English off-season 13/14

[grecian]

Trott to start the season with Warwickshire. Expect him to be at number 3 come the first test against Sri Lanka.

Yeah, I think it's pretty much certain, all the noises are good, and it does give us an experienced guy in there at 3. I was a bit worried he hadn't gone with Warwicks on their pre-season Tour, but if they felt a holiday with his family was best fair enough, as long as he's playing and scoring runs in April.

 

[Cabinet96]

Wonder if it's a traveling thing (Re him not going on pre season tour). Which begs the question are they sure he can tour the following winter even if he does play the summer.

Whatever happens I think he actually does have to get some runs if he's to come back.

 

[grecian]

Wonder if it's a traveling thing (Re him not going on pre season tour). Which begs the question are they sure he can tour the following winter even if he does play the summer.

Whatever happens I think he actually does have to get some runs if he's to come back.

That's what I thought when I first heard, echoing Tres, but he seems to be going away with his family, so hopefully it's just R&R he needs. Of course runs vital.

No doubt that over the last year or so his shot selection has turned from brilliant to appalling. Hopefully the rest will help him go back to the focussed run-machine he was.

 

[Pothas]

Yeah I think with the Trott situation we were always in danger of assuming that it was the same as Tres which is might not be at all.

 

[theegyptian]

I'd be against him playing the first test. Can't just walk straight back into the team after the ashes. They need to be sure of his mental health + his cricketing game for England's sake and Trott's. He's averaging 38.62 in test cricket since the start of 2011 which whilst still puts him in the top 6 batsmen in the country but isn't the form of someone who is undroppable or a must pick.

I'd go with others first and if they fail and Trott puts together a season in the championship and everything is fine then yes. England need to be as sure as they can be that when he comes under pressure again in a tough situation he is going to be able to deal with the situation. That'll be tough to do but at least playing a season of county cricket with possibly some ODIS should allow both Trott and the the England coaching setup to see how they feel and whether he can cope.

 

[Howe_zat]

How good is this Sri Lankan team they're playing?

If it's close to a genuine second team that this series is a proper achievement, playing SL in SL is not an easy fixture.

 

[Howe_zat]

Think "Moeen as a spinner" is kind of insane btw. Test match spinner is an actual job, give it to the player who's best at it.

 

[YorksLanka]

How good is this Sri Lankan team they're playing?

If it's close to a genuine second team that this series is a proper achievement, playing SL in SL is not an easy fixture.

to be honest mate, its a pretty weak team from us. there are only about two or three players who have played full team cricket.- having said that, England can only play against the team in front of them and getting used to the hostile conditions is no easy task..Never mind playing cricket, when i visit Sl, i struggle to pick up my beer LOL...

 

[Howe_zat]

Meanwhile, good stuff from the BBC site

 

[Adders]

I'd be against him playing the first test. Can't just walk straight back into the team after the ashes. They need to be sure of his mental health + his cricketing game for England's sake and Trott's. He's averaging 38.62 in test cricket since the start of 2011 which whilst still puts him in the top 6 batsmen in the country but isn't the form of someone who is undroppable or a must pick.

I'd go with others first and if they fail and Trott puts together a season in the championship and everything is fine then yes. England need to be as sure as they can be that when he comes under pressure again in a tough situation he is going to be able to deal with the situation. That'll be tough to do but at least playing a season of county cricket with possibly some ODIS should allow both Trott and the the England coaching setup to see how they feel and whether he can cope.

Nah don't agree with this at all. If Trott was injured during the Ashes, went away and got himself fit why wouldn't he come back into the team if the management were 100% sure he was fit to play? His situation isn't a whole lot different.

No problem with him having to get some FC runs under his belt first to prove his form; but if he does that and he and everyone else is 100% sure he's in a good place mentally then we have to play him surely???

Having a healthy Trott back would be a massive bonus for Eng at this point, we're scratching around to fill the top order as it is.......having a player of his proven class really would be epic IMO.

 

[grecian]

Agree with Adders, number 3 is a problem no-one else seems to want to play there, he's our most successful number 3 of me watching England (just shows how dire we've been there for decades, but there ya go), he scores runs he plays. Simple as that really.

