***Official*** Sri Lanka in England and Ireland 2014

[grecian]

Ravi takes the vital last wicket WAG.

So decent performances from Anderson, Bell, Ballance, Gurney, Root, Tredders and Jordan. Nice to see us performing through the ranks. Certainly looks like there's some promise.

 

[Prince EWS]

I do like the idea of Ballance being given a run at the ODI #3 spot in Trott's absence. He really knows how to pace a long OD innings so if his technique holds up he'll be great there.

 

[YorksLanka]

I do like the idea of Ballance being given a run at the ODI #3 spot in Trott's absence. He really knows how to pace a long OD innings so if his technique holds up he'll be great there.

He is certainly more entertaining to watch and he is a Yorkshireman too

 

[viriya]

I do like the idea of Ballance being given a run at the ODI #3 spot in Trott's absence. He really knows how to pace a long OD innings so if his technique holds up he'll be great there.

He has a great domestic record.. must be licking his lips at the chance of debuting in Tests vs the SL and Ind bowling attacks at home..

 

[91Jmay]

Ballance also has the capability to clear the rope (albeit limited scoring range) late on. ODI side isn't an area I am massively concerned about to be honest. We not world beaters but if this team (+ or - one or two) are given a consistent run up to the W.C it shouldn't be a bad side.

 

[theegyptian]

Meh we (England) had a chance of winning the world cup, now we don't have a realistic chance. Just lost too much quality in the last year. Trott, KP, Finn and Swann. Shame because as I said I thought we had a genuine chance to compete and it would have been our best chance for a long time.

Need to find some bowlers for 2019. Batting looks potentially good albeit a lot can happen in 5 years.

 

[91Jmay]

Tredders has been a better ODI bowler than Swann for two years. Finn hasn't died last I checked. Ballance needs to be Trott (difficult but not impossible). KP is irreplacable, but we bat deeper (and more importantly hit it further deeper) than we have for ages. We should win one knock-out game I would hope.

 

[viriya]

If Eng can sort out their bowling they can surprise at the WC

 

[grecian]

Tredders has been a better ODI bowler than Swann for two years. Finn hasn't died last I checked. Ballance needs to be Trott (difficult but not impossible). KP is irreplacable, but we bat deeper (and more importantly hit it further deeper) than we have for ages. We should win one knock-out game I would hope.

KPs record over the last five years is hardly Irreplaceable in 50-overs stuff. He'd be in my team, but gawd let's not do this "he's not playing so he'd have scored a ton every innings thing" we're not Pers Morgan FFS. We miss him massively in T20 though.

Tredders is a fascinating case, you keep on thinking he'll be found out yet here he is 32 matches in, averaging 25 at nicely under 5 an over. Swann hardly seemed to play for awhile so not sure how long we've been "missing" him.

Root is probably under-rated too, he can accelerate, and Ballance is a true talent. Would like Vince to be in the mix. There's plenty of potential here. Egyptian seems unduly down on Gurney and Jordan, who are better than their replacements by miles. I think the bowling has potential with hopefully the likes of Finn, Willey, Wood, Mills, Overtons to come.

We certainly still need to occasionally step-up in the middle-overs and not be dominated by spin, yet it's happened for so long I've almost given up.

Of course picking Stokes may ruin things, but there ya go.

 

[Daemon]

Does Buttler always bat this low? Or do England just bump him up or down depending on the situation?

 

[YorksLanka]

Power hitting at the end of an innings is invaluable...

 

[91Jmay]

He bats 7 normally in ODIs but higher in T20.

 

[theegyptian]

KPs record over the last five years is hardly Irreplaceable in 50-overs stuff. He'd be in my team, but gawd let's not do this "he's not playing so he'd have scored a ton every innings thing" we're not Pers Morgan FFS. We miss him massively in T20 though.

Tredders is a fascinating case, you keep on thinking he'll be found out yet here he is 32 matches in, averaging 25 at nicely under 5 an over. Swann hardly seemed to play for awhile so not sure how long we've been "missing" him.

Root is probably under-rated too, he can accelerate, and Ballance is a true talent. Would like Vince to be in the mix. There's plenty of potential here. Egyptian seems unduly down on Gurney and Jordan, who are better than their replacements by miles. I think the bowling has potential with hopefully the likes of Finn, Willey, Wood, Mills, Overtons to come.

We certainly still need to occasionally step-up in the middle-overs and not be dominated by spin, yet it's happened for so long I've almost given up.

Of course picking Stokes may ruin things, but there ya go.

You're talking like the next world cup is in 4 years. It's in 9 months. How are Finn, Overton, Mills gonna be ready for that?

Wood can hardly stay on the pitch for two games in a row. Joverton and Mills are as erratic as it gets and aren't automatic selection for their counties in OD stuff. Finn's got a long way back. Just because Jordan can bowl a few bouncers at sri lankan lower middle order bats doesn't make him a good od bowler.

The biggest two losses are Finn and Trott. Finn offered a cutting edge to the bowling on flat wickets that now is again missing. And Trott was the anchor around which the team played.

KP did nothing for ages in 50 over cricket but he's the type of player you need if you want to win a world cup. He's capable of winning a game that you maybe shouldn't in the knockouts against a good bowling attack. He needs something riding on the game to really get into it.

The team they were building for the 2015 world cup was a good one with a realistic chance of winning it. Things happen. It's an average team now with a very slim chance of winning it.

