**Official** Sri Lanka in England / Scotland - 2011

[MW1304]

My pick, given the squad:

Cook, Kes, Trott, KP, Bell, Morgan, Patel, Bresnan, Swann, Broad, Anderson.

The Sri Lankans' one-day batting is almost embarrassingly better than ours. Hoping Bresnan's fully fit.

Would personally open with Bell and put Kieswetter at 6, moving Morgan up to 5. I know Kiessy is an opener by trade and everything but I don't think he'll be a long term opener at international standard, and could also be useful at the end of an innings.

Bell and Morgan are too low at 5 and 6, too, especially in the form Bell is in - he could make a very useful foil to Cook if he gets the strike rate we know he can get, and you don't have to open with a keeper like the management seem to think.

 

[vcs]

Should be interesting to see how Cook goes.. coming back into the team after a while as captain.

 

[Howe_zat]

Would personally open with Bell and put Kieswetter at 6, moving Morgan up to 5. I know Kiessy is an opener by trade and everything but I don't think he'll be a long term opener at international standard, and could also be useful at the end of an innings.

Bell and Morgan are too low at 5 and 6, too, especially in the form Bell is in - he could make a very useful foil to Cook if he gets the strike rate we know he can get, and you don't have to open with a keeper like the management seem to think.

I agree with the bolded part, and I'd actually like to see KP opening. That struck me as an experiment with some promise to it, and the thinking behind it was sound.

However, this is the side they've picked and there's no real evidence to suggest that CK will do better down the order than Bell and Morgan. They deserve to be higher up but I'd rather have proper batsmen down there than a keeper out of position or allrounders who won't bowl.

 

[MW1304]

With the squad they've chosen, I have no doubt they'd open with Kieswetter, yes. The trouble is that, around the country, pretty much every keeper opens the batting, so if we're playing to positions then the keeper would have to open. Unless someone like Buttler improved his keeping (or just actually keeped (?) a bit more) then they would have to play out of position to accomodate Bell or Pietersen.

Edit: Just realised I should have changed my avatar the other day. Cba to do that anymore.

 

[Howe_zat]

'Tis true. Which is why finding one to do the business for England is probably the biggest aim of the one-day side right now. In that sense, I'm prepared to stick with Kieswetter on the possibility that it pays off. He is the one who's been getting the runs lately after all.

 

[Howe_zat]

Sri Lanka are bowling first. Pitch looking pretty green, England have dropped Patel to go with four seamers, and Dernbach will debut ahead of Woakes and Finn.

 

[Andre]

Sky crew not exactly loving the selection of Cook as ODI skipper. Will be interesting to see how it goes - not so much today, but over the next 6 months or so, and the affect it has on both forms of the game that he plays.

 

[GIMH]

As I said at the time, Cook as skipper now is worth the gamble if it pays off. Clearly a trial ahead of the big job becoming available in a few years.

 

[wpdavid]

Here in SW London it's raining pretty heavily. Not looking good for The Oval.

 

[GIMH]

Yeah, just read that on cricinfo.

 

[vicky]

And a different bowling attack.

True, although Englands attack in the WC QF included Bresnan, Tremlett and Swan...

As I said at the time, Cook as skipper now is worth the gamble if it pays off. Clearly a trial ahead of the big job becoming available in a few years.

Or backfires spectacularly if it affects his Test form... he's in such a purple patch there must be an almost overwhelming temptation to avoid anything that might affect it...

 

[vcs]

As I said at the time, Cook as skipper now is worth the gamble if it pays off. Clearly a trial ahead of the big job becoming available in a few years.

There is a possibility though that it might mess with his Test game.. which is going brilliantly ATM.

 

[GIMH]

Yeah, that is true. Don't think it's had a major impact when he's previously played ODIs though.

Doesn't seem the sort of guy to let anything psychological affect his game really.

 

[Spark]

Wouldn't be an England vs. SL match without the rain.

 

[wpdavid]

As I said at the time, Cook as skipper now is worth the gamble if it pays off. Clearly a trial ahead of the big job becoming available in a few years.

Might not be that far away, if Strauss's form really is in free-fall. Apart from that, I know we shouldn't gear everything towards the Ashes, but I'd prefer Cook to have a year or more's experience of the job before Aus are next over here.

 

[vcs]

Hmm... when you are captaining a pretty strong and well-settled team like England, I'm not sure you would need time to settle into the job TBH. Or at least making decisions keeping that in mind is not something I would agree with.

 

[Howe_zat]

Cook has a strike rate of 250 as captain, clearly this was an excellent move.

 

[vcs]

Cook has a strike rate of 250 as captain, clearly this was an excellent move.

Needs to improve on that average of 5 though.

 

[wpdavid]

That didn't last long, did it.

The top 6 should be strong enough to build some sort of score regardless, but they'll need to as I don't see a lot coming from 7 downwards in this form of the game.

 

[vcs]

On a side note, Sanga is so good as a keeper. Easy to overlook that given his brilliance with the bat.