***Official*** Sri Lanka in England and Ireland 2014

[ajdude]

Cook, Ali, Anderson, Balance, Bell, Broad, Jordan, Plunkett, Prior, Robson, Root, Woakes

out of that i guess it'd be Woakes to miss, they bat deep enough with jordan/plunkett/broad and four frontline seam options with ali/root seems best (this is if you subscribe to the theory that liam plunkett is a frontline seam option)

 

[Spikey]

congrats on your well deserved recall, Joe Root

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Cook
Robson
Bell
Root
Ali
Ballance
Prior
Plunkett
Woakes
Broad
Jordan
Anderson

So that is the 12 and it is between Woakes and Plunkett as 12th man I presume.

At least Stokes is being given more time and Bresnan has gone.

 

[Howe_zat]

Frig me, did not expect plunkers over Finn. Not a bad shout though.

Woakes over Stokes is a joke. Moores a **** bloke. Gonna go have a coke.

 

[ajdude]

the biggest news out of this is that everybody's favourite cricketer michael carberry is absent

 

[Cabinet96]

Ahahahahahahaha, suck it.

Woakes

 

[Cabinet96]

Andrew Nixon ‏@andrewnixon79 6m
Apparently, Plunkett was due to become eligible for Ireland in February. No doubt explains his selection.

Surely not?

 

[ImpatientLime]

Plunkett?

LOL LOL LOL

Seriously should have just recalled Finn. Like Plunkett, quick and scattergun but at least he has a record of taking poles at test level.

 

[Prince EWS]

Haha yeah it's true. It's been all the buzz on the Cricket Europe forums the last few days; Plunkett was seriously considering it before he got picked for the Lions last winter apparently.

 

[Pothas]

I quite like this squad.

Moeen is going to play a test, this is superb. I always suspected the selectors were never going to go for it but with Panesar being Panesar I guess they had no other option.

Still can't quite get my head around Plunkett being back in the squad but I guess there were no real obvious candidates outside Finn who I think they have done well to avoid for now. Would play Woakes though, his first class numbers deserve more than that one test he got last summer.

 

[ImpatientLime]

Is James Taylor gonna get a hit this summer? Or does his face not fit?

 

[flibbertyjibber]

I am not overly impressed with the squad but it could have been worse. Is Prior fit? Seems a weird one to not pick Stokes for lack of cricket but pick Prior anyway. Best decisions are leaving Finn out and giving Stokes a few more games to get right after injury.

Surprised they never said who is going to bat at 3 unless I missed it. Robson was a certainty as was Jordan and I am looking forward to seeing them. After all the hype about his doosra Moeen better bowl well.

 

[vic_orthdox]

How long has Stokes been back playing for?

 

[Pothas]

Is James Taylor gonna get a hit this summer? Or does his face not fit?

This seems to have become the standard line with Taylor (and Compton) but I suspect that they just don't think he is good enough.

 

[vic_orthdox]

With the blokes who have gone out of the side, think Prior was always going to get back in.

 

[LegionOfBrad]

Plunkett had his action ruined by the biomechanists. Did he ever change it back to something more natural? They have at least picked on form.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

How long has Stokes been back playing for?

2 games but both have been rain ruined and he has only bowled 37 overs in the 2 games. Could easily be made to bowl that many in a game at Lord's and might not be ready yet. Also with Broad coming back after similar amount of time it a bit of a gamble going in with 2 players with little cricket played.

 

[LegionOfBrad]

With the blokes who have gone out of the side, think Prior was always going to get back in.

Aside from some journo's banging the drum for Buttler after one hundred in an ODI i don't think it was ever a serious doubt if he could prove his fitness.

 

[Prince EWS]

How long has Stokes been back playing for?

A couple of games over three weeks as far as First Class cricket goes. He had a hit in Second XI stuff before that. I'm really surprised he's not at least in the squad; it wouldn't have surprised me if he ended up twelfth man because of their new balance requirements, but as much as I think rate Woakes higher and Stokes lower than most on this forum, I didn't in a million years expect Woakes to get the nod here.

 

[Cabinet96]

I quite like this squad.

Moeen is going to play a test, this is superb. I always suspected the selectors were never going to go for it but with Panesar being Panesar I guess they had no other option.

Still can't quite get my head around Plunkett being back in the squad but I guess there were no real obvious candidates outside Finn who I think they have done well to avoid for now. Would play Woakes though, his first class numbers deserve more than that one test he got last summer.

I think in the end Woakes v Plunkett will come down to how much we trust the top 7, and conditions.