 

[grecian]

You're talking like the next world cup is in 4 years. It's in 9 months. How are Finn, Overton, Mills gonna be ready for that?

Wood can hardly stay on the pitch for two games in a row. Joverton and Mills are as erratic as it gets and aren't automatic selection for their counties in OD stuff. Finn's got a long way back. Just because Jordan can bowl a few bouncers at sri lankan lower middle order bats doesn't make him a good od bowler.

The biggest two losses are Finn and Trott. Finn offered a cutting edge to the bowling on flat wickets that now is again missing. And Trott was the anchor around which the team played.

KP did nothing for ages in 50 over cricket but he's the type of player you need if you want to win a world cup. He's capable of winning a game that you maybe shouldn't in the knockouts against a good bowling attack. He needs something riding on the game to really get into it.

The team they were building for the 2015 world cup was a good one with a realistic chance of winning it. Things happen. It's an average team now with a very slim chance of winning it.

Well I rank Jordan, so I' won't get into that, but Finn is still around. So you have Anderson, Gurney, Broad, Finn and despite your dislike of him Jordan. The others I mentioned are raw talents, to come in if injuries to the solid base. 9 months is perfectly enough time for a young un to mature.

Trott's a miss but Ballance is looking good, I really don't see what has massively hurt us, and without Bres and Dernbach the bowling looks better.

 

[91Jmay]

Ballance/Root make up for Trott (especially when you look at some of the other options we were trying in the side with him). Finn has taken 29 @ 20 this year. Why are you assuming he is completely lost?

 

[theegyptian]

Well I rank Jordan, so I' won't get into that, but Finn is still around. So you have Anderson, Gurney, Broad, Finn and despite your dislike of him Jordan. The others I mentioned are raw talents, to come in if injuries to the solid base. 9 months is perfectly enough time for a young un to mature.

Trott's a miss but Ballance is looking good, I really don't see what has massively hurt us, and without Bres and Dernbach the bowling looks better.

Dernbach wouldn't have been anyway near a full strength team. He just came in when they took the t20 squad to WI and before that when short on bowling because of resting players. Bresnan also would have been a squad player.

I don't dislike Jordan. I've been one of the most pro jordan guys on here. I just don't think he's that good an ODI bowler at present. In the top 3 or 4 we have but not good internationally. Gurney as well has played two games. Hardly time to provide judgement on him. Pretty sure Dernbach had a good debut. And FInn seems to be included in your list but it seems unlikely he will make the world cup, and even if he does it's hard to see him being the attacking threat he was less than two years ago.

You've lost a whole lot of quality and experience and replaced them with lesser players. Trott and Finn were key players.

 

[theegyptian]

Ballance/Root make up for Trott (especially when you look at some of the other options we were trying in the side with him). Finn has taken 29 @ 20 this year. Why are you assuming he is completely lost?

Ballance or Root don't make up for Trott. He averaged 51 @ 77 sr. Maybe together they will have a similar impact.

Finn probably won't be lost permanently but he hasn't been selected for these ODI's. It's very unlikely they're going to trust him or be bowling well enough for the world cup. Finn was outstanding for 18 months or so. One of the best odi bowlers in the world and gave an edge to the attack that we didn't have before or since. He's taken wickets this season but the reports are that he's still erratic and struggling this season. Good days and bad days.

 

[Watson33]

I agree with you that Root/Ballance won't replace Trott. He was definitely England's 'Mr. Dependable' and was a solid foundation to build an ODI innings around, regardless of what people thought of his strike rate.

 

[viriya]

I think if Eng find a way to bring Hales to the top of the ODI order and settle their bowling unit they can surprise teams in the WC. They will be familiar with the conditions, but will probably struggle to beat Aus/SA still.

 

[grecian]

Dernbach wouldn't have been anyway near a full strength team. He just came in when they took the t20 squad to WI and before that when short on bowling because of resting players. Bresnan also would have been a squad player.

I don't dislike Jordan. I've been one of the most pro jordan guys on here. I just don't think he's that good an ODI bowler at present. In the top 3 or 4 we have but not good internationally. Gurney as well has played two games. Hardly time to provide judgement on him. Pretty sure Dernbach had a good debut. And FInn seems to be included in your list but it seems unlikely he will make the world cup, and even if he does it's hard to see him being the attacking threat he was less than two years ago.

You've lost a whole lot of quality and experience and replaced them with lesser players. Trott and Finn were key players.

Well he was, for absolute ages. When we replaced him it was with other under-performing players like Bres or Woakes. It's not Jordan's debut he's played 9 matches, Yes jade had a good debut, but after 9 matches the cracks were showing, whilst Jordan has had his best performance. Plus he's a tad better at fielding and batting than Jade.

In the end both Jordan and Gurney maybe unproven, but I'm not sure how that can be worse than proven to be actually horribly ****e. Why not Finn for the World-Cup, makes no sense, he's come back this year bowling well.

I too think we miss Trott, but I think we have Potentially decent back-ups.

The thing is Bell has been brilliant as opener since he came back, Cook has also done well, you slot Trott in at 3 and it looks worrying with those three. That's why with Trott around I advocated dropping Bell despite his good form, and having Kp or Hales as opener with Cook. Yet now Ballance can score quicker so we can keep with the openers, and it looks more, ahem Ballanced.

I just don't see how we've gone massively backwards.