***Official*** England in Sri Lanka

[Prince EWS]

Back in the days of yore of Alec Stewart (where the wicketkeeper was a top-order batsman first and wicketkeeper second, the way it should be ) and of Craig White, England played proper batsmen all the way down to eight; they then played three bowlers with First-Class centuries and averages in the 20s in Dominic Cork, Andy Caddick and Darren Gough at nine, ten and eleven.

No, things aren't what they used to be. Those long-lost days will probably never be seen again.

I meant in comparison to today's "full strength" England team which is exactly what you described. It was a sly dig at Flintoff's batting ability really.

 

[Richard]

Well the "full strength" side would be Flintoff at six and Prior at seven, and I only said one supposed-batsman.

 

[GIMH]

Hopefully Vaughan might be able to do some part-time work, and he > Collingwood by a fair bit.

Forgot about Vaughan's bowling tbh. That would allow us to play three seamers I guess. Sidebottom-Hoggard-Anderson still IMo though

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Do we really want Vaughan bowling with that Knee? surely not worth the risk for just some part time spin.

 

[silentstriker]

Well the "full strength" side would be Flintoff at six and Prior at seven, and I only said one supposed-batsman.

Flintoff should be at seven, Prior at eight, and three other bowlers after that.

 

[Prince EWS]

Flintoff should be at seven, Prior at eight, and three other bowlers after that.

Agreed. But it certainly won't happen.

 

[Richard]

Flintoff should be at seven, Prior at eight, and three other bowlers after that.

As Rob said

Agreed. But it certainly won't happen.

that may be the strongest combination imaginable, but it's not what most people who matter would currently consider our "full-strength" side.

 

[chaminda_00]

Flintoff should be at seven, Prior at eight, and three other bowlers after that.

Meh if your going to play a keeper at 8, you might as well play someone who can keep and play Read or Foster.

 

[Richard]

Foster should be ahead of Prior regardless of wicketkeeping skills IMO.

 

[jammay123]

awta
should happen as foster has matured alot since he played last however mustard will be next in if prior isnt fit with his 'gilchrist like batting'(when this was mentioned by collingwood i laughed uncontrollably for about 20 minutes until i saw him bat where i cried for 20 minutes about how badly he lived up to the hype)

 

[wpdavid]

Strauss dropped apparently, although the full squad hasn't been announced yet.

 

[chalky]

Ramprakash in, backward decision for me.

 

[wpdavid]

Ramprakash in, backward decision for me.

Cricinfo don't seem to think so. Here's the squad.

Michael Vaughan (capt), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Matthew Hoggard, Phil Mustard (wk), Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior (wk), Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann

Harmison will join them if he proves his fitness in SA. Maybe Tremlett will take his place if not.

Only 7 top 6 batsmen, and that's if you regard Bopara in that light. Lets hope enough of them stay fit & firing.

 

[Shoggz]

But he's not in ???

[edit] wpdavid beat me to it! [/edit]

 

[SJS]

England Test squad to tour Sri Lanka:

1. Michael Vaughan (Yorkshire) captain
2. James Anderson (Lancashire)
3. Ian Bell (Warwickshire)
4. Ravi Bopara (Essex)
5. Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire)
6. Paul Collingwood (Durham)
7. Alastair Cook (Essex)
8. Matthew Hoggard (Yorkshire)
9. Philip Mustard (Durham)
10. Monty Panesar (Northamptonshire)
11. Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire)
12. Matthew Prior (Sussex)
13. Owais Shah (Middlesex)
14. Ryan Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire)
15. Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire)

Thats from the ECB's official site

 

[GIMH]

My predicted XI based on the squad:

Vaughan*
Cook
Bell
Pietersen
Collingwood
Shah
Prior
Broad
Sidebottom
Anderson
Panesar

KP or Vaughan will maybe send some spin down. Failing that, maybe they'll play Swann in place of Broad and Bopara in place of Shah...I wouldn't be too confident with that line-up tbh, also, I think it's stiff that broad was selected in place of Tremlett on the back of ODI form. Ah, well.

 

[Prince EWS]

Mustard in the test squad? Deary me. Not even Scaly would have suggested that.

 

[SJS]

My predicted XI based on the squad:

Vaughan*
Cook
Bell
Pietersen
Collingwood
Shah
Prior
Broad
Sidebottom
Anderson
Panesar

KP or Vaughan will maybe send some spin down. Failing that, maybe they'll play Swann in place of Broad and Bopara in place of Shah...I wouldn't be too confident with that line-up tbh, also, I think it's stiff that broad was selected in place of Tremlett on the back of ODI form. Ah, well.

I would love to see how Swann fares in test matches. He and Hogg are my favourite spinners in the world today.

 

[four_or_six]

England Test squad to tour Sri Lanka:

1. Michael Vaughan (Yorkshire) captain
2. James Anderson (Lancashire)
3. Ian Bell (Warwickshire)
4. Ravi Bopara (Essex)
5. Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire)
6. Paul Collingwood (Durham)
7. Alastair Cook (Essex)
8. Matthew Hoggard (Yorkshire)
9. Philip Mustard (Durham)
10. Monty Panesar (Northamptonshire)
11. Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire)
12. Matthew Prior (Sussex)
13. Owais Shah (Middlesex)
14. Ryan Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire)
15. Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire)

Thats from the ECB's official site

Is Tremlett injured? Because in his last few tests he was good, and now he isn't even in the squad.

 

[SJS]

Is Tremlett injured? Because in his last few tests he was good, and now he isn't even in the squad.

No explanation offered for that. I think he should have been there before Broad. Personal opinion