*** Official*** South Africa in England 2017

[Spark]

Urgh, Ballance.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Urgh, Ballance.

Lots of people went Urgh, Bairstow when he got recalled. only player in county cricket to match his run of form since then is Ballance this year. Not saying he will be the answer but his pick isn't as ridiculous as it looks seeing as very few of the supposed contenders have done anything this season.

 

[MW1304]

It is ludicrously conservative to be picking a spinner for their 'control' when we have a six man attack. I'm not even sure I've seen a lot of evidence that he is the spinner with the best control, but when you have so many options you have to pick the best wicket-taking option.

Regardless, Rashid is incredibly hard done by with this selection. I'm not fully convinced he would have succeeded but damn does he deserve a chance over Dawson.

 

[Jarquis]

Comms in the OD final raising a point that he might just be a placeholder selection allowing Rashid and Crane to play in their FC games starting on Monday...

 

[morgieb]

I don't envy the England selectors re: Ballance. He's clearly the best batsman at County level outside of the Test side (only Sangakkara's scored more runs in Division 1 this year), but he's also basically a proven failure at Test level and I have no idea if he's shown any signs of sorting his many techincal frailities. I'd have considered going elsewhere, but there aren't really many better options...

Dawson though...why? He's the personification of a no-rounder. Slap in the face for Rashid, who at least can be a wicket-taking option in the right conditions.

 

[Jarquis]

Bloke averages 40 and is a proven failure, sheesh

 

[MW1304]

Bloke averages 40 and is a proven failure, sheesh

Thought you were talking about Rashid, never mind.

 

[morgieb]

Bloke averages 40 and is a proven failure, sheesh

Yeah but those runs were all at least two years ago. He'd be lucky to be averaging 20 since that West Indies series in 2015.

 

[Jarquis]

That doesn't make him a proven failure though - especially considering the success he has had

 

[morgieb]

That doesn't make him a proven failure though - especially considering the success he has had

Well he's basically a proven failure against quality bowling AFAIC. Else he wouldn't have been dropped twice. And the bigger problem is not merely that he didn't score many runs after his first three series, but looked really bad while doing so. South Africa will probably eat him alive.

 

[vcs]

India made Ballance look like Bradman in 2014. Haven't watched him bat much against other sides. So I still rate him.

 

[S.Kennedy]

I'd support Rashid before Dawson. The Sky pundits on today's county one-dayer final were all confused about Dawson's selection also. They also do not believe you need five seamers in the squad.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Comms in the OD final raising a point that he might just be a placeholder selection allowing Rashid and Crane to play in their FC games starting on Monday...

I guess Lord's is usually a road too so may not suit a spinner so a defensive one may be a better option for this game.

 

[Scaly piscine]

It is ludicrously conservative to be picking a spinner for their 'control' when we have a six man attack. I'm not even sure I've seen a lot of evidence that he is the spinner with the best control, but when you have so many options you have to pick the best wicket-taking option.

Regardless, Rashid is incredibly hard done by with this selection. I'm not fully convinced he would have succeeded but damn does he deserve a chance over Dawson.

I agree, if you want control then England should bowl one of the five seam bowlers, they're much more likely to take a wicket as well. I think Jennings' bowling would be as useful as Dawson's.

The whole idea of having so many batsmen who can bowl is you can pick the best, specialist bowlers, and not have to worry about having a hopeless tail or finding a fifth bowling option. You can even gamble on wrist spinners or something different because of the luxury.

Ballance is also such a typical, feeble England selection.

 

[JRC67]

I agree, if you want control then England should bowl one of the five seam bowlers, they're much more likely to take a wicket as well. I think Jennings' bowling would be as useful as Dawson's.

The whole idea of having so many batsmen who can bowl is you can pick the best, specialist bowlers, and not have to worry about having a hopeless tail or finding a fifth bowling option. You can even gamble on wrist spinners or something different because of the luxury.

Ballance is also such a typical, feeble England selection.

I think there is a worry about the fitness of all 4 main seamers which may have had an impact on the selection. I'm not 100% convinced by Rashid, he's been poor in all bar 6 innings but I'd have liked to have seen him get the first 2 tests. Maybe Stokes isn't going to bowl. For me if they are concerned about the fitness of the other 3 then don't pick one and give TRJ a run. If Stokes is fit to bowl but they want to restrict his work rate then Jennings bowled a decent prolonged spell for the lions so could certainly manage 10 overs. Although I'd have given Rashid a run I think we'd have ended up with Dawson by the end of the summer as in the longer format I think he'll always be inconsistent and as he bowls relatively slowly I think he struggles to get good players out after they've had a look at him.

I can see why Root wants Ballance, although my own view is his technique will be exposed by quality bowlers. Today's innings could be read either way, a decent 50. Look underneath and nearly half the runs off J P Duminy. Against the seamers he got 30 odd at less than 2 runs an over. As Whittaker and Root are big fans (by all accounts Bayliss isnt) it makes sense to see if he can cope with South Africa as I don't think there is a doubt he'll score runs against The West Indies. If he can cope with South Africa you'd think he stood a chance in Australia.

 

[JRC67]

6 months from The Ashes and there must be serious questions over 3 or the likely top 6!

 

[Gob]

6 months from The Ashes and there must be serious questions over 3 or the likely top 6!

Aust got serious questions over 11 of the likely top 11 tbh

 

[S.Kennedy]

I would have much preferred a five test South African series rather than the three West Indies tests plonked on the end.

 

[Spark]

Lots of people went Urgh, Bairstow when he got recalled. only player in county cricket to match his run of form since then is Ballance this year. Not saying he will be the answer but his pick isn't as ridiculous as it looks seeing as very few of the supposed contenders have done anything this season.

Oh no I'm not saying it's a bad selection. Just that I absolutely hate watching him bat.

 

[S.Kennedy]

I remember Ballance batting at Chester-le during an one-dayer soon after he was dropped, and a drunk crowd member kept shouting for all to hear, ''Gary, Gary, move your legs''.