*Official* England in West Indies

[sammy2]

No taylor for windies ?

 

[Steulen]

Jerome Taylor injured, so Powell is retained and Baker comes in. Benn dropped for Simmons. They're playing for the draw; there's no way an attack of Edwards, two no good seamers and a load of part-time spinners will take 20 wickets.

 

[Nate]

Haha, and now the West Indies playing with half a bowler.

Guess which side is 1-0 up? (face)

 

[Steulen]

I'd almost actually go as far to say that the West Indies team is better on paper than the England team for this match. Almost.

EDIT: Nah not even close with Taylor out.

Not without Taylor. Three frontline bowlers including Powell and Baker...wtf?

 

[Prince EWS]

Really defensive selection from the West Indies. Dropping Benn for a batsman would have been fair enough if Taylor was playing but they've basically gone into the game with one proper bowler now.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Gotta feel for Bopara. I'm happy they've gone for Khan and 5 bowlers though. Although surely Rashid would have been the better 2nd spinner in a 5man attack, especially for his batting. I guess England have decided they HAVE to get 20 wickets and who cares what it does to the batting line-up. Must win game and all!

 

[Howsie]

What's Khan like, does he swing it, how fast is he.

And I can't believe the West Indies team, England to pile on 600 plus atleast.

 

[Prince EWS]

What's Khan like, does he swing it, how fast is he.

He bowls slippery (high 130s - low 140s) outswingers apparently. I've never actually seen the guy bowl but that seems to be the word.

 

[Prince EWS]

And I can't believe the West Indies team, England to pile on 600 plus atleast.

Well that attack is completely rubbish but England are only playing five batsmen (one of whom is Shah) so it evens itself out a bit.

 

[Steulen]

What's Khan like, does he swing it, how fast is he.

And I can't believe the West Indies team, England to pile on 600 plus atleast.

That's probably their strategy..waste two days bowling, then roll out Chanderpaul, Sarwan and Nash for two days of betting...series won 1-0.

Hopefully England will counter this by going for the all-out slog once Edwards finishes his first spell.

 

[Nate]

What's Khan like, does he swing it, how fast is he.

And I can't believe the West Indies team, England to pile on 600 plus atleast.

He bowls slippery (high 130s - low 140s) outswingers apparently. I've never actually seen the guy bowl but that seems to be the word.

Yeah, a bit pacey with movement really. Takes poles but normally goes for plenty aswell. Can see him taking 3/160 here.

 

[GIMH]

Well that attack is completely rubbish but England are only playing five batsmen (one of whom is Shah) so it evens itself out a bit.

Finding this harsh, a few people now have referred to Prior as being part of the tail and not a batsman, he averages 40 IIRC, not too shabby really

 

[Prince EWS]

Finding this harsh, a few people now have referred to Prior as being part of the tail and not a batsman, he averages 40 IIRC, not too shabby really

I never said he was part of the tail but he's not a batsman. He's a wicketkeeper/batsman. I rate Prior's batting as highly as anyone but England's strategory was to select five batsmen and five bowlers.

 

[GIMH]

Ah, semantics, I'll let you off

I say this as a huge Freddie fan, it's a stronger top 6 than we usually field, no issues there for me

And Broad at 7 is potentially a stronger 7 than anyone who has batted there in recent years apart from Flintoff & Prior

 

[Prince EWS]

I say this as a huge Freddie fan, it's a stronger top 6 than we usually field, no issues there for me

Haha yeah but that's a bit misleading because Prior is normally at 7 anyway, so it's not like you're actually gaining anything from having a "stronger top 6".

And Broad at 7 is potentially a stronger 7 than anyone who has batted there in recent years apart from Flintoff & Prior

And again, Broad is normally at 8 anyway. The problem lies in the difference between Flintoff's batting and Panesar's batting...

 

[four_or_six]

Well, we'd better hope the top five contribute properly, since we have:

6. Matt 'just flew half way round the world' Prior
7. Stuart 'proper batsman' Broad
8. Graeme '31 runs in 4 matches' Swann
9. Jimmy 'no ducks' Anderson
10. Amjad 'on debut' Khan
11. Monty

 

[GIMH]

Haha yeah but that's a bit misleading because Prior is normally at 7 anyway, so it's not like you're actually gaining anything from having a "stronger top 6".



And again, Broad is normally at 8 anyway. The problem lies in the difference between Flintoff's batting and Panesar's batting...

Yes and no - the top 7 is where you expect the runs to come from, and this top 7 is not as bad as some might make out. The way some people (not yourself) have gone on the last few days you'd think we were batting Tuffnell at 6

 

[King Pietersen]

Good to see the West Indian bowling attack though. Baker averaged well over 40 in FC cricket until recent good performances, Fidel Edwards is very hit and miss, Powell's crap (short and wide first ball for example) and then 2 part-time spinners. I thought England had a bad bowling attack........

Also, I posted some Amjad Khan's stats in recent seasons in FC cricket a few pages back, he's done well in his last 3 seasons, and especially well last season. Averaged just over 20 in the Championship last year. He could be a good call-up.

 

[Howsie]

Baker to pick up two wickets in his first spell.

 

[GIMH]

BTW, time for my useless Andrew Strauss stat of the day, prior to the start of play he averaged 59.06 as skipper, long may this continue hey