England Tour Squad for Australia

[Maximas]

Not really sold on Onions in Australia - would he be that effective or is he just cover for Anderson? Mind you, when does Anderson ever get injured? I don't see much point taking Onions if they haven't given him a go in England

 

[BoyBrumby]

I personally think Rankin, Tremmers & Finn is a big beast overkill, so wouldn't be adverse to Onions.

Would leave Finn behind, myself, but have a worrying suspicion Tremmers might miss the cut. Him not playing at the Oval was a worrying sign.

 

[Prince EWS]

I don't think Onions's bowling will really suit Australian conditions; he won't get that little bit of movement he thrives on so bowling skiddy, full stuff will just see him driven a lot more out here. I'm not exactly a big fan of either Rankin or Finn but I'd pick them ahead of Onions for this tour. I'd pick Woakes ahead of Stokes but I'd stick with the rest of Stewart's squad.

I expect it to be something pretty similar to that too, although Taylor will more than likely come in for Compton.

 

[Cabinet96]

Onions would probably go alright at the WACA and Melbourne. But yeah, I agree about the rest.

 

[Woodster]

I like the idea of an all-rounder being selected, we need to have the option of playing five bowlers, whether that's including two spinners or not, so we need a player capable of bowling a few overs and coming in at seven. They have to be better than a fill-in bowler though, and I would favour Stokes over Woakes or Bopara. I have made my love for Ravi the batsman clear, but his bowling isn't good enough for me to be effective in Tests in Oz, and he's had a distinctly average CC season with the bat anyway.

I've thought a lot about this squad and am still not 100% certain who I'd include. I think Panesar is clearly the second best spinner we have, but with his off-field problems that he's had this season I would be hesitant about asking him to carry drinks for another tour. Tredwell is always a good touring option, but he's been poor in the CC this year. Kerrigan must get another gig with the Development side.

The back-up batsman for me has to be Nick Compton. He can cover the top three spots and if required we can slip Root into the middle order.

As for the back-up keeper, I wouldn't fancy going into a Test, if Prior is injured, with a Bairstow or a Buttler behind the sticks. Think Bairstow is good to have should Prior get injured during a game, but as Paul Nixon suggested in his article in the Cricket Paper, it wouldn't be the worse thing to tell a James Foster to keep his diary free and expect a call to get on a plane to Oz should Prior pick up an injury.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Is Onions joining a side in SA a hint he expects to not gain selection for the ashes?

I'd happily have him in the squad as back up for Anderson if he got injured and I agree that Finn, Tremlett and The Jolly Green Giant is overkill of big men when you already have Broad as a certainty to play.

I stand by my squad I chose earlier in the summer, the 12 that played the ashes before we went funky in the 5th test with Taylor/Compton, Panesar, Onions and Tremlett. If we choose Rankin over Tremlett I can live with that if they think Tremlett has lost pace.

 

[Howe_zat]

Can't Onions get reverse swing? If so that's reason enough for him imo.

Tremmers never had pace. In Australia last time he never bowled faster than Anderson. I'd rather take him than Finn.

 

[Howe_zat]

Rather have Woakes at six than Bairstow tbh.

Nah, come on. Every time Bairsow has gone back to play the CC in the last few years he's been consistently showing how to make runs there. Woakes may or may not be finding his feet as a middle-order player but it's kind of absurd to compare him to players that have earned their batting spots with regular hundreds.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Can't Onions get reverse swing? If so that's reason enough for him imo.

Tremmers never had pace. In Australia last time he never bowled faster than Anderson. I'd rather take him than Finn.

Yeah but if they think Tremmers has lost pace and nip then he may not be anything like what he was 3 years ago. Not seen him myself so just going off what the press are hinting at.

 

[Prince EWS]

Nah, come on. Every time Bairsow has gone back to play the CC in the last few years he's been consistently showing how to make runs there. Woakes may or may not be finding his feet as a middle-order player but it's kind of absurd to compare him to players that have earned their batting spots with regular hundreds.

I didn't interpret Cabinet's post to mean purely based on batting; I think the point he was making was that Woakes would add more to the side overall batting six than Bairstow would. Could be wrong though.

 

[Prince EWS]

Tremmers never had pace.

He was pretty quick in his first incarnation as a cricketer but you're right in that his pace was always over-stated when he was actually a performing Test bowler.

 

[Cabinet96]

Yeah, I myself have been guilty of the old 'lost pace' cliche. I've only seen him in one day cricket this season, but I'd say it's probably a bit more of a bite and nip thing than out on pace. Certainly looked a bit pedestrian in some of the T20 games, although he's always been a better long format bowler, so maybe it's not a fair comparison. Didn't have a great Championship though, and it's certainly hard to believe if he was bowling anywhere like he was 2-3 years ago that he'd be taking his poles at 33 in county cricket.

As for Woakes, I was only slightly considering his bowling. But I'm pretty biased I'll admit. Funny you talk about hundreds though, given Bairstow only got ahead of Woakes in Championship centuries this season...

 

[Woodster]

Agree with a few of the comments on here regarding too many tall hit-the-deck bowlers if we take Broad, Finn, Tremlett, and Rankin. One of those has to miss out, I think Tremlett might be the one to stay at home.

Yes Onions has signed to play for an SA side, can't remember which one, but it was said at the time that it obviously depends on his England commitments. Whether he has already been told it's unlikely he'll feature in the Ashes I doubt personally, but who knows.

 

[theegyptian]

Sounds like Garry Ballance may have pipped Taylor.

And possibly Carberry over Compton which would be pretty ****tarded. Not a big fan of Compton but even less so of Carberry in 4 day cricket - and Carberry didn't exactly impress in the recent ODI's.

This stuff is all pretty boring thought speculating over a couple of places. More fun to be had by assuming the first xi( Cook, Root, Trott, KP, Bell, Bairstow, Prior, Bresnan, Broad, Swann, Anderson) aren't selected because of a pay dispute. Try putting together a squad of the rest

 

[theegyptian]

ngland #Ashes squad: Cook Prior Anderson Bairstow Ballance Bell Broad Carberry Finn Panesar KP Rankin Root Stokes Swann Tremlett Trott

 

[ajdude]

carberry prevails

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Surprised we have named so many inexperienced test players but there you go.

 

[theegyptian]

England Performance Programme: Ali Briggs Buttler Chopra Foakes Harris Jordan Kerrigan Lees Mills Overton Robson Topley Vince Willey Wood

 

[grecian]

Pfft, anti-Somerset bias, strikes again.

 

[Prince EWS]

The Carberry selection is really weird. I can only speculate that they think his technique would flourish in Australia relative to other countries, which is a stance I believe Pothas has held for years now.