England's Preliminary CT squad

[Jarquis]

TBH Lumb was the only name that made me think twice. All of the others have been spoken about or mentioned by one person or another but I didn't expect to see him included.
As has been said before me these 30 men squads really are quite pointless.

 

[BoyBrumby]

No Sammy Patel I note. Powers that be must be serious about his pie-related woes. Presume his absence is partially responsible for Batty being in the thirty.

EDIT: As others have said. Completely missed the second page before replying. D'oh.

Nice to see Trott there. Whatever his personality issues are it's madness we continue to ignore a bloke with a List A average of over 40.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Why do we have these preliminary squads?

Primarily for the press, but also to give players notice that they're being looked at closely.

 

[Richard]

Is Matt Prior going to be the ODI keeper?

You'd have to think it's overwhelmingly likely for the foreseeable future.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Would have liked to see Patel in the 30, give him a target for improving his fitness for a certain date instead of just ignoring him. Personally I would have him in the setup regardless but I don't think the current policy is helping anyone.

Surely the fact that he's being ignored is motivation enough though. I mean, he's been told he has to get into shape to get into the team. He knows what he has to do, and it's up to him as to how quickly he does that.

 

[Richard]

Scoring some runs this season would be a good idea as well.

 

[TT Boy]

Would have liked to see Patel in the 30, give him a target for improving his fitness for a certain date instead of just ignoring him. Personally I would have him in the setup regardless but I don't think the current policy is helping anyone.

His had half the summer already and done sweet FA. He shouldn't need another wakeup call. He was told before the season started, lose weight and you will play for England and he hasn't done that. Aside from doing a volte-face, there is nothing more England can do for Patel.

I would have gone with young Dawson instead of Batty. Neither will go to South Africa but better to choose a young cricketer with talent, then some old hack.

 

[Richard]

Dawson appears to be rapidly morphing into a batsman who bowls however, and the last thing we want is another Patel(\Yardy\Loudon\Dalrymple\Blackwell\Grayson), in a top-order batsman who bowls a bit of spin being picked as a specialist spinner.

 

[Pothas]

Really want to see Dawson bowl more, has struggled a bit this year but he is just not given enough overs. take the current game for example only got 6 overs in the first innings despite taking a wicket. Still have a lot of hope for him though, looks good with the bat even if he has not scored many runs yet and he does take wickets when given the ball. Big game for him tomorow and I think he will respons well to the pressure. Should not be anywhere near the England setup though obviously

 

[tooextracool]

TBH Lumb was the only name that made me think twice. All of the others have been spoken about or mentioned by one person or another but I didn't expect to see him included.
As has been said before me these 30 men squads really are quite pointless.

Interestingly enough hes averaging 40 odd in the last 3 seasons and hes got a decent SR to go with it. Bit disappointed that he looks like another English player whos incapable of winning games considering his conversion rate, but maybe the English selectors have finally turned the corner and gone against their daft policy of your best test players are also your best limited overs players?

 

[Richard]

Must say that'd completely passed me by that Lumb has done so well of late. Will have to take a closer look there.

 

[Richard]

Big game for him tomorow and I think he will respons well to the pressure.

On a side-note it's a damn good job this squad was announced yesterday and not tomorrow as I imagine that now Michael Yardy has played the first good OD innings of his career on TV in a Lord's final that he might well have been picked in it.

 

[stumpski]

I'd much sooner see two from Moore/Denly/Trott open than Strauss and Cook, that's for sure. Haven't really seen much of Lumb.

 

[aussie]

I'd much sooner see two from Moore/Denly/Trott open than Strauss and Cook, that's for sure. Haven't really seen much of Lumb.

Dont mind Strauss opening, England dont have the luxury of a quality aggressive opener since Trescothick is gone. So you need a proper opener at least, Strauss is a safe bet for now.

For his partner well, a big fan of Denly not sure when is his time will come though. Not sure about Trott opening in ODI cricket, i like what Moore has been doing recently though, but i'm yet to see him bat on any County game on sky, that im lucky to catch.

 

[Pothas]

Interestingly enough hes averaging 40 odd in the last 3 seasons and hes got a decent SR to go with it. Bit disappointed that he looks like another English player whos incapable of winning games considering his conversion rate, but maybe the English selectors have finally turned the corner and gone against their daft policy of your best test players are also your best limited overs players?

Yeah Lumb is a very decent one day player but having watched him for the past three years I would be amazed if he ever made many runs at interntational level.

 

[Prince EWS]

Dont mind Strauss opening, England dont have the luxury of a quality aggressive opener since Trescothick is gone. So you need a proper opener at least, Strauss is a safe bet for now.

For his partner well, a big fan of Denly not sure when is his time will come though. Not sure about Trott opening in ODI cricket, i like what Moore has been doing recently though, but i'm yet to see him bat on any County game on sky, that im lucky to catch.

I'd much sooner see two from Moore/Denly/Trott open than Strauss and Cook, that's for sure. Haven't really seen much of Lumb.

Moore's a ridiculously bad one day player and Denly's about as good as Strauss and Cook, if not fractionally worse. Everyone seems to know that Strauss and Cook are First Class specialists but the alternatives they call for always seem to be even more that way inclined. Odd.

 

[tooextracool]

Moore's a ridiculously bad one day player and Denly's about as good as Strauss and Cook, if not fractionally worse. Everyone seems to know that Strauss and Cook are First Class specialists but the alternatives they call for always seem to be even more that way inclined. Odd.

I am uncertain as to why we are talking about Cook for limited overs, when Bopara is the man in possession of that opening slot in ODIs. I think that England should consider opening with Davies who looks to be having another excellent season with the bat this year in the LO format, although I suspect that they won't drop Prior considering that he compiled his highest score of his career in his last ODI.

 

[Richard]

I'd much sooner see two from Moore/Denly/Trott open than Strauss and Cook, that's for sure. Haven't really seen much of Lumb.

Don't believe Strauss or Cook are much use as ODI openers, but nor would I expect Denly to have any success there - he just isn't very good at OD cricket. Trott isn't an opener, he's a number-three or four, and Moore never gets to open for Worcs either because they prefer Solanki and Davies - he's forced to bat three and from memory has had precious little success doing so.

 

[Richard]

Moore's a ridiculously bad one day player and Denly's about as good as Strauss and Cook, if not fractionally worse. Everyone seems to know that Strauss and Cook are First Class specialists but the alternatives they call for always seem to be even more that way inclined. Odd.

Not really - grass is always greener. Often the way in England is to try someone believing - based on their First-Class performances - that they're good and only find-out how bad they are after they play ODIs.

It does happen elsewhere as well, I just get more annoyed than ever about it with England players.

 

[Jarquis]

I'm probably in the minority when I say that I feel that Cook could end up being a quite brilliant OD opener one day. Obviously a little while ago there was the whole business of him never hitting an international 6 and not being able to bat aggressively enough but lately he's started to show that he is developing a way to play in limited overs cricket.
From memory he's hit some impressive scores for Essex at a high SR this season in the FP and/or T20.