England Performance Squad

Cricinfo - Foster and Mahmood get England boost

Performance squad Tim Ambrose (Warwickshire) + , James Anderson (Lancashire) *, Ian Bell (Warwickshire) *, Ravi Bopara (Essex) + , Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire) *, Paul Collingwood (Durham)*, Alastair Cook (Essex)*, Andrew Flintoff (Lancashire) * , James Foster (Essex), Stephen Harmison (Durham)*, Robert Key (Kent), Amjad Khan (Kent), Dimitri Mascarenhas (Hampshire), Sajid Mahmood (Lancashire), Monty Panesar (Northamptonshire)*, Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire)+, Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire)*, Matthew Prior (Sussex) +, Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Owais Shah (Middlesex) +, Andrew Strauss (Middlesex)*, Ryan Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire)*, Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire) +, Michael Vaughan (Yorkshire)*, Luke Wright (Sussex) +

* denotes centrally contracted player
+ denotes players on ECB increment contracts


So Mahmood who's a long proven pie-chucker, was awful on the England Lions tour (9 wickets at over 50), is basically not good enough to make Lancashire's first team is in there.

"Two players who have earned the right to be in the squad are James Foster and Sajid Mahmood. They are pressing for a place in the England squads" - Geoff Miller

Just unbelievable.


Meanwhile Mark Davies who ripped NZ A's top order to shreds twice and has insane bowling averages for Durham (ie well below 20 per wicket average in FC for the last 3-4 seasons) is ignored. It's an absolute disgrace, how much longer before Geoff Miller does the honourable thing and resigns?

Scaly piscine said:

Just unbelievable.

Click to expand...

Here is the problem. It should be unbelievable but unfortunately this is no suprise.

I have zero respect for the England selectors. It has been bad before but now they dont know who they like and dont even trust their bad judgement. Woeful.

Well at least you can’t blame the selectors for having a Southern bias, or can you?

Yes.

Anyway, as Kev says, this isn't exactly terribly surprising. Nor does it make the remotest sense to blame Geoff Miller - almost anyone else who might have got the position would be making the same decisions, as demonstrated by the minimal amount of criticism so many terrible selections by both him and his predecessors have received in The Press.

The simple truth is England selection has had much wrong with it for as long as I can remember - and probably for a long time before I can remember, as well. I have pretty much never seen an international selector, from any country, who has done a good job.

Interesting to see that Tremlett is not included, can't say it is all that surprising given his fitness and form last year but doesn't make a great deal of sense given that he was included in the 20twenty list. Think it would be unfair of England to exlude him considering his perfomance in the test's he has played but it is up to him to prove himself this summer.

Pothas said:

Interesting to see that Tremlett is not included, can't say it is all that surprising given his fitness and form last year but doesn't make a great deal of sense given that he was included in the 20twenty list. Think it would be unfair of England to exlude him considering his perfomance in the test's he has played but it is up to him to prove himself this summer.

Click to expand...

Isn't the twenty20 list 30 players?

Scaly piscine said:

It's an absolute disgrace, how much longer before Geoff Miller does the honourable thing and resigns?

Click to expand...

The honourable thing would be harakiri, with Giles Clarke and David Collier standing behind him.

Mahmood is one of very few out and out quick bowlers England have at their disposal. Of course an international cricketer requires much more than this, but this winter has proved we need to find some penetration from somewhere.

With an improvement in accuracy, with no detriment to his pace, Mahmood will be a tricky customer. He needs an electric start to this season to be anywhere near the Ashes squad.

James Foster deservedly included included in the squad.

Mahmood's not even that quick, most of the time he bowls about the same pace as Jimmy Anderson, he just bowls short

What's the logic behind central contracts? Why aren't they issued at the start of the home season, e.g. May?

Bell has a central contract yet has been dumped from the squad; with Shah the incumbent and Bopara/Key prospective alternatives. Why are the ECB picking up his salary if he might not play international cricket this Summer? Or does this mean there's an obligation to return him to the international set up? Ditto Harmison and Sidebottom. And Prior is only on an incremental contract, despite arguably having done enough with the bat at least to secure his place for the Summer. It just seems like a system to reward favourites or those with experience but have underperformed.

