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*Official* England in West Indies

luckyeddie

Cricket Web Staff Member
During my recent visit to UK (end Feb) I bought a Sunday paper. The Sports Section had 20 pages, 8 devoted to soccer, eight to rugby, 2 to cricket and 2 to all other sports.

I would suppose being a cricket journalist in UK is getting to be frustrating as well as a bit insecure (jobwise). No ?
Not a lot of call for cricket in February - especially given the amount of snow we had.
 

luckyeddie

Cricket Web Staff Member
That's because Hull isn't a town/city at all. It's a concrete shanty where the gateway to the underworld is located.
My faith in outdated prejudices and stereotypes is restored.

Hull is indeed a shandy town. Oh, wait - you said 'shanty'.

:unsure:
 

superkingdave

Hall of Fame Member
Looks like Fred is back for Friday, talk of either Harmison or Batty missing out depending on the pitch. Hoping thats not the only change though.
 

Jigga988

State 12th Man
Has to be Harmy missing out surely...

what other changes would you like to see? Not quite sure what England can do with the squad they've brought, the only change I can think of atm is Davies in for Prior...

Anyone got any news on the fitness of Jerome Taylor?
 

oitoitoi

State Vice-Captain
Is Rashid going to get a game or what? Batty is godawful and if the selectors have any hope of him seriously competing against the Aussies and Indians in the future they're even more stupid than I thought, why not try a bit of youth?

Flintoff will probably come in for Harmison (which will be funny because the morons are best chums) though he could come in for Mascarenhas instead. I'm not sure his brand of medium pace will be too successful in the rest of the series and his batting hasn't had the explosiveness he's been picked for. I'd say they should play Davies above Prior but really would his keeping be much better?

Can someone tell me why the Windies won't give Adrian Barath a look in? He seems the perfect opening partner for Gayle in tests.
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
Is Rashid going to get a game or what? Batty is godawful and if the selectors have any hope of him seriously competing against the Aussies and Indians in the future they're even more stupid than I thought, why not try a bit of youth?

Flintoff will probably come in for Harmison (which will be funny because the morons are best chums) though he could come in for Mascarenhas instead. I'm not sure his brand of medium pace will be too successful in the rest of the series and his batting hasn't had the explosiveness he's been picked for. I'd say they should play Davies above Prior but really would his keeping be much better?

Can someone tell me why the Windies won't give Adrian Barath a look in? He seems the perfect opening partner for Gayle in tests.
Yes, yes it would.
 

shivfan

Banned
Barath had a good start to this domestic season, but has tapered off a bit....

Apparently, there's a chink in his armour - short-pitched bowling - and he's been peppered with it. He averages about 47 this season so far. I think he should be averaging 50 or over to get into the team.

Also, he's more of a Test player than an ODI player, IMHO. I still think he's a good prospect for the future, maybe even the tour of England....

As for Taylor, I don't expect to see him play in any of the ODIs....

He'll probably rest with a view to getting fit for the tour of England - and the IPL, of course!
:)
 

oitoitoi

State Vice-Captain
Barath had a good start to this domestic season, but has tapered off a bit....

Apparently, there's a chink in his armour - short-pitched bowling - and he's been peppered with it. He averages about 47 this season so far. I think he should be averaging 50 or over to get into the team.
Give me a young player who is good versus the short ball these days... Still a bit unusual for a Windies player to be weak off the back foot, sign of the times perhaps.

Well in an ideal world he would have to average at least 50 to get into the test side, but there ain't too much competition in WI cricket right now, he certainly averages more than his competitors.
 

oitoitoi

State Vice-Captain
I'd heard that Davies was more batsmen keeper than keeper batsmen but it's a fair point that behind the stumps Prior is as bad as it gets.
 

shivfan

Banned
Give me a young player who is good versus the short ball these days... Still a bit unusual for a Windies player to be weak off the back foot, sign of the times perhaps.

Well in an ideal world he would have to average at least 50 to get into the test side, but there ain't too much competition in WI cricket right now, he certainly averages more than his competitors.
Don't get me wrong - I really think Barath is a WI player in the making. NOt now, though....

These are the domestic batting averages this season so far:

Cricinfo - Records - Regional Four Day Competition, 2008/09 - Most runs

Narsing Deonarine, Floyd Reifer, Dwayne Smith and Ryan HInds have all made more runs than Barath this season, and all four average over 50. But are they all better players than Barath? I don't think so. But I do think Barath will benefit from a little more time in first-class cricket before being blooded at international level....

In addition, Lendl Simmons, Dale Richards and Darren Bravo have played less matches than Barath, for one reason or another, but all three also average over 50 this season so far. I also think the younger Bravo needs to play some more first class cricket.

However, Simmons and Richards have enough first-class experience to have a run of sorts at international level, IMHO....
 

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