Re: England
Neil Pickup said:
Feel free to bring this up in 2006 and make me look an idiot 
ACADEMY SQUAD
Kadeer Ali (Worcs)
Top order batsman, Kabir's cousin. Has promise and has scored plenty of runs at age group level... but not senior level yet.
Gut feeling: sinking without trace
Simon Francis (Somst)
Pace bowler and injury prone (like we needed another one) - ex-Hants. Not seen too much.
Journeyman County Pro
Alex Gidman (Gloucs)
Hasn't set the World alight but was absolutely fantastic in the Twenty20 final. Useful medium pace.
100+ ODIs and more than a few Tests
Simon Jones (Glam)
We know him. Can he come back from injury properly?
Heart says loads of wickets, head says retired at 28
Shaftab Khalid (Worcs)
Allegedly has a doosra. Will be hoping for Batty to clear off to England and get some CC starts. Could be special.
Fringe of England.. a few Asian tours
Michael Lumb (Yorks)
Another in the line of Yorkie batsmen who the selectors think have got that X factor.
Following Vaughan's footsteps
Sajjid Mahmood (Lancs)
Seamer. That's all I know.
Really don't know...
Graham Napier (Essex)
In the Mark Ealham mould, seamer who can stick around and grit out scores that he probably shouldn't.
ODI man
Scott Newman (Surrey)
Big double ton for the Seconds, will be opening for Surrey this year post-Ward
Will follow Ward into England.. and out again
Kevin Pietersen (Notts)
Tons of potential - but has the nationalisation Hicked him?
Several England chances... but no real success
+Matt Prior (Sussex)
Likely to be in Read's shadow until the Notts man drops the baton
ODI stand in? Will struggle to displace Read
Bilal Shafayat (Notts)
Hasn't stepped up to County level from U19s. Temperament remains a question - likely to remain an enigma
Either the New Botham, or a complete failure
James Tredwell (Kent)
Useful offspinner and utility batsman. Safe in the field
ODIs abound and an Asian tour or three
Graeme Wagg (Warks)
Allrounder yet to show real form at senior level
Road to obscurity
My take on this lot:
Wagg: excuse for a batsman, excuse for a bowler. Hopefully will never get close to the England set-up.
Tredwell: useless fingerspinner, excuse for a batsman. Hopefully will never play for England; Batty and Dawson is bad enough.
Shafayat: seems to have bags of potential, still yet to show it at county level. Wasn't Botham an all-rounder, not a batsman who bowled a little bit?
Matthew Prior: slogger who benefits from the size of the Hove ground almost as much as Blackwell benefits from the size of the excuse for a ground at Taunton. Decent enough wicketkeeper, not a patch on Geirant Jones as a batsman. Jones will hopefully be number-one Test 'keeper before long. Read can keep the ODI spot as long as his averages keep rising.
Pietersen: still seems a bit too much of a biffer, hopefully he can learn some discretion before he starts playing for England. Interestingly, though, has had success in not just First-Class but one-day-cricket too. Unlike the indescriminate sloggers like Blackwell. This suggests something to me. I have genuine hopes for this fellow, and hopefully the wait will spruce-up his hunger.
Newman: actually looked OK in 2002. Will definately start with Butcher or Batty next season barring mishap. I think he could be another Ward - but if he gets an England chance, please don't let it be a complete waste of yet another opener in the middle-order.
Napier: if he's ever gritted-out an innings I'll eat my computer. One of the worst sloggers I've ever seen. And to compare him to Mark Ealham is an insult to the game of cricket, let alone Ealhie himself. Ealhie isn't someone who bowls 3 bad deliveries an over, more like 1 every 3 overs. Napier is the former.
Mahmood: seems a better prospect than some. Still not county standard yet, though, and with Martin, Chapple, Flintoff, Anderson, Hogg, Schofield and Hooper at his county he's got some dislodging to do.
Lumb: immensely overrated. Not in my best Yorkshire XI.
Khalid: almost identical to Saqlain, uncanny, even looks quite like him. Definately bowls the doosra; accuracy, unlike the other proprietors of it (Saqlain and Harbhajan), leaves something to be desired. No good having an off-break or a doosra if you can't pitch them. Sort that out, get him to move somewhere that helps spin a bit more, and then we'll be getting somewhere - we might have another spinner who can go to the subcontinent and help us win series'.
Jones: never rated him, if he comes back and gets hammered it'll be "he was never the same after his injury". My bet is he'll be exposed as not especially good and everyone will blame the fall at The 'Gabba.
Gidman: first of all, what the **** does Twenty20 have to do with anything? It's not something that's going to aid the development of cricketers - it's just there to hopefully make a bit of cash. Anyway, Gidman as far as I'm concerned is a useless, wayward bowler and a batsman with no particular ability in either game form. Had a reasonable season in List-A cricket last year, and got twin 50s when the pressure was really on him in the CC.
Francis - not even close to county standard. What anyone sees in him I haven't the faintest.
Kadeer - read Shafayat, but fortunately no-one seems to think he can bowl too.
