England players and selection discussion thread

[Flem274*]

Some guys are belatedly putting their hands up like Bairstow and Crawley.

Is Tom Haines as promising as his recent season suggests? Is Sam Robson worth another go? Is David Bedingham qualified?

Crawley
Burns
Pope
Root
Stokes
Bairstow
Foakes
Robinson
Leach
Broad
Anderson

 

[Gnske]

Pope is nowhere close to being qualified for 3 right now.

I say go full meme and double down on white ball players. Tom Banton? Now theres a name that isn't discussed enough.

 

[honestbharani]

For England, I dont think they should start making wholesale changes. They were definitely in the games more than it shows but it also often happens in lower scoring series. The issue for them is the fact that the ones who did well are like already greats and we know how good they are. I still think Crawley is very good and if neither Pope nor Lawrence are top order batters, they should not force fit them to 3 or whatever. Maybe this is the way they should go for their home season.

Burns
Sibley
Crawley
Root (c)
Stokes
Pope / Lawrence
Buttler / Foakes / Bairstow (wk)
Woakes / S Curran
Leach
Broad / Anderson
Stone / Wood / Archer

Archer's injury is a worry and if they insist on the attack set up being one medium fast and one fast bowler and they feel the need to have some batting back up at 8, the above is the one they should play. But if it were upto me, I would play both Broad and Anderson and ask Leach to bat at 8 and play the 3rd seamer as the fast bowler. Woakes can come in if Broad or Anderson are injured/out of form.

The real issue is the fact that there is no top order batsman who has emerged apart from Crawley. But still, having a good attacking batsman at #3 is something most other sides around the world do not have and is a point of difference. I hope they don't do something silly and mess around with him.

I should have known better.

 

[SteveNZ]

Pope is nowhere close to being qualified for 3 right now.

I say go full meme and double down on white ball players. Tom Banton? Now theres a name that isn't discussed enough.

Worked well with Jason Roy, Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler and others - why not aye?

 

[Pothas]

Am starting to come around to Flem's Pope at 3 idea. Lawrence and Crawley are the other two that 'have something.' Be a surprise if all of them have good careers but probably the ones worth sticking with.

Burns
Crawley
Pope
Root
Stokes
Lawrence
Bairstow

 

[Shady Slim]

the thing with rory burns is he strikes me just by the way he looks as an immensely shitty bloke so i'd rather he not be on my tv

 

[GIMH]

the thing with rory burns is he strikes me just by the way he looks as an immensely ****ty bloke so i'd rather he not be on my tv

You wouldn’t say this if he was black though you racist bastard

 

[Shady Slim]

You wouldn’t say this if he was black though you racist bastard

there are many cricketers of colour with punchable faces rest assured my good man

 

[theegyptian]

What do we reckon then for the Windies?

Dropped from the squad? Buttler, Pope, Hameed, Woakes?

If you look at the Buttler career as a whole he's never really cracked it. Avg 32 over 57 tests, keeping has been reasonable for the most part. Let him concentrate on ODI cricket.
Pope can't play spin, still fencing away outside offstump off the seamers. Still the best batting prospect we have but there must be some accountability for lack of performance, and making the same mistakes over and over.
Hameed imo should never have come back in the first place. He did very little to regain his place after being crap for a number of years.

I've changed my mind on Root. Mid series I was of the opinion that he should probably keep the captaincy just because there was no-one else. However I've changed my mind on this. Just stuff like both Broad and Anderson missing first test, Robinson and Stokes playing this last test not fit. He's gotta be accountable for these decisions too. Appoint a new coach, and go on a series by series captaincy thing if you have to.

Bowling is more up in the air. Apart from Woakes, all the seamers were ok. Robinson has to be fitter so they could drop him but I guess they are more likely to work with him. I'd like to see Mahmood, Fisher or Carse in a squad in the next 12 months, so maybe take 1 of those although Carse is injured i believe.

Batting. Well Lawrence probably gets a go. We aren't exactly overburdened with options.
Keeper. Bairstow, or Foakes or Billings. Probably Bairstow imo. Go back to Stokes at 6 and Bairstow 7?

 

[Pothas]

Am starting to come around to Flem's Pope at 3 idea. Lawrence and Crawley are the other two that 'have something.' Be a surprise if all of them have good careers but probably the ones worth sticking with.

Burns
Crawley
Pope
Root
Stokes
Lawrence
Bairstow

I guess Pope will definitely be dropped, could have really done with him not playing that last Test. Think it might be this but with Malan at 3 still.

 

[Pothas]

What do we reckon then for the Windies?

Dropped from the squad? Buttler, Pope, Hameed, Woakes?

If you look at the Buttler career as a whole he's never really cracked it. Avg 32 over 57 tests, keeping has been reasonable for the most part. Let him concentrate on ODI cricket.
Pope can't play spin, still fencing away outside offstump off the seamers. Still the best batting prospect we have but there must be some accountability for lack of performance, and making the same mistakes over and over.
Hameed imo should never have come back in the first place. He did very little to regain his place after being crap for a number of years.

I've changed my mind on Root. Mid series I was of the opinion that he should probably keep the captaincy just because there was no-one else. However I've changed my mind on this. Just stuff like both Broad and Anderson missing first test, Robinson and Stokes playing this last test not fit. He's gotta be accountable for these decisions too. Appoint a new coach, and go on a series by series captaincy thing if you have to.

Bowling is more up in the air. Apart from Woakes, all the seamers were ok. Robinson has to be fitter so they could drop him but I guess they are more likely to work with him. I'd like to see Mahmood, Fisher or Carse in a squad in the next 12 months, so maybe take 1 of those although Carse is injured i believe.

