wpdavid
Hall of Fame Member
You'd be relying on Stokes being fit enough to operate as our 3rd seamer and Root being our 5th bowler. Which we'll probably see at some stage.
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England players and selection discussion thread
- Thread starter Bijed
- Start date
wpdavid
Hall of Fame Member
Do you think that Woakes has improved since the last Ashes in Australia? Genuine question. I think he may have done, but I'm no expert.
BoyBrumby
Englishman
Don't get me wrong, I think Leach is decent and very probably our best test spinner (the only serious competition is Mo and Rashid, and I thought the former was flattered by his return in the second test and the latter seems content to focus on the white ball stuff) but he's not a Derek Underwood (or even a Monty Panesar, really) so if our seamers were (say) Archer, Broad and Anderson, his position in the XI is going to be looked at.
I really don't think Bess is up to it currently (the boy is only 23, a child in spinning years, so he might yet come good), Virdi seems to be the next cab off the rank, but his batting looks even more of the rabbit persuasion than Jack's, so maybe there's a road back for Dawson?
What's Scott Borthwick up to nowadays?!
I really don't think Bess is up to it currently (the boy is only 23, a child in spinning years, so he might yet come good), Virdi seems to be the next cab off the rank, but his batting looks even more of the rabbit persuasion than Jack's, so maybe there's a road back for Dawson?
What's Scott Borthwick up to nowadays?!
Part of me still suspects that Moeen would still actually be the best option for home Tests but Leach does deserve his spot right now. You wonder if they might consider just using Root to bowl a bit of spin in Australia, at least for some of the games.
Be interesting to see if Ollie Robinson gets a go at some point, he can bat can't he? (although Archer was supposed to be able to) Craig Overton another one who we might see again, had a very good season last year. As I said before it is weird because there was a time when seemingly almost every England bowler could bat pretty well. Woakes playing more and improving abroad probably the best solution, especially as he is likely going to have to play a key role when Anderson finally retires.
Be interesting to see if Ollie Robinson gets a go at some point, he can bat can't he? (although Archer was supposed to be able to) Craig Overton another one who we might see again, had a very good season last year. As I said before it is weird because there was a time when seemingly almost every England bowler could bat pretty well. Woakes playing more and improving abroad probably the best solution, especially as he is likely going to have to play a key role when Anderson finally retires.
grecian
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
There used to be a discussion that except when Flintoff was in his absolute prime, he was a liability in Tests for England, as he wasn't quite in our best 6 bats or best bowlers, again when not in his prime few years.
Leach is better than Panesar I reckon, and better than Mo or Rashid, but as much as I think he's our best spinner I'll admit he's not undroppable.Don't get me wrong, I think Leach is decent and very probably our best test spinner (the only serious competition is Mo and Rashid, and I thought the former was flattered by his return in the second test and the latter seems content to focus on the white ball stuff) but he's not a Derek Underwood (or even a Monty Panesar, really) so if our seamers were (say) Archer, Broad and Anderson, his position in the XI is going to be looked at.
I really don't think Bess is up to it currently (the boy is only 23, a child in spinning years, so he might yet come good), Virdi seems to be the next cab off the rank, but his batting looks even more of the rabbit persuasion than Jack's, so maybe there's a road back for Dawson?
What's Scott Borthwick up to nowadays?!
In England, Moeen's record is pretty great, so you can see the case at home, but away, I tend to agree with Pothas there's a definite case to not play a spinner in Oz.
wpdavid
Hall of Fame Member
That's an interesting thought actually, and it slipped by me when I originally read Pothas' post. Right now, that might be our least bad option next winter. If we're rotating the older guys and the quicker guys, you could make a case for Woakes, Curran, Archer or Stone and Broad or Anderson out there. Maybe that's over-thinking things, and it would depend on conditions, but Curran's leftie golden arm could provide useful variety and batting down to number 9 has its appeal. We may even see that at home this summer, especially at the start of the season.
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Lillian Thomson
Hall of Fame Member
I just had a look at this Jimmy Anderson quiz. I couldn't be arsed to do the quiz itself, but I had a look at the answers just to confirm that not all players the England selectors choose are necessarily steeped in greatness.
James Anderson quiz: Name all his 96 Test team-mates - BBC Sport
James Anderson quiz: Name all his 96 Test team-mates - BBC Sport
PavlovsDog
School Boy/Girl Cricketer
I wonder if Anderson will stick around long enough to get this list up to 100 team mates.
honestbharani
Whatever it takes!!!
I am sure he will play the next test, tbh.
wpdavid
Hall of Fame Member
Indeed it is, so it comes down to whether it's actually less terrible than the other options. I'm willing to jump onto the Malan bandwagon of only to give me a bit of hope between now and the start of the series. I certainly wouldn't play Pope or Lawrence at 3, so I'm with you there. Which brings us to which of those two should bat at 6. It would be nice to be able to clone some sort of composite batsman where Pope faces the first 20 or so deliveries until he reaches 20 and then Lawrence takes over. Failing that, I could argue for and against each of them. Given how terribly Pope played the Indian spinners in the winter and given the current heatwave, maybe pick Lawrence.
Robinson's unlucky not to be picked, as, to a lesser extent, is Stone. But if pushed I'd probably start with your choices too. I thought we missed Woakes terribly at Edgbaston, and if he doesn't get picked for our remaining home tests, then I think he's entitled to sue. Robinson and Stone will probably get to play once we start rotating the bowlers anyway. Not sure where to put Wood in that mix. And finally, whilst admitting that I've been on wrong on this one more than once, I wonder whether Anderson's returns against NZ are simply a couple of poor tests or down to something more terminal. Obviously he's entitled to a fair bit of leeway, but I've seen the likes of Fraser, Gough and Willis play a series too many and it really can go quite quickly.
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wpdavid
Hall of Fame Member
I did think about starting one of those instead of stinking out the England vs NZ thread. I'll see how I feel today, as it's my day off work. If so, it may be a rather long OP.
wpdavid
Hall of Fame Member
Talking of Ollie Robinson, I read someone suggesting that the Kent keeper of that name should have played once Foakes was injured. I can't claim to know much at all about this player, but I do like the idea of both Ollie Robinsons playing for the side at some stage, especially when the keeper takes a catch off his namesake. Not something that can have happened very often, and far more exciting than the Stokes, Foakes, Woakes thing.
wpdavid
Hall of Fame Member
Not convinced that he'll see another four as most of the guys being suggested for the India series have played before and I don't think we'll be taking many newbies to Australia.
Red_Ink_Squid
Global Moderator
Might as well drop the pretence that we have any batsmen not named 'Root'.
Curran
Stokes
Moeen
Root
Woakes
Buttler
Robinson
Stone
Wood
Broad
Anderson
COverton unlucky. Archer to return when fit.
Curran
Stokes
Moeen
Root
Woakes
Buttler
Robinson
Stone
Wood
Broad
Anderson
COverton unlucky. Archer to return when fit.