As for the squad, no surprises really. Mahmood's been talked up in the press despite indifferent performances. That the usual suspects are being called up time and again reveals the lack of depth in the county game or the myopia of the selectors. Three wicketkeepers though? Wonder if Foster's being considered for the shorter game where Prior hasn't really convinced.

I found it a bit strange that Davies was taken to WI, didn't get a chance but Foster is now ahead of him

Trott must have some serious personality and/or hygeine issues. Topped the Loins' (sic) averages in the "tests" & one-dayers versus NZA and still not in the top 25.

&, surely, if pace is what we're looking for one of Kabir or Jones (S) was the place to look?

superkingdave said:

Mahmood's not even that quick, most of the time he bowls about the same pace as Jimmy Anderson, he just bowls short

Click to expand...

Yeah, its a myth. He isnt slow but he is notch below fast. He is just quick and erratic.

I never take much notice of this thing tbh

Goughy said:

Yeah, its a myth. He isnt slow but he is notch below fast. He is just quick and erratic.

Click to expand...

Mahmood can be exceptionally sharp, that's no myth. Perhaps not every spell, but when everything's right and his rythmn's good, he'll be around 90 mph.

Woodster said:

Mahmood can be exceptionally sharp, that's no myth. Perhaps not every spell, but when everything's right and his rythmn's good, he'll be around 90 mph.

Click to expand...

Jeez, you didnt tell me he hit Craig White pace

So he is high 80s and can hit 90 mph. Thats quick but not fast fast and certainly know where near quick enough to cover his failings. And even then it is fleeting.

Ocasionally hitting 145 kph is nice but hardly rare or a unique skillset.

He isnt even a good county cricketer let alone an international prospect.

If he was hitting 150 kph then I may pay attention. As it is, it is quick but not quick enough.

Woodster said:

Mahmood can be exceptionally sharp, that's no myth. Perhaps not every spell, but when everything's right and his rythmn's good, he'll be around 90 mph.

Click to expand...

Which is about the same speed as Flintoff, Harmison when fit, and only a little higher than Anderson would average (though Jimmy has been known to top 90 as well). When he's as accurate as a David Pleat commentary stint, he really doesn't add anything we haven't already got.

Goughy said:

Jeez, you didnt tell me he hit Craig White pace

So he is high 80s and can hit 90 mph. Thats quick but not fast fast and certainly know where near quick enough to cover his failings. And even then it is fleeting.

Ocasionally hitting 145 kph is nice but hardly rare or a unique skillset.

He isnt even a good county cricketer let alone an international prospect.

If he was hitting 150 kph then I may pay attention. As it is, it is quick but not quick enough.

Click to expand...

He doesn't have the pace to make him the quickest in the world, or not that I know of, admittedly. However, we don't exactly have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to quicks. If he bowls spells in the mid 140's, that would generally make him our quickest bowler.

I don't want to sound like having pace means you're a great bowler, of course it doesn't, but I'm sure his pace will add a little penetration to our samey attack, providing his control has improved.

I believe he is a much better first-class cricketer now, than perhaps the one you may have seen a few seasons back, when he was actually selected for England. A prospect, yes I think he can be.

superkingdave said:

Which is about the same speed as Flintoff, Harmison when fit, and only a little higher than Anderson would average (though Jimmy has been known to top 90 as well). When he's as accurate as a David Pleat commentary stint, he really doesn't add anything we haven't already got.

Click to expand...

I have been a fan and supporter of Harmison for a while, but he has never regained the pace that terrified the opposition. I always want his selection in the hope something may click, but it rarely does, therefore I think Saj would be consistently quicker.

The repeated selections of Mahmood and Harmison illustrate better than anything what I mentioned about England selections of late: the vain chasing of excellence and the incapability of settling for making the best of what you have.

England realise they're never going to be the best around by picking the Hoggards, Kabir Alis, etc. Yes, that's a fair enough realisation. It's simply inestimably frustrating, however, to see utterly terrible bowlers like Mahmood and Harmison repeatedly selected purely because they have one or two attributes of excellent bowlers, despite the fact they have no other attributes to be even half-decent ones.

England could be a semi-decent team currently; the reality is we're currently an utterly ****ing terrible one because our selectors can't settle for making the best of what we've got and aim higher than the calibre of player presently allows.