***Official*** Bangladesh in England

[lord_of_darkness]

Err.. what?

Doh!.. i just saw the time and was like woo another 27 mins to start.. failed to check the date was for 26th! ahh

 

[marc71178]

And also the time zones

 

[a massive zebra]

Strange selection from Bangla. The experienced Baisya and promising Enamul dropped in favour of Shahadat Hossain and Anwar Hossain Monir who have played a combined total of 1 Test and taken no wickets.

 

[Steulen]

England batting line-up:

Strauss Trescothick Vaughan Bell Thorpe Flintoff G.Jones Batty Hoggard S.Jones Harmison.

as reported by the BBC.

Giles out with a hip injury.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Strange selection from Bangla. The experienced Baisya and promising Enamul dropped in favour of Shahadat Hossain and Anwar Hossain Monir who have played a combined total of 1 Test and taken no wickets.

Enamul dropped for Shahadat I can agree with. Anwar Hossain Monir...well, he must have impressed in training...

There's no doubt that Tapash Baisya definitely isn't Test standard, though.

 

[a massive zebra]

I also think Reid should have been selected for this series in place of the other Jones. The Notts man is clearly the best wicketkeeper in the northern hemisphere but could not hold down a Test place because his batting was dire. First and firemost, a keeper needs to have the ability to do his job, but Jones truely is a real liability behind the stumps, and has been since the outset of his Test career. He has scored very few runs recently and this series could have given Reid the opportunity to establish himself as a decent Test batsman.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

I also think Reid should have been selected for this series in place of the other Jones. The Notts man is clearly the best wicketkeeper in the northern hemisphere but could not hold down a Test place because his batting was dire. First and firemost, a keeper needs to have the ability to do his job, but Jones truely is a real liability behind the stumps, and has been since the outset of his Test career. He has scored very few runs recently and this series could have given Reid the opportunity to establish himself as a decent Test batsman.

He looks a bit old to me

*/hair splitting mode off*

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Good decision to insert Vaughan at 3, I think. England need someone stable and experienced in there, and Vaughan had to put his hand up and take on the responsibility.

 

[marc71178]

Giles out with a hip injury.

And Bangladesh become odds on to win.

 

[marc71178]

Good decision to insert Vaughan at 3, I think.

Confirms Butcher and Key are well out of favour.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Batty's a very lucky boy. He hasn't exactly started the season in prime form. I hope Ash being rested is a purely precautionary thing. Swann, who may've run Batty close for selection, missed Notts last game thru injury too, so Batty's been doubly fortunate.

Part of me still thinks we shoulda used the chance to give KP a run out & relied on Vaughan & him for a bit of spin. A coupla times in SA I thought 6 looked a place too high for Freddie. No disrespect to Bangla, but they're really the warm up for the main event. Batty won't have a say in the destination of The Ashes; KP at a slight stretch might.

This has been a party political broadcast of behalf of the "Kevin Pietersen for England" party.

 

[wpdavid]

Batty's a very lucky boy. He hasn't exactly started the season in prime form. I hope Ash being rested is a purely precautionary thing. Swann, who may've run Batty close for selection, missed Notts last game thru injury too, so Batty's been doubly fortunate.

Part of me still thinks we shoulda used the chance to give KP a run out & relied on Vaughan & him for a bit of spin. A coupla times in SA I thought 6 looked a place too high for Freddie. No disrespect to Bangla, but they're really the warm up for the main event. Batty won't have a say in the destination of The Ashes; KP at a slight stretch might.

This has been a party political broadcast of behalf of the "Kevin Pietersen for England" party.

Sounds about right to me. Not that we should need the extra batter against Bang, of course, but we shouldn't need the 5th bowler either. As you say, it's stretching credulity beyond breaking point to see Battty doing a thing against Aus, so why pick him now?

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Sounds about right to me. Not that we should need the extra batter against Bang, of course, but we shouldn't need the 5th bowler either. As you say, it's stretching credulity beyond breaking point to see Battty doing a thing against Aus, so why pick him now?

Eases the bowling burden on Flintoff, perhaps? After all, he's just come back from a serious ankle injury?

Plus the: We need a spinner, of course

 

[tooextracool]

Part of me still thinks we shoulda used the chance to give KP a run out & relied on Vaughan & him for a bit of spin. A coupla times in SA I thought 6 looked a place too high for Freddie. No disrespect to Bangla, but they're really the warm up for the main event. Batty won't have a say in the destination of The Ashes; KP at a slight stretch might.

personally i'd play bell and pieterson in the 2nd test and let thorpe have a rest. then theres also the ODIs and really if pieterson does manage to hammer mcgrath and co in those, he'd push himself very close for the first ashes test selection.

 

[badgerhair]

Sounds about right to me. Not that we should need the extra batter against Bang, of course, but we shouldn't need the 5th bowler either. As you say, it's stretching credulity beyond breaking point to see Battty doing a thing against Aus, so why pick him now?

Given the loyalty of the selectors and their general intent to give people a "good run" (whatever that actually means for a backup spinner), under what circumstances do you see Batty being given the elbow for non-performance unless he plays? To my way of thinking, the sooner he is exposed as a charlatan (as far as Tests are concerned at least), the better. Let us hope that he gets a good long bowl and that Ashtrayful and Rahim take him to bits.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[superkingdave]

Michael Vaughan wins the toss (shock horror) and puts Bangladesh in on a bright sunny day, Bashar says he would have bowled as well.

 

[superkingdave]

good start for Bangladesh and a few no balls around, bit of rain too.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Anybody know why cricinfo is claiming that the minimum number of overs to be bowled today is 100?

 

[Scaly piscine]

Number of no-balls is getting beyond a joke

 

[Scaly piscine]

I think that was the easiest slip catch I've ever seen.