***Official*** England in West Indies 2015

[Howe_zat]

Moeen will play ahead of Stokes. They might both play but I'll be stunned if Stokes plays and Ali doesn't.

 

[theegyptian]

Moeen is injured and in England currently. Probably going to play for Worcestershire against Yorkshire on Sunday to prove his fitness before going to the windies for the second test.

 

[Howe_zat]

Piss.

 

[Spark]

ah.

 

[weldone]

So, Stokes is playing in the first test at least, right?

 

[Niall]

So, Stokes is playing in the first test at least, right?

Pretty much all the pundits in England expect him to and he had a decent outings in the warm up, so it would be a huge surprise if he didn't.

 

[Beamer]

Windies squad for the first test has been announced:

Kraigg Braithwaite, Sulieman Benn, Devendra Bishoo, Jermaine Blackwood, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Devon Smith, Jerome Taylor

Thoughts:

- So happy to see Bishoo back. He has the quality to take test wickets and England are the perfect team to be re-introduced against. He's bang in form having taken a shed load of wickets in the PCL and the warm up match. I really hope he plays ahead of Benn.
- Carlos Braithwaite ahead of Gabriel is interesting. They are going for height, line and length and batting ability ahead of pace. I actually like that move, I don't think Gabriel does enough with the ball.
- Shai Hope gets the nod ahead of Leon Johnson. He's an excellent young batsman and something of a stylist so watching him and Blackwood bat should hopefully be great fun.

My team:

Kraigg Braithwaite
Devon Smith
Darren Bravo
Marlon Samuels
Shiv Chanderpaul
Jermaine Blackwood/Shai Hope (whoever has shaped up better in practice)
Denesh Ramdin (Wk/Captain)
Jason Holder/Carlos Braithwaite (whoever has shaped up better in practice)
Devendra Bishoo
Jerome Taylor
Kemar Roach

If they need a second spinner then Ramdin bats at 6 and the number 6 batsman sits.

 

[Spark]

i know this is futile but please bat normally marlon

 

[Niall]

Now that Samuels has to bowl legally, I don't think he is much of a fifth bowling option. I'd go for Holder in the top seven in all formats, he has the ability as has proven to bat that high in the last year or so, it also means you have five genuine bowling options. You will need this if the pitches are flat and of course while I love him to bits, always a slight concern that Roach can break down any moment.

Benn should be included , he seems to be disliked hugely online, but he is someone who will bowl you 30 overs and concede very little, not a total mug with the bat either.

So

kraig
Devon Smith (ugh)
Bravo
Samuels
Shiv
Ramdin
Holder
Roach
Taylor
Benn
Bishoo


I like Blackwood and have heard great things about Hope, but can't justify their spot in the line ups unless someone gets injured or stinks the place out.

 

[Beamer]

i know this is futile but please bat normally marlon

Totally futile unfortunately. I severely doubt he will gives James Tredwell any respect at all and if Jimmy chirps away like the grumpy man he is Marlon will start playing all sorts of shots. It's just a matter of if he gets away with it or not.

Benn should be included , he seems to be disliked hugely online, but he is someone who will bowl you 30 overs and concede very little, not a total mug with the bat either.

I agree about Jason Holder having the ability to bat at 7 but I really can't stand Benn and wouldn't have him anywhere near my side. He can bowl a lot of tight overs yes but he takes no wickets, bats with no responsibility and is close to a liability in the field. He simply isnt a good enough bowler to put up with that. Bishoo surely has to be the number one spinner and Permaul should be ahead of Benn as the SLA option.

 

[Spark]

i know but he's done it once against these bowlers before, in much more conducive conditions (for the attack he'll be facing) and in much better form. [the bowlers, that is]

one can hope.

 

[NUFAN]

Hey Beamer you forgot to include Kraigg Braithwaite in your squad announcement, I'm glad he isn't injured. I'm picking the same XI as you but admit with the contentious 6 and 8 spots I don't know anything about Hope and only a little about Carlos. I do like the look of Blackwood though and like Holder for his batting as much as his bowling.

I don't agree with Niall that Benn should be picked. England are an excellent batting lineup against non-threatening bowling and Benn offers that in spades.

 

[Pratters]

Re Bishoo - I loved his attitude. Wasn't able to extract much bounce sadly. He did rip it at times though. I would prefer him to Benn, definitely, but I think they would go for Benn.

 

[Beamer]

i know but he's done it once against these bowlers before, in much more conducive conditions (for the attack he'll be facing) and in much better form.

one can hope.

I won't be holding my breath, put it that way. I don't think he's been quite the same since having his eye-socket smashed in the Big Bash. He's played a lot more shots since then.

Hey Beamer you forgot to include Kraigg Braithwaite in your squad announcement, I'm glad he isn't injured. I'm picking the same XI as you but admit with the contentious 6 and 8 spots I don't know anything about Hope and only a little about Carlos. I do like the look of Blackwood though and like Holder for his batting as much as his bowling.

Whoops accidentally deleted Kraigg, thanks for the heads up. I'm backing him to score pretty heavily in this series. I'm not too fussed either way when it comes to the number 6 and 8 slots. Blackwood and Hope are both attractive young batsmen. Blackwood has had a good start to his test career but Hope is in better form.

Braithwaite and Holder are very similar. Carlos is a yard faster but Holder gets the ball to move more. They can both bat very well too.

 

[Spark]

ah that's true. i'd forgotten about that.

 

[Niall]

Re Bishoo - I loved his attitude. Wasn't able to extract much bounce sadly. He did rip it at times though. I would prefer him to Benn, definitely, but I think they would go for Benn.

Play both surely?

I always had a soft spot for Benn for reasons unknown to me, but even though he isn't great, still think he might do a holding job at least.


EDIT...Just going through the numbers of Permaul, harsh to be excluded.

 

[Cabinet96]

This starting after the weekend has crept up on me. Really looking forward to it. 2pm start a sweetener.

 

[Pratters]

Windies tests have really good timings for us with 7.30 PM starts.

 

[Spark]

This starting after the weekend has crept up on me. Really looking forward to it. 2pm start a sweetener.

yeah this'll be a beautiful change from 4am starts all the ****ing time

 

[Niall]

yeah this'll be a beautiful change from 4am starts all the ****ing time

Pretty amazing few days of sport really, King Jordan owning The Masters, The Grand National, City v United, the IPL still fresh and a test series starting.

Oh and Game Of Thrones back as well.