The 16 selected is exactly the 16 I went with this morning after thinking long and hard about which group of players I want there representing us.
Of course 13 of those places were already pretty guaranteed, it just came down to Swanny's back-up and which two of Bresnan, Shahzad and Tremlett would make the trip.
Firstly the seamers, I thought Bresnan would make it and it would come between Shahzad and Tremlett. Bresnan is a solid, if largely unspectacular, performer. He may be relied upon to get 2-70 off 25 overs, with the other two, on their day, more capable of influencing a game with a five-wicket haul. It is on the off days where judgement can be made, Bresnan's figures probably won't be too much different, but Shahzad and Tremlett may only get through 10 overs at over five an over, in a four-man attack you cannot afford to have the Aussies tucking into a man and leaving Strauss with a three-man attack and part-timers.
Bresnan is a safe choice, but which made me think it was a straight shoot-out between Tremlett and Shahzad. Both going would be a gamble, with limited international experience between them. My reason for wanting Tremlett was his natural abilities, to hit the deck, get extra bounce, all at good pace. His 2nd division wickets may mean less, but so long as he showed he was in decent rhythm, and took wickets along the way, the standard was perhaps less important as the management believe he has the attributes to be a success in Test matches.
Shahzad is still somewhat of an unknown. Yes he can bowl decent pace, and much has been made of his reverse swing, will he achieve that with the Kookaburra ball ? Probably to a lesser extent. I think Tremlett is more suited to the Aussie wickets, while Shahzad's development will be enhanced with the back-up squad.
If Adil Rashid was in any of the selectors plans to go to Australia this winter, I would've expected he'd have gone to Bangladesh to earn his stripes, although that was no guarantee to win a place this winter, as Tredwell will testify. They're taking it carefully with Rashid, a debut in Australia would not be ideal, we know Ponting, Clarke and Hussey will be positive against spin, Rashid again would respresent a gamble. The safe option is Panesar, has played in two Ashes series, one in Australia, has rekindled a bit of form this season, and again is a more reliable option.
I think England have been pragmatic in selecting this squad, it may not be construde as exciting, but the decisions they've made, in my opinion, all make some sense, and as back-up players, both their characters and performances can generally be relied upon, if not to win a Test match, they will not let the side down.
