**Official** England in The West Indies

[badgerhair]

A lot of those criticisms that you level against Chris Gayle have been levelled at Marcus Trescothick as well...

Quite rightly so, too.

I've got no particular desire to drop Tresco: the 214 at The Oval showed that he still knows how to bat properly, and Trescothick batting properly is a very reasonable Test opeing bat indeed.

But it was about the only innings of his in the last year which showed it, and one's beginning to ponder whether Strauss might not turn out to be better value for money these days. I think we probably need something pretty substantial from him on this tour because he's unlikely to face a much friendlier bowling attack for some time, since we won't be going to Zimbabwe.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

his average in SL is 9 and 32 in india. its no coincidence that he scores more against the lower opposition and less against the better opposition.

Both those series were played in Asia in spinning conditions and IMO, only two West Indian batsman can master spin bowling - Lara and Chanderpaul.

Chanderpaul is world class and he's proved it time and time again. His average abroad is 37.36 with 2 hundreds, but he averages 43.40 in his last 15 Tests overseas. Seriously, what more must Chanders do before people rate him?

Sarwan is not world class as yet IMO, but he's certainly not far. His centuries in South Africa came when the rest of the team fell away badly and he was all but the lone stance. Against Australia his hundred was under some of most pressing circumstances you'll find.

Agreed that Gayle's technique isn't all there, but his shot selection has generally improved greatly, which helps a lot. I would pick Gayle ahead of Trescothick though, especially in ODIs. When he gets past 20, he can be lethal.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

thorpe,butcher,vaughan and hussain are definetly more talented than the west indian batting lineup and they definetly bat a lot better abroad then the west indians do

Ridiculous. Who are you to say that Sarwan, Gayle, Hinds, Smith (Devon) and Lara are less talented than Thorpe, Butcher, Vaughan, Hussain.

Ridiculous, but it's not secret that the West Indies don't play well abroad... hence the lack of wins...

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

That should have England's batsmen quaking in their boots.

Cheers,

Mike

Mefinks you're a bit ****y, considering that England weren't exactly cruising against the West Indian bowling.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Err Steve Waugh took 26 Tests :P

Which is almost 30 last I checked.

 

[Swervy]

Mefinks you're a bit ****y, considering that England weren't exactly cruising against the West Indian bowling.

I think England didnt bat as well as they could have done to be honest. WI may have bowled quite well, but England have destroyed better bowling attacks quite a lot in the last few years

 

[Langeveldt]

Nah, but I'd sack Vaughan and replace him with Kadeer Ali, and give Rikki Clarke the new ball

You wouldnt want Ronny Irani or Richard Dawson then??


IMO, the West Indies should stick with Ryan Hinds over Dwayne Smith... I dont think he has the class to repeat his Cape Town heroics... I stand to be proved wrong though

Picking Pedro Collins is a bit of a backstep too, where is Vasbert Drakes/Merv Dillon???

 

[marc71178]

Quite rightly so, too.

I only brought it up because this bloke reckons that only Lara would make the England line-up, and there rates Trescothick above Gayle...

 

[marc71178]

You wouldnt want Ronny Irani or Richard Dawson then??

Irani no longer bowls, and it would be lunacy to open with a spinner, so Rikki's the only man for the job surely!

 

[Langeveldt]

Irani no longer bowls, and it would be lunacy to open with a spinner, so Rikki's the only man for the job surely!

Hehe you win

Recall for Paul Jarvis?

 

[badgerhair]

Mefinks you're a bit ****y, considering that England weren't exactly cruising against the West Indian bowling.

No, they weren't cruising when Edwards and Best were in tandem on a pitch which gave some reasonable help to pace bowlers. Pedro Collins is considerably slower, and so is QPO. It's saying something about WI spin that they won't even pick a spinner in the squad.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[Swervy]

Hehe you win

Recall for Paul Jarvis?

get Derek Pringle back

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

No, they weren't cruising when Edwards and Best were in tandem on a pitch which gave some reasonable help to pace bowlers. Pedro Collins is considerably slower, and so is QPO. It's saying something about WI spin that they won't even pick a spinner in the squad.

