***Official England in India***

[SpaceMonkey]

I really thought the English selectors had finally seen sense for once and left a promising spinner to mature first rather than picking him too soon when he was obviously not ready. But they came through in the end and reverted to type!

If he plays then the Indian batsmen will make mince meat out of him. I really do fear for him and England

He goes at nearly 5 an over even in county cricket right now (yes he does take wickets as well). If average county players who usually cant play spin can do that to him i shudder to think what the best players of spin in the world may do!

No harm to have left him be for another year or 2 so he sorted his accuracy out. Leg Spin is notoriously hard to master.

 

[fredfertang]

I can’t help but remember Chris Schofield and his “fast-tracking” into the England side and what a career stopper that was - Rashid, I think, is even younger

He could easily bowl pretty well against India in India and still take 0/150 – if he’s to be blooded sooner rather than later I’d prefer to see it against the WIndies

 

[Richard]

Nasser Hussain probably described the Schofield case best: "OK, so we give him a contract on the basis of Mike Gatting saying he was ready for Test cricket. Well he patently wasn't and probably never will be".

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Nasser Hussain probably described the Schofield case best: "OK, so we give him a contract on the basis of Mike Gatting saying he was ready for Test cricket. Well he patently wasn't and probably never will be".

Schofield was different to Rashid. I can see a lot of potential with Rashid that i never saw when Schofield played for Lancashire in his early career. I just feel Rashid really isnt ready right now. Maybe im wrong, i havent actually seen him bowl for nearly a year, just going on statistics, so maybe he has really improved over the later part of summer / this winter. Unlikely though :P

 

[BoyBrumby]

Amjad a bit of a left field pick, isn't he? Did he even do much for Kent last season?

I've only ever seen him on Sky, but he is genuinely quick or at least was before he did his ACL. Landing the ball on the cut strip rather more problematic.

With no Sid & Broad rated as doubtful for the 1st test are we going to see two spinners & a debut for Swanny?

 

[Richard]

Schofield was different to Rashid. I can see a lot of potential with Rashid that i never saw when Schofield played for Lancashire in his early career. I just feel Rashid really isnt ready right now. Maybe im wrong, i havent actually seen him bowl for nearly a year, just going on statistics, so maybe he has really improved over the later part of summer / this winter. Unlikely though :P

I don't know that Schofield was entirely hopeless TBH, I always thought he had potential. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. Rashid I certainly have some hope for, though perhaps not as much as some people. I certainly don't want him anywhere near the team right now though.

 

[Uppercut]

They're going, and with a full squad, BBC sport says.

 

[jeevan]

They're going, and with a full squad, BBC sport says.

Take a bow, England & Wales touring squad, for going well above and beyond.
It is an act that transcends the sport, which in itself is not worth this.

 

[wpdavid]

Amjad a bit of a left field pick, isn't he? Did he even do much for Kent last season?

I've only ever seen him on Sky, but he is genuinely quick or at least was before he did his ACL. Landing the ball on the cut strip rather more problematic.

With no Sid & Broad rated as doubtful for the 1st test are we going to see two spinners & a debut for Swanny?

Probably. Presumably the top 6 will the same as in the Oval test followed by Prior, Swann, Harmison, Anderson & Panesar. Patel's slaughtering in the ODIs should have killed off any lingering thoughts that India would struggle against one of our part-time spinners.

 

[Richard]

They're going, and with a full squad, BBC sport says.

Thought Flintoff had already pulled-out due to his ankle?

 

[Uppercut]

Thought Flintoff had already pulled-out due to his ankle?

Pffft. They might as well have said he was out due to a fractured spoof.

 

[Richard]

And BTW, the word on Rashid is that he'll "travel with the squad". I don't know whether that's just some sort of mumbo-jumbo to avoid falsely getting his hopes up or whatever, but I suppose it sounds a bit better than "is in the squad".

Presuming Broad recovers from his hamstring in time for the Second Test and on the basis of no-one else going down, I'm guessing the sides for the games will look something like this:
First Test:
Strauss
Cook
Bell
Pietersen
Collingwood
Flintoff
Ambrose \ Prior
Swann
Anderson
Harmison
MSP
Second Test:
Strauss
Cook
Bell
Pietersen
Collingwood
Flintoff
Ambrose \ Prior
Broad
Anderson
Harmison
MSP

Hard to justify making many changes in a two-game rubber.

 

[Uppercut]

On the plus side, we will be having a 12-hour all-night cricketing marathon. I believe at one stage too there'll be SA-Australia overlaps to avoid losing time due to lunchbreaks. If i was a girl i'm pretty sure i'd be wet right now.

 

[IndGunner]

On the plus side, we will be having a 12-hour all-night cricketing marathon. I believe at one stage too there'll be SA-Australia overlaps to avoid losing time due to lunchbreaks. If i was a girl i'm pretty sure i'd be wet right now.

lol.

 

[Arjun]

He's a bit too much of a defensive spinner (strike rate of 64.3 in FC cricket) for my liking.

How does he compare with Pragya Ojha? From what we've seen of Ojha, he doesn't seem to be an attacking spinner at all, trying no harder than to keep an economy under five. That was the topic of debate in that episode.

 

[Precambrian]

It is raining heavily in Chennai and thundershowers are forecast for a week. Will be lucky to get a test here.
http://weather.********.com/tamil_nadu/chennai.html

 

[Richard]

Any chance of an emergency relocation somewhere else again?

 

[Precambrian]

Any chance of an emergency relocation somewhere else again?

Unlikely. Would need to go through all the security routine once again.

Some hope from Yahoo weather which predicts clear skies atleast on the 2nd day of the test match. Crossed fingers though.

 

[G.I.Joe]

Happens every time. Just when you think the BCCI had developed a sense of fairness, albeit an enforced one, you realise they've once again dumped a test on Chennai during the rainy season. Assholes.

 

[Langeveldt]

On the plus side, we will be having a 12-hour all-night cricketing marathon. I believe at one stage too there'll be SA-Australia overlaps to avoid losing time due to lunchbreaks. If i was a girl i'm pretty sure i'd be wet right now.

Not to mention NZ v WI - I'm going for 24 hour cricket marathons.. Or anyone want to do the traditional 26 hours of cricket? Am keen to make an event out of it if anyone in the UK has that little to do.. Only around until Boxing day though