luckyeddie
Cricket Web Staff Member
Wholesale changes are inevitable - although not necessarily from a personnel standpoint.The Argonaut said:
It's sad about Goughie - he was the inspiration of the English bowling attack and others sparked off him. Sorry to say that injuries have taken their toll.
Anderson is green and is nowhere near the finished article - the run-up is a real worry, though. Needs work in the next week.
Giles - steadily improved in the two tests with the ball, hung his bat out to dry for both dismissals. Could well do with combining his net practice with Anderson - lock the pair up until Anderson can get off the pitch and Giles goes back to whacking stuff a foot outside off.
Harmison - tried his guts out as always, but I wish Devon Malcolm was 15 years younger (or Willis or John Snow or Fred Trueman or....). He isn't, Jones isn't fit either so Harmy it is - for now at least.
After the first two days at Lord's, Freddie was out, cast to the wolves, never to return (for a bit anyway). What happened, I don't know, but instead of the head dropping onto his chest some remarkable change occurred - the chest pumped out, the head came up and he bowled with real character. With 3 dollies dropped off his bowling plus a couple of "Yours"es through the slips, it's not a huge leap of the imagination to see Flintoff's name on the honours board with a 'five-for'. As for his batting - the ineptitude and brainache of Thursday became a Botham-esque virtuoso performance yesterday. More to the point, in the early point of his innings, he resisted the hook and only really cut loose later. A 10/10 performance.
The batting - there will definitely be calls for wholesale changes but the thing that was missing in this game from an English batting perspective wasn't ability - it was discipline. Batsmen hate it if they are not laying bat on ball (obvious) so they end up having a waft. I suggest that every English batsman watch the two innings played by Graeme Smith - not for the balls he hits but for the ones he doesn't - and learn very quickly.
Yesterday, those small lapses in concentration haunted England for a second time in the match - and t was arguably worse than the first innings. No, not the performance - that was an improvement - but the aggressive wafts returned after the batsmen had become established almost to a point of dominance.
So - who's in, who's out?
Read for Stewart will happen for sure - the only point is, when? I was hoping for sentiment's sake that it would be after The Oval, but I reckon the sooner the better.
Nasser? The wild yahoo of the first innings was followed by the wild yahoo of the second. In between was a grassed dolly and an innings of exceptional character - until the all-too-familiar (over the last few days) hook. May make way for Thorpe (if his back doesn't hurt, his toenails don't need cutting, he doesn't get a bit of sunburn this week or his alarm clock goes off). May get one more go, though.
McGrath has played his last test this year, for sure. Ed Smith's form warrants a go now, not against Bangladesh. If Hussain stays in the side for Trent Bridge, an untried Smith is a better option than 'Club before country'.
Gough - sorry. Go back to your county, take some wickets and come back next year. James Kirtley gets my vote.
So that's 3 definite changes, a possibility of a couple of others and a huge change in approach by the batters. As Otto would say "Don't choke don't choke don't choke - Ohhh. I choked!"