 

[Woodster]

Yes as a proven Test player and if he is 100% right both physically and mentally then he comes straight in for me providing he has got some time at the crease before the Tests begin. Don't think we can afford a player of his proven Test calibre to spend a full season in county cricket when the England side desperately need someone just like him in the top order.

 

[theegyptian]

Think "Moeen as a spinner" is kind of insane btw. Test match spinner is an actual job, give it to the player who's best at it.

Only Kerrigan and Panesar have taken more championship wickets over the last two years than Ali. Ali is a frontline spinner for Worcestershire. He also outbowled the other spinners he's played with this winter with the performance squad and the lions.

I can see why people don't want Ali as the main spinner but I don't think him playing as the only spinner is insane. Kerrigan was awful on debut and I can't see how England can risk him. Panesar is getting worse and is a nutcase. There are no other credible candidates imo.

Both Kerrigan and Panesar are number 11s, and Panesar is an awful fielder. Play one of them with Stokes at 6, Onions at 9 and two other average batsmen in the top 6 and the batting is awful and it's debeatable about the bowling impact Panesar or Kerrigan are going to have against India and Sri Lanka at home.

There is no good solution imo to the problem. Fact is that England have some fairly average options now and going forward especially in the spin bowling department.

 

[Pothas]

Yes as a proven Test player and if he is 100% right both physically and mentally then he comes straight in for me providing he has got some time at the crease before the Tests begin. Don't think we can afford a player of his proven Test calibre to spend a full season in county cricket when the England side desperately need someone just like him in the top order.

Yeah making him wait for a year seems like some kind of punishment, and that can't be right.

 

[Woodster]

I think to discard Kerrigan after that admittedly shocking nerve-ridden Test debut is somewhat premature. I know people are not suggesting he never plays again for England, but I think if he was to be thrown in again against SL he'll do much better. However, in all honesty I haven't seen enough of him just yet in first-class to say whether he is of the necessary quality or has the requisite potential to become a fine England Test spinner, but I'm sure he will have learnt from his chastening experience at the hands of Shane Watson.

I don't have too many issues with Moeen being used for now in English conditions as the sole spinner.

 

[theegyptian]

Kerrigan will get another chance at some point you'd imagine just not for a while. I just feel with Cook as not the most progressive captain playing Kerrigan would be basically like picking 10 men.

Fwiw I don't think England will select Ali as the spinner. I'd say it's like 5% to happen. And he shouldn't be selected as a batsman alone at this point as Taylor, Ballance are better bets- and his spin bowling in what would be a 6 man attack would barely be used.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Yeah making him wait for a year seems like some kind of punishment, and that can't be right.

It could be taken as such but, as with any illness or injury, the coaching staff also have a duty of care to their player. I think there was a dereliction of it over the winter. Obviously I'm only speaking from the outside on what's been reported, but various reports have suggested it was a long-standing issue.

If he's rushed back, such is the nature of his condition, a relapse is a strong possibility. Although that's equally true of any injury/illness, I suppose. One wouldn't (or at least shouldn't) play a chap too soon after a hammy pull and this should have the same judgments applied.

Love to see him back tho; strikes one as a good sort of a chap.

 

[Cabinet96]

The issue with Trott is also that his form was pretty shaky for a while before he went home with the illness anyway. I don't know whether it was affecting his form, and I don't know if that would even be a good thing or not, but I think he at least needs to prove he's still the best number three in the country.

 

[YorksLanka]

the thing is he may be the best #3 in the country but if he cant travel overseas, he wont last long in the team plans and tbh its unfair on the team for him to be. Tres was one of the best England openers for a long time and look what happened to him unfortunately- i know that their situations may be different but the point is the same...

 

[Pothas]

We really don't know if is the same at all though, you can see in Treso's book that his illness always had some sort of link to being away from home, that might not be the case for Trott at all, we just don't know. Agree that England have got to be sure not to rush him back but I was just saying that an enforced period of absence was not the right way to go.

The form point is certainly a fair one but as others have mentioned England are not in a position to discard a player like Trott, like everyone else he will need runs at the start of the season but if he gets them then I can't see a better candidate to be at 3 come the first test.