Cheers,

Mike

It says that if there's no spinner good or fit enough to pick, don't pick any at all.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

I think England didnt bat as well as they could have done to be honest. WI may have bowled quite well, but England have destroyed better bowling attacks quite a lot in the last few years

I think quite a lot is a bit of an exaggeration.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Picking Pedro Collins is a bit of a backstep too, where is Vasbert Drakes/Merv Dillon???

Lol. Spot the irony. Vasbert Drakes certainly isn't young and picking him or Mervyn Dillon would be about as much of a backstep as Collins. As I've said before, Mervyn Dillon has been treated very unfairly, as the West Indies selectors don't seem to consider him a half-decent bowler (they picked Sanford!). Collins does offer a bit of variation though...

 

[badgerhair]

Lol. Spot the irony. Vasbert Drakes certainly isn't young and picking him or Mervyn Dillon would be about as much of a backstep as Collins. As I've said before, Mervyn Dillon has been treated very unfairly, as the West Indies selectors don't seem to consider him a half-decent bowler (they picked Sanford!). Collins does offer a bit of variation though...

I thought I gathered from some of the TV commentary during T1 that Dillon was out of favour because he was thought to be less than 100% committed to the cause - and I'd agree that the last thing WI need right now is a player who isn't filled with a burning desire to win. Sanford may be rubbish, but he does try hard, and maybe the selectors think that's more important. (That doesn't mean, as an opposition supporter, that I'm at all unhappy to see Sanford being picked ahead of Dillon, though.)

Cheers,

Mike

 

[Craig]

Lol. Spot the irony. Vasbert Drakes certainly isn't young and picking him or Mervyn Dillon would be about as much of a backstep as Collins. As I've said before, Mervyn Dillon has been treated very unfairly, as the West Indies selectors don't seem to consider him a half-decent bowler (they picked Sanford!). Collins does offer a bit of variation though...

Just because Collins offers variation, it doent make him of Test standard.

 

[Mister Wright]

Just because Collins offers variation, it doent make him of Test standard.

As Nathan Bracken proved...

 

[tooextracool]

A lot of those criticisms that you level against Chris Gayle have been levelled at Marcus Trescothick as well...

and where in the world have i made one good comment about trescothick???trescothick is the worst test batsmen in the team AFAIC, even worse than giles.just gotta wonder how long the selectors are gonna keep persisting with him...i hope they dont till the next test match at the oval

 

[tooextracool]

Both those series were played in Asia in spinning conditions and IMO, only two West Indian batsman can master spin bowling - Lara and Chanderpaul.

and yet u rate sarwan and gayle so highly???at least sarwan has hope...he has a reasonably good technique and is getting better...IMO gayle hasnt changed a bit since he made his debut.

I only brought it up because this bloke reckons that only Lara would make the England line-up, and there rates Trescothick above Gayle...

i dont understand this!!where in the world have i included trescothick in this??read my post below carefully before u reply...

to think u are actually comparing chanderpaul,gayle,hinds,lara,sarwan and smith to vaughan,butcher,hussain,thorpe and flintoff is ludicrous. bar lara any batsman from that english 5 is better than any of those WI batsmen including chanderpaul who is nothing more than a decent player. IMO even collingwood who is on the bench is a better player than gayle,hinds and sarwan.

both are useless IMO and it is impossible to say who is a better test batsman between gayle and trescothick...it is like saying who is a better batsman between courtney walsh and danny morrison!!

Ridiculous. Who are you to say that Sarwan, Gayle, Hinds, Smith (Devon) and Lara are less talented than Thorpe, Butcher, Vaughan, Hussain.

Ridiculous, but it's not secret that the West Indies don't play well abroad... hence the lack of wins...

u have just contradicted urself there...if the west indies dont play so well abroad while england are decent abroad...both with useless bowling attacks clearly englands batting is more talented than the west indies.