*Official* West Indies Tour of England 2020

[Howe_zat]

Pope is gun.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

That's the team right there. Can't see any other combination picked. Picking Reiter ahead of Cornwall would be s big mistake, that's the only other combination I see.

We will surely be getting less of Chase bowling...regardless of whether he can destroy England again or not.

 

[grecian]

Pope is gun.

Yeah, in the end, he's done nothing wrong in his career really. First class average of 61 seems alright, Test of 47, it'll do for Number 5 not that big a responsibility anyway is it? I'm not sure that the top 4 is that shaky though, compared to some we've had recently, I mean they can all score Test runs, none are great but none are proven failures either.

 

[Flem274*]

they are shaky. burns averages 33, a third of sibley's career runs came in one knock, crawley has a handful of tests for an average of 27 and joe denly averages 30 on the dot with no test tons.

stokes obv a gun and pope is a rising star but i don't think english fans should be surprised if they're 4/20 a lot against the windies. i rate burns and i think denly can do a job, but as a unit they're very wobbly.

fortunately for england the windies have the same problem.

 

[grecian]

they are shaky. burns averages 33, a third of sibley's career runs came in one knock, crawley has a handful of tests for an average of 27 and joe denly averages 30 on the dot with no test tons.

stokes obv a gun and pope is a rising star but i don't think english fans should be surprised if they're 4/20 a lot against the windies. i rate burns and i think denly can do a job, but as a unit they're very wobbly.

fortunately for england the windies have the same problem.

Well we haven't been surprised by that type of score for about 4 years, as I said it is slightly less shaky than what has come before, comparatively. I don't think anyone would describe it as anything other than just-below average,but if root had been out of the side before, it would have been pretty much incredibly poor.

 

[Daemon]

Both teams should just agree to start at 0-4

 

[Lillian Thomson]

I think we can dig out enough runs in this series, but unless Sibley and Crawley develop along side Pope over the next 18 months we'll up the proverbial creek in Australia with a line up like this.

 

[honestbharani]

Pope is gun.

Looked very Ian Bell to me than Joe Root. Make of that what you will.

 

[Flem274*]

i think it's the weakest english top four i've seen since i began watching cricket

they might bring their A games and go big, but it's a bad time for root to miss a game.

 

[grecian]

Looked very Ian Bell to me than Joe Root. Make of that what you will.

He'll be a guy that averages 42 rather than late 40s, we have had 100s worse, but if that's his low point he'll be great.

 

[grecian]

i think it's the weakest english top four i've seen since i began watching cricket

they might bring their A games and go big, but it's a bad time for root to miss a game.

But with Burns like glue and Denly up for it, can you be wrong?

 

[honestbharani]

Will the presence of Denly prompt England to play 4 seamers and thus play both Broad and Anderson?

 

[Howe_zat]

As if 2008 era 'good looking but meh' Bell wouldn't walk into this side, let alone the world class Bell of a few years later

 

[honestbharani]

I am not saying Pope is not good, just don't think I would have turned Ian Bell of any era as "gun". I actually think Sam Curran has the potential to be the "gun" player for England.

 

[theegyptian]

I am surprised at no Leach have to say.

Yet in the end it seems about 3 decades ago, but our last test Series was a success, and this is the nucleus. Perhaps as simple as that, with Root and Curran ruled out, but Archer fit. With no real cricket since to judge on, perhaps sensible.

I think it probably comes down to his lack of cricket over the last 9 months or so. Shame because it seems like it would have been a good matchup against the windies right handers.

 

[Daemon]

I am not saying Pope is not good, just don't think I would have turned Ian Bell of any era as "gun". I actually think Sam Curran has the potential to be the "gun" player for England.

I think the opposite haha. Bell was really brilliant for a period, though probably not long enough to call it an era.

Sam Curran is an annoying little **** who should have never debuted when he did

 

[Daemon]

Will the presence of Denly prompt England to play 4 seamers and thus play both Broad and Anderson?

Wait aren't they both locks?

It's between Wood and Archer for that final slot I believe, unless they don't mind weakening the batting by leaving Woakes out.

 

[Howe_zat]

Wait aren't they both locks?

It's between Wood and Archer for that final slot I believe, unless they don't mind weakening the batting by leaving Woakes out.

There are 13 in that squad, so there's 3 slots between Anderson, Broad, Archer, Woakes and Wood. But yes, Anderson and Broad are both locks. Quite correctly

 

[flibbertyjibber]

At home Broad and Anderson play, simple as that. The big decision is over whether they play the spinner and which other bowler is picked. Stokes is just a very good 5th bowler to have and gives you options.

 

[grecian]

There are 13 in that squad, so there's 3 slots between Anderson, Broad, Archer, Woakes and Wood. But yes, Anderson and Broad are both locks. Quite correctly

I am not sure who is locks really, I can honestly see them rotating in these weird circumstances, I don't really see any of the pace bowlers playing all the test Matches.