England players and selection discussion thread

[theegyptian]

Would you guys really leave out Broad? He actualy seems to give a **** about his bowling away from home now. And as well as Anderson has done, he need not be a surefire starter in the SC.

I wouldn't play both Anderson and Broad in the same side, and Anderson is the superior bowler with the better record in Asia. They'll probably play one test each I'd guess, similar to last time where Anderson played the first two, and Broad the third test.

Both lack the pace to really do much in Asia when it's flat. They both keep it tight but Anderson's swing is the only threat either of them offers.

 

[Tom Flint]

Thing is archer only really bowls to his full pace very rarely, and if conditions don't suit him I can see him running in at 84mph anyway like he's done a few times already. In that scenario broad is the better bowler.
If we want someone to give hundred percent and bowl as quick as they can then wood will try his best. But he won't be fit I bet

 

[theegyptian]

Archer, Wood, Curran, Stone or another spinner (somewhat dependent on availability) I'd prefer over Broad. Even Woakes.

Anderson and Broad do the same job in these conditions. A holding role. Parsimonious but they don't offer much threat. Both numbers 11s too. They took 1 wicket between them on the last tour to SL.

I do find it surprising the amount of people who want to dismiss Archer completely. I suppose they want to be stuck with Woakes averaging 55 away from home for the next 5 years. He won't improve if he doesn't play, and the impact Broad is going to have on a test in Sri lanka is negligible. Archer is likely to have more impact on the game, and in the future.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Jennings is all but a certainty now with Burns injured. Think we will be looking at:

Jennings
Sibley
Denly
Root
Stokes
Pope
Buttler/Foakes
Moeen/Bess
Archer
Leach
Anderson

Although they did play 3 spinners last time so maybe Parkinson but think they will just use Denly and Root. Curran may play instead of Anderson as well, could see Broad missing the tour.

I wouldn't have too much of a problem with Jennings playing in SL as he's had success there before and looks far more comfortable with spin than pace, as long as it doesn't muddy the waters for the upcoming summer.

Hopefully Rory will be recovered from his surgery and him and Sibs will be taking guard come June.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Anderson injury means he has to be close to retiring. As good as he is the body is giving up and you can't beat age catching up.

 

[honestbharani]

Anderson is injured? Sounds like a pretty brutal jinx there from OS.

 

[LegionOfBrad]

Anderson is injured? Sounds like a pretty brutal jinx there from OS.

Side strain it looks like.

 

[honestbharani]

That is gonna take 4-5 weeks then? Bad luck for England.. Good luck for RSA.

 

[Prince EWS]

I wouldn't have too much of a problem with Jennings playing in SL as he's had success there before and looks far more comfortable with spin than pace, as long as it doesn't muddy the waters for the upcoming summer.

Yeah this is the important thing. If you're going to call someone up despite a poor overall record and a poor domestic season because you think they'll be good in specific conditions, when they actually do well you shouldn't be surprised (it's why you're picking them) and then foolishly expect them to carry it over to the conditions you ignored their poor performances in.

Ideally you'd not have to pick a horses for courses opener but this isn't an ideal world. Jennings makes sense to me as a squad player at the very least, but even if he's man of the series he needs to be dropped afterwards and this should be made clear before the tour.

 

[Groundking]

Id rather Crawley and Sibley just succeeded so we didn't have to entertain Jennings, then move Crawley to 3 when Burns is back

 

[FBU]

Archer, Wood, Curran, Stone or another spinner (somewhat dependent on availability) I'd prefer over Broad. Even Woakes.

Anderson and Broad do the same job in these conditions. A holding role. Parsimonious but they don't offer much threat. Both numbers 11s too. They took 1 wicket between them on the last tour to SL.

I do find it surprising the amount of people who want to dismiss Archer completely. I suppose they want to be stuck with Woakes averaging 55 away from home for the next 5 years. He won't improve if he doesn't play, and the impact Broad is going to have on a test in Sri lanka is negligible. Archer is likely to have more impact on the game, and in the future.

When they went to Galle and Columbo in 2012 Anderson got 9 wickets at 21.77. Unlike his solitary wicket in 2018.
What will happen will be 3 spinners and Archer and Stokes.

 

[Bijed]

Id rather Crawley and Sibley just succeeded so we didn't have to entertain Jennings, then move Crawley to 3 when Burns is back

Sibley can hopefully meet/exceed the low-ish standards he'd need to get a long-term gig as opener but I'd be extremely surprised if Crawley gets anywhere near success right now tbh, maybe when he's older. I know stats aren't the be-all-and-end-all, but I don't know how you can expect a guy averaging 30 in First-Class cricket to go well in tests.

