonstrate a particular excellence at doing it all career. He should turn it, but yes, without good variations of flight I'd expect the Dravids, Tendulkars and Laxmans to have little problem with him.

Anderson, Harmison and Sidebottom should all struggle - if the Indian batsmen play well. However I'm taking nothing for granted on that front. I'll wait and see how they deal with Lee and Clark first. All of Lee, Anderson and Sidebottom have shown they can trouble the best should the ball swing, and while that may be less likely than more at most of the grounds in India, you certainly shouldn't take it as read that it won't happen.