Batting. Well Lawrence probably gets a go. We aren't exactly overburdened with options.
Keeper. Bairstow, or Foakes or Billings. Probably Bairstow imo. Go back to Stokes at 6 and Bairstow 7?

Yeah ideal world Stokes goes back to 6. Again this where Pope's drop off is so frustrating.

Root still should keep it if he wants it. Stokes would almost certainly be a disaster. If he has had enough though then maybe just give it to Broad for a year.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

It's not all his fault, but Chris Silverwood is a fool.

 

[theegyptian]

Some guys are belatedly putting their hands up like Bairstow and Crawley.

Is Tom Haines as promising as his recent season suggests? Is Sam Robson worth another go? Is David Bedingham qualified?

Crawley
Burns
Pope
Root
Stokes
Bairstow
Foakes
Robinson
Leach
Broad
Anderson

Haines doens't look particularly good to me. Just a 1 season ok wonder. Wasn't in the lions either so doesn't look to be in the thinking at present.

Can't seem them going back to Robson at this point. Don't know about Bedingham.

There isn't much in county cricket to get excited about. A few players I like.

I like Matt Fisher and Saqib Mahmood as bowlers. Hope to see 1 or the other getting an opportunity before long. Fisher burst onto the scene as a 16 year old at Yorkshire but has had his fair share of injuries. Maybe some speed endurance issues with Fisher (similar to Robinson although Fisher quicker) across a spell and day.

Jamie Smith - Looks one of the more natural, conventional players of spin i've seen in the english game. only 21. Had 2 very good knocks vs Ashwin when he was only 19 on a turning wicket. Technically against pace he's possibly not quite at the standard yet although has a more classical approach than many of the other alternatives. Could see him getting a chance in the middle order within a year or two, if he continues his impressive development.

Sam Conners - Raw. Angles it in before swinging it away with a wippy action at good pace. Few too many poor deliveries and like so many can't endure speed across spell and match. A long way from international cricket but there is something there imo.

Vasconcelas - Du Kock lite. Punchy, compact, little left hand WK Bat. Learned his cricket elsewhere so has decent technicals. Struggled the back end of last year. Don't know when or if he qualifies

Brydon Carse - England have lots of medium pacers but Carse is a bit quicker and hits the wicket hard. Bats ok too. I'd be phasing him into the tests squad over the next year or so, probably at the expense of Stone who they probably have to give up on.

 

[honestbharani]

I guess Pope will definitely be dropped, could have really done with him not playing that last Test. Think it might be this but with Malan at 3 still.

3rd Test at Melbourne - December 26 - 30

There's interesting case of Marnus & Mayank Agarwal. Both scored away couple of 50's on their first Breakthrough tours.. Mayank in Australia & Marnus in England. Both bludgeoned bowling attacks in home conditions. Mayank got to play in NZ & Australia & only managed 1 50+ score in 4 tests...

www.cricketweb.net

I called it earlier mate. And one thing about Flem is, if he says someone is bad they are most definitely gonna be good to great.

 

[theegyptian]

You could see some randoms come back (or in for the first time) for West Indies.

Vince? He couldn't complain when he was dropped given his record but he did play probably his best test knock in his last test innings, and then started the summer well with Hampshire. They may have one more attempt with Vince given his more classical setup hoping he can crack it.
Lyth? Well they need an opener.

Joe Clarke, Jake Libby, Liam Livingstone?
None of these were with the Lions so likely not in the thinking. Livingstone had a **** 4 day season with Lancs, and seems to be concentrating on T20 but he did have an excellent Lions tour of SL a while back and does have a decent fc record. Libby has been towards the top of the runscorers the last two seasons. Clarke similar to Livingstone in that he has been mainly concentrating on T20 but does have a decent fc record.

Honestly I wouldn't mind any of Vince, Livingstone, or Lyth in the squad for West Indies. Hope they are that bit more experienced and comfortable in themselves. The younger players like Pope, Hameed, Crawley, Lawrence have regressed more than anything - They don't seem to be improving.

 

[Pothas]

Malan will almost certainly be gone come the end of the English summer. Will probably end up with Burns, Sibley and Crawley again.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Clarke seems to have dropped off the selectors radar after the court case and probably won't be back on it any time soon. I saw Alex Lees was in the Lions team but i'd be shocked if he got a call up then again all the openers are crap so why not try a new one. Livingstone has been hard done by to not get a test before given some of the dross we have picked, guess the fact he is another number 4/5/6 counts against him.

 

[Blenkinsop]

Yes Jamie Smith looks quite promising but isn't he another who's been flattered by playing on roads at the Oval? (see: Pope)

Like Mahmood, not so convinced about Fisher.

Ethan Bamber can be excellent but maybe another who would be toothless on a flat deck.

Amar Virdi was looking good until he fell to pieces in the second half of the 2021 season. Moriarty has potential.

Would Tom Taylor be an outside bet for the future or is he too much of a white ball specialist?

 

[honestbharani]

Moriarty has potential.

Does Sherlock know?

 

[kevinw]

If I was picking a starting XI for the first WI Test, all players fit and with no rotation.

Crawley, Duckett, Lawrence, Root (c), Livingstone/Bohannon, Stokes, Bairstow (wk), Wood, Broad, Leach/Parkinson, Anderson

Duckett's Test experience was a brutal tour of Bangladesh/India, so may feast on pacier pitches. Lawrence has shown he has something. Bold to bat him at three but who else is there? Livingstone has a good temperament even if his FC has been patchy of late. Bohannon could bat at five instead. Robinson obviously in the mix with Branderson.