Only things I've got in the back of my mind is that Trescothick's FC stats weren't very good when he was called up. I know it was ages ago, but don't suppose anyone can remember roughly what his record was at the time? I assume he'd at least played a few more FC games than Crawley as would have been a few years older

 

[Pup Clarke]

Pretty sure Trescothick was averaging 35, and have a feeling Vaughan averaged less (33?) before the SA 99/00 tour

I'll say this : Sibley is the first opener since Cook who looks like he knows his game really well. Burns and to a certain extent Compton, also gave me this similar feeling

 

[morgieb]

Pretty sure Trescothick was averaging 35, and have a feeling Vaughan averaged less (33?) before the SA 99/00 tour

I'll say this : Sibley is the first opener since Cook who looks like he knows his game really well. Burns and to a certain extent Compton, also gave me this similar feeling

I think Tres was like 30. This was at Taunton too. What made him underperform so much at county level, especially given his county record after his Test career finished is actually very good?

 

[BSM]

When they went to Galle and Columbo in 2012 Anderson got 9 wickets at 21.77. Unlike his solitary wicket in 2018.
What will happen will be 3 spinners and Archer and Stokes.

Yeah I seem to remember Stokes was the seam bowler with the most impact last tour. If I remember correctly as well, it was because of the extra pace that he offered in short spells. It might have just been in one particular game that he came off actually, but the impact of seam was really minimal in that series. I feel like there might be more in it for the seamers this time around though. Even so, you only need two, at most 3, if you just don't think you have the spinners to do the job.

Leach and Bess would be the frontline picks for now and I doubt Ali will return for the series. If so, I could see the three of Leach, Bess and Parkinson being picked. Then again, England will also have Denly (most likely anyway) and Root as extra spinners so they might even opt for the extra seamer if they think there might be something in the pitch. Broad was pretty good (albeit unlucky) in the one game he played last time in SL. Seem to remember there were a few dropped catches off his bowling

 

[wpdavid]

Yeah I seem to remember Stokes was the seam bowler with the most impact last tour. If I remember correctly as well, it was because of the extra pace that he offered in short spells. It might have just been in one particular game that he came off actually, but the impact of seam was really minimal in that series. I feel like there might be more in it for the seamers this time around though. Even so, you only need two, at most 3, if you just don't think you have the spinners to do the job.

Leach and Bess would be the frontline picks for now and I doubt Ali will return for the series. If so, I could see the three of Leach, Bess and Parkinson being picked. Then again, England will also have Denly (most likely anyway) and Root as extra spinners so they might even opt for the extra seamer if they think there might be something in the pitch. Broad was pretty good (albeit unlucky) in the one game he played last time in SL. Seem to remember there were a few dropped catches off his bowling

Yes, the drop in the quality of our spinners may be our biggest problem in SL. Leach will be fine again, but Bess probably isn't a patch on Ali and I doubt whether Parkinson's as strong even as Rashid.

 

[FBU]

Yeah I seem to remember Stokes was the seam bowler with the most impact last tour. If I remember correctly as well, it was because of the extra pace that he offered in short spells. It might have just been in one particular game that he came off actually, but the impact of seam was really minimal in that series. I feel like there might be more in it for the seamers this time around though. Even so, you only need two, at most 3, if you just don't think you have the spinners to do the job.

Leach and Bess would be the frontline picks for now and I doubt Ali will return for the series. If so, I could see the three of Leach, Bess and Parkinson being picked. Then again, England will also have Denly (most likely anyway) and Root as extra spinners so they might even opt for the extra seamer if they think there might be something in the pitch. Broad was pretty good (albeit unlucky) in the one game he played last time in SL. Seem to remember there were a few dropped catches off his bowling

It could be
Sibley Jennings Denly Root Stokes Pope Foakes Curran Bess Leach Archer with Denly/Root as the other spinning option

 

[wpdavid]

It could be
Sibley Jennings Denly Root Stokes Pope Foakes Curran Bess Leach Archer with Denly/Root as the other spinning option

Yup. Jennings or Crawley depending on the latter fares in the last two SA tests.

 

[wpdavid]

I think Tres was like 30. This was at Taunton too. What made him underperform so much at county level, especially given his county record after his Test career finished is actually very good?

He was a much better player by the time his test career ended.

 

[AndrewB]

Seasonal batting averages for Vaughan and Trescothick up to 1999 were:

1993: Trescothick 2.33 in 3 matches, Vaughan 29.50 in 4 matches
1994: Trescothick 48.63 in 11, Vaughan 36.75 in 16
1995: Trescothick 18.95 in 12, Vaughan 32.73 in 21
1996: Trescothick 27.69 in 15, Vaughan 38.70 in 18
1997: Trescothick 21.66 in 13, Vaughan 33.56 in 15
1998: Trescothick 31.37 in 18, Vaughan 41.46 in 19
1999: Trescothick 37.41 in 15, Vaughan 27.12 in 12

So Vaughan had been pretty consistent (though was actually picked after his worst season statistically); Trescothick had a great season aged 18, looked like he could be a flash in the pan for a while, but bounced back from that, was given a go in the England one-day team; then did well enough there to get picked for the Test team, and again hit the ground running.